172 A Sportsman at Large 



rushed the opening, struck a stake and rolled over with a 

 sharp cry. His shoulder was broken / Was there ever such 

 cruel luck ? As a rule it is only once in a lifetime that a 

 coursing man owns a puppy of this class, and I had bred such 

 an one myself at the first time of asking ! Of course he was 

 patched up, but was more or less of a cripple, unfit for coursing 

 competitions. I had visions of breeding a Waterloo Cup 

 winner by him, but he succumbed to distemper six months 

 after his accident. 



The mention of trials between an old dog and a puppy 

 brings me to a story which is not over delicate in flavour, 

 but it has the saving grace of humour, I think. 



As in horse-racing, there are " sharps " and " flats " in 

 the coursing field, though, happily, the former, who batten on 

 the latter, are not overpoweringly in evidence. But there 

 was a so-called sporting farmer who was fond of the sport 

 and not above engineering a crooked job when opportunity 

 might afford. He was seized or possessed of a third season 

 greyhound called Old Tuppenny, which had been a small 

 gold-mine to him ; for this veteran could give any local dog 

 the go-by and make rings round it. He became a sort of 

 public idol, and his victory, bar accidents, was taken as a 

 matter of course (excuse the play on the word) whenever he 

 was sent to the slips, so that very soon his owner, farmer 

 Owen Thomas, found it impossible to back him. This did 

 not suit His Nibs at all, and he was in despair, until one fine 

 day a neighbouring butcher, David Morgan by name, having 

 attended a sale at The Barbican, brought home a puppy 

 which he registered as Dazzling Magic. In order to test 

 the quality of his purchase, he fixed up with Thomas for a 

 secret trial with Old Tuppenny. This came off all right, and 

 " Jack was (found to be) as good as his master " if not a 

 bit better. Whereupon the two worthy owners put their 

 heads together and mapped out a very pretty ramp to spring 

 upon the innocent pencillers and guileless public at a handy 

 meeting that was on the tapis. To reach this there was a 

 short railway journey, and when " The Day " arrived the two 

 dogs were placed in the van, in charge of the guard, one Sid 

 Richards, who, unbeknown to the confederates, had more 



