Mr. J. M. Richardson's Writings Collated 



sort and description, from the four-horse coach to the coster's 

 " barrer," with their occupants dressed in gala attire, in which 

 the dust-coat and the white hat and blue veil, inseparable from 

 the Derby Day of that period, bore a conspicuous part, pre- 

 sented as animated a scene on a fine day as could well be 

 imagined. As the morning advanced equipages of a superior 

 kind would make their appearance, and well-turned-out coaches 

 — many of them driven by swell dragsmen, attired in the brown 

 coat and brass buttons of the Four-in-Hand Club — were to be 

 met with at every turn in the St. James's district, one and all 

 to be encountered later on dispensing hospitality on a lavish 

 scale to all-comers on the Hill. 



How things have altered since then ! Take a stroll along 

 Piccadilly nowadays on the morning of the Derby Day, and 

 it would be hard to tell the difference betwen that and any 

 other. The only people, in fact, at the present time who are 

 at all keen about the Derby are the holiday-makers pure and 

 simple. What better fun than to take the " Missis and the 

 kids " for a picnic on the downs, with the Derby thrown in, 

 and a shilling or two on his Majesty's horse to add to the 

 excitement ? Granted fine weather, the little party will enjoy 

 themselves to the top of their bent — especially if they win 

 their money — and their day's amusement will certainly compare 

 favourably with that of my young friend Dawdle, who, voting 

 the Derby a played-out amusement, only fit for the patronage 

 of antediluvian old fossils like myself, spends the day at his 

 club betting on the tape. 



Faded Glories. 



The decline of the Derby in public favour is probably due 

 in no small measure to the large amount of racing which now 



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