1 82 The Post and the Paddock. 



him some ; but woe betide the unhappy wight who 

 dares to repudiate such a debt ! Now that railroads 

 are established, their path from town to town has been 

 very much smoothed, and many of the " leaders of the 

 circuit" travel thousands of miles during the year on 

 the rails alone. When they walk, they generally do 

 so in gangs of twenty each, the women sometimes 

 clubbing together to hire a cart ; but the gentler sex 

 seem to step along quite as briskly as their compa- 

 nions, who have no reason to indorse the sentiment 

 which a sour rustic once made to us, viz., " That he 

 would sooner take four umbrellas, and be bound to carry 

 them all, than walk one female to the races'' They 

 usually walk about eight miles before breakfast, and 

 then adjourn to some publichouse, and refresh them- 

 selves with bread and cheese ; and in this fashion they 

 jog on comfortably about five-and-twenty miles per 

 day. Luggage is not a thing they much affect ; and, 

 in fact, two shirts and a " shimmy" is about the regu- 

 lation package for a man and his wife, though Fair 

 Helen and Co.'s wardrobe, is no doubt, far more ex- 

 tensive. They affect butter more than meat, and it is 

 a singular fact that there is no sacrifice which poor 

 people would not undergo rather than give up butter. 

 Beefsteaks is their next " vanity ;" but the majority 

 live pretty carefully, and lay by something in store 

 for the winter months. Such of the men as follow the 

 hounds are of course never out of work, except during 

 a frost ; but the remainder are pretty hard set, and as 

 steeple-chases are fast passing away, they are forced 

 to frequent fairs, vend pencils, pincushions, and all 

 such gimcracks. For races themselves they care very 

 little ; and one of them told us that he never left off 

 his business to look at any race, except it was the 

 Derby, St. Leger, or Ascot Cup. 



They look sadly down, in accordance with the old 

 orange-woman versus apple-woman principle, on the 

 other "professors" who attend the racecourse. The 



