306 ASHGILL; OR, THE LIFE 



fortunes of Ashgill, alike as a commissioner and as an 

 employer, died in the spring of this year. Originally a 

 Cumberland blacksmith, he drifted into the ways of 

 the Turf, and had the distinction, from a small stud, of 

 winning a Northumberland Plate and an Ebor 

 Handicap with Victor Emanuel, who, undoubtedly, was 

 the best horse he ever owned. His allegiance to the 

 stable was a profitable one, as it had been to John 

 Jackson in earlier days. A shrewd, observant man, he 

 accumulated a competency, and died much respected 

 by fellow-sportsmen of his class. For many years he 

 was a licensed victualler in Newcastle-on-Tyne before 

 retiring into private life at Croft Spa. The 

 " Tattersall's " of Newcastle in his time was Newgate 

 Street. These were the days before starting prices, and 

 " Harry," as he was familiarly termed, always declared 

 that the " talent " in Newgate Street were the best 

 judges of " form " in the kingdom, an opinion in which 

 we concur, knowing full well what a keen interest is 

 taken in sport generally and the Turf in particular by 

 the sporting section of the people in the " cannie toon " 

 on the banks of the Tyne. 



A few words about another Turf celebrity of a 

 different type to the owner of Victor Emanuel. New- 

 market has been famous for its Turf sensations, but 

 nothing was ever more painfully and dramatically 

 sudden than the death at headquarters, on 26th April 

 of this year, of Prince Batthyany. Old stagers spoke, 

 as a parallel to it, of the suicide of Mr. Craven owing 

 to losses on the Derby which would have been more than 

 balanced by the Oaks, and of the gloom created by 

 the sudden " taking off " of Stephenson, the leviathan ; 

 and then, again, that of poor " Drumlanrig," who had 

 been ruined by the Goodwood Cup victory of Saunterer, 



