192 THE BRIGHTON] ROAD 



Heath, attended by the Prince and his merry men, 

 conspicuous among whom at different times were Fox, 

 Lord Barry more, Lord Yarmouth (" Red Herrings "), 

 and Major George Hanger. As for the tappings of 

 claret, the punchings of conks and bread-baskets, and 

 the tremendous sloggings that went on in this neighbour- 

 hood in those virile times, are they not set forth with 

 much circumstantial detail in the pages of " Fistiana " 

 and " Boxiana " ? There shall you read how the 

 Prince Regent witnessed with enthusiasm such merry 

 sets-to as this between Randall and Martin on Crawley 

 Downs. " Boxiana " gives a full account of it, and is 

 even moved to verse, in this wise : 



THE FIGHT AT CRAWLEY 



BETWEEN 



THE NONPAREIL 



AND 



THE OUT-AND-OUTER. 



Come, won't you list unto my lay 

 About the fight at Crawley, O ! . . . 



with the refrain — 



With his filaloo trillaloo, 

 Whack, fal lal de dal di de do ! 



For the number of rounds and such technical details 

 the curious may be referred to the classic pages of 

 " Boxiana " itself. 



Martin, originally a baker, and thus of course 

 familiarly known as the " Master of the Rolls," 

 one of the heroes whom all these sporting blades 

 went out to see contend for victory in the ring, 

 died so recently as 1871. He had long retired 

 from the P.R., and had, upon quitting it, followed 

 the usual practice of retired pugilists, that is to 

 say, he became a publican. He was landlord 

 successively of the " Crown " at Croydon, and the 

 " Horns " tavern, Kennington. 



As for details of this fight or that upon the same 

 spot from which Hickman, " The Gas-Light Man," 



