MR. KIRBY AND THE FOREIGNERS. 81 



This horse was originally bought by Dr. Hill, of 

 Hinckley, for a few pounds, as he stood ragged and 

 forlorn from the Welsh hills, and tied to the rails in 

 Leicester market. His new owner, who was no 

 feather-weight, little thought what " a proud sea " he 

 was bestriding, till he suddenly took the bit in his 

 teeth, when he heard the music of the Atherstone 

 near Hinckley, and carried him over the hills and far 

 away from his patients to Loughboro' ! However, a 

 thorough-bred chesnut was made, some forty years 

 ago, the scape- goat for all the troubles which the 

 temper of his race has inflicted on men. His master 

 was an eccentric squire, whose ire had been specially 

 excited against the horse for not winning a race in 

 which he had started dead lame. After a formal 

 trial, the poor wretch was sentenced to seven years' 

 transportation, which was subsequently altered to 

 imprisonment for life. He was thrust into a loose 

 box, and kept in perpetual darkness ; no straw was 

 given him, his corn was interdicted, and just enough 

 hay and water to keep life and body together was 

 handed to him through an aperture. No one cared 

 or dared to interfere, and not until the old man died 

 was the door opened and his victim allowed to wade 

 forth, after fifteen months, into the light of day. 



