THE DAWN OF STEEPLECHASING 13 



seemingly impossible places, and they must have been 

 at least the equals of Assheton Smith — he one day 

 fell over five gates in the course of a single run 

 with his hounds — in daring. Then in Scotland, near 

 Dundee, there appears to have been a steeplechase 

 over a seven miles and a half course, from the top of 

 Dundee Head to Kilpurnie Hill, and this was virtu- 

 ally a "tumble-down race," inasmuch as two out of 

 the three starters who essayed to ride the direct line 

 never reached the end at all, not at least within a 

 mile of the first arrival, who won by more than that 

 distance after taking " a circuitous route," which means 

 that he shirked all the very big places and managed to 

 stand up till the finish. 



Enough, however, has been written about primitive 

 steeplechasing. 



A STEEPLECHASE — THE START 



