Old Time Northern Nimrods. 17 



quoting a portion of it here. The writer, after speaking of the 

 expanse of country in which Lord Darlington hunted, says : 



" To do all this he was so many weeks at Raby Castle, so many at 

 Catterick, or Newton House, near Bedale [where now lives that good 

 sportsman Mr. W. Russell], for the country around Boroughbridge, and 

 then went on to Bilham to hunt the now Badsworth country, which he 



continued to do till i8og, when he retired Northwards Hunting 



with him were Sir Harry Tempest Vane, who purchased ' Hambletonian,' 

 by ' King Fergus,' winner of the St. Leger, in 1795, from Sir Charles 

 Turner, and rode him in the Park on the Sunday after he won the 

 celebrated match over the B. C, for ^'3,000, in which Frank Buckle so 

 fairly out-generalled Fitzpatrick, who rode ' Diamond,' by making play 

 across the flat where Hambletonian's stride told, that it was said he won 

 the race rather than the horse, and the game little ' Diamond ' would even 

 then have beaten him had the winning post been slightly further off. The 

 descendants of the magnificent bay are well known in the hunting fields of 

 England through * Belzoni,' his great-grandson, who got more and better 

 hunters than any horse. 



" To return to the men of that day, another good one was Jack Read, 

 also Col. John Trotter, of Haughton-le-Skerne and afterwards Staindrop. 

 The father of John Trotter, M.D., of Durham, Dale Trotter, of Upleatham, 

 and Charles Trotter, of Stockton, all well known for inheriting their father's 

 love for horse and hound, was not only a contemporary but a regular man 

 with Lord Darlington. He walked 15 stone and always rode and hunted 

 thoroughbred stallions. Amongst these were ' Adonis,' ' Brown Bread,' 

 and ' Raby.' He rode them as chargers and they also covered mares 

 during the summer. He once bought a horse out of a plough team for 

 £^0, which he called ' Cincinnatus,' and sold her to Sir Mark Sykes for 

 600 guineas ; and Col. Healey (of the N. Yorks Militia) lived a great deal 

 at Middleton. He was a brother of the Capt. Healey who had only one arm, 

 also a wonderful horseman, and known as ' The Lasher,' The Duke of Leeds, 

 from Hornby Castle, Major St. Paul was another regular. The Hon. Col. 

 Arden, of Pepper Hall, brother of the well known Lord Alvanley, one of the 

 most witty men of his day ; Mr. Milbank, of Thorpe Perrow, a son-in-law of 

 the Duke, was always in front, as was also Mr. George Serginson, of Camp 

 Hill, near Bedale, when there was anything to do and near them Mr. 



