Oh, right, we have new people! Then I should definitely repeat myself when the opportunity arises. :D
As for the quote, I have to admit it may be apocryphal: the source is anonymous. It appears in "A Fragment of a Memoir of Field-Marshal James Keith, Written By Himself, 1714-1734." That volume was published in 1843 along with a 5-page summary of the life of George Keith, in which the quote in question appears. That 5-page summary of George Keith is anonymously written, but the 1843 editor says that, although it has many mistakes, it bears the stamp of being written by one personally acquainted with the Earl Marischal, and though the anecdotes it records are mostly well known, the notice may be regarded with some favour, if, as is believed, it be the composition of Sir Robert Strange, formerly known for his attachment to the party which the Keith brothers supported*, and now better remembered as the first of English engravers.
* The Jacobites.
The James Keith memoir is very short, heavy on marches and military maneuvers, and doesn't include Fritz, but it's in the library if anyone wants it.
Re: Andrew Mitchell: The Return
As for the quote, I have to admit it may be apocryphal: the source is anonymous. It appears in "A Fragment of a Memoir of Field-Marshal James Keith, Written By Himself, 1714-1734." That volume was published in 1843 along with a 5-page summary of the life of George Keith, in which the quote in question appears. That 5-page summary of George Keith is anonymously written, but the 1843 editor says that, although it has many mistakes, it bears the stamp of being written by one personally acquainted with the Earl Marischal, and though the anecdotes it records are mostly well known, the notice may be regarded with some favour, if, as is believed, it be the composition of Sir Robert Strange, formerly known for his attachment to the party which the Keith brothers supported*, and now better remembered as the first of English engravers.
* The Jacobites.
The James Keith memoir is very short, heavy on marches and military maneuvers, and doesn't include Fritz, but it's in the library if anyone wants it.