208 ASHGILL; OR, THE LIFE 



he was assisted by his brother Robert, who looked after 

 the clerical and commercial departments, while stay-at- 

 home William was out with the nags on Middleham 

 Moor by dawn every day. Indeed, it was not until Mr. 

 Johnstone, the nominal owner of Pretender, jointly with 

 Mr. Robert Jardine, gave Tom Dawson instructions to 

 retain a second call after Ashgill claims on his services 

 that he became so closely and directly identified with a 

 powerful stable. Tupgill had now become a strong force 

 in the North, backed up, as it was, by men of great 

 wealth like Mr. Jardine and Mr. Johnstone, the latter 

 of whom did not long survive the Pretender triumph, 

 though the septuagenarian, nay, fast approaching 

 octogenarian, now Sir Robert Jardine, Bart, (who for 

 a considerable period was a great breeder, and whose 

 horses were trained for years by Fred Bates at Middle- 

 ham), is yet to the fore enjoying a ripe and dignified 

 old age on his magnificent Scottish estate at Castlemilk, 

 Lockerbie, N.B. 



One can plainly trace the present decay of 

 Middleham as a once great centre of training to the 

 withdrawal of that support and influence accorded 

 to it by men of the stamp of Lord Eglinton, the 

 Earl of Glasgow, and Admiral Harcourt in the distant 

 days, and to others of opulence. The trend of money, so 

 far as regards the breeding, rearing, racing, and training 

 of thoroughbreds in our days is towards Newmarket. 

 Richmond, which could send forth a Voltigeur, a 

 Vedette, a Van Tromp, and a Fandango, is also on the 

 same line of deterioration. To the blandishments of life 

 in town, the quick transit of trains from the Metropolis 

 to Newmarket and back, and the more luxurious habits 

 and tastes of the modern owners, who prefer the 

 surroundings of Sandown, Kempton, or of Gatwick to 



