SPORTING STORIES 



CHAPTER I 



TURFITES ON THE GRAND SCALE 



It is in the guise of a gossip that I here present myself 

 to the reader, and I claim but the indulgence commonly 

 allowed to such purveyors of amusement. If, haply, I may 

 be so fortunate as to gain the reputation of an " Agreeable 

 Rattle," like the gentleman in She Stoops to Conquer, my 

 aspirations will have been attained. 



I have gathered together in a " mixed bag " scattered 

 " ana " of sport, culled from the diaries and memories 

 of sporting celebrities and the personal recollection of 

 veteran sportsmen whom I have known ; from half- 

 forgotten books ; from rare old newspapers and magazines ; 

 from all sorts of curious, fugitive, out-of-the-way sketches 

 which I have unearthed in the course of many years' de- 

 sultory research. Out of this miscellaneous collection I 

 have endeavoured to piece together a mosaic — a picture 

 which will enable sportsmen of to-day to form an idea of 

 the life which their fathers, grandfathers, and great-grand- 

 fathers led, and the nature of the sports which they 

 enjoyed. 



In this anecdotal medley I give first place to the Turf, 

 the most universally popular of our national sports. I 

 have swept all sorts and conditions of racing men into my 

 net — princes and peers ; plungers and blacklegs ; trainers 

 and jockeys ; bookmakers, touts, welshers, card-sellers — and 

 I have collected anecdotes illustrative of the characters and 

 eccentricities of all. 



And, first, I shall take the Turf in its gambling phase 



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