6;6 



A HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH TURF. 



" Mr. Manton," the Dowager Duchess of Montrose, used to remind us of the 

 racing ladies of the past, and all they have meant in the annals of the English 

 Turf. Throughout those annals it would be difficult to find a stronger or more 

 characteristic figure than that of Captain Machell, who seemed to have grafted 

 his own strong, individual peculiarities on to the eccentric, manly soul of Admiral 

 Rous himself. Not only bodily activity (he could once jump, standing, from the 

 floor to firm footing-on a high mantelpiece), but persistent courage, both physical and 

 moral, were his strong points, at his best. One proof of that was the picture of 



Crackenthorpe, the Westmoreland 

 home of his family, which hung in 

 his study at Newmarket, inscribed 

 "Rebuilt by Hugh Machell (1689), 

 sold by Lancelot Machell (1786), 

 repurchased by James O. Machell 

 (1877) ;" and if he was proud of the 

 old cognisance of " three greyhounds 

 courant," he was even prouder of the 

 ancestor who had been chaplain to 

 the Merry Monarch ; and he loved 

 every inch of ground in Newmarket. 

 As his lifelong friend, Lord Calthorpe, 

 used to say, he could never pass even 

 a herd of ponies without stopping to 

 appraise the best, and the number of 

 friends whose horses he trained and 

 managed at Bedford Cottage has 

 rarely been equalled in the long 

 tale of Newmarket's racing stables. The Marquis of Hastings refused to take 

 Mr. Tattersall's advice, and so it was Mr. Chaplin who bought Hermit at 

 the Middle Park Sale of yearlings. The Captain had become associated with 

 Mr. Chaplin in 1865, and it was because Lord Calthorpe told Mr. Chaplin that 

 it would be "not fair to Jem Machell," that Hermit was not scratched for the 

 Derby after the blood-vessel broke in his head. It is strange that Custance, 

 having been given up, at Captain Hawksley's earnest entreaties, to Mr. Pryor, 

 found that his new mount, The Rake, had broken a blood-vessel as well. But 



By pennission of 

 " Country Life." 



The Duchess of Montrose 

 (" Mr. Manton "). 



