348 NIMROD'S NORTHERN TOUR. 



all to make a deal between the chesnut and the grey ? " (It was a nego- 

 ciation for an exchange for a horse of Mr. C's. not equal to his weight.) 

 ** Long odds against it, sir," replied Mr. Inglis; " I never sold half a 

 dozen hunters in my life, when more than one reputed judge was called 

 on to give an opinion of him." I do not know that I have hitherto made 

 mention of Sir John Hope, one of the noted sportsmen of Scotland, and 

 esteemed a superior judge of a hunter. Of this description of persons, 

 Sir John is one of the few opponents of the system I have recommended 

 for summering the hunter, still adhering to the grazing plan. I liked 

 his stamp of horses much, they being all well bred ; but as for the con- 

 dition of them, it was, to my eye, about as much like what it ought to 

 be, and what it is at Melton Mowbray, as chalk is like Cheshire cheese. 

 But Sir John does not go the Melton pace, so " n'importe,'^ as they say 

 on this side of the channel. Like myself, the worthy baronet is getting 

 slow, and from the same cause, for he's " na youth," as a farmer said of 

 him in my hearing. I had no opportunity of seeing his stud or his seat, 

 which is about ten miles from Edinburgh, but that was not his fault; 

 the death of a relation prevented his doing me the honour of receiving 

 me as his guest, during my stay in Edinburgh, as he was kind enough 

 to assure me, in person. 



I was nearly omitting a description of Williamson's crib, in the town 

 of Dalkeith. In his sitting room, upstairs, are many interesting objects, 

 several of which are highly complimentary to him. Of the following I 

 made a note : — A small painting of himself and a couple of favourite 

 hounds ; a portrait of his brother. Major Williamson, of the East India 

 Company's Service, in his regimentals ; the print of Mr. Ralph Lamb- 

 ton on Undertaker ; and a painting of the head of Darling, — I conclude a 

 leading hound, from the couplet written beneath : — 



