HUNTING ON THE FELLS 71 



Peel never wore a scarlet coat, his jacket was 

 made of home-spun Cumberland wool, known 

 locally as " hoddengray." 



The late Mr. Jackson Gillbanks, of White- 

 field, gave a good pen-picture of John Peel, 

 and I take the liberty of quoting it here. He 

 said — 



" John Peel was a good specimen of a plain 

 Cumberland yeoman. On less than £400 per 

 annum he hunted at his own expense, and un- 

 assisted, a pack of foxhounds for half a century. 

 John has in his time drawn every covert in the 

 country, and was well known on the Scottish 

 borders. Except on great days he followed the 

 old style of hunting, — that is, turning out before 

 daylight, often at five or six o'clock, and hunted 

 his fox by the drag. He was a man of stalwart 

 form, and well built ; he generally wore a coat of 

 home-spun Cumberland wool — a species called 

 ' hoddengray.' John was a very good shot, and 

 used a single-barrel, with flint lock, to the last. 

 Though he sometimes indulged too much, he was 

 always up by four or five in the morning, no 

 matter what had taken place the night before ; 

 and, perhaps, to this may be attributed his 

 excellent health, as he was never known to 

 have a day's sickness, until his last and only 

 illness." 



Mr. Gillbanks was also the author of the 



