OLD FRIENDS— MEN AND HORSES 209 



years earlier. No one knew exactly how old 

 he really was, and he was always rather touchy 

 on the subject. It was said he had been gazetted 

 a cornet before Queen Victoria came to the 

 throne ; but that was doubtless a slight exag- 

 geration. His age was always a joke with friends 

 who wanted to pull his leg, and hence the point 

 of the story. 



Some stranger seeing the tall chimney of 

 Asfordby ironworks in the distance, asked Mr. 

 Pennington what it was, to which that genial humorist 

 repliedjwithout a moment's hesitation : " Oh ! that's 

 a monument to the old fellow called Tom Boyce, 

 who used to hunt here years ago." The said "old 

 fellow " being out hunting that day, and very 

 much alive ; but the chimney was known thereafter 

 as " Tom Boyce's ' onument," much to the disgust 

 of its godfather. 



I cannot remember Captain Boyce in his best 

 days; but he was very quick, rode blood horses, 

 and have seen him go well when past his " three- 

 score-and-ten." 



Mr. Pennington emigrated from Yorkshire, 

 when after trying South Leicestershire and the 

 fringe of the Cottesmore, he eventually settled down 

 in the Quorn country. Having married a sister of 

 Capt. Hartopp, he foreswore his Yorkshire birth- 

 right and became identified with the county of 

 adoption. Ever ready to see the humour of a 

 situation, and to crack jokes at the covertside, 

 his wit enlivened many a dull moment, and his 

 power of repartee was only excelled by the eccen- 

 tricity of his remarks. 



This reminds me that I have omitted mention 

 14 



