66 SPORTS AND ANECDOTES. 



Butcher. Like all favourites Black Butcher died one 

 day, and the General, being quite disconsolate, vented 

 his grief in the following lines, which are still extant 

 upon a monument in the middle riding of Mawkery 

 Wood, and close to Stocken Hall : 



" Whene'er in Mawkery Wood you hear the sound 

 Of Loivther's voice encouraging the hound, 

 Pass ye not .heedless by this pile of stones, 

 For underneath lie honest Butcher's bones ; 

 Black was his colour, yet his nature fair, 

 For where'er the hounds went Butcher would be there. 

 ' Tis Grosvenor pays this tribute to his worth, 

 A better Hunter ne'er stretched leather girth" 



In Mawkery Wood Black Butcher would be there, 

 out of Mawkery Wood Black Butcher was very often 

 not there, for he, though a clever horse, was, like 

 his master, somewhat heavy, and they were wont to 

 be a bit sticky across country. However, he was 

 a great favourite, and tradition says that he and his 

 old groom, Tom Perkins, who was also a character 

 in his way, used to go once a year to his tomb, and 

 there weep over him. 



Tom Perkins used to look after the General's 

 race-horses, which he used occasionally to run at 

 Newmarket, Stamford, and Croxton Park Races. 

 The General, as a rule, was not a great winner, but 



