HIM ROUS NORTHERN TOUR. 233 



for, stopping short at Chester, he mounted the box of the Lon- 

 don mail, for the purpose of seeing a fight that was to take place 

 the next day but one, somewhere in the neighbourhood of Lon- 

 don. He saw the fight, and returning on the box of the Shrews- 

 bury mail, and walking thence to Wrexham, appeared in the 

 mess-room of his regiment on the fifth night. But the hardships 

 he endured on this expedition must prove unendurable by any 

 other man. For example to avoid the suspicion of his Colonel 

 he did not even take a great-coat with him, much less had he 

 any change of clothes ; and before he reached Lichfield those on 

 his back were saturated with rain and sleet. He dried them oti 

 his back when he got to London, and straightway went to the 

 fight. On his return to the metropolis he went into a hot bath, 

 and having had two hours' sleep in a bed, started on the box of 

 that night's mail for Shrewsbury. It should here be observed, 

 that in those days the boxes of the mail were not on springs ! 



When speaking of the Captain, Pierce Egan thus writes : 

 " Captain Barclay's mode of living is plain and unaffected. His 

 table is always abundantly supplied, and he is fond of society. 

 His hospitality is of that frank and open kind which sets every 

 man at his ease." Nothing can be more true than this. At Ury 

 the good old-fashioned roast-and-boiled cookery is the order of 

 the day ; and a man may as well expect to find the cook's shoes 

 in reality as any of your " quelques choses" on his table. A pot 

 of brown stout, or home-brewed ale, is likewise an invariable 

 accompaniment of the smoking sirloin, or leg of fine new Leices- 

 ter wether. u Weel, Jock," said a neighbour to a celebrated 

 Forfarshire yeoman, "what did ye see at the Captain's ?" (He 

 had gone to his annual sale of stock, when, of course, the Captain 

 gives a spread.) " Why," replied Jock, " I saw what I ne'er saw 

 afore. / saw tzua geese on one dish" 



The Captain, like myself, keeps early hours. With him, indeed, 

 they are indispensable, as he makes a point of walking to Stone- 

 haven, two miles off. every morning by seven o'clock, and the 

 exercise of the day takes him early to his couch at night. His 

 usual dinner-hour is three o'clock, to enable him to walk to see 

 his coach again in the evening ; but this day being what is called 

 a " company day," six was the hour we dined at. Amongst the 

 party were the Marquis of Carmarthen heir apparent to his 

 Grace the Duke of Leeds who lives hard by ; and Captains 

 Musgrave, Delme, and Gage, of the I4th Light Dragoons the 

 two latter being on a visit to the former, who had a house in 

 Captain Barclay's neighbourhood. And here again I made an 

 engagement which circumstances prevented my performing. It 

 was to accompany the Captain to Lord Carmarthen's on my 



