John Holt, of Tottenham 



I MADE the acquaintance of John Holt under curious 

 circumstances. I had reached that momentous epoch 

 in a young sportsman's life when he is permitted to 

 have a brand-new gun made for his own special use. 

 Hitherto I had shot with an old single gun, the stub- 

 twist barrel of which was worn so thin that in ramming 

 down the wad I often cut my finger. But it was a 

 rare good gun for shooting, and I remember with pride 

 to this day how I killed my first woodcock with it a 

 long and difficult shot and thereby " wiped the eyes " 

 of two veteran sportsmen who had missed clean. Con- 

 ceive the ecstasy of a boy of fifteen at accomplishing 

 such a feat ! 



In choosing a new gun I had been advised to 

 consult a well-known old sportsman living at Stone, in 

 Staffordshire, where I was then staying on a visit. This 

 veteran votary of sport was a miller, renowned 

 round all that country-side for his prowess with gun 

 and rifle. When I went to call on him, I found him 

 sitting on a bench in his back garden with a pea-rifle 

 on one side of him and a double-barrelled gun on the 



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