178 SOLDIER AND SPORTSMAN 



Cheltenham appears to have always attracted 

 fraternity of the best. Lindsay Gordon, well 

 known in the Cotswold country before he left for 

 Australia, did not forget to mention some of the 

 ancients when he wrote his By Flood and Field. 

 The district also bears the reputation of being the 

 scene of his famous poem, How ive beat the 

 Favourite. In the latter you find mention of 

 Stevens, none other than the record rider of five 

 Grand National winners. In the verse I here quote 

 from Flood and Field, Bob Chapman and Tom 

 Oliver are mentioned among his celebrities : 



I remember the lowering wintery morn, 



And the mist on the Cotswold Hills, 

 Where I once heard the blast of the huntsman's horn. 



Not far from the seven rills. 

 Jack Eskdale was there, and Hugh St Clair, 



Bob Chapman and Andrew Kerr, 

 And big Ned Griffiths on Devil may Care, 



And Black Tom Oliver. 



Although Bob Chapman was one of the most 

 successful dealers, he himself admitted that he was 

 one of the worst judges. He never attempted to 

 buy young or untried horses, and the late William 

 Holman, father of the well-known Cheltonions 

 bearing that name, chd that part of the job for 

 him. When he was on their backs, however, no 

 man was a better judge than Chapman. He 

 used to say some horses jump and some dive 



