NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 233 



There is not a brook in Northamptonshire that he has not been at 

 the bottom of, nor are there many that he will not ride at ; but he 

 is by no means one of the tumbling sort. His brother Harry is 

 pretty good, but not in the same field with himself. 



There is a gentleman, though not belonging to this county, yet 

 who has hunted so much in it that he is qualified for a place among 

 the Northamptonshire riders, and that place has always been a good 

 one. I allude to that very superior and viost elegant horseman, Mr. 

 Davey. Of late years he has been getting slack, and has not been 

 well horsed ; but for a great many seasons no man went better — 

 certainly none more neatly — over this rough country than he did. 

 His hand is exquisitely fine, and his seat quite perfect. A curious 

 accident occurred to him some years since in the field. He was 

 hunting with Sir Thomas Mostyn's hounds in Oxfordshire, when he 

 rode at a fence near to a small cottage, and close to Swift's house, 

 where Sir Thomas now resides. His horse fell with him, and 

 Mr. Davey found himself fast, as if he were in a vice, and without 

 knowing why. At last he perceived that the hinder legs of his horse 

 had alighted on the mouth of an old well, the covering of which his 

 weight had forced in. To make my story short — Mr. Davey had 

 just time (and he did it with great difficulty) to get disengaged from 

 his saddle before his horse fell back into the well, and was drowned. 

 His friend consoled him with saying it was loell done; but that was 

 but poor consolation for the loss of a good hunter — though, to be 

 sure, he might have lost his own life. His situation was certainly 

 a most alarming one, as one of his legs was confined between the 

 side of his horse and the side of the well. 



One of the best performers I saw in Northamptonshire is a fine 

 young man of the name of Isted, the eldest son of a gentleman of 

 considerable property of that name, who resides at Ecton. Mr. 

 Ambrose Isted was born without the faculty of hearing, therefore 

 without the power of speech ; but he has been taught to speak, and 

 pronounces many of his words intelligibly enough. He has also 

 been taught to ride over a country, which few can do better — taking 

 much notice of hounds, and entering into the sport with enthusiastic 

 delight. 



There is another young one who bids very fair for a front place 



