

" Christopher Tttortb" 169 



or Jack Wilson of Magdalen." "The latter, at your 

 service," quoth the victor ; and the pair of them adjourned 

 to a neighbouring tavern and quaffed a friendly pot of 

 porter together. 



Among his pedestrian feats was a night walk from 

 London to Oxford in nine hours. He had been dining 

 in Grosvenor Square, and on his way home was insulted 

 by an impertinent fellow, whom he thrashed ; not 

 caring to be arrested for a street row, he started off just 

 as he was, in his dinner dress, for Oxford. 



There is, however, a certain vagueness about the 

 details of this and all the other walking feats of John 

 Wilson, and I cannot accept the times given for covering 

 the alleged distances as correct. In later days he once 

 walked seventy miles to be present at a Burns Anni- 

 versary Festival, and in referring to that fact his 

 daughter and biographer Mrs. Gordon says : 



"Of the Professor's walking feats I have not been 

 able to gather many authentic anecdotes. Mr. Aird 

 mentioned the fact quoted here in his speech at the 

 Burns Festival, and my brother writes me on the 

 subject : ' I have often heard him mention the following. 

 He once walked forty miles in eight hours ; but when or 

 where he did it I cannot recollect. On another occasion 

 he walked from Liverpool to Elleray within the four- 

 and-twenty hours. I do not know what the distance is, 

 but I think it must be somewhere about eighty miles. 

 You are correct about his walking from Kelso to 

 Edinburgh, forty miles, to attend a public dinner. It 

 was in 1822, when the king was there. Once, when 

 disappointed in getting a place in the mail from Penrith 



