AND TIMES OF JOHN OSBORNE 351 



'un, but she didn't improve as she went on. We 

 had a horse called Xi ; he won the Royal Hunt 

 Cup on three legs. Captain Scott won a big 

 stake on Gadabout when she won The Metro- 

 politan ; I think that was about '53. I remember 

 ' The Dutchman ' taking his gallops on the Moor. 

 He always looked like as if he could go. Van 

 Tromp was a good horse, but not so good as 

 'The Dutchman/ Lord Glasgow used to come 

 to Middleham at night time; he used to post 

 through from Scotland to London. His coach- 

 man could never drive fast enough for him. He 

 used to put his head out of the window and 

 cursed and swore, telling him to drive faster. 

 When we were at Ashgill we generally got up 

 between four and five o'clock in the morning 

 in the summer, and we had most of the horses 

 out on the Moor by that time. We always had 

 plenty of work, and plenty of good cheese and 

 bread, and plenty of good old ale. George 

 Abdale would be with us in about '53 ; and then 

 he went to Aske and trained for Lord Zetland. 

 He was a good bit at Ashgill with us ; and his 

 brother Bill used to ride for Lord George 

 Bentinck and the Duke of Richmond, when their 

 horses were trained at Goodwood. Now, about 

 my brother John, he's never worn a collar since 

 he got married. Sometimes, maybe, he might 

 wear one on a Sunday when he gets dressed up. 



' Thorn and Grand Flaneur were tried before 

 Newcastle. We considered Grand Flaneur 

 would lose him, but the boot was on t'other 

 leg. Thorn was a very fine-tempered horse ; the 

 other was a mad beast. Poor Tom Dawson, he 



