BIOGRAPHIES IN A NUTSHELL 169 



bigger than 15-3 ; great rump, hips, and hocks ; fore 

 legs well afore 'em, and good shoulders ; thorough- 

 bred if you can get 'em, but none of your high, 

 short horses. Thoroughbred horses make the best 

 hunters, I never heard of a great thing yet, but 

 it was done by a thoroughbred horse." He was fond 

 of talking of " The Prince of Wales's Day," with the 

 Cottesmore. " He was nowhere, bless you ; they gave 

 'im the brush, though, just to please 'im. (N.B. — 

 The Prince of Wales was afterwards George IV.) 

 Another of his expressions was " tremendious," his 

 favourite epithet in describing fences ; but though 

 he would talk of the exploits of his contemporaries, 

 he rarely spoke of his own, even to Mr. Dixon. One 

 exploit of Sir Gilbert Heathcote he witnessed, which 

 subsequently gave the idea to Mr. John Leech for 

 one of his best-known sketches. It was Sir Gilbert 

 Heathcote who rode over the parson, and exclaimed, 

 " You can lie where you are, sir ; you won't be wanted 

 till next Sunday." 



Latterly Dick's memory failed him. Mr. Dixon 

 did everything in his power to restore it, and 

 drove him in a gig about Leicestershire, thinking 

 that the sight of the old familiar scenes would 

 bring back recollections of what had been " the 

 Waterloo of his existence." But the drives were 

 of little use. He was then in his seventy-eighth 

 year, and had nearly finished the run of his life. 

 Nobody will deny that he rode well throughout the 

 run. 



