Buying a Hunter 83 



for the chase, do hereby select the bay mare Thistle- 

 whipper for my partner in hunting the wild fox. I do 

 most solemnly promise and swear to take the said bay mare 

 Thistlewhipper for better or for worse, through thick and 

 thin, through sickness, accident, death, or the pink-eye. 

 I do hereby solemnly promise and swear that I will provide 

 the said bay mare Thistlewhipper with a good home, 

 feed, and care, and at all times and under all circumstances 

 treat her as I should wish her to treat me if I were a horse 

 and she were my owner. So help me John Rogers." 



Here the buyer, in token of his sincerity, shall disengage 

 his right hand from the mare's forelock and kiss the curry- 

 comb or the brush, as he may elect. Then shall the buyer 

 face the seller and say: "Let me pay." And the seller 

 may say: " Let me offer you a glass of cider." 



Then shall the buyer hand to his stud-groom or coachman 

 a gold ring, or the price of one, wherewith to ensure the 

 mare from all accidents and disorders, barring blind stag- 

 gers, until it is necessary that another should be bought. 

 Here endeth the ceremony, and the buyer may now go 

 forth and proclaim to all his friends what a great bargain 

 he hath secured in the bay mare Thistlewhipper. 



