Major General Roger Aytoun was a soldier at the Great Siege of Gibraltar who came to notice when he married an ageing widow and was given Hough Hall in Manchester.

The race was run each Whitsun and the spectacle attracted large crowds and entertainers who transformed part of the moor into a giant fair.

The sight of Aytoun's six-foot-four inch frame was said to have inspired a Manchester widow, Barbara Minshull, to propose marriage to him.

[4] Aytoun was known to be addicted to both drink and gambling and he married the 65-year-old widow even though he was so inebriated that he needed assistance to stand at the wedding.

His image was captured by John Kay who drew Aytoun beside the future Charles X of France who was a foot shorter than he was.