Note 102 — Chapter XV
Reading edition
"I was born in the year 1787, and if anybody asks you who was my mother, say Miss Tidswell, the actress; my father was the late Duke of Norfolk, whom they called Jockey. I am not the son of Moses Kean, the mimic, nor of his brother, as some people are pleased to assert, though I bear the same name. I had the honour of being brought up at Arundel Castle till I was seven years old, and there they sometimes, I do not know why, called me Duncan! After I quitted Arundel Castle, I was soon put upon the stage by my mother. The very first part in which I appeared was the Robber's Boy in the 'Iron Chest,' when it was originally brought out at Drury Lane in 1796.... I was at Arundel Castle a few years ago, and, as I showed to the people who had charge of it, I knew every room, passage, winding and turning in it. In one of the large apartments hung a portrait of the old Duke of Norfolk, and the man who was with me said, 'You are very like the old Duke, sir.' And well he might. I am his son!"
The above is said to have been taken down from Kean's words by a gentleman who showed it to Payne Collier. Kean named his first boy Howard, in support of the Norfolk legend.—Doran MS.