HOW POLO CAME TO ENGLAND 327 



one of the famous County Carlow team, comprising, besides 

 himself, the well-known M.F.H. Robert Watson, his son 

 John (the Master of the Meath), Stewart Ducket, and 

 James Butler, who astonished the polo world by beating 

 the crack team of the 8th Hussars by seven goals 

 to none. 



" Bill " Beresford was a capital player in his day, and so 

 were three brother officers of his in the 9th Lancers — Dick 

 Clayton, Chisholm, and " Tim " Butson, now, alas ! all gone 

 over to the majority. Clayton was killed at Delhi in 1877 

 whilst playing the game he loved so well, whilst Chisholm 

 and Butson both died soldiers' deaths in the Afghanistan 

 campaign. 



The finest team of poloists of the new school was the 

 Sussex quartette, Frank Mildmay, M.P. for Totnes, and 

 the three brothers Peat. Mildmay, considering his 

 apparently slight physique, was as hard a hitter as one 

 could wish to see, and his mounts were always Ai. 

 Never was there a lovelier pony than his Picquet, which he 

 sold to Mr Whitney of New York for ^450. The three 

 brothers Peat are generally admitted to have been the 

 most brilliant exponents of the game ever seen in England ; 

 and with their stud of ponies, trained to perfection by 

 themselves, they would have been hard to match or to 

 beat the wide world over. There was no " forward " who 

 could dodge and twist through his horsemen like " Johnnie " 

 Peat, and when he got a fair drive at the ball it " went." 

 His elder brother, Arthur, was as quick and clever a " back " 

 as the other a " forward," and Alfred " the Boy," as good 

 as either at " half-back." All three had wonderful eyes for 

 the ball, and were dead on it no matter how terrific the 

 pace. This famous team was never beaten, and won the 

 County Challenge Cup five years in succession. 



Ireland could show the equal of any player in the three 

 kingdoms in John Watson, the popular master of the 

 Meath Hounds. There is no better judge of a horse or 

 a pony, and his skill in training is equal to his judgment 

 in buying. As captain he has led the famous " Freebooters " 

 to victory in many a hard-fought fight in both hemispheres 

 — for the States knew his prowess as well as the old country. 



