SPORTSMEN 5 



Horse Cellar," it remained until 1884, when the present 

 " Albemarle " arose on its site, with a " White Horse ' 

 restaurant in the basement. 



What Piccadilly and the neighbourhood of the 

 " White Horse Cellar " were like in the times of Tom 

 and Jerry j we may easily discover from the con- 

 temporary pages of " Real Life in London," written 

 by one " Bob Tally ho." recounting the adventures of 

 himself and " Tom Dashall." A prize-fight was to 

 be held on Copthorne Common between Jack Randall, 

 " the Nonpareil ' -called in the pronunciation of that 

 time the " Nunparell ' -and Martin, endeared to 

 " the Fancy " as the " Master of the Rolls."* 

 Naturally, the roads were thronged, and ' Piccadilly 

 was all in motion — coaches, carts, gigs, tilburies, 

 whiskies, buggies, dogcarts, sociables, dennets, curricles, 

 and sulkies were passing in rapid succession, inter- 

 mingled with tax-carts and waggons decorated with 

 laurel, conveying company of the most varied descrip- 

 tion. Here was to be seen the dashing Corinthian 

 tickling up his tits, and his bang-up set-out of blood and 

 bone, giving the go-by to a heavy drag laden with eight 

 brawny, bull-faced blades, smoking their way down 

 behind a skeleton of a horse, to whom, in all probability, 

 a good feed of corn would have been a luxury ; 

 pattering among themselves, occasionally chaffing the 

 more elevated drivers by whom they were surrounded, 

 and pushing forward their nags with all the ardour of 

 a British merchant intent upon disposing of a valuable 

 cargo of foreign goods on 'Change. There was a 

 waggon full of all sorts upon the lark, succeeded by a 

 donkey-cart with four insides ; but Neddy, not liking 

 his burthen, stopped short in the way of a dandy, whose 

 horse's head, coming plump up to the back of the crazy 

 vehicle at the moment of its stoppage, threw the rider 

 into the arms of a dustman, who, hugging his customer 

 with the determined grasp of a bear, swore, d — n his 

 eyes, he had saved his life, and he expected he would 

 stand something handsome for the Gemmen all round, 



*He was a baker : hence the nickname. 



