172 ' MEMOIR OF 



Ah ! poor Peter ; he dearly loved hunting, and 

 was always talking about your riverence ; he's 

 been dead many, many years." 



On parting company the packmen volunteered 

 to bring him the handkerchiefs he required ; a 

 promise which, after due time, they did not fail 

 to fulfil. 



Now for Billy, the stand-by of Russell's 

 stable, and, as he was wont to declare, the best 

 horse he ever crossed in his life. Billy was 

 a bay pony, fourteen hands high — " big as a 

 mountain and long as to-day and to-morrow." 

 He was by a two-year-old grass colt by Twilight, 

 a grandson of Eclipse, out of an Exmoor pony ; 

 and was bred by Mr. Wreford, of Clannaborough, 

 so well known to Devonshire men as one of 

 the most successful breeders of blood stock in 

 the West of England. 



Of the stout and enduring qualities of Billy 

 it is enough to say that Russell never knew him 

 beaten ; nor, as a proof of it, did he ever fail 

 to come home merrily, however long the day, 

 and pick up his corn to the last grain in the 

 manger. His staying powers in chase, his bank- 

 fencing, and mode of getting through heavy 

 ground, under the weight he carried and the pace 

 he maintained, were truly marvellous. "Russell," 

 writes Mr. Harris, "mounted me once on Billy, 

 and little did I anticipate the great treat in store 

 for me. The meet was at Broadbury Castle ; 



