COL. ANSTRUTHER THOMSON 73 



Presently I saw Walker and Stephen Goodall trot- 

 ting along the road over the moor about half a mile 

 off. Walker said, " Stephen, see that that's Sir 

 John " (thinking I was Sir John Halkett). " That's 

 what will happen to you if you don't mind where you 

 are going," and trotted on without taking any further 

 notice of me. Presently Mr. Whyte- Melville ap- 

 peared, and he was more charitable and came to help 

 me. A girl came from a cottage and said, " They 

 once had a coo in it". Then Jim Harrison came, 

 whose horse had shut up. At last we got " Cannibal " 

 out by digging bits of turf and putting them under 

 him, but he was dead beat when we got him out. 



26th January, 1841. The regiment was still 

 at Hounslow. I was at Leamington on leave in 

 January. There was a prize-fight between Jack 

 Hannan and Johnny Broome somewhere in Oxford- 

 shire. We started with a team from Leamington 

 John Madocks, Charlie Brooke, Clarke, Charlie 

 Synge, and, I think, Billy Williams. The loth 

 Hussars were quartered at Coventry. We changed 

 horses at Banbury and also somewhere near Bices- 

 ter. We passed Sir Henry Peyton's (Swift's house), 

 drove across fields and all sorts of places. 



The first part of the fight was very pretty. The 

 men looked like marble statues, and every movement 

 was graceful, and they were a long time before they 

 hurt each other. Broome was a very handsome man, 

 rather the taller and heavier of the two. Jack Han- 

 nan had a real fighting mug. The fight lasted a long 

 time and both men were much exhausted. Lord 



