io8 GUN, RIFLE, AND HOUND. 



In England we are used to seeing a certain class 

 of sportsmen no longer young and not too desperate 

 thrusters who can afford to pay a round figure for 

 a safe conveyance, hunt day after day, and perhaps 

 not have a fall in the season. Nothing struck me 

 more in Ireland than the sight of such Nimrods often 

 with dirty backs. The explanation was simple ; it 



always began : "It wasn't the horse's fault, but 



there was a binder on the bank, or the bank broke, 

 or no matter what. The fact remains that there are 

 more falls on the other side of the Channel, and that 

 not only among the young, active, and not too wealthy, 

 but also among their seniors, who fall less lightly and 

 can afford to pay for safety. 



Now what was the best run I ever saw in Kildare ? 

 As a real fast spin ending with blood, nothing, I think, 

 that I saw can touch a gallop we had from Gingers- 

 town Gorse one day just before the opening of the 

 legitimate season, when they raced from that gorse 

 for five-and-thirty minutes and killed in the laurels 

 at Landestown House. That day is impressed on 

 my memory by the recollection of the fact that a 

 horse of mine had the last of that run absolutely to 

 himself, although (worse luck !) he was not carrying 

 me. Nor was I there to see his prowess, having 

 fallen a victim to that old Kildare trap, a little bank 

 and a big ditch beyond. Although by a violent 

 effort the mare cleared it, she overjumped herself 

 and rolled head over heels with me into the field 

 beyond. My left stirrup hung me up, but a Good 

 Samaritan came to the rescue ere more harm was 



