HORSEMANSHIP 113 



of a " four-in-hand " this weapon requires the 

 most delicate and careful handling. 



The late Sir Isaac Cumberbatch was one of 

 the earhest pioneers of the Coaching Club, and 

 used to " tool " his spanking team of chestnuts 

 round Batter sea Park every morning during 

 the season, to the admiration of all beholders. 

 But to the very end of his distinguished career 

 he never satisfactorily acquired the art of 

 " catching " his whip, and scarcely a day 

 passed without his getting the thong entangled 

 in the wheels of his coach, in the branches of 

 overhanging trees, or even round the ears of 

 aristocratic passengers whom he had generously 

 invited to share the perils of his matutinal 

 pilgrimage. 



The climax was reached one afternoon in the 

 summer of 1906. Sir Isaac unfurled his whip 

 with the intention of administering punishment 

 to an off-leader that insisted upon cantering 

 while its colleagues were trotting; the lash flew 

 out with a loud swish, encircled the two grooms 

 who were sitting with folded arms upon the 

 back-seat, banged their heads sharply together, 

 and held them so securely fastened round their 

 necks that both perished from strangulation 

 before they could be released. The tiresome 

 consequences of so regrettable an accident need 

 not be unduly emphasized. For several days 



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