193 Reminiscences of a 



The neighbourhood of Yarm reminds me of Mr. E. R. 

 Whitwell, who, I am told, lives there now; he used to 

 come to us sometimes from Barton, where he lived then, 

 and was always well mounted and eager to be in front at 

 any cost, which sometimes caused a little misunderstanding 

 between himself and his horse ; but he never seemed any 

 the worse, and generally contrived to get to the front again 

 at some part of the day. He always rode with a cutting 

 whip, which is not a good thing to take out hunting as a 

 rule, as you cannot open a gate, nor hold one open for 

 those behind you. I always reckoned " heels and hands " 

 would do more than all the cutting whips that ever were 

 invented. 



A nice, quiet rider was Mr. George Sutton, son of the 

 Squire of Elton, and a very good gentleman for promoting 

 the interests of the hunt amongst the farmers ; he never 

 went in for horseflesh very strongly on his own account, 

 but would often be riding something of Mr. William Arm- 

 strong's, or of some friend who lent him one ; at any rate 

 he was always to be seen out on a Friday, when his 

 knowledge of the country served him well, and he was 

 invariably to be counted amongst those at the finish of a 

 long run. He had a clinking good grey horse called 

 " Siberia," not perhaps a beauty to look at, but a very hard 

 staying sort, that won a race or two at Sedgefield, and 

 happened an accident at the steeplechases which put an 

 end to his hunting days, and was a sad loss to Mr. 

 George. This would be in the early eighties, I fancy. In 

 the year 1887 Claxon retired, after being with the South 

 Durham thirteen years, and I was sorry when he left, for 

 we always got on so well together, and had been so long 

 associated with hunting work. George Gillson who came in 



