50 TALES OF THE TURF AND THE CHASE. 



on several occasions employed to recover the bodies of drowned 

 persons. We have already mentioned his aptitude for music, 

 and it was as a musician that he elected to make his livelihood. 

 In those days, when London was practically as far off from York- 

 shire folk as New York now is, every country town of any size 

 had its 'season,' and one of the great features of the ' season' 

 were the ' Assemblies,' which took place regularly two or three 

 times a week. They were generally held in large rooms in the 

 principal inns, each inn having its ' Assembly' in turn. Dancing 

 of the old-fashioned country sort was the great attraction, and 

 the dancers were satisfied with a band of three fiddlers, or some- 

 times only two. Jack Metcalfwas appointed to the post of chief 

 fiddler, or ' first violinist,' as he would nowadays probably call 

 himself, to the Knaresborough ' Assemblies,' and was immensely 

 popular with all the innkeepers, who gave him free quarters for 

 the ' season.' He now took to ' cocking' as a sport, kept cocks 

 himself, and seldom failed to put in an appearance when a main 

 was fought within a distance of a hundred miles. He would 

 place himself on the lowest seat in the cock-pit, with some trusty 

 friend by his side, who was a good judge of the sport, and who 

 not only kept him posted in all the varying phases of the com- 

 bat, but by significant nudges enabled him to bet or hedge as 

 might be required. He was for a long time a most enthusiastic 

 ' cocker,' and, to judge by the expression on his face, any one 

 would have imagined that he enjoyed the sport more than those 

 who could actually see it. 



His fame as a musician and as a jovial sportsman spread to 

 Harrogate. The ' first violin' at the Harrogate ' Assemblies' 

 was nearly ninety years of age, and the young people who footed 

 it on the light fantastic toe found his playing much too slow to 

 suit their tastes. Overtures were accordingly made to Jack 

 Metcalf to take the place of this dodderer. Jack accepted them, 

 and was soon as popular in Harrogate as he had been in Knares- 

 borough. The nobility and gentry took an interest in him, and 

 gave him their sole patronage, so that what with private and 

 public engagements he had both his hands and his pockets full. 

 Having plenty of ready money, he was able to gratify his taste 

 for sport more extensively than before. He bought a horse, 

 which he ran at all the local meetings, and which won him a 

 good many small plates ; moreover, he took to coursing, and still 

 retained his fondness for hunting. In fact Master Jack, from 

 mixing so much among the gentry, began to affect the manners 



