RACEALONG 373 



Racing in England from time almost immemorial 

 has been considered a Royal sport. It annually draws 

 thousands who never bet except perhaps on Derby 

 Day, to see the best horse win. 



There is an anecdote told of the great philosopher 

 and scientist, Herbert Spencer, who was induced bj' 

 his friend Sir Francis Galton, to go to the Derby, 

 with an Oxford clerical don. Sir Francis, in his 

 ''Memoirs," records: ''They were as incongruous a 

 pair as could easily be devised; but they enjoyed 

 each other's company." All went well, except that 

 Spencer could not be roused to enthusiasm by the 

 races. He said that the crowd of men on the grass 

 was disagreeable as flies upon a plate, and that the 

 whole event was just what he imagined the Derby 

 would be. 



Edward Walford, in "Greater London," became 

 enthusiastic over the Derby Day in town and Epsom, 

 of course. He refers to Frith's most celebrated pic- 

 ture of the ruined young gambler, and also, on the 

 other side, to the enjoyment that Thackeray, 

 Dickens, and the Punch staff experienced on this 

 eventful day. 



John Leech, in fact, had an admirable sketch in 

 *Tunch" of one of his inimitable drawings of the 

 Buttons of the day who, rejoicing in laziness and 

 lunch, unburdens his soul by saying "Don't I wish 

 it was Derby Day all the year round." 



In an old number of Bell's Life in London there 

 is a very lively description of the race' in the earliest 

 days, in which it is stated that poets, painters, 



