A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 



ster' in the fifth round of the Great Scarisbrick 

 Cup at Southport. The course was one of 

 the longest ever witnessed in that most severe 

 country, and the greyhounds were a match 

 in every attribute but speed, which eventually 

 left the Scotch bitch mistress of a trying situa- 

 tion. ' Beer ' and ' Beeswing ' were daughters 

 of ' Bacchante," the former of whom divided 

 two Craven Cups, and her sister was the 

 winner of an Altcar Cup and a Lytham Cup. 

 During later years ' Burlador ' divided the Car- 

 michael Cup (in Lanarkshire), and 'Black Veil' 

 and ' Border Song ' respectively won their vet- 

 eran owner the much appreciated Corrie Cup 

 in Dumfriesshire. Sir Thomas Brocklebank 

 may truly be described as the ' father of 

 coursing,' not only of his native county of 

 Cumberland, but also of the United Kingdom. 

 ' Carronade,' although located in Cumber- 

 land, was of Scotch lineage, but the property 

 of Mr. William Bragg, a solicitor in Cocker- 

 mouth, and agent to General Wyndham, suc- 

 cessively M.P. for the old borough and for 

 West Cumberland. ' Carronade's ' blood runs 

 through many Waterloo Cup winners, inclu- 

 sive of ' Judge ' and ' Fullerton,' the latter of 

 whom bears the great distinction of having 

 divided and then won in three consecutive 

 years. ' Carronade's ' sire was ' Carron,' de- 

 scended from one of the Duke of Gordon's 

 celebrities about 1821, and 'Carron' ran a 

 sensational match in 1840 for 100, the re- 

 sult of a challenge to ' All Scotland,' but was 

 defeated by the Earl of Eglinton's ' Waterloo.' 

 Mr. Bragg was a keen courser, a winner of 

 many prizes in West Cumberland and a mem- 

 ber of the Workington and Whitehaven Clubs, 

 having thus been intimately associated with 

 Mr. Fox, Mr. Jefferson, Captain John Harris, 

 Dr. Anthony Peat, Mr. Thomas Falcon, Mr. 

 Joseph Lindow, Captain Spencer, Mr. Thomas 

 Dalzell and Mr. Richard Smith, the latter also 

 a Cockermouth sportsman of the old school 

 and a manufacturer in the town. Travelling 

 much, in conjunction with his business his 

 greyhounds ran successfully at the most im- 

 portant meetings on both sides of the border, 

 and from the year 1840 until his death, some 

 fifteen years later, he must have acquired a 

 valuable collection of plate. Recurring to Mr. 

 Henry Jefferson and to the Rev. John Fox, 

 the owner of ' Judge ' had also the celebrated 

 'Jacobite,' bred however in 1854 by Mr. Fox. 

 ' Jacobite ' was by the Nottingham dog ' Bed- 

 lamite,' and his dam was ' Florence,' a daughter 

 of ' Carronade' and 'Gamut'; but 'Jacobite* 

 early passed into the hands of a Scottish courser, 

 Mr. John Gibson, for whom he won many 

 stakes, and subsequently increased his fame at 

 the stud. Others of Mr. Jefferson's winning 



greyhounds were ' Jim-along-Josey,' ' Jeremy 

 Diddler,' ' Jeu d'Esprit,' ' Jester,' ' Judy,' 

 ' Jeannie Deans,' 'Johnny Newcome,' 'Jeri- 

 cho,' 'Jane,' 'Jack o' Lantern,' 'Jock,' ' John 

 Bull ' (sire of ' Judge '), ' Java ' (winner of the 

 Waterloo Plate), and ' Imperatrice ' (a daughter 

 of ' Java '), who was the dam of the Lanca- 

 shire wonder, ' Bed of Stone.' The Rev. John 

 Fox retired from coursing comparatively early, 

 but between 184050 he was very successful 

 in all parts of the country. 



A well known greyhound in Cumberland 

 about 1845 was Mr. John Rogers's ' Crofton,' 

 winner of several prizes, and whose name is 

 prominent in the pedigrees of many notabili- 

 ties, inclusive of ' King Lear ' and ' Maid of 

 the Mill,' winners of the Waterloo Cup. 

 ' Crofton ' was one of the fastest greyhounds 

 of his time. He was named as a compliment 

 to the Brisco family, of whom Sir Robert, 

 prior to succeeding to the baronetcy, was an 

 active Cumberland courser. Sir Robert's first 

 greyhound of note was ' Beau Coeur,' whelped 

 in 1838, and bred at Crofton. Sir Robert 

 Brisco won no fewer than five Whitehaven 

 Cups in the early ' forties.' Captain Joseph 

 Spencer's kennel of greyhounds flourished in 

 1846 till a dozen years later. He will not 

 readily be forgotten as the owner of ' Sun- 

 beam,' a son of ' John Bull ' and Mr. Fox's 

 ' Fleur-de-Lys.' ' Sunbeam ' began his career 

 by winning a stake at Altcar ; he ran second 

 for the Bridekirk Cup and Altcar Club Cup, 

 also won the Clifton Cup at Lytham and the 

 Douglas Cup at Biggar, and within a few days 

 carried off the Bendrigg Cup, one of the lead- 

 ing prizes of the time in Westmorland, where, 

 by-the-bye, there is now no public coursing. 

 But ' Sunbeam's ' historical feat was his defeat 

 in the deciding course of the 1857 Waterloo 

 Cup by ' King Lear,' a keen disappointment 

 for Cumberland, as the dog's chance was con- 

 sidered second to none. The year following 

 ' Sunbeam ' ran into the last four of Neville's 

 Waterloo Cup. There were old coursers 

 however who considered ' Seagull ' a better 

 greyhound than ' Sunbeam,' both as a public 

 performer and at the stud. ' Seagull ' was by 

 ' Bedlamite Raven,' and was bred in the 

 south of England ; in fact, before he came into 

 Cumberland had run under the name of ' Re- 

 veller.' It will be sufficient to say that ' Sea- 

 gull ' won for Captain Spencer two Altcar 

 Club Cups, the Biggar Cup, the Whitehaven 

 Cup and the Scottish Champion Cup, truly a 

 brilliant record, and reflecting no little credit 

 on the West Cumberland courser as a judge 

 of a good greyhound. 



The border name of Hyslop has for many 

 years been associated with coursing in Cumber- 



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