EARLY HISTORY OF THE HUNT. 27 



Such a country was this, at least Torre' so declared, 

 And of his having travell'd you all must have heard. 



' See Thimbleby's squire- on his sweet Lady-fair, 

 Who has so long been accustomed to hunting the hare ; 

 That unus'd to the system in which we pursue, 

 He now and then gladdens himself with a view. 

 If Weatherby's volume you ever should read, 

 Richard Watt,' you'll believe, has made it his creed ; 

 And I think it most likely he'll gain by the race, 

 More honour than ever he will by the chase ; 

 So I hope that his Shuttlecock^ nimbly will fly, 

 Nor be wanting the aid of a battledore nigh. 



' A Liverpool trader, s who lately arriv'd 

 From the hills of the west, thought with us to have lived, 

 And though mounted on Firelock, whose speed seldom fails. 

 The rate of the pack he now greatly bewails ; 

 But happy the man, when for home he repairs. 

 In wine he can drown both himself and his cares. 



' On Rudgier placed, and straining each nerve, 

 Now fearing he'll tumble, now dreading he'll swerve, 



(i) Major James Torre, of Snydal, son of the Rev. James Torre, and elder 

 brother to the Rev. Henry Torre, of Thornhill, near Wakefiekl. 



(2) Sir Robert Frankland Russell. A most perfect hunter in every respect ; 

 but the tout ensemble certainly put one in mind of a pilgrimage to ' Agnes 

 Altar ' more than an admirer of the chase. 



(3) Richard Watt, of Bishop Burton. 



(4) Watt's Shuttlecock was a great favourite, and expected to win the 

 St. Leger. ' For his success ' (thus writes the author), ' he has my best wishes, 

 but " cerium voto pete fiuem." ' 



Shuttlecock was a bay colt by Schedoni — sister to Trumpeter. As a three-year- 

 old he won a match with Mr. N. B. Hodgson's Brafferton, at York. There 

 were four better favourites than him when the numbers for the St. Leger went 

 up. The race was won by the favourite, Mr. Clifton's Fyldener, by Sir Peter, 

 Shuttlecock finishing third. Shuttlecock was only a disappointing horse, and 

 ran second several times as a four-year-old. From what can be gathered, the 

 three-year-olds of 1806 were not a very grand lot, and the St. Leger of that year 

 was remarkable for the slowness of the pace. 



(5) Mr. AUanson, a very respectable wine merchant, from the flourishing 

 town of Liverpool. 



