20 



(ip at Kinning Park, near tlie present Clydesdale Cricket 

 Ground. As far as I can recollect, Reindeer won the chief 

 event, with Bob Thyne up (a first-rate man in his day). 

 Reindeer afterwards won some matches at Houston against a 

 roan horse, ridden by Noble. I recollect going down one day, 

 expecting to see a match between Biuks the Bagman and old 

 Isaac (his first appearance in Scotland). Binks failed to 

 appear, and Isaac cantered round the course. Talking of 

 Isaac, I recollect one day at Bogside Meeting (when the late 

 Lord Eglinton was alive), in a steeple-chase refusing the 

 brook, and actually had to be backed into it! but got out and 

 won the race — ridden by Jack Huater — beating a good horse, 

 Hero, ridden by Colonel Campbell. This Meeting was given 

 up on the death of the late Lady Eglinton, but has since been 

 revived by the present popular Earl. There used to be some 

 good fun at Kilmarnock steeple-chases. As there was no 

 railway in those days, we always drove down, sending on fresh 

 horses to King's Wells, where very often a sporting event 

 came off, early in the morning (which shall be nameless), 

 attended by not the dite of society. Mr. Hew Young had a 

 very good horse, called the " Dentist," which won several 

 races ; Mr. Maxwell, also, won with the " Doctor," and Mr. 

 Norman Buchanan with " Escape." Many a jolly drive we 

 had up and down, but most of the genuine good souls that 

 were wont to join us are now dead or scattered over the 

 world, and Kilmarnock steeple-chases are now no more. 



A funny event happened one day, just after the horses had 

 crossed the brook. The late Sandy Fletcher tried to jump it, 

 went in a header, and had to drive home soaked through. 

 In those hardy days one did not care for a wetting, and a 

 story is told of a well-known old Glasgow sportsman, that 

 after dancing all night he came home, changed his clothes, 

 went down to Kilmarnock to hunt with Tait's harriers, had a 

 header in the Pow burn, dined at Kilmarnock, and drove 

 back to Glasgow without changing. Times have changed for 

 the better since then, but I am afraid our hunting jeunesse 

 dor^e are not so hardy as their forefathers were, although I 



