NIMROUS NORTHERN TOUR. 227 



a scrape on a point of moral conduct, there is no one's opinion I 

 would sooner be guided by than the Captain's. He is, I believe, 

 esteemed a good sportsman ; but never having seen him with 

 his own hounds, I must speak cautiously on this head ; for, when 

 we were in the habit of meeting in the field, some thirty years 

 ago, I fear the chief object of each was, who could ride fastest. 

 I remember, however, a singular circumstance relating to those 

 bygone days. The Captain, in one very open season, in Oxford- 

 shire, got eighty-four days 7 hunting on four hunters, one of which 

 a fine Scotch mare I afterwards saw in Germany, in the 

 breeding stud of Baron Biel ! 



- It may be supposed that many good stories are abroad about 

 the Captain in his own country, and at which, when alluded to 

 in his presence, no person laughs more heartily than he himself 

 does. The Defiance coach furnishes not a few, and amongst 

 others the following. It is well known that the Captain is en- 

 titled to a Scotch earldom, and had at one time serious thoughts 

 of laying claim to it. " But," said he to his intimate friend, the 

 late Duke of Gordon, " should I, as the Earl of Monteith and 

 Ayr, be able to drive the Defiance ?" " Why," replied the duke, 

 " there is not much difference between an earl and a marquis, 



and as the Marquis of W drives the Brighton Defiance, I 



see no reason why you may not drive the Edinburgh Defiance. 

 At all events," continued the duke, " if you should think it infra 

 dig. to be the coachman, you may undoubtedly be the guard." 

 His neighbour and friend Lord Panmure's answer, by letter, to 

 the same question, was by no means amiss. It was this : 

 " Dear Barclay, I see no objection to your driving the Defiance 

 when you are the Earl of Monteith and Ayr, and I will be your 

 guard." David Roup, the coachman, and the Captain have 

 been the occasion of some good anecdotes. On one occasion, 

 the Captain was descending a hill with the Defiance, at the bot- 

 tom of which was a toll bar, and having a stiff-necked off-wheel 

 horse, that would not answer to the whip, he went much too 

 near to the gate-post to be pleasant. " Close shaving that ! " 

 said the Captain to David, who sat behind him on the roof. 

 "Close shavirf /" exclaimed David, " and what the deil's the 

 use o ; close shavin' when the gateway's gude twanty feet wide .!" 

 It cannot be supposed that the Captain has been much of a 

 gainer by the Defiance, considering trie great length of ground 

 that he horses it, and the pace it travels at ; but it has afforded 

 him much amusement, and the establishment of it was a truly 

 patriotic act. " Does the coach pay you, Barclay ?' said a friend 

 to him one day, who sat beside him on the bench. " I believe 

 it does, indeed, replied the Captain, slapping his hand on his 



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