ri2 Reminiscences of a 



horse during the run, rather an unfortunate start for him 

 there ! H. Briggs was second horseman to Sir William 

 Throckmorton, and a capital good fellow, too, I am glad to 

 hear that he has prospered, and is now a horse dealer near 

 Leyton- Buzzard, not only in a large, but also lucrative 

 business, and still takes his own part in the hunting field. 



A little story about Jochem, the butcher of Cirencester, 

 occurs to me, and it is one that I have often told when 

 jogging home after hunting. One Saturday when returning 

 after a hard day's sport, old " Nimrod," who always was a 

 hungry customer at the Vale of White Horse Kennels, took a 

 piece of beef off old Jochem's slab weighing about six pounds. 

 I saw him with it when he got on to the footpath close by, 

 and watched him carry it into the park, when he laid it 

 down on the grass. After we got the hounds kenneled I 

 went and picked it up. Next morning Jochem came to the 

 kennels, and said one of our hounds had taken a piece of 

 beef off his slab, which Worrall strictly denied, as did the 

 first whip also. I was never questioned, nor asked about it, 

 though at the same time it was roasting in my oven, to 

 repay me for the time and trouble I had spent with one of 

 old Jochem's horses which fell over a wall into the road, a six 

 foot drop, and which my future wife and I, who were walking 

 out at the time (it was before we were married), had to lead 

 for over a mile with our pocket handkerchiefs tied together 

 for a bridle, from Jochem's field to his house. We couldn't 

 put the horse back into the field, as the double doors were 

 locked, and when we handed over the horse to him the old 

 beggar never said a word of thanks in any shape or form 

 whatever. We didn't forget it in a hurry, and that is how I 

 got quits with Jochem, the butcher of Cirencester. Many a 

 good laugh had I over this before leaving the country, but 

 never " let out " about it. 



