110 THE ENGLISH TURF 



thing is to be seen of the racing, though when the Derby 

 is being run the course is lined with people all the way 

 round, and little can be seen from the hill except the 

 caps and jackets of the jockeys. On the hill all the " fun 

 of the fair " is to be found, and many of the annual visitors 

 to the Derby and Oaks never dream of seeking any other 

 place, but contentedly pass their days on the hill, where 

 unlimited refreshment is procurable, and where there are 

 all sorts of attractions in addition to the racing. Frith's 

 " Derby Day," painted nearly forty years ago, depicts the sort 

 of scene that may be found a dozen times in an afternoon 

 even now, for, allowing for the changes in fashion, much the 

 same state of affairs prevails at the present day, though 

 the management has put a stop to some of the noisier 

 attractions, such as steam roundabouts — not known in 

 Frith's day. The gipsies, negro minstrels, itinerant musicians 

 of every sort, the fourth-rate burlesque professional boxers, 

 the workers in brass wire, vendors of fruit and gingerbeer, 

 and the huge crowd of tipsters are all in evidence on the 

 Epsom Hill, and though Ascot knows them well too, Epsom 

 is their happiest hunting ground, and there they are seen 

 in far greater numbers than elsewhere. What these gentry 

 do at other times is a mystery. Fifty years ago, or less, their 

 ancestors followed the meetings, but nowadays nineteen out 

 of every twenty meetings are on the enclosed system, and 

 most certainly the enclosure knows not this lowest form of 

 Turf follower, except occasionally at a bank holiday fixture. 

 The latter-day policeman, too, is quickly down on anything 

 which is not permitted by law. He never attempts perhaps 

 to stop the begging, but he is ruthless enough when he finds 

 the three -card trick being performed, and I have seen him 

 stop an enterprising gentleman who was selling purses for 

 a shilling, in each of which he had apparently placed two 

 half-crowns. 



Epsom is a national carnival, and the hill is the chosen 

 spot for those to whom the racing is a secondary matter. 

 They go for the day's outing, with a determination to have as 

 much fun for their money as is possible. The racing people 

 proper divide their time between the stands and the paddock, 



