loo CENTURY OF ENGLISH FOX-HUNTING 



Barrow. In fact, master and man were "as poles 

 asunder." Will's language was not always fit for 

 publication. But as a rider he had few rivals in 

 the annals of horsemanship. Nothing in the shape 

 of a fence that there was the remotest possibility of 

 getting over or through would turn him off the line 

 when hounds were running. He sat his horse in a 

 perfect manner, and with an ease that almost 

 amounted to gracefulness. His hand was as light 

 as a lady's, and his nerve was apparently made of 

 cast iron. But his ability as a horseman was chiefly 

 proved by the way in which he could manage his 

 horses. Mr. Childe, of Kinlet, Shropshire, commonly 

 known as " The Flying Childe," had been his first 

 Master, and had given him his first lessons. Barrow, 

 Mr. Childe said, was the only servant he ever had or 

 knew fit to trust with his own horses' mouths, having 

 so gentle and good a hand on his bridle. His last 

 days were spent with Mr. Corbet's harriers at Sun- 

 dorne, where he was killed by a fall from his horse, a 

 fitting end for a celebrated and hard-riding huntsman. 

 That he was a sober and careful man may be judged 

 from the fact that he left ^1,400 behind him. He 

 was buried in Sundorne parish churchyard, where the 

 epitaph on his tomb is — 



" Of this world's pleasures I have had my share ; 

 For few the sorrows I was doomed to bear ; 

 How oft I have enjoyed the noble chase 

 Of hounds and foxes, each striving for the race ! 

 But the knell of death calls me away ; 

 So, sportsmen, farewell ! I must obey." 



