48 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER 



called upon to reduce himself, as lie could ride seven 

 stone eleven pounds with ease. He continued riding 

 in public until past his sixty-fifth year, and his nerve 

 was good even to the last, although, as might be 

 expected, he was latterly shy of a crowd, and gene- 

 rally cast an eye to the state of the legs and feet 

 when asked to ride a horse he did not know. 



But it is not only in public but in private life 

 that Buckle stood well. He was a kind father and 

 husband, and a good master ; and his acts of charity 

 were conspicuous for a person in his situation of 

 life, who might be said to have gotten all he pos- 

 sessed first by the sweat of his brow and then at the 

 risk of his life. He was a great patron of the sock 

 and buskin, and often bespoke plays for the night 

 in countrj^ towns. He was a master of hounds, a 

 breeder of greyhounds, fighting cocks, and bull-dogs, 

 and always celebrated for his hacks. In the language 

 of the stud-book, his first wife had no produce, 

 but out of the second he had several children. We 

 may suppose he chose her as he would a race-horse, 

 for she was not only very handsome, but very good. 

 He left three sons comfortably and respectably settled 

 in life — one a solicitor, one a druggist, and the other 

 a brewer. ' Young Buckle was his nephew, and 

 considered a fair jockey.' ^ 



No man experienced more than Buckle both the 



' Nimrodj The Chase, the Tnrf, and the Road. 



