1893: A FIRST-CLASS DAY. 257 



and out in the direction of Radbourne for liis own dear life ; and did he not 

 lead us a merry dance, a glorious prelude to our Christmas joys ? The pace 

 grew fast and furious. Those glorious grass fields, in all their sober solitude, 

 are galvanised into life. Brave soldiers, courtly gentlemen, fair ladies, hard- 

 bitten Warwicksliire farmers, all joined issue. Go it, ye wild men from 

 Borneo, on your steeplechasers ! Catch 'em if you can. Now for your 

 courageous and bewitching feats of horsemansliip, gentle Amazons, vieing 

 gracefully with the more detei-mined dash of grim warriors, while the 

 struggling efforts of the poor fatties are a kind of lever de rideau. [Go it, 

 ' Historiciis ! ' keep the tambourine a rowlin' ! — R. E.] The uncompromising 

 fences added to the all-absorbing interest of the contest between foxliounds, 

 horses, and riders. On the riglit in the front rank are three good men and 

 true, the initials of their surnames b3gimiing with the letter B, and two 

 others with the letter C respectively ; but I must not mention names, as 

 everyone deserves the highest praise for his courage and prowess. The 

 punters followed them over the first two fences. A gallant captain on a big 

 bay with a white face is fired with such enthusiasm that he darts over the 

 ugly, wild fences like so many sheep hurdles. My Loi'd and Jem, the whip, 

 were in the front rank when the hounds crossed the canal. [Jem told me he 

 never saw hounds run straighter or faster ; they never swerved from right to 

 left, but took a bee line and crossed the fences from field to field just as they 

 came to them.— R. E.] How well I remember galloping down to what I 

 fancied was a friendly gate, but which I found to my chagrin were four 

 solid posts and rails, with a wide ditch full of thorns on the landing side ! 

 How they frowned at me ! but behind were some ladies who had most bravely 

 jumped everything. What to do ? ' Go or perish,' said my monitor, so I 

 hardened my heart and got over without even a peck, thanks to my generous 

 beast. Then we had a go at a wide ditch and fence into a green lane, and 

 had to jump out tlie other side. [Well done, old man ! It's a poor heart 

 that never rejoices ! — R. E.J Then came the canal, but we found a bridge 

 on the left. Afterwards hounds enticed us over some glorious grass 

 fields, which at this moment seem like a pleasant dream of all that is 

 dearest in this world, and brought us straight to Hardwick Hill. [It 

 was twenty-seven minutes up to here, and hoimds had never checked 

 or faltered since they left Ladbroke. — R. E.] Here condition in man 

 and horse began to tell its tale. One young gentleman rolled off his 

 horse in the middle of a grass field from sheer exhaustion ; another brave 

 cavaliy man, on a good brown mare, told me tliat lie lost his stirrup at the 

 second fence, and rode all the run with one iron. Another gallant colonel, as 

 brave as they make them, got a nasty smack in the eye. A youthful scion 

 of a noble house, true to the family tree, drove his mount to the front ; but 

 the pace was too hot for the hireling, who turned him end over end. Another 

 venerable sportsman, white with the frosts of seventy winters, was miming 

 after his good bay horse, as lithe and active still as a schoolboy at football. 

 By Mr. Thursby's new covert there came a welcome check. Gentle reader, 

 believe me everyone hailed it with secret delight. Some men had to walk 

 up the liill and lead their steeds. His lordsliip cpiickly regainel his fox's 

 line, and hounds hunted well along tlie hill towards Boddington village. 

 Then they swing round again at a capital pace to the left over the Priors 

 Hardwick and Boddington road, and over Middleton's farm to Priors Marstou 

 Hill. [I am told that no one was very near the hounds here except Lord 



Vol. II. S 



