1878] SHUCKBURan HILL. 19 



Remember how blithely the old cavalier* 



Changed the whip for the sword, and the horn for the spear ; 



How he languished in prison before he'd obey 



Of Essex the summons— of Cromwell the sway ! 



Though the chase we've resumed for the battle, yet still 



There are spurs to be won from old Shuckburgh Hill. 



With no coward or muff, will we tarry to-day, 



And the " dancers '" shall have scarce a line of my lay. 



In the first forty acres they're out of the hunt: 



The bad men are behind, and " A Goodman "' in front. f 



Though he knows every gap — every gateway — yet still 



He rides straight as an arrow from Shucklnirgli Hill. 



The oxers will crack, and the binders will fly, 

 As Muntz;]: on brown Lightheart comes thundering by. 

 The crash of his course like the storm on the wind ! 

 And " A. Tempest," § be sure, will be not far behind ! 

 While the Ca]>tain takes hold of the helm with a will, 

 To pilot the Emj^ress from Shuckburgh Hill. 



If you want from your nerve to take olf the sharp edge, 



Then follow, where cleaves the thin end of " the Wedge! "|| 



For where this young s^jortsman is taking his line, 



The bullfinches open and close with no sign. 



And there's no time to tarry — and call for a " Bill " — 



To cut down the thick growers neir Shuckliurgh Hill. 



There's no time to falter, and baulk, in my song, 

 For the Rector^ is coming a cracker along. 

 >Strange liberties taking ; because he knows well 

 That the untiring blood of the Desert will tell ; 

 Though losing his start, yet " be with 'em he will," 

 Ere they've gone very far from old Shuckburgh Hill. 



* An allusion to the story of how a former Squire of Shuckburgh left his hounds to 

 follow King Charles to the battle of Edge Hill. He afterwards defended the hill against 

 the followers of the Commonwealth ; was taken prisoner, and confined for more than 

 two years. His son was made a baronet at the Restoration. 



t A (ioodman — Mr. "Joe Goodman" — afterwards tenant at Catesby Abbey, now 

 living at Flecknoe. 



X p. A. Muntz, Esq., M.P., the premier welter weight of England. 



§ Major A. Tempest, master of the Blankney. He rode Major Browne's Hall 

 Court in the celebrated finish for the Grand National, when lie was beaten a head liy 

 -Captain H. Coventry on Alcibiade. 



II Mr. Wedge, of Stretton-on-Dunsmoor. 



H The Rev. W. R. Verney, of Lighthorne Rectory. 



c 2 



