The Greyhound. 237 



coursing meetings was made by certain private 

 companies, who gave large prizes, and arranged 

 stakes for which the entry fee was £2^, and of 

 which more later on, they did not shake the 

 popularity of our great gathering — that known as 

 the Waterloo, and run over the fiats at Altcar, not 

 far from Liverpool. 



No doubt this Waterloo meeting, which was 

 established in 1836, and has been continued yearly 

 ever since, is the most popular one of the kind 

 ever held — the chief prize is valued at ;^5oo, 

 the stake being made up of entrance fees by 

 sixty-four subscribers at £2^ each. A portion 

 of the money goes to two minor stakes, the 

 " Plate " and the '' Purse," competed for by dogs 

 beaten in the two early rounds of the Cup. It must 

 be stated, however, that during the first year the 

 Waterloo Cup was an eight-dog stake; in 1837 

 sixteen dogs ran, and from 1838 to 1856 thirty- 

 two dogs competed. From the latter date till now 

 the arrangements have been as they are at present. 

 Here, as a rule, the best dogs in England, Ireland, 

 and Scotland compete, and for an owner of grey- 

 hounds to win " the Cup " is an honour as high as 

 that achieved by a racing man who wins '' the 

 Derby " — the Waterloo Cup is the blue ribbon of 

 the leash. It may be said that there is actually no 



