SOME WELL-KNOWN SUPPORTERS. 



229 



Foremost amongst these was Lawyer Payne, who, though 

 no great horseman, was very fond of the sport, and always 

 ready to lend a helping hand whenever his services were 

 required for the benefit of the Hunt. Many a memorandum 

 is to be seen in the old records to the effect that 'Mr. Payne 

 'was to be consulted,' or that 'Mr. Payne said'; — in this 

 respect the Leeds solicitor making common cause with 

 Mr. Lamplugh Wickham whenever money was to be collected 

 for a specific purpose, or anything was to be done for the 

 good of sport. It is always a sign of a man being a 'good 

 fellow' when his friends know him by some other name 

 than his own. Mr. Payne was known as 'Champagne,' and 

 the famous Champagne Corse was named after him. The 

 history of that well-known covert is as follows : — ■ 



Mr. George Lane Fox promised to give the land for 

 the covert if the Hunt would find the money to plant it. 

 Mr. Payne at once offered to find the money, and such was 

 his persuasive eloquence that he was not long in getting it. 

 It would have been a sad mistake had not his name been 

 perpetuated in connection with it, for no better sportsman 

 ever followed the Bramham Moor. 



Amongst other Leeds supporters was Dr. Chorley, a capital 

 sportsman, who, however, was handicapped by the circum- 

 stance that he had only one leg. This, of course, is sufficient 

 to account for the fact that he was not a great horseman, 

 but it did not affect his keenness in the least. Mr. Jowett, 

 too, was a very good man, and so at a later date was 

 Mr. Robert Goodson, a heavy man and a bold rider, who 

 was always mounted on the best of horses. He was scarcely 

 to be called a fine horseman, but he was always in front, 

 and sometimes so much so as to call forth sarcastic reproof 

 from the master. His death took place a few years ago 

 in the hunting-field. 



Though not contemporaries with most of the celebrities 



