Sir TCicbarfc Sutton 403 



in a better place than other people, was quite extra- 

 ordinary, for he invariably headed the field. He had 

 the eye of a hawk, and like that bird, could indeed 

 make havoc amongst the partridges. Often has he been 

 shooting close to Newmarket Heath during the October 

 meetings, when the birds were so wild that most persons 

 deemed it useless to go out, and gone home with a bag 

 of twenty-five or thirty brace. He was once induced, 

 from curiosity, to enter upon a pigeon-match which 

 came off at Canwick Common about a mile from 

 Lincoln ; he was then defeated by his friend Com- 

 modore Hare ; they both shot well the latter gentle- 

 man having been a lover of gunpowder ever since the 

 time when he tried so much of it in the Peninsular 

 War. This gentlemen also gave an excellent recipe 

 for curing indigestion : it was, ' Drink two bottles of 

 port after dinner, get a bad fall out hunting, have your 

 head broken and be trepanned' On being told that 

 was a pleasant thing, he merely added laconically, 

 ' Cured mine.' Perhaps as extraordinary a shot as 

 was ever heard of was made by Sir R. Sutton, when 

 out with his friend Mr. Caldwell, of Hilborough. A 

 shower came on, and as they were taking shelter under 

 a hedge, Sir Richard, sitting as usual upon his shooting 

 pony, had his gun in his right hand, whilst he held 

 an umbrella over his head with the left ; a covey of 

 birds rose at about thirty yards' distance, when, still 

 holding the umbrella, he killed and bagged a bird with 

 each barrel ! The number of pheasants, etc., killed on 

 his estates at Lingford, Tofts and Cranwich have been 

 so often published that it is needless to repeat them here. 



