34 LIFE OF MYTTON. 



assorted mixture caused the deatli of a schoolfellow 

 of mine,* he carried a dish of filberts into the 

 drawing-room with him, for the purpose of "clearing 

 decks," as he said. Among other peculiarities, he 

 never carried a pocket-handkerchief, for he never 

 had occasion for the use of one ; he very rarely wore 

 gloves, for his hands were never cold ; and although 

 he never wore a watch, he always knew the hour. 



Mr. Mytton was a great favourite with the shop- 

 keepers of Shrewsbury and Oswestry, and among 

 others of a sporting hairdresser at Shrewsbury, to 

 whom he often gave a day's shooting. This man 

 was his chief purveyor of filberts, and having an 

 lunlimited order for the purchase of them about the 

 country, declared that, in one season, he sent to 

 Halston as viany as iwo carl-loads of I hem ! As 

 may be supposed, in return for pheasants and hares, 

 the barber's shop was now and then the scene of a 

 " lark." Entering it one evening, Mytton asked 

 what he could have to drink } but before an answer 

 could be given him, he snatched up a bottle of 



* When mentioning this fact, I was quite unconscious that General 

 WiUiams, who was present, was brother to the youth I alluded to. 

 " You are speaking of a brother of mine," said the General. " Volat 

 irrevocabile verbum ; " I had nothing left but to apologise. 



