THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 



after hunting, when he may be called the oracle of the Held. 

 " Which is the best way ^ " says one. " Ask Robert Cannons," 

 is the answer invariably given. Then his coolness, when 

 hounds are running, also astonishes me. He never appears 

 to be in a hurry, much less in a flutter ; and I have already 

 deriv^ed more instruction from seeing him ride to hounds than 

 I have hitherto derived from all former experience. And, 

 added to all these good (pialities, as a horseman in the field, 

 he has the most beautiful and light hand on his horse I have 

 ever yet beheld ; he never is seen quarrelling with, or molest- 

 ing him in any way, but, as though they were incorporated 

 with each other, they go sailing along, like a ship before the 

 Avind, and very nearly as straight. In fact, few fences can 

 stop this fine sportsman — for such he likewise is — by reason 

 of the weight of metal himself and his horses oppose to 

 them ; and it is astonishing how few falls he gets, taking the 

 season throughout, in which he never misses a day at the 

 cover side. Nor is it only in Warwickshire that he shines. 

 I was told that, one day last season, he was quite a leading 

 man in a severe burst over Leicestershire with the Cottesmore 

 hounds, although he got a very indifi:erent start. He is, of 

 course, well mounted, and is occasionally ofiered immense 

 prices for his horses, which, however, he generally declines. 

 He has now two horses — the Conqueror and Knowsley, the 

 latter an entire horse — for which I would willingly give him 

 1000 guineas, could I conveniently spare the money. But 

 as I have taken upon mj^self to sketch the characters of these 

 gentlemen, I must not stop at their mere accomplishments in 

 the field. They are all that is amiable and delightful in 

 private life, and their hospitality has no bounds. For 

 instance, it was only last week that I myself made one of a 

 dozen sportsmen — ten in scarlet, and two in black coats — 

 that turned out each morning, equipped for the field, having 

 been domiciled under their roof for a week, and fed with the 

 best of everything. 



' We have likewise two very celebrated sportsmen in this 

 country, whose names stand high in Leicestershire ; namely, 

 John Halls and John Lock wood. The former is one of the 

 very best of the gentlemen jockeys at Bibury, and the latter 

 remarkable for the high prices for which he has sold his 

 horses, after distinguishing themselves under his weight — 



257 R 



