COL. ANSTRUTHER THOMSON 121 



him as I did not understand what he wanted ; pre- 

 sently I went crash into a coal cart, locked both the 

 wheels and brought both concerns to a stand-still. 

 My companion flew away, landed on his elbows and 

 knees, and rather hurt himself. I flew straight 

 ahead, and in my flight caught hold of my pony's 

 collar, and held on till I got my feet on the ground. 

 The pony was very quiet, so we backed the cart and 

 got disconnected. I landed my friend at the gate at 

 Merrivale, and in time for breakfast ; and he told 

 Mr. Dugdale that Mr. Col vile had pitched him out 

 of the dog-cart. He had noticed his name was 

 painted on it. I afterwards learned that he was an 

 eminent architect from London, who was building 

 the house at Merrivale. I forget his name. 



Col vile bred some hounds by "Yarboro Rally- 

 wood," the most famous foxhound at that time. One 

 of them was " Ravisher ". The first time I saw 

 him, as a puppy, he was walking about with a 

 chicken in his mouth. He was walked by old Joe 

 Dester at Bramcote. He turned out to be one of 

 the best hounds I ever saw, and was the sire of many 

 good ones. 



Will Davies was a very delicate man, and was 

 very often laid up. He was a most respectable, 

 good servant, and had a good knowledge of hunting. 

 He had been in Shropshire, I think, with Mr. Smith 

 Owen. Stephen Shepherd, second whip, was a 

 capital chap ; quite young, long, thin and very light ; 

 but he was not quite steady. He came from Mr. 

 Morland, in old Berks country. 



