76 ASHGILL; OR, THE LIFE 



double-bedded room with him, and his escape was 

 looked upon as miraculous, especially as he generally 

 carried a good sum of money about with him. At the 

 time of Palmer's execution an abortive attempt was 

 made to attribute his guilt to being connected with the 

 Turf. It was then argued with effect, as it would be 

 in these days in the case of poisoners and murderers 

 who have in nowise been connected with racing, that 

 whatever profession Palmer had followed his evil 

 attributes would have been exercised. " As a son," sums 

 up the old chronicler, "he was unnatural, as a 

 husband he was a murderer, and as a man he 

 was a fiend. He lived like a beast, and as such 

 he was destroyed and burned (in quicklime); 

 and may his example and the horror which his 

 simple name inspires be a warning to those who 

 would pervert to the worst purpose the talents they are 

 endowed with by Providence ! " 



Quitting the grim memory of the recreant poisoner's 

 foul deeds, attention may now be directed to another 

 deceased contemporary of our hero's in John Jackson, 

 known amongst the Tykes as " Jock o' Oran," who was 

 quite the opposite of Palmer in that he did more injury 

 to himself than to others. It is a moot point whether 

 Jackson won more money over Blair Athol's than 

 Ellington's Derby. On the authority of the present 

 Tom Masterman, of Middleham, who knew him 

 intimately, Ellington's Derby placed Jackson on his 

 legs beyond the cares of worldly dependence. 



Resuming the tete-a-tete with John Osborne, he 

 says 



' Yes, I knew John Jackson when I was a 

 boy at school. He lived at Catterick with his 

 father, who was a farmer there. Old Mr. Jackson 



