SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



angle from that of the crowd. Never again did 

 he judge from the ladder. The very next day and 

 thenceafter he was mounted and rode after 

 his dogs in the same line of vision as the specta- 

 tors, thus minimizing any illusion of angles.^ 



One of the oldest coursers in the county is 

 Mr. W. Howson of Shildon, always a dangerous 

 ' one dog ' man. He has been a consistent 

 breeder, owner, and runner for fully half a cen- 

 tury, amongst the best winners he has owned 

 being Ned Hannam, Romping Fly, Polly Hart, 

 Babbling Brook, Sadler Watson and Bella Byers. 

 More modern recruits are Mr. W. Smith of 

 Shiney Row and Mr. D. Beaton of Philadelphia. 

 The former's fame rests chiefly on Water Chute 

 and First Down, the latter by Under the Globe — 

 Flowing Wit, bought by Mr. Willie Campbell 

 of Glasgow for ;^I0, and trained for him by 

 Mr. W. Smith. First Down (1900) was lent 

 by Mr. Campbell Smith to the late Mr. William 

 Dewar of Edinburgh to fulfil that gentleman's 

 Waterloo Cup nomination, and won three 

 courses before being put out in the fourth round 

 by Father Flint, the ultimate winner in a short 

 contested course. Mr. Dewar backed the dog to 

 win ;^20,000 at very long shots, and he put 

 Mr. Smith ' on ' ^2,000 to nothing, and the 

 writer of these notes a like sum on a similai 

 liberal condition. 



First Down afterwards won the Carmichael 

 Cup, beating a good class of greyhounds over the 

 late Sir Wyndham Anstruther's fine coursing 

 ground in Lanarkshire. Mr. D. Beaton, during 

 his short association with the sport, has run some 

 smart dogs, the most noteworthy being Biddick 

 Ferry, Barrington Ferry, and Broughty Ferry. 

 Others bred in the county that have gained more 

 or less distinction are Night Hawk (1900), Sir 

 Christopher (1901) who won or divided three 

 stakes within a week, Wear Valley (late Sammy 



' An incident of a similar kind occurred many 

 years ago at Southport in which Mr. Hedley was 

 also concerned. A greyhound belonging to Sir 

 Thomas Brocklebank was running against a dog called 

 Sir James, the latter getting the verdict to the amaze- 

 ment of the crowd. So decisively did Sir Thomas's 

 dog appear to win, and so hostile was the demonstra- 

 tion against the judge that the baronet (who although 

 he ran greyhounds in the Waterloo Cup for half a 

 century, never achieved his great ambition of winning 

 it), went across to Mr. Hedley and asked him to give 

 a description of the course. It so happened that 

 Mr. Harold Brocklebank, son of Sir Thomas, was at 

 the foot of the ladder on which the judge was placed. 

 When Sir Thomas questioned the decision Mr. Harold 

 exclaimed with surprise, ' How could you ever 

 imagine that our dog won, father ? He was never 

 once next the hare ! ' The disclaimer of the son was 

 quite sufficient for Sir Thomas, whose subsequent 

 explanation to the crowd smoothed down the resent- 

 ment against the judge. But this is one of the many 

 instances that could be cited of how frequently a 

 judge incurs hostility through a foul-running dog 

 causing illusory angles. 



Moody) (1900) and Longdale' (1902), Mr. G. 

 Wright's Winning Wargrave, Westwick (1904), 

 Ryton Ferry ( 1 904), Hesledon, Houghton, Harton, 

 and Horden (1903) bred by old George Gregson 

 proved useful for the county. Durham also can 

 lay claim to having sent out two recent Corrie 

 Cup dividers in Bewcastle and Newcastleton. 

 Mr. J. J. Bell-Irving, their part owner, resides 

 at Rokeby Park, Barnard Castle, where he has 

 promoted meetings during his tenancy of the 

 estate. 



It would be ungallant to omit Miss Maud 

 May of Simonsidc Hall, South Shields, from the 

 list of county coursers. This plucky sports- 

 woman, besides upholding a good breed of 

 Borzois and other show dogs, has raised a 

 promising kennel of greyhounds, of which the 

 most successful has been Millions of Money by 

 Fabulous Fortune — Allan Water (1S99), a win- 

 ner of several good stakes. Another of her best is 

 March Mists. On the borders of the county 

 Messrs. P. and J. Mason of Middlesbrough may 

 also be honourably mentioned as good coursers. 

 Market Day by Wet Day — Mary Landale, who 

 represented them in the Waterloo Cup of 1904, 

 has won several stakes in good company and 

 proved himself a stout-hearted, clever greyhound. 

 Farther back into the 'eighties' of the last 

 century we can recall a sterling greyhound in 

 Mr. Morgan Robinson's, of Sacriston, Free Flag, 

 which ran well in the Waterloo Cup, but was 

 unluckily defeated in a wretched trial by Mr. 

 Vyner's slow but clever Vindictive. Free Flag 

 afterwards showed his true quality by winning 

 the Netherby Cup in the most brilliant fashion. 



For nearly the third of a century Mr. E. J. 

 Wardle had a small kennel at Craghead near 

 Chester le Street. The first good dog that he 

 owned was Sterling Wine, a winner at West 

 Rainton in the early 'eighties.' Some few years 

 afterwards his smart little bitch Xebee (late 

 What is It) more than paid her way, one of her 

 most remarkable performances being at Raby. 

 During her progress through the stake long odds 

 were laid against her. She had been run to a 

 standstill in the semi-final, and as a consequence 

 odds of 10 to I were laid on her opponent for 

 the final. She, however, upset the odds in the 

 most brilliant fashion, proving herself one of the 

 gamest bitches ever seen in the county of 

 Durham. Xantippe also got to the end of the 

 stake for Mr. Wardle, who of late seasons has 

 not been rewarded with the good fortune he 

 deserves. The late Mr. Robert Widowfield of 

 Pelton coursed from boyhood. His dog Durham 

 won the Newmarket Champion Puppy Stakes 

 and in later years Nine for Nothing won him 



' This dog unfortunately broke its leg at the 

 outset of what promised to be a brilliant career. 

 His owner, Mr. T. Stobbs of Consett, had the leg 

 amputated, since when the dog has done good service 

 at the stud. 



407 



