Captain John Lawrence 



any number of lengths. At Punchestown that year he had 

 better luck, winning the Kildare Hunt Cup, the Light Weight 

 Military, and another race of minor importance ; whilst, in 

 Scotland, where the regiment was then quartered, he was 

 luckier still, being especially so at the Renfrewshire Hunt 

 Meeting, where he won every race on the card during the 

 afternoon. 



The following year, after winning seven races in one week, 

 a terrible fall, from the effects of which he never fairly 

 recovered, brought to an abrupt conclusion, amidst general 

 regret, what had every promise of being an exceptionally 

 brilliant career in the saddle. 



A strong and bold rider, " Piggy " Lawrence is described 

 by one who knew him best, as being without an equal on a 

 rough and awkward horse, his one fault, perhaps, being that he 

 was wanting in patience when riding in a race. 



A proof of what metal he was made of is given in the 

 following story : One night at Mess, when the 4th Hussars 

 were quartered at Newbridge, a certain officer in the regiment 

 was extolling the merits of a steeplechase mare owned by 

 himself in no measured fashion, when the Colonel, who had 

 kept silent so far, suddenly broke in with, " I'll tell you what, 

 So-and-So, I'll back * Piggy,' here, to ride my old one-eyed 

 horse without saddle or bridle — only a halter — against your 

 mare, for three miles over the Newbridge steeplechase course, 

 for j^2$ a side." The offer being promptly accepted, the 

 match was decided in " Piggy's " favour shortly afterwards, in 

 presence of a large concourse of local sportsmen. 



A very hard man to hounds, it is to be feared that 

 " Piggy " found the Llangibby, of which pack that grand old 

 sportsman, his father, was master for so many years, a trifle 

 too slow for him at times, for the paternal description of a run, 



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