224 Saddle and Sirloin. 



tincture to his conversation with those who cared more 

 for the ermined Daniels of the past than the dark 

 chestnut ones of the present, and invariably led on 

 over a bottle of claret to the " Chameleon coach," the 

 " Delpini colt," of the Grand Jury, and his other assize 

 tales of York.* 



His banking probation at Hull dwelt less by him, 

 except in connexion with his first essays at sheep- 

 breeding, but a tradition still lingers there as to how 

 he astonished his townsmen by leaving his lodgings in 

 Dagger-lane on a Saturday afternoon, walking the 

 thirty-two miles to Sledmere to spend the Sunday, 

 and appearing by the same conveyance all fresh for 

 the bank business on Monday morning. He was well 

 built for the task, as five feet eleven by eleven stone 

 five " would about fetch him." His forty seasons as 

 master of foxhounds began some years before he suc- 

 ceeded to the baronetcy, and from 1823, the year 

 after his marriage, his Sledmere life had flowed on in 

 one almost unvaried round. " Statesmen might howl, 

 and patriots bray," but he did not care to be one of 

 " the faithful Commons" for the privilege of hearing 

 them. His friend, Sir George, could tell him all about 

 them when he came down in August ; and, as for 

 eloquence, his quotation from Mr. Jofrocks of " Muck's 

 your man!' could bring down far heartier cheers at a 

 Malton or Driffield agricultural dinner than any which 

 were echoed back from the panels of St. Stephen's. 

 His honest old Church and King creed found its best 

 public vent in building and endowing schools and 

 churches. Peel, Derby, and Palmerston might go out, 

 but Snarry's Cabinet, with the tally-board of the 

 yearling marks for its portfolio, and Cragg's Flat as 

 its Downing-street, was perfectly immortal. Besides 

 occasional fairs and horse-shows, there was the annual 



See "Scott and Sebright," pp. 9-14 and 131-143. 



