37*0 THE POST AND THE PADDOCK. 



Meltone." Then they sent him to the tailor as lived 

 at South Croxton, to get his breeches made; it was 

 on a Sunday too, after church ; but off he would go. 

 When he comes back, he said, ' ' When I did leave the 

 town I did come to a door ; de horse, he would not 

 open de door, so I make him jump over de door, and 

 as I come back, I did jump all de doors." He was 

 very fond of hunting me, he was. The bog ground 

 once broke and let me in. " I brought van Chris- 

 tian to de ground" if he didn't begin that way with 

 his groom before he got off his horse at night. The 

 name pleased him, you see. 



A regular good 'un Lord Rancliffe was across 

 country; many's the horse Fve bought for him, poor 

 man ! Captain White, too, he's a splendid horseman, 

 but he'd not go through such a hard day as Sir James 

 Musgrave. Sir James, he'd make a point, but he'd 

 never persevere to catch hounds ; if ever he meant 

 going, no one beat him. Such tackle ! horses like 

 peas ; old-fashioned ones, with short bang-tails. No 

 one ever saw Sir James with a small-hipped horse ; 

 horses will always jump with great hips and rumps, 

 and hocks a little in. Then there's Sir Thomas 

 Whichcote : there have been precious few finer riders 

 than him in Leicestershire; and such a clipping stud 

 of horses ! My word, I broke in the first hunter he 

 ever had ; that 'ud be when he was at Glaston. 



The savagest horse I ever saw was that Euxton of 

 Captain White's, and Manchester next to him. The 

 Captain was a great friend to me. I mind when he 

 sent for me to Euxton, he says, " Dick, if he falls 

 with you, mind you sit him, or he'll worry you." 

 The bridle got off his ears, to begin with, but I got 

 that put right ; then he bolts up Adcock Lane, and 

 kicks my hat off my head. What work we had with 

 him, to be sure ! Then we two tried him a lark 

 across the country to Belvoir; at first he wouldn't 

 face a bulfinch a bit; then he jumped through them 



