354 VICES AND DEFECTS OF THE HORSE. 



up from grass, he in an instant threw the man down with the greatest violence, pitch- 

 ing him several yards over his head ; and alter that, he threw every one that attempted 

 to get on his back. If he could not throw his rider, he would throw himself down. 

 We could do nothing with him, and I was obliged at last to sell him to go in a stage- 

 coach.' " 



In the next story. Jumper's counterpart and superior, the Irish Whisperer, is brought 

 on the stage, and although he performed wonders, he could not radically cure a restive 

 horse. " At the Spring Meeting of 1804,- Mr. Whalley's King Pippin was brought 

 on the Curragh of Kildare to run. He was a horse of the most extraordinary savage 

 and vicious disposition. His particular propensity was that oi flying at and worry- 

 ing any person who came within his reach ; and if he had an opportunity, he would 

 get his head round, seize his rider by the leg with his teeth, and drag him down from 

 his back. For this reason, he was always ridden with what is called a sword; which 

 is a strong flat slick, having one end attached to the cheek of the bridle, and the other 

 to the girth of the saddle, a contrivance to prevent a horse of this kind from getting 

 at his rider. 



" King Pippin had long been difficult to manage, and dangerous to go near to; but 

 on the occasion in question, he could not be got out to run at all. Nobody could put 

 the bridle upon his head. It being Easter Monday, and consequently a great holiday, 

 there was a large concourse of people assembled at the Curragh, consisting princi- 

 pally of the neighbouring peasantry ; and one countryman, more fearless than the 

 rest of the lookers-on, forgetting, or perhaps never dreaming that the better part of 

 courage is discretion, volunteered his services to bridle the horse. No sooner had he 

 committed himself in this operation, than King Pippin seized him somewhere about 

 the shoulders and chest, and, says Mr. Watts (Mr. Castley's informant), 'I know of 

 nothing I can compare it to, so much as a dog shaking a rat.' Fortunately for the 

 poor fellow, his body was very thickly covered with clothes, for on such occasions an 

 Irishman of this class is fond of displaying his wardrobe; and if he has three coats at 

 all in the world., he is sure to put them all on. 



" This circumstance, in all probability, saved the individual who had so gallantly 

 volunteered the forlorn hope. His person was so deeply enveloped in extra integu- 

 Eaents, that the horse never got fairly hold of his skin, and I understand that he 

 escaped with but little injury, beside the sadly rent and totally ruined state of his 

 holyday toggery. 



"The Whisperer was sent for, who, having arrived, M'as shut up with the horse all 

 night, and in the morning he exhibited this hitherto ferocious animal, following him 

 about the course like a dog — lying down at his command — suffering his mouth to be 

 opened, and any person's hand to be introduced into it — in short, as quiet almost as a 

 sheep. 



" He came out the same meeting, and won his race, and his docility continued 

 satisfactory for a ■considerable time; but nt the. end of about three years his vice returned^ 

 and then he is said to have killed a man, for which he was destroyed." 



It may not be uninteresting, in this connexion, to give some account of this tamer 

 of quadruped vice. However strange and magical his power may seem to be, there 

 is no doubt of th€ truth of the account that is given of him. The Rev. Mr. Town- 

 send, in his Statistical Survey of Cork, first introduced him to the notice of the public 

 generally, although his fame had long spread over that part of Ireland. We, hoAv- 

 ever, give the following extract from Croker's Fairy Legends and Traditions of Ire- 

 land, Part II, p. 200, for liis performances seem the work of some elfin sprite, rather 

 than of a rude and ignorant horse-breaker. 



" He was an awkward, ignorant rustic of the lowest class, of the name of Sullivan, 

 but better known l)y the appellation of the Whisperer. His occupation was horse- 

 breaking. The nickname lie acquired from the vulgar notion of his being able to 

 communicate to the animal what he wished by means of a whisper; and the singu- 

 larity of his method seemed in some degree to justify the supposition. In his own 

 neighbourhood, the notoriety of the fact made it seem less remarkable; but I doubt if 

 any instance of similar subjugating talent is to be found On record. As far as the 

 sphere of his control extended, the boast of vent., vidi, vici, was more justly claimed 

 by SuHivan, than even by Casar himself. 



" How his art was acquired, and in what it consisted, is likel}'^ to be for ever 

 unknown, as he lias lately (about 1810) left the world without divulging it. His son 



