26 iRiMno IRecoUcctions an& XLxxvt Stones 



the present Mr. Merry gave me for winning the 

 Derby on ' Thormanby,' that I will now tell the true 

 tale. Some have gone so far as to say Mr. Merry 

 gave me ^500, but that is incorrect : the exact 

 amount was ^100. I recollect perfectly well that 

 the present was given in the Jockeys' Room at 

 Stockbridge on the day that I won the Cup on 

 ' Dundee.' I had had to waste very hard to ride 

 6 St. 12 lb., and beat Mr. Parker's ' Damascus ' and 

 Baron Rothschild's ' Mentmore.' Mr. Merry gave 

 me the money in the presence of Mr. Norman 

 Buchanan, who delivered a long lecture, hoping it 

 would not turn my head, nor tempt me to go wrong. 

 I'm afraid in these days it would be more likely to 

 make a jockey turn up his nose than his head. 

 This was the only present that I ever received from 

 Mr. Merry during the three years that I rode for 

 him. As I won him many races, and also had to 

 waste very hard all the time to keep my weight 

 down, I can scarcely look on the Scotch ironmaster 

 as a very liberal patron. 



Amongst the many races that I rode in the 

 "yellow and black cap," I always look back with a 

 certain amount of pleasure to winning the New- 

 market Whip at the Second October Meeting of 

 i860 on * Special License.' I secured this coveted 



