CHAP. II.] The Rev. Loraine Sinith. 6 



J 



beneath the conventional '*" vest." Many of his intimate 

 friends being among the gentry of ISTorthamptonshire^ a 

 gallop with the " Py tchley " was always a red-letter day 

 to him ; and his favourite mount was kept for the 

 occasion. To many beyond^ as well as within, his own 

 neighbourhood_, he is known by an engraving in which 

 he is portrayed charging a formidable-looking " oxer/' 

 on his famous horse " Gatto." The attitude of both horse 

 and rider is given with much spirit and accuracy ; and 

 the resemblance to the latter merits a higher degree of 

 praise than was accorded to the portrait of an old and 

 esteemed coachman in the family of the writer taken 

 in livery. The old man's wife was requested to give her 

 opinion as to the amount of resemblance she saw in the 

 picture to her husband. " Very like/' she said, " but 

 particular the buttons ! " Devoted to flowers in general, 

 and the grow^th of roses in particular, he found in his 

 garden his greatest pleasure during the summer months ; 

 and the well-shaped pansy or picotee was to him almost 

 an object of worship. The delights of a garden, how- 

 ever, did not erase from his thoughts the recollection of 

 winter joys, and a '^ lick of red paint " upon pump, water- 

 pot, and flower-prop, served to remind him of the " good 

 time coming." A cricketer of the old school, his 

 favourite " get-up " of nankeen knee-breeches, silk 

 stockings, and a sock rolled over to protect the ankle, 

 gave his appearance a '' chic " which would in vain be 

 looked for now-a-days. Dressed as described, slowly 

 running to the wicket to bowl a ball destitute of pace, 

 curl, twist of any sort, he looked the model of an old- 

 fashioned, well-bred country cricketer. The details of a 

 singular experience met with by Mr. Loraine Smith in 



