72 SPORTING PARSONS OF THE OLD SCHOOL : 



which, under his direction, Underwood, the breaker of 

 Billesdon, would handle. About 1869 a welcome windfall, 

 in the shape of a substantial legacy, enabled the Vicar to 

 disburse a goodly number of bank notes of different values 

 amono;st his tradesmen in Leicester. — In those days " Cash 

 Stores " had not come into vogue ; a pleasant relationship 

 existed between the shopkeeper and his customer, who 

 could always depend upon his requirements receiving 

 personal attention, and he himself civility and respect. — A 

 handful of the new, and therefore clean. Bank of England 

 notes were, for convenience, deposited by the Vicar in his 

 silk hat ! and as his reverence made his way from shop 

 to shop it happened that, unmindful of its precious con- 

 tents, in taking it off to salute a friend, a shower of notes 

 fluttered to the ground ; but the amusement of passers-by 

 was as nothing compared to what, had they been present, 

 would have been the astonishment of anyone acquainted with 

 the usually impecunious state of the Vicar's exchequer ! ! 



The notes restored without loss — this time to the Vicar's 

 pocket — the Vicar soon became an interested spectator at 

 the sale of horses held by that genial expert " Bob " 

 Warner, in the Bell Hotel yard. After a prehminary 

 inspection, selection, and " trot up and down," the hammer 

 would fall to the nod of the Vicar, who from this source, 

 coupled with the not wholly disinterested assistance of 

 Catlin the dealer, soon succeeded in installing a nag 

 wherever a stable could be requisitioned in the village; the 

 extremely meagre stable accommodation at the Vicarage 

 (even though the coal-house was stripped of its contents 

 to make way for a pony) being totally inadequate to cope 

 with the increase in the " stud." It was then we boys had 

 the time of our lives ! 



Having ridden and shot in the neighbourhood for so 

 many years, it would hardly be an exaggeration to say that 

 the Vicar knew every field and hedge for miles around, 

 and pretty nearly on which side to look for the ditch ; the 

 most likely side for a fox to break cover and the point 



