George A ‘Frolic’ Weymouth

Frolic Weymouth (far right) with Yale Polo teammates Peter Jackson and Michael Pouiatine, winning the 1957 National Sherman Memorial Tournament

A much-loved figure on the polo scene, Frolic will be remembered as a man who took life by the reins, says Melanie Vere Nicoll

At the final of the US Open on 24 April, Tony Coppola announced the passing of George A ‘Frolic’ Weymouth the night before. Frolic will be remembered as an artist, philanthropist, conservationist, renowned whip and talented polo player. His wide range of friends would add to this list of accomplishments his kindness, loyalty, wonderful sense of humour and the joie de vivre and zest with which he approached life. George A Weymouth – known to one and all as Frolic – was a man who never did things by halves. As a sportsman, Frolic began competing in polo, showjumping and coaching at a young age. As a graduation present from Yale University in 1958, he departed for England with a team of college all-stars (P Baldwin, S Woolaway and R Riemenschneider) and spent the summer months playing mostly at Cowdraybased tournaments. When he realised that the team’s ponies were not quite up to standard, he replenished them over a long weekend in Ireland and came back with a winning string, much to his rivals’ surprise. The team won 11 of their 12 games that summer. Frolic’s passion for polo was reflected in his deep involvement in the sport. He won the Intercollegiates in 1957, served on the Board of Governors of the USPA from 1968 to 1972, and initiated the Gerald Balding and Tar Baby tournaments at Brandywine.

As an accomplished sportsman, Frolic will also be remembered for his coaching skills and his internationally recognised collection of antique coaches and carriages. He once drove more than 1,000 miles, from New York City to Vermont and down to Saratoga Springs, creating quite a stir when he took his coach through Harlem, paying no attention to the traffic lights.

His favourite team of four matched standard bay horses were known as much for their winning abilities as for their names: I’m, Slightly, Sexy and Drunk, which Frolic could be heard calling out in Windsor Great Park – as one of only two American members of The Coaching Club in England – or in his own intricate maze that he constructed at his Chadds Ford home, the Big Bend. Frolic’s famous humour shone at his annual driving competition, where one year he placed beautiful naked models on swings in the trees in an attempt to break his fellow competitors’ concentration. Spanning more than six decades, Frolic’s career as an artist, encouraged by his close friend and mentor Andrew Wyeth, flourished. His wide range of works include landscapes and portraits, many of which now hang in important private collections as well as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brandywine River Museum of Art and Windsor Castle. His subjects included such well-known figures as Luciano Pavarotti, His Royal Highness Prince Philip and David Rockefeller – all of whom Frolic counted among his friends. In addition to founding the Brandywine River Museum – which now has a collection of more than 4,000 important American works – Frolic will be remembered as the driving force behind conservation efforts in Pennsylvania, which inspired land-conservation organisations around the world. Today, he is responsible for having protected more than 45,000 acres that would have otherwise fallen to the wave of devastating urban development that has swallowed up too many rural counties in the United States. Frolic was taught by his father that the three pillars of a successful life were honesty, generosity and, above all, a sense of humour. Frolic set out to live up to his name at a young age and never looked back. In the process, he brought a great deal of happiness not only to his friends and family, but also to countless others who never met him but will benefit from his legacy for many years to come. When asked by a journalist from the Philadelphia Inquirer if he considered himself a bon vivant, he responded, ‘Do you mean I’m a good liver? Yes, I love good living. Why have a bad time? It’s such a beautiful world and every day is my oyster. No one has had more fun out of life than I have.’ Rege Ludwig, who started his polo career with Frolic, commented, ‘I trained a polo pony when I worked for him. She pulled up [stopped] so easily, Frolic named her French Nighty.’ That was Frolic – and we are going to miss him.