AND TIMES OF JOHN OSBORNE 111 



champion worsted by the Newmarket one. The dress 

 rehearsal of Stampedo and Eapparee in the ' alley of 

 critics ' on the day led to conflicting opinions, and 

 singularly enough, both were selected to be potted, 

 because they were as big as bullocks. Throughout the 

 race the great guns had it to themselves, and Stampedo, 

 nicely handled by Fordham, raised the number for the 

 Bedfordshire Baronet, Sir Williamson Booth." 



The same disregard for gaudy adornment which 

 marked the father has been inherited by his most dis- 

 tinguished son. A nattier and better groomed man 

 than " Mr. John " does not exist. His pet aversion is 

 the wearing of a collar. " I am never comfortable when 

 I have one," was his reply to a query put to him on 

 the point. 



"Brother William" asserts that "John has never 

 worn a collar since he were married." From which one 

 may assume that he adorned himself with one on that 

 important occasion to give an Adonis effect to his 

 personal appearance when leading his bride to the altar. 

 A regular attender at the pretty little Coverham Church, 

 which lies in the lowland half a mile from Brecongill, 

 " Mr. John " is a vision of dignity on the Sundays. He 

 will tell you that he has been often and often asked to 

 stand as a churchwarden, but declines the honour. 

 Dispensing with the everlasting billycock of the week- 

 days, he adorns his head " agoing to church with a silk 

 bell-topper," whose faded " nap " and unconventional 

 shape suggest to the beholder that it had been built 

 in the period of the Roman occupation, and worn 

 through successive generations. The other portions of 

 his body gear indicate a like ancient origin, nor is the 

 cut of his coat one that would meet with the approval 

 of a Regent Street " swell." 



