496 



ASHGILL; OR, THE LIFE 



one of Admiral Rous — a grand engraving. * The 

 Admiral ' was a first-class man — one of the best handi- 

 cappers we ever had. He was an eccentric fellow, 

 rather. I used to meet ' The Admiral ' and Mr. Payne 

 frequently at York, Doncaster, and Newmarket; they 

 were always delighted to see me. I don't think modern 

 sportsmen are as good as the old sort — there's not that 

 rich ' porty ' flavour about them to my way of thinking." 



" You were speaking of John Jackson. Well, he 

 had a lot of horses after he bought Fairfield. He had 

 Blair Athol standing there, and bought Saunterer from 

 old John Osborne. He was a very free liver, and died 

 when he was forty -two or forty-three years of age. He 

 was a real good genial fellow. 



" I was married in '34. I once tried smoking, but 

 never after '34. I found it affected my eyes the next 

 morning. I was bom in 1813, and I shave myself every 

 morning. I fancy I am an older man than Judge Clark ; 

 he will be about eighty years old." 



Continuing his chat, the judge said — 



" Bee's-wing was the handsomest mare I ever saw in 

 my life. There was not a flaw in her. Alice Hawthorn, 

 too, was a real grand mare. She was bigger than Bee's- 

 wing, who was not built on a heavy scale. Sim 

 Templeman used to ride ' Alice.' He and I were very 

 good friends. Sim was a pretty good rider, but not to 

 be compared to John Osborne. He began riding 

 about '27, did Sim. John Osborne was a fine finisher ; 

 he knew where the winning post was, and you could 

 depend upon him. 



" Bill Scott at one time was a good rider, and then 

 he got to be too fond of his glass. Jim Snowden was 

 above the average. Aldcroft was a grand finisher. 



" Jim Robinson ? Yes, I remember Jim. He knew 



