3obn peel 4/7 



the fact that he was fond of hunting. Indeed, I have 

 often heard the question asked, whether John Peel was 

 a ' real person ' or merely a mythical hero. 



Well, that question is easily answered. John Peel was 

 a ' real person,' and a remarkably fine specimen of the 

 good old sporting Cumberland yeoman, or ' statesman,' as 

 they call the class up there. The ancient race of yeomen, 

 now fast dying out, almost extinct indeed in many parts 

 of England, was the best breed of Englishmen this 

 island ever nurtured— stout of heart, sturdy of limb, 

 wielders of the terrible English long bow, stubborn 

 sticklers for their rights as freemen, and royal good 

 sportsmen all. Was not the Achilles of our English 

 Iliad, bold Robin Hood, a yeoman, and prouder of his 

 descent than any Norman baron of them all ? I know 

 that a foolish attempt has been made to show that 

 Robin was an out-lawed nobleman. But in the real, 

 genuine old Robin Hood Ballads, before all the spurious 

 rubbish about Maid Marian was introduced, the hero is 

 always styled yeoman, and it is because he was a type of 

 the true English yeoman that he has retained his 

 popularity as our great national ballad hero. 



Of this good stock came John Peel of Caldbeck. He 

 was born on the 13th of November 1776, and he lived 

 for the greater part of his life, after he came to manhood, 

 at Uldale, not far from his birthplace, between Brockle- 

 bank Fell and the High Pike. A fine stalwart specimen 

 of a Cumbrian dalesman he was, six feet one inch in 

 his stockings, big-limbed and broad-shouldered. His 

 passion for the Chase was born with him, and showed 

 itself from the time he was able to throw his leg across 

 a pony's back. That he was of a bold, independent 

 spirit was proved by his romantic marriage. He had 



