SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



owned in the present day by Mr. V. W. B. 

 Corbett, for whom the dog has won several minor 

 stakes in the county. 



Mr. Gregson achieved the highest ambition of 

 the courser, that of winning the Waterloo Cup. 

 This triumph was gained by his handsome bitch 

 Roaring Meg, by Beacon Polly, in 1862, the 

 only occasion in the long history of the Cup on 

 which a greyhound bred, reared, trained and 

 owned in Durham gained the most coveted 

 honour of the leash. Of other dogs owned by 

 him, which were more or less successful, may be 

 mentioned Whipcord, Polly, The Mummy, 

 Bellona, Cat o' Nine Tails, and Cassop Lass, 

 all whelped between 1850 and 1860. The 

 last notable hound that he bred and ran was 

 Flora's Wreath, which, alike on the coursing 

 field and as a matron, earned a good name. 



A contemporary of Mr. Gregson's was the late 

 Mr. Robert Anderson of High Felling, Gates- 

 head-on-Tyne, who bred Annoyance in 1857, 

 Agility in 1 86 1, and Armstrong Gun in 1862. 

 Annoyance was the ancestress of an illustrious 

 line of greyhounds whose exploits find place in 

 the calendar. She was the dam of Agility by 

 Fandango ; of Armstrong Gun ; of King Death 

 (winner of the Waterloo Cup for the late 

 Dr. Richardson of Harbottle) ; of Tullochgorum; 

 and of Johnny Cope and Theresa, by Canaradzo, 

 the last-named brace being a litter later than the 

 former celebrities. Mr. Anderson's son, the pre- 

 sent Mr. Anderson, owned a fast dog in Harvester 

 and a useful one in Royal Letter, while Amuse- 

 ment was the best of a deteriorated kennel. The 

 late genial and good-hearted Dr. O'Kelly of the 

 Felling, Gateshead, was also a keen courser ; his 

 bitch Kindle being noted for a great turn of 

 speed, though she could rarely steady herself from 

 the turns. Another prominent breeder and 

 owner was Mr. Thomas Lamb of Hetton 

 le Hole, who mated Roman Strong with 

 Dr. Richardson's Minute Gun in 1876, the result 

 being that the dam produced such good runners 

 in high-class coursing as Arquebuse, Lighthouse, 

 Londonderry and Mitrailleuse, in addition to 

 Labitza and Ptarmigan in 1883. Increasing 

 years led to Mr. Lamb's retirement from the 

 sport about a quarter of a century ago. He still 

 survives at a great age. 



The name of Royal Stag (bred by Mr. J. 

 Robinson of Durham in 1881) recalls many 

 stirring recollections of the great inclosure days 

 and the ' thousand pounders ' that were promoted 

 at High Gosforth Park and Kempton. A dog of 

 tremendous speed, Royal Stag won five courses 

 in the Gosforth Derby. He was subsequently 

 sold to Mr. Lambert Nicholls for jiOO, and won 

 for his new owner the ,1,000 stake at Kempton 

 in the spring of 1883. 



Mr. W. H. Jamieson of Lanchester also must 

 be included in our gallery of coursing celebrities. 

 His speedy puppy, Jawblade by Prince Willie 



Mutiny, divided the Gosforth Derby (104 

 acceptances) in 1885. Jawblade, like Accident, 

 a son of old Annoyance, was minus his tail, which 

 had been cut clean off by a passing train in 

 his sapling days. The mishap no doubt mili- 

 tated against his being able to turn with his 

 game so smartly as could have been desired, yet 

 he was by no means a slovenly performer. Later 

 in his career Jawblade was beaten in the semi- 

 final of the Cardinal Wolsey Stakes at Kempton 

 by the speedy Mullingar, the eventual winner, 

 a triumph which the latter supplemented by 

 winning the Gosforth Gold Cup in 1887. That 

 the giving of big money for saplings is not the 

 golden way to success on the coursing field 

 is exemplified in the case of Mullingar, one of 

 the fastest dogs ever slipped. He was owned 

 by the late Mr. H. G. Miller of Sherborne in 

 Dorset, and purchased as a sapling for the paltry 

 sum of 9 guineas. Mr. Jamieson also owned 

 Judge Hawkins by Aquafortis Lady Ella (i 898) 

 a divider of the Hornby Castle Derby in 1899. 

 Aquafortis belonged to Mr. J. Sisterson of Low 

 Fell, Gateshead, who for many years has been a 

 consistent supporter of coursing without the 

 success he merits. After giving great promise as 

 a young sire Aquafortis sustained a fatal accident, 

 which meant no small loss to his worthy owner. 

 Away on the north-east coast at West Hartlepool 

 Mr. W. Everton has long courted fortune in his 

 endeavours to get a ' clinker ' ; but the best in 

 his ownership that we can call to mind was Our 

 Nell by Reality May Fly, bred in 1884. 



In 1886, the late Mr. Alfred Potts of Gates- 

 head was to the fore with Snowflake by Lord 

 Haddington's Herrera Duteous, which was 

 subsequently bought for stud purposes by 

 Mr. Nathaniel Dunn, of Newcastle-on-Tyne. 

 If not a flier to game, Snowflake, which was a gift 

 from Mr. Dunn to Mr. Potts, was wonderfully 

 smart at close quarters, one of his best perform- 

 ances being the division of the Studley Royal 

 Stakes (64 subs.) with Mars Hill. 



From the year 1870 up to the close of the 

 century Jack Thompson of Spennymoor made a 

 great name as a breeder and owner of running 

 greyhounds. A remarkably brilliant litter that 

 he bred in 1883 by Macpherson from Star- 

 gazing II included Jenny Macpherson (late Black 

 Lass), Jinnie Macpherson, Lance Macpherson, 

 and Rose Macpherson. Two years later the 

 same happy cross produced the mighty Herschel 

 and the moderate Bird's Head. The difference 

 in merit between the pair was as wide as the 

 poles a proof that in the mating of longtails 

 there is no royal road to success. Jenny 

 Macpherson was noted for all-round excellence 

 of the highest class, and had she been kept for 

 the classic events, as were Fullerton, Master 

 McGrath, and many other great runners, it was 

 quite probable that she would have gained re- 

 markable renown on Altcar plain in the Waterloo 



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