THE YORKSHIRE MEETINGS 121 



Club Rules was held, but nearly twenty years have passed 

 since Durham Races disappeared from the Calendar, and the 

 course was so dangerous that their cessation was no loss to 

 the racing community. The winning-post was some three 

 hundred yards below the stands, and much of the inter- 

 vening space was filled with tents, shows, steam round- 

 abouts, and so forth. On one occasion, not long before the 

 fixtures ceased to exist, three horses took fright at a steam 

 whistle, and bolted straight at a high masonry wall which 

 separated the racecourse from the gardens behind the houses 

 in Old Elvet. One of the three horses was leading by 

 about half a length ; he jumped as high as he could, struck 

 the wall about two feet below the top, and fell into the 

 gardens beyond. Another horse fell back on the racecourse 

 side of the wall, and the third jumped through the gap 

 which the first had made, trotting through into the street 

 no worse for the contretemps. All three jockeys were 

 dangerously hurt, and at least one of the horses had to be 

 destroyed. The turn at the top of the course was a bad 

 one, and I well remember seeing a hard puller go straight 

 on into the river instead of rounding the turn. So, all 

 things considered, it was just as well that Durham Races 

 came to an end. I never liked the Richmond Course, 

 though it was the scene of many a glorious struggle during 

 the middle of the century, when better horses were trained 

 there than is now the case. Neither was Northallerton 

 a particularly good course, and Scarborough was nothing 

 to boast of, though it survived much longer than North- 

 allerton or Richmond. The place was famous for roughs, 

 who came from all parts of the kingdom for the meeting, 

 and I was present on one occasion when they raided the 

 principal enclosure. The attack had evidently been well 

 organised, for at a signal it was commenced both from the 

 course and the back of the stands. The turnstiles were 

 rushed and all the money taken up to that time secured, 

 and at the moment the attention of the few police on duty 

 was turned to the back of the buildings dozens of ruffians 

 climbed over the rails which divided the course from the 

 paddock. Then commenced a scene of ruffianism ; book- 



