BUCKINGHAM IN LEGEND. 23 



t' eoontry," who come out for a day on the moors and 

 invariably get left behind because they cannot or dare not 

 ride up to hounds over some of the rough and precipitous 

 moorlands, he would find quite a reciprocity. The Bilsdale 

 folk designate that part of their territory below the Hamble- 

 tons, in the Upsall and Knayton district, as " t' eoontry,'* 

 and love a run down there. 



It may be well understood therefore that anything and 

 everything emanating from " Hemsler " — even more im- 

 portant locally in the days of the Duke than now — would be 

 of vital interest, and he himself when he rode with his 

 squires and yeomen into the dale by chance or design would 

 be an object of interest, of admiration, and possibly of 

 veneration. It is said the Tyke " dearly loves a lord " — 

 he is by no means alone in his affection for the strawberry 

 leaf — how much more then should he love a Duke 1 

 But I find no suggestion that it was a regard for title which 

 caused His Grace of Buckingham to gain so high a pinnacle 

 of fame — rather was it his claim to the enviable and com- 

 prehensive title of a " good sportsman." Indeed, it seems 

 from what one can gather he had none of the dignity of a 

 Royal cousin ; he dropped his coronet in the mud of the 

 Court, and came to lead a purer life amid the purer air and 

 surroundings of the North Riding. This Bumper Castle, 

 where he stayed in Bilsdale, was only a farmhouse. Yet he 

 was welcomed as an honoured guest. Here he talked over 

 the day's sport, and arranged plans for the morrow. He 

 drank home-brewed ale, saw to his hounds being fed, chatted 

 with the dalesfolks — possibly tried to talk their dialect — 

 certainly he came to understand it. The stories tell us they 

 rarely went to bed, these old-time bucks, but as an old 

 hunting song has it : — 



Round the table now seated, our jokes we recount, 

 And toasts fly well-wine-wash'd, at Bacchus's fount. 

 Good humour and mirth on each countenance shine, 

 And glees, jokes, and songs give a zest to the wine. 

 Making most of our time we reject gloomy sorrow, 

 And look forward with hope to the sport of to-morrow. 



