The Sport of Our Ancestors 



Major Whyte Melville's heroes and heroines were usually 

 like himself, without fear and without reproach. There 

 runs through all his books a certain spirit of chivalry and 

 affection, as it appeared to him to exist, and did exist, in 

 spite of Dundreary whiskers and crinolines. It is certain 

 that the possession of these qualities, together with a de- 

 lightful sense of humour, caused him to be well and truly 

 loved by many friends who were shocked at his death from 

 a fall on the flat when out hunting near Tetbury. It was 

 on this occasion that the late Lord Rosslyn wrote the sonnet 

 which follows. The news that a dear friend had broken 

 his neck out hunting would no doubt be a shock. But the 

 age in which we now live has become more familiar with 

 sudden death, and would not be ' appalled ' or ' petrified 

 with pain ' in the presence of a swift and merciful end. 

 For all that. Lord Rosslyn, himself a gifted writer and an 

 outstanding figure in the world of sport and fashion, must 

 be allowed the licence of the poets. This is what he 

 wrote : — 



IN MEMORIAM 



The engineer by his own petard slain, 

 The eagle pierced by shaft from his own wing, 

 Are plaintive fancies, such as poets sing, 

 And touch the heart but coldly through the brain ; 

 But thou, dear George, in thine own sport thus ta'en, 

 In all the prime of manhood, and the swing 

 Of gallant gallop, struck stone-dead — the thing ■ 

 Appals, and petrifies the mind with pain. 

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