A GOSSIP ON HUNTING MEN 353 



man who would follow wherever the master or the hounds 

 led. One day the fox made for a bog and crossed it, the 

 hounds following in pursuit, while behind them came Lord 

 Elcho and Joe Hogg. Next day someone asked, " Joe, 

 how did you feel when you were following his lordship 

 over the bog ? " " Lord, sir," he replied, " I did expect to be 

 swallowed fairly up alive every time my horse jumped, but 

 nothing else could be done, for the hounds were running 

 right into him." The bog was a mile and a half across, 

 and the frost was just enough to make firm the driest 

 parts, which admitted of the horses jumping from one 

 tussock of grass to another. 



Lord Saltoun, an excellent horseman, had the pluck to 

 ride down the jagged steep of Berwick Law. He shone, 

 too, at the festive board, where his rendering of the " Man 

 with the Wooden Leg " and other comic songs of the day 

 always brought down the house. He fought at Waterloo, 

 where he distinguished himself in the defence of Hougo- 

 mont, and afterwards remained in France with the army of 

 occupation. And thereby hangs a tale. 



While in quarters at St Denis, Lord Saltoun, Lord 

 William Lennox, Sim Fairfield, and one or two more found 

 their beds occupied when they got to their billets in an 

 hotel one night. A French cavalry regiment had ridden up, 

 and the officers had taken possession of every bedroom and 

 locked themselves in. The Britishers were by no means 

 disposed to submit tamely to this unceremonious invasion. 

 They held a council of war, and a bright idea suggested 

 itself to Lord Saltoun. First, the waiter and ostler were 

 bribed to secrecy. Then the conspirators went softly to 

 work and changed the boots which stood outside each 

 door. When this was done, Sim Fairfield, who could play 

 any instrument from a jews' harp to a trombone, got hold 

 of a trumpet and sounded the French " boot and saddle." 

 In an instant every Frenchman was out of bed — doors 

 were opened, boots eagerly snatched, and then — the band 

 began to play ! Never was heard such scrambling and 

 swearing. Men with large feet had got hold of small 

 boots ; men with small feet found themselves lost in 

 "jacks." They tugged and cursed, till they all got outside 



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