1 78 Saddle and Sirloin. 



trance-hall and massive stairs, and the low black oak 

 wainscoted parlour, with no emblazonment but " the 

 Booth bull tree on its walls."* Modern taste has 

 crept in with a small dairy, in whose midst a foun- 

 tain, of iron and painted glass, plays for shorthorn 

 men. China of many patterns, with yellow, blue, 

 green, and claret as the ground work, is on the shelves, 

 and the new milk is held in dishes of iron coated with 

 pot. 



The Coverdale valley, down which so many jocks 

 have "wasted" in their day, lies in front, with the 

 river Cover winding through its deep dingle of ash 

 and sycamore. In the distance is the ridge of the 

 Low Moor, with occasional sheeted strings of racers 

 glancing along its skyline, like the scenes in the magic 

 lantern, and stretching away to the High Moor, which 

 has the frowning Penhill to back it. The old church 

 at Coverham is hard by the Cover stream, and many 

 a racing celebrity lies under its shadow. There sleep 

 old Bob Johnson, the steersman of Beeswing and Dr. 

 Syntax ; Ben Smith, as green as a young turkey on 

 his mother earth, but a very Talleyrand in the saddle 

 and the winner of six St. Legers ; Harry Grimshaw, 

 of Gladiateur fame ; and there too, old John Osborne 

 now rests his dreamless head. Ashgill. in whose quiet 

 little parlour he used to sit like a wizard, not consult- 

 ing the stars or perusing the prophets, but weighing 

 handicaps in his good brain balance, is perched high 

 on the hill-side. Below is Tupgill, from which Tom- 

 boy and Caccia Piatti used to go forth to clear their 

 pipes in good air ; and beyond is Brecon Gill, which is 

 also associated with some of Tom Dawson's best tri- 

 umphs of the tartan, and the dark blue, the Johnstone 

 crimson, the Jardine " blue with silver braid," and the 

 "Jamie Meiklam" stripes. 



Mr. Bruere farms about 300 acres under General 

 Wood, and two hundred of muirland. Of the rest, 

 which has been gradually enclosed from the slopes of 



* This is now in the possession of Lord Polwarth at Mertoun. 



