TRAINERS AND JOCKEYS. 35 



had more songs made in his honour than even Kirton, 

 who won more gold cups than any of them, and in 

 spite of heavy "wasting," not only for the saddle 

 but in a Chancery suit, lived till he was 93. Pratt, 

 who died within three months of him at Newmarket, 

 was only four years his junior ; and Eclipse-Oakley, 

 Dick Goodison, South, and Dennis Fitzpatrick were 

 among his principal Heath opponents. Besides these, 

 there was William Peirse, who in early life played 

 Tom Thumb at a strolling theatre, and was picked 

 up as he ran wild about the Turk's Head yard, at 

 Newcastle, by a relative of Lord Darlington's, whose 

 horses he trained and rode for many years. Among 

 the other "Northern lights" were John Shepherd, 

 who was reputed the best four-mile man of the day, 

 and was transplanted from Yorkshire to Newmarket 

 to ride for Lord Foley ; Ben Smith who was so ter- 

 rible in the all-black of Lord Strathmore . William 

 Clift, the pet of Wentworth, and the only man who 

 perhaps ever had pensions from three different mas- 

 ters, or won the Derby " in a trot " ; and John Jack- 

 son, whom Peirse considered the best horseman of 

 his time bar old Chifney, and whose only bitter recol- 

 lections of his fine career were his misunderstanding 

 about Marion with Mr. Watt, and his dreary anx- 

 ious wait for the chaise, which never came, when he 

 was retained to ride Filho da Puta for his match at 

 Newmarket. Thomas Goodisson, the son of the 

 great " Dick," was put up in his place on that day, 

 and Jackson had the consolation of hearing that he 

 had been beaten by a head. Goodisson was, how- 

 ever, by no means inferior to the Northallerton crack. 

 The Duke of York was especially partial to him, and 

 he won perhaps more races at Newmarket, on the 

 Duke of Grafton's horses, than any man of his time. 

 JR-obert Johnson, who gave up riding at the close of 

 1836, and handed over Beeswing (whose sire, Dr. 

 Syntax, he had ridden with wonderful success) into 



