322 THE POST AND THE PADDOCK. 



Tom, although tradition has somehow or other invo- 

 luntarily connected the two. Long head, thin neck, 

 great shoulders,, very deep back ribs and immense 

 quarters, on a dark bay sixteen-hand frame, were his 

 leading features ; and Gloucestershire hunting men 

 still say that they never hope to see such a model again. 

 Besides these, the Earl has ridden Lunatic, Man- 

 chester, and Harkaway, a very smart Irish horse, 

 but with hardly the power of the other two, Meg (a 

 grey mare), Pedestrian, and The Farmer. The last- 

 named, who always ranked in his noble owner's esti- 

 mation next to Blood Royal, was purchased from 

 Captain Marriott, of Avon Bank, near Pershore, and 

 was a fifteen-two hunter model, remarkably beautiful 

 in every part except his ears. A powerful dark- 

 chestnut gelding, Radical, by Polygar, who stood over 

 at the knee from four years old, was the apple of 

 Harry Ayris's eye, and carried him for ten seasons. 

 Among this noted huntsman's other first-class horses 

 were Vizor, by Smuggler; Queen of Diamonds, by 

 the King of Diamonds ; Downright, by Bobadil, the 

 very type of a bay hunter, with nothing white about 

 him, but a few odd hairs in his tail ; his half-sister, 

 Drawing Room, by Maresfield ; Michael Wood, by 

 The Sailor out of a hackney mare ; and Sapphaddin, 

 by Saracen, who is now standing at Berkeley. 



From Gloucestershire we must now cross the 

 country to Staffordshire, where Old King Cole begot 

 a generation of fifteen and a-half black-legged bays, 

 rare jumpers, but with high tempers and heavy fore- 

 hands, and not fit for hunting work much before 

 tfiey were six. Accident, who was by Camel out of 

 Miss Breeze by Phantom, had no great chance, as 

 cart-mares and common stock principally attended 

 his levees ; still, as a general thing, the produce 

 were big good class bays and browns, with abund- 

 ance of symmetry and bone, which showed that the 

 old Phantom blood would tell. Parson Harvey 



