LIVERPOOL 153 



He was sometimes in the shires, but hunted chiefly in 

 Sussex and Hants, and as Captain Poulett was Master 

 of the Hambledon Hounds for about nine years, until he 

 resigned in 1868. Lord Poulett was fond of yachting, 

 and was a capital four-horse coachman. 



On Sunday the iith August 1872 Ben Land, the 

 well-known steeplechase rider and trainer of The Lamb, 

 died by his own hand. On another page Jem Mason is 

 stated to have said that Ben Land was apprenticed to a 

 chemist in Norfolk, an account which hardly squares 

 with the generally accepted version of his early history. 

 It is admitted that he began life in Norfolk, and it was 

 certainly as a farmer, and he was one of the first to 

 encourage steeplechasing in his native country. While 

 he was farming he for a short time kept a small pack of 

 stag-hounds, but by degrees he gave up farming and 

 everything else for steeplechasing. It would be about 

 1833 or 1834 that he first donned cap and jacket, and 

 one of his earliest winning rides was in 1836 on a horse 

 called Predictor. 



Leaving Norfolk, he went to Edgeware according 

 to Jem Mason's account, to Tring according to others, 

 and while at the latter place he held himself out as 

 ready to ride eleven stone, upon anything on which any- 

 body cared to put him. 



Of his horse Needwood mention is made elsewhere, 

 but he owned besides a horse called Lottery (not to be 

 confounded with Elmore's famous horse), and he was 

 well known to fame on such performers as Jim Crow, 

 The Novice, Faith, Yellow Dwarf, Little Nell, Victoria, 

 and Wonder, all of which could gallop and jump. With 

 amateur riders Ben Land w^as very popular, and he 

 coached not a few ; but his favourite pupil was Mr. 

 George Ede, who rode as Mr. " Edwards," and won the 

 Grand National for the late Lord Poulett on The Lamb, 

 which Land trained. That was of course a great day 



