79 



CHAPTER IV. 



" 'Twos Strafford raised his sand-glass, and Thornton held the pen, 

 When to a Windsor coffee-room flocked scores of Shorthorn men. 

 They crowded round the table, they fairly blocked the door 

 He stood champagne, did Sheldon, of Geneva, Illinois. 

 They talked of Oxford heifers, Duchess bulls, and how the States 

 Had come into the market with another ' Bit of Bates. ' 

 Their expression is so solemn, and so earnest is their tone, 

 That nought would seem worth living for but ' Red and White and 



Roan.' 



All ready for the contest, I view a dauntless three 

 The Mclntosh from Essex, a canny chiel is he. 



There's Leneyfrom the hop-yards 'twill be strange if he knocks under, 

 When once the chords are wakened of that Kentish ' Son of Thunder. ' 

 The Talleyrand of ' trainers' is their 'cute but modest foe, 

 Him whom the gods call ' Culshaw,' and men on earth call 'Joe.' 

 He loves them ' points all over,' with bright dew on the nose ; 

 And in his heart of hearts is writ, ' A touch of Barmpton Rose. ' 

 And, sure, it well might puzzle ' The Gentleman in Black,' 

 When the three nod on ' by twenties,' to know which you should back ! 

 And, sure, the laws of Nature must have burst each ancient bound, 

 When a yearling heifer fetches more than seven hundred pound ! 

 Bulls bring their weight in bullion, and I guess we'll hear of more 

 Arriving from the pastures of Geneva, Illinois." 



"THE GOLDEN SHORTHORNS." Punch. 



Whitehall Killhow Sale of Shorthorns Scaleby Castle The Western 

 Plain of Cumberland Mr. Watson's and the late Mr. Brown's Pigs 

 Mr. Curwen's Agricultural Gathering at the Schooze Farm 

 Champion Bulls The late Captain Spencer's Greyhounds. 



WE have approached " Merrie Carlisle" by the 

 North, and we must make note-book forays 

 from it west, south, and east ere we leave it. 

 Skiddaw had got her wonted rain-signal from CrifTell 

 that day, and we met with a curious student of 

 meteorology on our way to Mr. George Moore's. He 

 got into the train at Wigton, and desired to commu- 

 nicate. His language was very dark, and somewhat 

 on this wise : " Wind's in sou'-west ; noo, it's gatting 



