Colonel Ubomas ZTbornton 73 



conceive," he says, " the great pleasure and elegance 

 of shooting depends on the good order in which the 

 dogs are kept." His own were perfectly broken, and 

 it must have been a treat to shoot over them. Some- 

 times the Colonel combined fishing, shooting, and 

 hawking in one day's sport. One entry in his diary 

 records twenty-two moor-game to the gun, three to 

 the hawks, and eighteen brace of trout. 



Soon after his return from this famous sporting tour 

 in the north, which, however, was only one of many, 

 Colonel Thornton sold his paternal estate of Thornville, 

 and purchased from H.R.H. the Duke of York Allerton 

 Maulevcrer, which he rechristened Thornville Royal. 

 There was a tradition that the Colonel won this estate 

 from the Duke at cards, but that was not the case, 

 The covenant of purchase is extant by which Colonel 

 Thornton agrees to pay H.R.H. the Duke of York 

 110,000 for Allerton Mauleverer 10,000 down on 

 signing the covenant, 20,000 ten days later on enter- 

 ing into possession, 30,000 on New Michaelmas Day. 

 and 50,000 any time within the year. The Duke 

 behaved very shabbily, and tried to trick the vendee 

 out of 5,000 ; but the spirited Yorkshire sportsman 

 would not submit to be swindled even by a Prince of 

 the Blood. H.R.H. was ignominiously worsted, and 

 never again did he enjoy the hospitality of the master 

 of Thornville Royal. 



But the Duke had his revenge some three years 

 later, when Colonel Thornton was court-martialled for 

 allowing himself to be drawn in his carriage into camp 

 by the soldiers of his regiment, with whom he was 



