Colonel ZCbomas ZTbornton 59 



Prince Charlie's men, who were hunting for him, on 

 a wrong scent. He had his revenge at Culloden ; and 

 when he returned to England he showed his gratitude 

 to his preserver by settling upon her a handsome 

 annuity. 



In the Gentleman's Magazine for 1758 I find an en- 

 thusiastic Yorkshire bard addressing verses to William 

 Thornton, of Thornville, which commence : 



In arts and arms O thou so lately try'd, 

 Scourge of the rebels and thy country's pride, 



and end with : 



See Rome's lov'd Brutus live again in thee ! 



This might seem to intimate that William Thornton 

 was a man of considerable note, but possibly some 

 allowance must be made for poetic fervour and local 

 patriotism. 



In 1756 this same William Thornton, of Thornville, 

 married the daughter of John Myster, Esq., of Epsom, 

 a lady of remarkable beauty, who, in the following 

 year, bore him a son in London Thomas, the great 

 sportsman with whom I am now concerned. The 

 boy was sent to school at the Charterhouse, and 

 thence, at the age of fourteen, to the University of 

 Glasgow to complete his education. He had been two 

 years at Glasgow when his father died suddenly 

 at the age of fifty, but he continued his university 

 studies for three years longer. Young Thornton was, 

 even at this early period of his life, distinguished for 

 his zealous and enthusiastic pursuit of field sports, 



