34 ECHOES OF OLD COUNTY LIFE. 



on the great Reform Bill of 1832, party spirit ran 

 high, and the Tory and Whig gentry of the period 

 freely bandied about personalities, which, nearly always 

 witty and sharp, were sometimes characterized by the 

 most bitter taunts. In my boyhood, as I have said, I had 

 many opportunities in our old county town of Aylesbury 

 of enjoying the fun of being present on the nomination 

 day of both County and Borough. I have mentioned 

 the contest between " Little David " and the " Giant 

 Goliath/' at which, after a five days' poll of the Borough 

 and Hundreds,'Lord Kirkwall was defeated, and the two 

 Reform candidates, Lord Nugent and Mr. Rickford, 

 were elected. Lord Nugent was notorious for never 

 paying his tradesmen, and also for being fond of certain 

 members of the fair sex. His residence. The Lilies, 

 was about four miles from the town, and he was often 

 met, as he was riding in to complete his canvass, by 

 young men dressed in women's clothes, and curtseying 

 and ogling him as he passed up 'the streets ; and long 

 imaginary tradesmen's bills, unreceipted, were carried 

 before him and waved triumphantly in his face. These 

 pleasantries generally ended in a row and free fight, 

 the supporters of " Little David " as a rule proving 

 victorious. 



The Parliament did not last long, and on its disso- 

 lution, after the passing of the Reform Bill, the two 

 sitting members offered themselves for re-election, Mr. 

 Rickford receiving the second votes of both parties. 

 Mr. Winthrop Mackworth Praed, then a young barrister 

 on the Norfolk Circuit, and very popular in Aylesbury, 

 entered the lists against Lord Nugent, nothing daunted 



