HEROES OF THE LEASH 217 



receives a prize. Then there are the Waterloo Purse and 

 the Waterloo Plate, which between them supply £^6o in 

 consolation prizes, bringing up the total to £1600. 



Among the great greyhounds that have figured in the 

 competitions for the Waterloo Cup since its institution, 

 four stand out pre-eminently — Master M'Grath, Bab-at- 

 the-Bowster, Coomassie, and Fullerton. Master M'Grath 

 came out as a puppy in 1868, and at his first attempt 

 carried off the Cup. In the following year he repeated his 

 triumph — a feat up to that time unprecedented in the 

 annals of Altcar. The final course for that year's Cup, 

 when Master M'Grath met Bab-at-the-Bowster, will never 

 be forgotten by those who witnessed it. In common with 

 many others, I believe that on that day at any rate the 

 bitch was the better of the two, and it was by sheer bad 

 luck that she failed to win the deciding course. The 

 following year was productive of a sensation. Master 

 M'Grath was beaten by Lady Lyons, and, unable to stop 

 himself at the edge of the river Alt, ran on to the rotten ice 

 (there had been a hard frost the previous week), which 

 gave way under his weight, and the dog, utterly exhausted 

 as he was, would undoubtedly have been drowned but for 

 the pluck of the slipper who went in and rescued him. 

 Lord Lurgan was in a towering rage at the defeat of his 

 famous greyhound, which he attributed to the stupidity or 

 favouritism of the judge, and swore that Master M'Grath 

 should never run again. 



But, fortunately, Lord Lurgan repented of his hasty 

 decision, and in 1870 Master M'Grath immortalised him- 

 self by winning the Waterloo Cup in brilliant style for the 

 third time. The enthusiasm over that victory was extra- 

 ordinary. Master M'Grath was the hero of the hour. 

 The Queen herself commanded his appearance at Windsor, 

 and it was a proud moment for Lord Lurgan when he 

 presented his famous greyhound to Her Majesty, and 

 received her gracious expression of admiration and con- 

 gratulation. Master M'Grath never ran again in public, 

 and did not long survive his triple triumph, for two years 

 later he died of heart disease. 



Bab-at-the-Bowster, though she never won a Waterloo 



