THE MORPETH COUNTRY. 167 



Greenwell sold a couple of high-class hunters to Mr. J. B. 

 Cookson during the latter's mastership, and I remember we 

 made a pilgrimage to a Woolsington meet to see how these 

 horses performed in their new country. We had heard that 

 both were likely to be out that day, but owing to a train 

 journey before we got our horses we were late, and when we 

 reached the scene of the meet hounds had found (at Wool- 

 sington) and gone north. We followed on, and caught them 

 up on Prestwick Carr, where hounds had checked, and almost 

 immediately we saw the Master-huntsman jump a big and 

 very full " stell " — a local name for a wide, open drain — 

 on one of the Broomshields horses. This was a chestnut which 

 had been bred at Broomshields, and which I had had for 

 the greater part of the previous season. He was a big, power- 

 ful horse by the great hurdle racer, ^ Hesper — who was then, 

 or had been standing shortly before, at Woodlands, in the 

 North Durham country — and in the following spring he won 

 a joint point-to-point race of the Tynedale and Morpeth 

 hunts, which was held at the " Highlander," near Belsay, 

 and which was one of the first point-to-points run in the north 

 of England. John Peel, as the horse was called in his young 

 days, was ridden by Mr. Charles Hunter, and heavy and 

 light weights ran together, but horses not ridden by their 

 owners put up 71b. extra. " John Peel " came in alone, win- 

 ning by perhaps 150 yards, and I can remember that there 

 was a desperate finish among the heavy weights, in which 

 Mr. Matthev/ Liddell (Tynedale) just beat the Master of the 

 Morpeth by a head or a neck on the post. Point-to-point 

 races have altered in character since those days, but to the 

 best of my recollection this one was run on a straight course 

 of four miles, with no turn. Many years afterwards Mr. 

 Cookson told me that " John Peel " did nine seasons, carry- 

 ing either his owner or the kennel huntsman and that he was 

 one of the best horses he had ever had at Meldon. He was 

 six years old when Mr. Cookson bought him. 



When Mr. J. B. Cookson resigned the Morpeth country in 

 1894 he was succeeded by Mr. R. Clayton Swan, who had 

 formerly been Master of the Sinnington, and has since been 

 Master of the Blankney. Mr. Swan was the first Master of 

 the Morpeth who was not a native of the district, but he 



