TIM WHIFFLER AND BOREALIS 41 



if I could help it, was clearly interested in the butchery 

 of that pig. I remember Bob Gowland, the Kilvington 

 blacksmith, used to be called in when a pig had to be 

 killed, and being, as I have said, not of sober habit, he 

 did not strike with sufficient accuracy when attempting 

 to fell the poor brute. It is horrible to think of now, but 

 it is a reminder of what one was. 



The really great brewer, however, at Thirsk was Mr 

 William Rhodes, a portly gentleman who was the back- 

 bone of the local Conservative party. He was a delightful 

 old man, with a considerable family, all of whom were 

 among our best friends. On race days at Thirsk it used 

 to be pleasant indeed to go and lunch at the Rhodes's, 

 and I have clearly in mind the Derby rounds of beef which 

 were a special feature of those functions. No Conservative 

 politician, of whatever importance, would have dreamed 

 of going to Thirsk without, in the first place, paying his 

 respects to Mr Rhodes. 



It is strange to recall now that I, who write, saw Tim 

 Whiffler run as a three-year-old at Thirsk in the spring 

 of 1862, when he belonged to Jackson, and finished fourth 

 for the Thirsk Handicap, i mile 6 furlongs. The race 

 was won by Rapparee, ridden by John Osborne and carry- 

 ing 8 st. 3 Ib. I remember Rapparee well, a hard, wiry- 

 looking beast, but Tim Whiffler did not impress himself 

 on me in the same way. All the same, that was one of 

 his two defeats out of eleven races that year. His sire, 

 Van Galen, I used often to see as a travelling stallion when 

 he was at Thirsk on market days. He was a dark bay 

 or brown horse. 



On the same race day when Tim Whiffler was beaten 

 at Thirsk, Borealis, two years old, won the Mowbray 

 Stakes, and this was her first race, she being the first foal 

 of Blink Bonny. That day too, the Thirsk Hunt Cup, 

 which was always the most sporting event of the meeting, 

 was won by Sir George Strickland's Lady Bird, by King 

 Caradoc, ridden by Mr George Thompson, beating Sir 

 Charles Slingsby's Mousetrap (owner) and nineteen others. 



