184 SPORTING STORIES 



coloured cloth coat made full and single-breasted, with 

 three tiers of pockets, the skirts reaching to the ankles, and 

 mother-of-pearl buttons the size of a crown piece ; a blue- 

 and-yellow striped waistcoat, each stripe an inch wide ; 

 cord silk and plush breeches made to button over the calf 

 of each leg, with sixteen strings and rosettes to each knee ; 

 the boots were short, and finished with very broad straps 

 that hung over the tops and down to the ankle ; a hat 

 three and a half inches deep in the crown only, and the 

 same depth in the brim ; and each driver with a large 

 bouquet at his breast. 



Sir John Lade, who was one of the best whips of his 

 day, for a wager drove a four-in-hand into the old yard at 

 Tattersalls and out again without touching either wall or 

 grass plot. This was thought a great feat then, as the 

 entrance was through a narrow passage and down an 

 inclined drive, at the bottom of which was a sharp turn by 

 the " Turf Tap." Another covered gateway then led into 

 the auction yard, round which Sir John drove and got out 

 again without brushing against brick or blade of grass on 

 either side, and won. 



But quite as difficult an achievement was accomplished 

 by Sam Page, the driver of the Winchester mail, on 

 i6th September 1795. Mr Lackington the bookseller 

 had a dispute with Mr Willan the horse-dealer about the 

 size of his (Mr Lackington's) shop, the Temple of the 

 Muses, Finsbury Square, which the proprietor said was 

 large enough to allow a coach and four to drive round it. 

 As each was positive the other was wrong, a bet of 500 

 guineas was made, and Sam Page was selected by the book- 

 seller to decide it. On the day named the Winchester 

 mail-coach, full of passengers, was driven in, round, and 

 out of Lackington's shop without doing the least damage, 

 the proprietor in his own carriage following the mail. 

 Sam Page was presented with 20 guineas by the 

 winner of the wager for having accomplished the feat. 

 Mr Willan, the loser, owed his success in life to havine, 

 when ostler at the Rutland Arms, Newmarket, recom- 

 mended the Duke of Cumberland to buy a mare who was 

 afterwards the dam of Marske, the sire of the celebrated 



