24 



THE WARWICKSHIRE HOUNDS. 



Mr. John Corbet 

 1791-1811, 



Mr. R. Canning* 



The" crack man'g 

 of the Hunt. 



nevertheless, generally capable of pace. Notwith- 

 standing his deficient education in the art, he possessed 

 a fine bridle hand. It was, in his case, a natural 

 faculty, and rarely, indeed, was horse or rider defeated. 

 Near to hounds they were generally to be seen, not- 

 withstanding the weight of both. I have made a 

 passing reference to the Epwell run, and quoted- the 

 remarks of the author of a poem founded upon it. 

 Francis Canning greatly distinguished himself on that 

 day on a horse much under his weight and only five 

 years old. It was named " The General," and passed 

 afterwards to Sir John Dashwood King, who sold it to 

 Mr. C. J. Apperley (known far and wide as "Nimrod," 

 and of whom, as a " Warwickshire" man, I shall speak 

 again) at 160 guineas. "Nimrod" was lucky enough 

 to drop into a brilliant run the first time he rode him 

 and " The General" passed to the Earl of Warwick at 

 sixty guineas premium. 



So much of the elder Canning. Great as he was, no 

 doubt, both in deeds as well as in figure, he was sur- 

 passed by his younger brother Robert in the former, 

 and was run rather close by him in the matter of weight. 

 To Robert Canning I assigned at^'start, the place 

 of ** crack man," and although in my remarks upon his 

 brother, my readers may have thought I was putting 

 him into that much to be coveted position, there is no 

 doubt Robert could give him a start and beat 

 him. As a sportsman as well as a horseman 

 he has rarely been surpassed. He was not 

 harassed by so many fleshy considerations as hia 

 brother, but he had, nevertheless, weight and frame 

 sadly against him. He stood 6ft. 4in. without his 

 shoes, and his weight in the saddle was not very far 

 behind that of his brother Francis. 



As regards his mounts, they were, no doubt, superior 

 to those of his brother Francis, but he did not pay 

 the same attention to them as we have been able to 



