- Prince Monolulu
Ras Prince Monolulu (1881 St Croix,
Danish West Indies -1965-02-14 Middlesex Hospital,London ), whose real name was Peter Carl Mackay (or McKay), was something of an institution on the Britishhorse racing scene from the 1920s until the time of his death. [ [http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?] ] He was particularly noticeable for his brightly coloured clothing; as a tipster, one of his best known phrases was the cry "I gotta horse!", which was subsequently the title of his memoirs. [ [http://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk/page_id__8823_path__0p117p155p.aspx My Brighton and Hove | People | Colourful characters | Ras Prince Monolulu 1880-1965 ] (year of birth appears to be incorrect)] He frequently featured in
newsreel broadcasts, and as a consequence was probably the most well-known black man in Britain of the time. [ [http://www.communigate.co.uk/ryedale/carryonshowing/page38.phtml Further biographical details.] ]Although claiming to be a chief of the Falasha tribe of Abyssinia, the reality is that he came from the Caribbean island of St Croix (now part of the
United States Virgin Islands ). He styled himself as a Prince after being press-ganged on one occasion, assuming that a prince would be far less likely to be shanghaied.During
World War I he was interned in Germany.He rose to prominence after picking out the horse "Spion Kop" in the 1920 Derby, which came in at the long odds of 100-6, and from which he personally made some £8,000, a vast amount of money at the time.
The biography of
Jeffrey Bernard byGraham Lord describes Prince Monolulu's death in some detail. It describes how Bernard at the time was working as a horse racing journalist and visited Monolulu in the Middlesex hospital to interview him. Bernard had brought with him a box of 'Black Magic' chocolates and offered Monolulu a 'strawberry cream'. Monolulu subsequently choked to death on it and Bernard bade him farewell.The baptism of Monolulu (as Peter Carl McKay, on 26 October 1881) has been traced in the records of the English Episcopal Church of the
Danish West Indies . His father, whose name is not shown in the register, was William Henry McKay and his mother was Catherine Heyliger. [ Pearson, John, "I Gotta 'Orse!", in "Ancestors" magazine, October 2008, pp 46-49.]References
External links
*
* [http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?x9=MONOLULU,+PRINCE Image at Science and Society website]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
