286 STEEPLE-CHASING. 



By this time the sport was assuming something of the 

 shape in which we know it, and names still familiar to the 

 younger generation of sportsmen, and conveying to the older 

 generation reminiscences of fields well fought and battles 

 won, begin to appear in the pages of journals devoted to such 

 matters. Squire Osbaldeston, Sir Harry Goodricke, Lord 

 Clanricarde, Mr. Peyton, Captain Ross, Captain Berkeley, 

 Colonel Standen, Mr. Gilmour, Mr. White, became familiar 

 personages to the reader. It would be interesting to record 

 some of their achievements did space permit, but the allotted 

 limits forbid. 



Ireland was still prominently to the fore. At the Mayo 

 Spring Meeting the capabilities of men and horses were nicely 

 considered. The gathering extended over three days. On the 

 first day there was a sweepstakes of ten sovereigns each, fifty 

 sovereigns added, over the Mayo course, four miles, with six 

 5 -foot walls, the only specification as to weight being 3-year- 

 olds 9 stone. On the second day the walls were reduced 6 

 inches. The height was then 4^ feet, and on the third day six 

 4-foot walls formed the course. 



Steeple-chasing is reported from France at this period, and 

 seems to have been an eccentric and a decidedly dangerous 

 amusement, far more dangerous than big jumps on a fair hunting 

 course. In 1834 the start for a chase was 'down the Rabbit 

 Mount, a short but steep declivity full of holes.' Several ugly 

 places were then crossed, including a river and swampy 

 meadows. It is not a matter for surprise that ' sport ' such as 

 this should have found opponents. 



The great drawback to chasing as a popular spectacle at 

 this time will be obvious to readers. Unless a man were 

 mounted, and prepared to ride with the competitors, or unless 

 the course were chosen with a view to the amusement of those 

 who drove along roads commanding a sight of the race, very 

 little of the exciting incidents of the contest was to be seen. 

 There were manifest objections, moreover, to having friends 

 and foes of the opponents about the course. Fences were 



