FAVOURITE HORSES AND HOUNDS. I39 



number of horses kept by Mr. Tailby, for the use of the 

 huntsman and hunt-servants, numbered about twenty-five, 

 and he usually had a stud of about ten hunters in his 

 own private stable. Despite being a light-weight, Mr. 

 Tailby invariably rode big weight-carrying horses, and — 

 although the saying is that whereas ' every mare is a horse, 

 every horse is not a mare,' we will first mention three of 

 his favourite mares, viz.. Black Bess, Rosie, and Slouch ; 

 from the latter, Mr. Tailby bred something pretty good. 

 Hobgoblin, Stargazer, Paddy, Cariboo, Never Despair, 

 Brown Stout, and Jack o' Lantern, all had distinguished 

 careers. The number of hounds in Mr. Tailby's kennels 

 varied from between seventy to eighty couples, and the 

 memory of the three best he ever bred — along with the 

 horses, whose names are given above — are perpetuated 

 upon canvas, and hang in the Hall at Skeffington. 



In alluding to the late Capt. ' Bay ' Middleton's acting 

 as pilot to the Empress of Austria, I omitted to mention 

 that on that auspicious occasion, Mr. Tailby had the 

 honour of presenting the brush to Her Imperial Majesty. 



Mr. Tailby always attributed a great measure of his 

 success as a Master to the ability and admirable manner 

 in which he was assisted by his huntsmen, whippers-in and 

 the hunt-servants generally, and recalls them all with 

 pleasure. 



He describes Tom Day, who was 60 years of age when 

 he came to Mr. Tailby, as an excellent huntsman. John 

 Goddard, 1857 — 64, as a splendid man in the saddle, but a 

 little impatient. Frank Goodall, always 'got there,' and 

 amongst whippers-in, Dick Christian v/as 'one of the best.' 



So fearless a rider as Mr. Tailby could not expect to 

 escape without accidents, but he was not one to ' trouble 

 trouble, till trouble troubled him,' and he regarded a broken 

 collar bone as quite a minor matter. Strange to say, the 

 most serious accident that ever befel him was not met with 



