He loved literature and 'haute cuisine' and when, in 1866, he became the 4th Earl of Rosslyn, he was able to indulge in both. Even though he pleaded poverty, he nevertheless lived in style and 
collected paintings by old Scottish masters. Each year he rented a house in London for the season, from May to July, and competed amicably with Lord Bath for the honour of having the best chef in town. 
In 1866 he also married Blanche Adeliza Fitzroy, widow of the Hon. Charles Henry Maynard by whom she had two daughters. Another five children resulted from this marriage. 
From 1886 to 1890 he was Captain of the Gentlemen at Arms to Queen Victoria, and apparently the only courtier able to tell a slightly risque story to Her Majesty. He is even said to have repeated to the Queen his reply to a lady who asked him whether he wore his eyeglass in bed: "Come and see, Madam."  Also, while walking down Bond Street and meeting Margot Asquith, notorious for her sharp tongue, who said: "What a vulgar tie you are wearing, Lord Rosslyn," his quick wit 
prompted the reply, "You're right. I remember when putting it on this morning thinking the same thing, but I comforted myself with the thought that I should never meet anyone vulgar enough to say so." 
In politics he was Conservative and an unsuccessful candidate for Fife in 1857 and 1859. When asked to make Rosslyn Master of the Buckhounds, Disraeli apparently replied: "He swears too much. But I have no objection to his being Lord High Commissioner of the Church of Scotland." Lord Rosslyn occupied this position from 1874 till 1875 and again from 1878 to 1880. For the occasion of the marriage of King Alfonso XII, he was appointed Ambassador-Extraordinary at Madrid. 
Late in life he took up racing and breeding of horses, a hobby that earned him money. Rosslyn was a pious man who could quote large extracts from the Bible and was also a friend of Robert Browning. In 1883 he published a volume called "Sonnets and Poems". After the death of Tennyson, Queen Victoria considered making him Poet Laureate, but Rosslyn died, 6 September 1890, before the offer could be made. He was only fifty-seven years old. 
 

Source: Leo van de Pas