TURF HISTORY. 3 



and fainter, since Mr. Ramsay died and Lord Eglin- 

 ton retired. The finest modern races in its calendar 

 are those between General Chasse and Inheritor at 

 Ayr, and Lanercost and Beeswing, twice in one 

 afternoon, at Kelso. Still, even then the plaided 

 and snooded spectators were anything but demon- 

 strative : the real current of their sporting being sets 

 towards "A Graham" and the slips, and Philip, 

 Chanticleer, and Zohrab sink into historical insigni- 

 ficance by the side of Waterloo, Gilbertfield, and 

 Hughie Graham. 



Seven or eight of the English counties seem to 

 care as little about race-horses as they do for griffins ; 

 and perhaps the most genuine Olympic taste is to be 

 found among the quoit-loving Cumbrians, in whose 

 Carlisle race -festivals wrestling plays a very promi- 

 nent part. Although their style is so widely differ- 

 ent to that of the Cornish men, who still hurl their 

 traditionary scorn at Devonshire, in the ballad, which 

 tells that 



" Abraham Cann is not the man 

 To wrestle with Polkinghorne," 



they are not one whit less enthusiastic in the praises 

 of Weightman, Chapman, Jackson of Kinneyside, 

 and the other " Belted Wills" of their ring ; and, in 

 fact, it is only when the afternoon is pretty far spent, 

 and his enraptured backers have borne off the prize- 

 belted victor to the booth which he specially deigns 

 to honour, that the starting-bell tinkles out its sum- 

 mons. The Northumbrian " black diamonds" have 

 always enjoyed most being above ground, in a clean 

 face and shirt, when X. Y. Z., Beeswing, or some other 

 local star, required the stimulus of their gruff voices 

 "in t'coop;" and it would have been as judicious a 

 step to abuse Edwin Forrest's acting before a " Bow- 

 ery boy," as to breathe a word against "fould mare's" 

 fame, when one of them was within ear-shot. The 



