JOHN F. HERRING 23 



His movements when he reached the famous 

 northern racincj centre seem to show that he had 

 no very definite idea as to the manner in which 

 he proposed to earn a HveHhood. He saw the 

 Duke of Hamilton's WilHam win the St. Leger, 

 and, impressed with the winner of the first race he 

 had ever seen in his Hfe, endeavoured to paint a 

 picture of the horse. In this he failed : it can be 

 imagined the work was a feeble attempt, as he 

 had yet to learn the anatomy of the horse and to 

 master subjects necessary for a picture. 



His next essay in art was of more modest descrip- 

 tion. Wandering through the town one day, he 

 saw in a coach-builder's shop a young man en- 

 deavouring to paint upon the door of a new coach 

 an equestrian portrait of the Duke of Wellington, 

 emblematical of the name of the vehicle — " Com- 

 mander-in-Chief." The young coach-painter was 

 trying to follow one of Aiken's sketches, but his 

 talents were unequal to the task of correctly 

 drawing a horse, and Herring observing it prof- 

 fered his services. His aid was accepted, and 

 he executed the commission so much to the satis- 

 faction of the young coach-painter that he was 

 employed to paint its insignia, a white lion and 

 a reindeer respectively, on the doors of the 

 " Royal Forester," another coach. 



Herring at this juncture would appear to 



