Mr. J. M. Richardson's Writings Collated 



down on to the back of his horse from the top of a coach. 

 How he explained away the circumstances I forget, but I 

 believe it was considered satisfactory by his victim. 



Many years ago it was quite the fashion to ride down to 

 Epsom on horseback, and a story is told of a party of four 

 elderly City sportsmen, who made a practice every year of 

 riding down the day before the Derby to the Bear, at Esher, 

 where they would put up, and ride on to the Downs the next 

 morning. On one of these occasions, as they were en route to 

 the course, a large tilted waggon was rather in their way in 

 one of the Surrey lanes of no great width, so one of the party 

 riding forward, bid a man, who was sitting at the back of 

 the cart smoking his pipe and swinging his legs, somewhat 

 peremptorily to make room for them to pass. " Hi, Bill ! " 

 bawled the person addressed to his friend in front, "jest move 

 on one side for old ' wunce a year,' will yer ? " The story was 

 all over the City the next day, with the effect that ever after- 

 wards the too peremptory sportsman was known " on 'Change " 

 as " Wunce a Year." 



ROYAL ASCOT 



A RETROSPECT 



By JOHN MAUNSELL RICHARDSON 



{Reproduced by permission of the proprietors of " The Daily Telegraph ") 



Granted fine weather, there is nothing to prevent Ascot this 

 year from proving as brilliant a function as any which have 

 gone before. 



Always interesting, the Royal procession on this occasion 

 should be more so than usual, the one thing wanting to com- 

 plete the picture as the cortege wends its way slowly up the 

 course from the Castle, in the opinion of many an old habitue 



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