Fir«t Whipper-ia. 151 



won a lot of prizes, and was a very clever hunter over 

 a country ; I fancy that he was on this mare's back 

 during the run ; this must have been about the beginning 

 of his career, but he rode well throughout, and was there 

 when Claxon set the fox up on his legs as stiff as 

 a tree, and lifeless as an empty soda water bottle, after 

 fifty-three minutes as good as ever I saw. 



Speaking of Mr. Tom Dobson I may say that about this 

 time the brothers Frank and Tom Dobson hunted a lot with 

 us, and a bit later. Mr. Tom was a real keen man when 

 he had that good bay horse, and a nailer it was to be sure. 

 Mr. Frank who used to hunt in scarlet (not over care- 

 fully cleaned) because he said it was more economical 

 than black, had a good weight carrying bay mare, which 

 I fancy was stabled at William Armstrong's at Stockton. 

 Mr. Frank was a good judge and breeder of pedigree 

 stock ; he used to keep nothing on his farm that was not 

 thoroughbred, whether it was horses, cattle, pigs, sheep, 

 cocks, hens, or dogs. Of greyhounds, too, he was a great 

 admirer, and liked nothing better than a bit of " coursing " ; 

 in fact at any kind of sport he was a regular good all 

 round Yorkshireman. 



