Captain Gunter's Herd. 277 



The Grange Park was placed by Captain Gunter 

 entirely at the disposal of the Yorkshire Society. It 

 was once the property of " Kit Wilson," the Father of 

 the Turf, who owned Comus, the blind chestnut, which 

 did such good to Sledmere in the days of the first Sir 

 Tatton. The whole of the arrangements, thanks to 

 Mr. Parringtori, to whom the general improvement as 

 regards the accommodation of horses in the show- 

 yards of England may primarily be said to be due, 



98th from 88th was a white with roan ears, and Taylor again calls 

 to mind how she was "once held like a kitten to the teat." Writers 

 who have to encounter there night-mare numbers may well be among 

 those 



" Who dread to speak of '98, 

 Who tremble at the name." 



The wished-for looth was reached at last in the shape of a red roan, 

 but a two-days-old roan, half-sister to " the American lady, " was the 

 latest arrival, and Duchess iO3rd had been the Captain's private herd 

 book entry. Fourth Duke of Thorndale was the monarch of the yard, 

 and Grand Duchess 8th, from Penrhyn Castle was there to share his 

 smiles. Mild Eyes 3rd (by 4th Duke of Thorndale from Mild Eyes) 

 and a heifer by 5th Duke of Wharfedale from " the Waterloo heifer," 

 have since then arrived ; and Duchess 84th has lost the red Duchess 

 iO4th. It was jumping about its box when two months old, and burst 

 a blood-vessel in the heart. Duchess 94th has had twins a bull and 

 a red heifer, the latter taking rank as Duchess io5th. Third Duke of 

 Wharfedale (sire of Mr. Cochrane's heifer) from Duchess 86th now 

 reigns at Wetherby (after two seasons at Penrhyn), vice Fourth Duke 

 of Thorndale, who was found dead in his box last spring ; and 2nd 

 Duke of Wetherby from Duchess 77th, and 2nd Duke of Claro from 

 Duchess 79th are both let. The 3rd Duke of Wetherby by 4th Duke of 

 Thorndale from Duchess 82nd is coming on for home use. The 2nd 

 Duke of Collingham, Duke of Tregunter (a name taken from an old 

 family estate in Wales), 3rd Duke of Claro, 5th Duke of Wharfedale, 

 and 2nd Duke of Tregunter, have all been sold to English purchasers 

 for 500 guineas each. 



During the cattle plague Captain Gunter's farm was in a deeply in- 

 fected parish, and cattle were dying or being slaughtered almost daily, 

 close up to the park gates, for months. Chloride of lime was used 

 liberally, but the Captain's main reliance was on the .very strictest 

 observance of the isolation principle. The Duchesses and the rest of 

 the cattle were divided into several lots of two each, and placed in 

 small sheds all over the six hundred acre occupation ; the yards attached 

 to these sheds were netted round the bottom, so as to keep out dogs, 



