BREEDING OF HUNTERS. 241 



specimen of a grey hunter-sire. When his day was 

 over, Mr. Richard Ferguson kept up the grey charter 

 by buying Grey Wiganthorpe out of Yorkshire, and 

 followed up this infusion of the Comus blood into 

 Cumberland, with successive strains of Buzzard, 

 Muley, and Venison, through Phoenix, Galaor, and 

 Ravenhill. Lanercost was foaled in the west of the 

 county, not far from the farm-house where old 

 Velocipede died in 1850, and won his first victories 

 under Harry Edwards, (who was then a Carlisle V.S.) 

 for Mr. John Ramshay, of Naworth Barns, who 

 owned his sire, Liverpool, and also bred and ran the 

 iron-legged Naworth and Mosstrooper. British Yeo- 

 man, who is, to our minds, the best-looking Liverpool 

 horse left, and won the Royal Agricultural blood- 

 prize last year, still sticks to Cumberland, where his 

 stock are so much valued that his owner lately refused 

 500 gs. from an Irish breeder for him. The hunters 

 by him, so far, have been of a capital stamp. Mr. 

 James Fawcett, of Scaleby Castle, and Mr. R. Fergu- 

 son, send several young bay coach- horses to the New- 

 castle and Yorkshire fairs ; and Mr. Charles Philips, of 

 Cracrop, in the same county, is indisputably the most 

 successful English breeder of the pure Clydesdale 

 cart-horses. One of his two-year-olds was so much 

 fancied when he arrived in Canada that he was sold 

 at 4s. 8d. per pound, and realized upwards of .400 

 on his weight. This is " Mr. BriggsV querist over 

 again " How much a pound if I take the whole of 

 him ?" The grey sixteen-three Merry Tom, who has 

 scaled one ton four stone, and measured 8 ft. 11 in. 

 round is the best Mr. Philips ever had ; he has 

 already won four medals and about j240 in cash, 

 and was selected by a Scotch club for three seasons, 

 to travel in the neighbourhood of Glasgow, where 

 the rarest Clydesdale horses are to be found. 



The Shropshire men are rather short of hunter- 

 sires, and are more careful, both as to pedigree and 



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