First Whipper-in. 185 



poor old gentleman, when too feeble to hunt on horseback, 

 he might be seen in the neighbourhood of a meet when 

 hounds were out, and was always very eager to know all 

 that had happened throughout the day ; in fact, he kept a 

 couple of horses for no other purpose but that his groom 

 might go out and report to him, at night, a full account of 

 the day's sport. The Colonel bred a young horse or two, 

 especially a young black horse, which was sold to Sir 

 William Eden on his, the Colonel's death, and which I rode 

 and schooled as a four-year-old ; and a very good light- 

 weight hunter he turned out. 



A character in his way was Alderman Smith of Stockton, 

 who was wonderfully fond of hunting ; he generally rode a 

 kind of thoroughbred racing cast-off ; and as a rule they 

 were very hot and pulled a good deal ; but he sailed away 

 gallantly on them, though perhaps to the danger of those 

 just in front of him. I won't soon forget the brown mare 

 charging a high gate one day, and my helping to pick the 

 poor Alderman up, who lay on one side of the gate, and 

 the horse and his teeth on the other ! A queer old bird 

 was " Kitty " Jordison, the soda water manufacturer of 

 Stockton, who had a cork leg that used to twist round at 

 times ; I remember hearing a good story about him ; he 

 had a fall near Two Mile houses, and his cork leg got 

 screwed round, so he had to call at a farm house with the 

 toes of one foot pointing to his body. " Bless me," said 

 the farmer's wife, " what 's the matter " — " why Missus," 

 said " Kitty," " I 've just twisted my leg round ; let me go 

 into a room by myself and I '11 soon put it right " — she 

 showed him in, and in a few minutes he came out 

 apparently quite sound ; when she saw him, she said " God 

 bless me, I was just going to send for the doctor ; I never 



