ATHELSTANEFORD TO COLDSTREAM. 159 



■we cared more for Coldstream and the Earl of 

 Wemyss^s kennels. 



His lordship first hunted Berwickshire and East 

 Lothian from ''34 till ^43 " beginning from all ken- 

 nels/'' Transport^ an eight-season hunter of Sutton 

 and Beilby blood, Alfred of Musters and Tavistock, 

 Chantress of Osbaldeston, Rainbow of Sutton, Vola- 

 tile of Belvoir, and Sensitive of Shropshire were his 

 leaders and counsellors. Out of eighty couple of 

 waifs and strays forty- nine were drafted, so that his 

 lordship and Joe Hogg, late of The Four Burrows 

 and now of Calabria, had a hardish time of it. Tom 

 Bance's brother whipped in for a season there. 



and clothed. Theii* hardships make them m.ore anxious to keep their children 

 from following theu" footsteps ; and hence all the young men and women, with- 

 out exception, strive to become farm-servants, and aU who are of age have 

 striven successfully, except thi-ee girls who are stiU at home. At present there 

 are 13 families numbering 61, of wliich 21 are childi-en, and of these 18 attend 

 school. The gipsy school, which is so great a boon to the village of Kirk- 

 Yethohn, continues to be weU attended, and the system of giving each child a 

 certain quantity (half-a-stone) of meal weeklj^ in smnmer to encourage at- 

 tendance has succeeded admirably. A subscription in behalf of the gipsies 

 would be thankfullj' received by the Rev. A. Davidson, Yetholm Manse, Kelso." 

 His late Majesty Charles I. was hardly every inch a king, and looked 

 very wretched, though a noble lady for many years eked out the royal tabls 

 with 3 or 4 lbs. of mutton and a loaf of bread weekly. He was one of the 

 electors as weU as chainnan of the assembly when he was chosen king, and 

 made a speech narrating his many personal virtues. The present Queen is his 

 daughter, and she pm-chased the Palace for £20 when it was sold by the parish. 

 a few months since. She has no salary or emolument of any kind, and did not 

 attend her own election. A more trutiifvd or honourable man never lived than 

 the first king " Wm Faa," and he kept a pubUchouse for years. The farmers 

 and proprietors all tacitly gave liim a ticket of leave to fish when and where he 

 liked. He was a grand football player, and gained several matches, and w.is 

 quite a tei-ror with his fists to the Northumberland tinkers. .The hardest fight 

 lie ever had was, duruig a journey for gin, with two excisemen, one on foot and 

 the other on horseback and armed with a sword; while WiU had only a wiUow 

 wand. The exciseman worked roimd him in a circle, clipping a bit off the 

 willow wand at every sword-stroke, and at last, as Will would not give in, he 

 reached his hand, and left it dangling by the flexor muscles. The woimd was 

 dressed at Alnwick, but the hand was useless ever after. His Majesty was up- 

 wards of 84 when he died, and suffered much from dropsy at last. For further 

 information as to.gipsy habits we must refer our readers to the third volume of 

 Mr. Alexander Jeffrey's very learned and elaborate work on " The History and 

 Antiquities of Roxburghshire." 



