248 A TRIAL FOR MR. MERRY 



into many difficulties. He retired from the racecourse 

 to his home near Glasgow, where he suffered much from 

 illness ; though, strange to say, he lived to see his death 

 twice recorded in the papers before it actually took place. 

 Poor ' Tass ' Parker, on the other hand, lived respected 

 and in ease to a good old age, and died lamented by all 

 who knew him. He had, in his time, many battles to 

 fight besides those on the turf. In the P.E. he was well 

 known to be as stanch as he was scientific ; and though 

 once accused ' of showing the white feather,' that the 

 charge was unfounded I am quite certain, the actual fact 

 being that he was over-matched at all points by a heavier 

 opponent. 



Before concluding my notice of Mr. Buchanan I may 

 relate a little incident that occurred between him and 

 myself. After he had won a good stake on one of Mr. 

 Merry's horses that I was training, he, in gratitude I 

 suppose, gave me a small cask of whisky. He did not 

 send a receipted account with it until I asked him to do 

 so. Shortly afterwards, for it was towards the close of 

 his career, he was forced, unfortunately, to suspend pay- 

 ment, as the commercial world phrases it, and the official 

 receiver wrote to me demanding payment for the whisky. 

 I replied that it was not my usual custom to pay for 

 things for which I held the receipt, and that I saw no 

 reason to depart from the rule on this occasion. With 

 all his faults, I do not for a moment believe that Norman 

 intended that I should pay for the whisky ; but that he 

 had simply neglected to strike it off his books. Never- 

 theless, I should have been liable if I had not taken the 

 precaution to ask for a receipt. The need to have a 

 receipt and to keep it has been impressed upon me again 

 and again by my experience in transactions covering 

 many years. 



