xrbc Earls of Xons&ale ^^i 



breed which has made our race foremost among 

 the world's adventurers. Yet, great as is the credit 

 which these deeds of derring-do reflect upon the 

 Earl of Lonsdale, I think his fame in the sporting 

 world will rest rather upon his remarkable achieve- 

 ment in his memorable match with the Earl of 

 Shrewsbury. In the winter of 1891 there arose among 

 a shooting-party at Ingestre, Lord Shrewbury's seat, a 

 discussion on the relative merits of trotters and gallopers, 

 in which Lord Lonsdale took a prominent part. The 

 result was a match for a nominal ;^ioo a-side between 

 the two Earls, the conditions of which were as follows — to 

 drive five miles four-in-hand, five miles double harness, five 

 miles single harness, and ride five miles postillion. For 

 reasons which it is unnecessary to dwell upon, the Earl of 

 Shrewsbury backed out of the match at the last moment, 

 but Lord Lonsdale, being on the appointed spot with 

 his horses, resolved to go through with the undertaking, 

 and did so on the nth of March 1891. The best 

 account of the performance is the following from The 

 Field, by an eye-witness : — 



' Though the match, by becoming a mere race against 

 time, w^as shorn of much of its interest, yet a very large 

 crowd was collected at Reigate, and much discussion 

 ensued as to the time it was possible to do the twenty 

 miles in. Another fall of snow had come down the 

 previous night, but the plough had been early to work, 

 and the whole length cf the road was cleared. The 

 course was a five-mile stretch of road between Reigate 

 and Crawley. At tw^elve o'clock the sky cleared, the sun 

 shone, and the four different teams filed out from under 

 the archway of the White Hart. It would occupy too 

 much space to give a description of each horse ; suffice it 



