3o8 Reminiscences of a 



bone in the ground after frost, his horse sHpped, and landed 

 poor Armstrong with a broken or, I beheve, properly 

 speaking, a dislocated ankle, which paralized him for the 

 rest of the season, for which I was very sorry, as he was 

 such a good helper in the sport of foxhunting, and would 

 do anything to push the sport by talking to the farmers, and 

 also in soothing the sorrows of the ladies in the poultry 

 line, as he always seemed to be very popular with them. 

 With the clever assistance of his lad, Dick Humble, who 

 was a really fine quiet horseman in the hunting field, able 

 to make a hunter without doing the slightest damage to 

 crops or fences, and a right hand man at home, Mr. 

 Armstrong was able to produce a lot of good hunters, and 

 command a good price. 



The good horse " Bailiff" (a dun), which he sold to Sir 

 William Eden, Bart., was really an extraordinary natural 

 jumper, and it was towards the end of Sir William's second 

 mastership, in the Spring of 1888, that there occurred a 

 noteworthy run, which put an end to the brilliant career of 

 poor " Bailiff," who had carried his owner right bang in the 

 front, when hounds ran hard, for seven seasons without a 

 fall; quite a marvellous performance, and a sort of record 

 in its way, 1 should imagine. On this day a fox was found 

 in a field near Standalone by IVlr. Peter Smitton, the 

 trusty head-keeper at Windlestone, who knew the lying 

 ground of this fox, and he went away with plenty of smell 



* "Bailiff," the dun horse (hence his name), was bred at Stocktou-on-Tees, and was by old 

 "Omen," out of a dun pony that used to run in a "candy cart," and was said to be by 

 "CrotonOil." Mr W Armstrong bought him when four years old from Mr. Tom Robinson, 

 the butcher, and once well-known cricketer; in fact one of "the Stockton Toms" (in 

 the days of Dr. Richardson), who, in conjunction with the late Mr. Tom Hornby, the 

 respected auctioneer, and Tom Darnton, played the famous single wicket match against 

 the Cambridgeshire Cracks Tom Hay ward and Carpenter Mr. Armstrong rode " Bailiff" 

 five seasons without a fall of any sort, and then sold him to Sir William Eden, who rode 

 him seven seasons without a fall : 1 have never heard of a safer conveyance than this. 



