54 Iftings of tbe Ibunting^jfiel^ 



culture, has left this estimate of the character of John 

 Peel. ' He was a man of very limited education beyond 

 hunting, but no wile of fox or hare could escape his 

 scrutiny ; and business of any shape was utterly 

 neglected, often to a cost far beyond the first loss. An 

 excellent rider, I have seen him once on a moor put up 

 a fresh hare, and ride till he caught her with his whip. 

 You may know that he was six feet or more, and of a 

 form and gait quite surprising, but his head and face 

 were somewhat insignificant. A clever sculptor once 

 told me that he once followed him, admiring him, a 

 whole market day before discovering who he was. He 

 was generous and true-hearted, and indeed a better 

 heart never throbbed in a human breast.' 



So devoted was John Peel to the sport he loved that 

 he cared not what sacrifices he made to enable him to 

 meet the expenses which his hounds and his couple of 

 fir.st-rate hunters entailed upon him. Whenever he was a 

 little embarrassed for want of money, he would sell a bit 

 of land to tide him over the difficulty, and in this way 

 his modest patrimony gradually shrank to very small 

 proportions. But, fortunately for him, his wife had 

 property at Ruthwaite settled on herself, and there John 

 Peel passed the latter part of his life, when he was com- 

 pelled to let the house at Caldbeck. 



There is a pretty story to the effect, that when John 

 Peel's embarrassments reached a crucial point, the lead- 

 ing hunting men of Cumberland called a meeting, to which 

 John Peel was invited ; that they presented him with 

 a handsome purse, sufficient to pay his debts ; and 

 that, before parting, they gathered round the veteran 

 sportsman and sang, ' D'ye ken John Peel,' as it was never 

 sung before or since. 



