482 ASHGILL; OR, THE LIFE 



the aggressively moral people opposed to the Turf? We 

 could then fly a big balloon, and be received with open 

 arms into the bosom of the elect. Ah ! 'tis a mad world, 

 full of hypocrisy and vanity, and bubble and squeak! 



Great joy was expressed by the myriads of Tyne- 

 siders who witnessed the victorv of King Crow in the 

 Northumberland Plate of 1898 at Gosforth Park, " Mr. 

 John " being the hero of quite a triumphal procession 

 when he led Crowberry's son back to the paddock. 

 Dame Fortune, fickle jade! had been the reverse of 

 kind to the veteran trainer for many a long day. 

 Ungenerous critics, ever ready to decry a man when 

 out of luck, carped and sneered at him. " He's out of 

 date" was wont to be said by these unfeehng and 

 thoughtless creatures. But their iU-natured and 

 undeserved criticism was cast to the winds when King 

 Crow in the spring beat Jacquemart, who, it must be 

 confessed, was conceding 27 lbs. in the Great Northern 

 at York. John's return to "form" as a trainer, on 

 Knavesmire, was warmly welcomed by his true friends 

 and well-wishers. Nor was the jubilation less pro- 

 nounced when King Crow supplemented Knaves- 

 mire performance by capturing the Manchester Cup 

 from St. Bris and a goodly field, the grand climax 

 coming when he triumphed in the so-called " Pitman's 

 Derby." Commenting on this latter exploit in our 

 report at the time, it was said — 



" A happy union marked the triumph of King Crow 

 in the Northumberland Plate of 1898. The son of 

 Crowberry, who carried the violet and white belt of 

 Mr. Vyner so gallantly to the fore, is the property of a 

 gentleman who breeds his own horses, and runs them 

 as straight as the proverbial gun-barrel. The house 

 of Vyner had for long years been identified with 



