(Beorge ®9bal^e9ton 227 



Stilton (celebrated for cheese, which, be it known, is made 

 two miles off), Earl FitzwilHam having given permission 

 to hunt his property there. Mason, the horse-dealer 

 (father of the celebrated steeplechase rider Jem Mason), 

 living at Stilton, had at the time an Irish horse called 

 Shamrock, a splendid animal, of a beautiful bright 

 chestnut. " The Squire " had told me his fancy for him, 

 but did not like to give the two hundred guineas asked. 

 I offered to go and buy him, and Osbaldeston accepted 

 the proposal. "If he can, as I have heard, jump two 

 hurdles placed the one over the other, buy him," said 

 " the Squire," On my reaching Mason's place. Shamrock 

 was, at my request, brought into the spacious yard, and 

 I must say that his appearance had not been over-rated. 

 On my asking if he could jump the hurdles as repre- 

 sented, two of the ordinary kind were placed one on the 

 other, and the noble creature was ridden up, and, to my 

 surprise, cleared them perfectly. To me it was a 

 wonderful feat, displaying as it did not only the horse's 

 jumping capability, but its docility. The height was 

 upwards of six feet, and the width being but six feet, 

 it astonished me he did not swerve, there being nothing 

 on either side to prevent him. I bought him at a 

 saving of some twenty pounds to " the Squire's " pocket, 

 and I have often heard Osbaldeston say, that, though 

 he hunted him many years, he never had a fall with 

 him.' 



It may shock some sticklers for 'the rigour of the 

 game,' to learn that 'the Squire' was in the habit of 

 buying foxes and turning them down to fill his sparsely 

 populated coverts. He used to commission Mr Budd to 

 buy them for him from a dealer named Hopkins in 

 Tottenham Court Road, and they averaged about thirty 



