244 Ifcfnas of tbe 1Rofc, IRtfle, ant> (Bun 



His walking feats were even more remarkable than his 

 exploits in the saddle ; whilst as a shot with gun, rifle, 

 and pistol he was acknowledged to be the best man of 

 his own day or perhaps of any other. 



There are fortunately abundant materials for compiling 

 a biographical sketch of Horatio Ross as a sportsman, 

 for he supplied his old friend Mr. C. A. Wheeler, 

 the author of " Sportascrapiana," with copious details 

 of his various achievements, and I shall therefore let 

 him tell his own story to a large extent. 



He was the only son of Hercules Ross, of Rossie 

 Castle, Forfarshire, an intimate friend of Nelson's, and 

 the boy was named after the great Admiral, who was one 

 of his godfathers. September 5th, 1801, was Horatio's 

 natal day. It is a curious fact that Horatio Ross was 

 as terrified when first introduced to firearms as the 

 present Earl Spencer, " one of England's hardest riders," 

 was when first mounted on a pony. The following 

 amusing story is told of his terror. In the beginning of 

 the last century, when the volunteers were first raised to 

 oppose Napoleon's expected invasion, Horatio's father 

 was colonel of a regiment raised on the Rossie and 

 adjacent estates. When the regiment was about to 

 receive a set of colours the Colonel was anxious that his 

 little son, then six years of age, should present them. 

 Everything went satisfactorily until just before the 

 ceremony of presentation, when a salute was fired. The 

 noise so frightened the little Horatio that he immediately 

 bolted across the lawn into the house and hid himself. 

 This so enraged the Colonel that he ordered his valet to 

 fire a gun several times a day immediately over the 



