FOX-HUNTING RECOLLECTIONS 21 



his rider's neck. After this the authorities 

 thought it high time to substitute white posts 

 and rails for the old ropes, and more modern 

 stands were erected. 



Who that once knew George Payne could 

 ever forget him ? A man of Herculean frame, 

 with emphatic voice and expression, whose 

 company was much sought for ; jovial and 

 humorous, with a fund of strange anecdotes, 

 frequently against himself. I never saw him 

 anywhere except in frock-coat with high hat 

 and the inevitable deep neckcloth of black and 

 white (his racing colours). Twice Master of the 

 Pytchley, and an owner of racehorses ever since 

 he came of age in 1825, he started with a large 

 fortune in addition to his Sulby estate in North- 

 amptonshire, but there was little left in his later 

 years. Still, no misfortunes could damp his 

 spirits; to the end he remained gay and joyous 

 as ever, and it might have been said of him when 

 he died in 1878 that his motto for life had been 



"Laugh, and the whole world will laugh with you; 

 Sigh — and you may sigh alone." 



