488 ASHGILL; OR, THE LIFE 



Street, York. For some years Robert Johnson pub- 

 lished a useful racing calendar, in which was first 

 introduced descriptions of races, a plan that might well 

 be adopted by " Ruff " and " M'Call " in our day, though 

 with so much more racing it would swell the volumes 

 to an inordinate size. On the completion of his ap- 

 prenticeship, the future judge joined the York Herald 

 newspaper, and reported racing for that old-established 

 organ. He became closely associated with the 

 celebrated Mr. John Orton, then acting as judge on the 

 northern circuit. In 1844 he officiated as substitute in 

 the box for Mr. Orton at Ripon Meeting, albeit his 

 debut proper on the Turf woolsack was not made until 

 Catterick of that year. Mr. Orton's death followed 

 soon after, and Mr. Johnson succeeded to nearly all 

 his appointments. In 1851 Mr. Johnson was appointed 

 judge to the York Meetings, a position that he would 

 have occupied at an earlier date but for an agreement 

 with Mr. Clark which had first to be terminated. It 

 was this circumstance that did not admit of his being in 

 the box when Voltigeur and The Flying Dutchman ran 

 their ever-memorable match on Knavesmire. Mr. 

 Johnson often expressed the opinion that this match 

 was altogether an unworthy test of the relative merits 

 of the undoubtedly great racers. " Voltigeur was a dog 

 horse trained to death," was his opinion, expressed in 

 his own words. Soon after the York appointment he 

 was raised to Doncaster, and was associated with these 

 great meetings in an official capacity for some thirty 

 years. Thus established as " the man in the box " at the 

 two leading meetings in Yorkshire, he in course of time 

 was retained at every fixture of importance north of the 

 Trent, and in addition he acted as clerk of the course at 

 Catterick and Newcastle for many years. Finally he 



