The Sport of Our jincestors 



those people, if there be any left, who talk about ' The 

 Times Newspaper,' or ' The Euston Square Railway 

 Station.' Yet it is a real pity if the dear old title oi'' Hundley 

 Cross ' is to be lost. Why not call books at any rate by their 

 proper names } And such a happy name as this ! To any 

 one with a spark of imagination it conjures up the whole 

 spirit of comedy in a sporting country town. Surtees was 

 clever at finding titles for his books as well as for his char- 

 acters. What better titles could there be than ^Ask Mamma ' 

 and * Plain or Ringlets? ' ? ^ Mr. Spongers Sporting Tour ' is 

 rather wordy, and there is some excuse for cutting it down 

 to plain * Sponge.' But after all, perhaps ^ Handley Cross ' is 

 justly called ' Jorrocks,' because in the long run Surtees 's 

 claim to fame must rest on his invention of Mr. John Jorrocks. 

 Other characters in his books, such as Mr. Sponge or Jawley- 

 ford, are indeed cleverly drawn, but for downright, honest, 

 straightforward portraiture there is nothing to touch this 

 picture of the sporting grocer. It is original. The snobs 

 and hangers-on and chalk sportsmen of the other books are 

 vastly well, but we have met them before. Jorrocks he 

 caught in the counting-house of Great Coram Street, and 

 he shows us how the spirit of the Chase compelled the mer- 

 chant to become a master of Foxhounds, in spite of his being 

 a poor horseman with bow window, round thighs, and no 

 nerve. There is no greater tribute to the fascination of 

 Fox-hunting than the mental and physical suffering which 

 some people will endure in its pursuit sooner than stop at 

 home. Surtees must have ridden about a great deal with 

 24 



