A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 



following. ' Tearaway,' a son of ' Telemachus,' 

 also carried off the Carmichael Stakes at the 

 same meeting. 'Tearaway' and 'Truth' sub- 

 sequently shared the Sefton Stakes at Altcar, 

 and the former followed it up with the Altcar 

 Club Cup, whilst 'TearawayV brother 'Tem- 

 pest ' won the Bridekirk Cup. From this Mr. 

 Thompson all at once got together a strong 

 kennel of high class greyhounds that could 

 win stakes when pitted against the best in all 

 countries. It would be tedious to name the 

 half of them, and it must suffice to observe 

 that 'Tullochgorum' (brother to ' King Death,' 

 winner of the Waterloo Cup in 1864) as a 

 puppy ran second for the Sefton Stakes, and in 

 his second season won the Brampton Cup and 

 divided the Bridekirk Cup. 'TullochgorumV 

 Bridekirk success was the subject of winter 

 controversy round many a farm fireside for 

 years after. ' Theatre Royal ' was another 

 great greyhound. She was by 'Cardinal York' 

 out of ' Meg of the Mill ' (a celebrated Long- 

 town bitch), and after earning herself a name 

 when a sapling, the following season won the 

 Challenge Bracelet on Salisbury Plains, as well 

 as running second at Sundorne in Shropshire. 

 In her next season ' Theatre Royal ' won the 

 Altcar Cup, divided the Douglas Cup with 

 ' Cauld Kail,' and reached the penultimate 

 stage of the Waterloo Cup, won by ' Briga- 

 dier.' And 'Trovatore' (by ' Ticket of Leave ' 

 out of ' Touchwood ') was yet another of Mr. 

 Thompson's brilliant performers. She won 

 the Brownlow Cup in Ireland and the Lytham 

 Cup, divided the Caledonian Stakes, and was 

 put out in the decider for the Douglas Cup by 

 ' Lancaster.' Further, Mr. Thompson acquired 

 the famous brood bitch ' Princess Royal,' a full 

 sister to ' Theatre Royal,' just before his re- 

 tirement from coursing through ill -health ; 

 indeed he died at Nice almost on the eve of 

 ' Master McGrath's ' second Waterloo Cup 

 victory. 



Memories of the Bridekirk Cup are closely 

 associated with the name of Mr. John Black- 

 stock of Hayton Castle, who was practically 

 the founder of the meeting. As an owner of 

 greyhounds he had achieved something more 

 than a fair share of success at Bridekirk and 

 other important meetings in different parts of 

 the country. He began by running second to 

 ' Judge ' with his bitch ' Bartolozzi ' for the 

 Bridekirk Cup of 1854. ' Judge ' and ' Barto- 

 lozzi ' were subsequently mated, and the pro- 

 duce included two greyhounds that speedily 

 gained Mr. Blackstock fame, namely ' Bride- 

 groom ' and ' Maid of the Mill,' who made 

 their first appearance at Southport, the dog 

 running second to ' Derwentwater ' for the 

 Scarisbrick Cup after three ' undecideds,' and 



the bitch winning the Southport Stakes. 'Maid 

 of the Mill ' followed up this creditable dtbut 

 with a stake at Brougham, and she found more 

 than her match in 'Annoyance' in the 'deci- 

 der ' for the Bridekirk Cup, but was not long 

 after victorious in the Waterloo Cup. ' Belle 

 of the Moor,' a daughter of ' Bridegroom,' 

 also won amongst other stakes the Netherby 

 Cup, and ' Beckford,' another scion of ' Bride- 

 groom,' carried off a second Bridekirk Cup. 

 ' Beckford ' was the fond hope of all Cumber- 

 land for the Waterloo Cup of 1864, but he 

 failed to survive the first round, winning how- 

 ever the Purse the year following. By com- 

 mon consent Mr. Blackstock's most brilliant 

 greyhound was ' Belle of Scotland ' (a daughter 

 of ' Maid of the Mill '), though a more unfor- 

 tunate one never went to slips, as after run- 

 ning unsuccessfully all over the kingdom she 

 managed to divide the Netherby Cup, soon 

 after which she went to the stud. In 1871 

 ' Belle of Lome ' divided the Bridekirk Cup. 



One of the greatest greyhounds ever associ- 

 ated with coursing in Cumberland was ' Cauld 

 Kail.' Although bred on the Scotch side of 

 the river Liddel and full of Cumberland blood, 

 ' Cauld Kail ' was subsequently the property of 

 Mr. William Forster of Stonegarthside, also 

 on the banks of the Liddel and almost oppo- 

 site the place of the dog's nativity. ' Cauld 

 Kail's ' earliest successes were at Brampton, 

 where he divided the Cup, and at Hawick 

 and Lockerbie, where he also shared the Stobs 

 Castle Stakes and the Castlemilk Stakes. Next 

 greatly fancied for the Waterloo Cup, won by 

 ' Brigadier,' his colours were lowered in the 

 second round, after two ' undecideds,' by ' Blue 

 Eye,' but the following month, in the more 

 congenial Scottish National country, he divi- 

 ded the Douglas Cup (fifty-eight entries) with 

 ' Theatre Royal.' A second division of the 

 Stobs Castle Stakes, and, strange to say, again 

 with ' Princess Royal,' ended ' Cauld Kail's ' 

 winning successes, and he went to the stud. 

 His immediate progeny won valuable stakes 

 in England, Ireland and Scotland, including 

 the Waterloo Cup, and one of them, a Cum- 

 berland-bred dog, named ' Royal Water,' after 

 dividing a stake at Lockerbie, changed hands 

 for 150, went to Australia in 1874, and 

 shortly after landing won the Waterloo Cup, 

 a stake of the same dimensions and value as 

 that in England. At the present day, like 

 ' Judge ' and ' Strange Idea,' the blood of 

 ' Cauld Kail ' runs in the veins of the majority 

 of the very best greyhounds. Reverting to 

 Mr. Forster, however, he was subsequently the 

 possessor of many winners of valuable stakes. 

 Included in these was ' Fortuna ' (by ' Cardi- 

 nal York ' out of ' Meg '), who won the Jed- 



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