PREFATORY ix 



and honoured as they deserved ; and I cannot refrain 

 from longing to reach out my hand to them and feel 

 the warm responsive grasp of friendship as of yore, as 

 face and form and voice are so vividly recalled to mind. 

 At one time I see them again by the covert-side ; at 

 another it is on the moorland, where the heather is 

 mellowing and browning, and the hills look blue in the 

 haze of an autumn day. Or it may be by the riverside, 

 where the spring-water is foaming and boiling round 

 the pool, that I recognise the well-known form of one 

 who, with every muscle strained and sorely-tried rod, 

 is striving to hold his own against the bold tactics of 

 some fresh-run monster. Alas ! covert-side, moor and 

 river will see them no more, but the healthy, manly 

 influences they brought to bear on all with whom they 

 ever came in contact still survive as a fitting monument 

 to their memory. 



Amongst those who still remain to grace our own 

 immediate circle, I would here make mention of one 

 who for upwards of fifty years as a horseman, and the 

 staunchest supporter of sport we have ever had in 

 Ireland, has worthily earned the title of ' The Nimrod 

 of Meath.' I refer to Mr. J. J. Preston, of Bellinter, 

 Co. Meath. It is to him, whom I so honour and 

 respect, I dedicate this book. 



Mr. Preston's horses were notoriously perfect, and 

 to obtain perfection he grudged no price. The cele- 

 brated mare Brunette — perhaps the best horse ever 

 known in Ireland — belonged to him, and he himself 

 steered her to victory over many a stiff course. She 

 was by Sir Hercules, dam by Yeoman, g.-dam by Sir 

 Walter. 



During her racing career, which commenced in 1841 



