AYR TO ARDROSSAN. 297 



Eglinton estate sent dogs, and members lent 

 dogs to the farmers who bred them. As many as 

 a hundred dogs would be entered, and sixty courses 

 would be run ofif in a day. As Mr. Nightingale 

 (who judged thirty-three times) says, "It was just 

 like going from Lytham when you left the town end 

 — rare quarters, and a happy, pleasant time of it.^^ 

 Lord Eglinton was always there, a leader in reality, 

 never aspiring to be one, but always with delicate 

 courtesy supporting those in authority, and ready to 

 help in taking up a dog or in any other way. His seat 

 on horse back was peculiarly stiff and upright, and he 

 was never pale and anxious except when Waterloo 

 ran. His Blackbird was small and strong, and won 

 the Caledonian Cup, and a more beautiful puppy was 

 never brought up at Eaglesham. Frolic by Waterloo 

 was a great delight of the first Lady Eglinton's, and 

 well she might be, as she was a very resolute, low 

 runner, and won the Great Wiltshire Puppy Stakes 

 at fourteen months. 



It was at Ardrossan that her sire first ran. Old 

 Baird Kirk, the keeper, would maintain that his 

 brother Eingall was better, and they had one spin, and 

 Waterloo beat him. The latter was by Dusty Miller 

 from Exotic, for whom Lord Eglinton gave £50 to a 

 South Lancashire breeder. "His head was always held 

 high like Black Cloud's; he never pulled a yard 

 from the slips, and was never in a hurry. In the first 

 100 yards he was not fast, and then he went harc'er 

 and harder. His shoulders were beautiful, his fore- 



