96 The Pytchley H^int. Past and Prese^it. [chap. m. 



A devoted adherent uf the '^ Prize King/^ iew pugi- 

 listic encounters — which at that time were the alias for 

 fights — of any moment took place without the patronage 

 and support of the ^^ Squire/'' w^ho himself was a "cus- 

 tomer ^^ whose science and sledge-hammer blows were 

 calculated to leave an impression both on body and 

 mind of an adversary. Cast in- a mould of iron^ such 

 were his powers of endurance that although he hunted 

 his own hounds six days a week for several successive 

 seasons, he never was heard to complain of fatigue. 

 Born at Hutton Bushell^ in Yorkshire^ in 1787, he gave 

 good proof of the strength of his constitution by enduring 

 the chanores and chances of a life of hazard and exer- 

 tion for nearly eighty years, during a part of which 

 he sat in parliament as M.P. for Retford. That any 

 one with his tastes and mode of living should have 

 cared for a seat in the House of Commons is some- 

 what surprising, but his attendance probably was very 

 occasional, and the position was not one that he held 

 long. Commencing life with a fortune sufficient to 

 stand any ordinary wear and tear, the "animal,^' which 

 from his earliest days was his chief pride and delight, 

 ended by being his destruction socially and morally, as 

 well as pecuniarily. 



Shrewd, and well able to look after his own interests 

 in most things, the " racehorse ^^ was to him as it has 

 been to myriads of others, moral and material ruin. 

 Long before his career had come to a close, pecuniary 

 difficulties overwhelmed him, and certain transactions 

 on the turf caused him to retire from public life. For 

 many years tbis oue-time ''hero of the sportiug world,^' 

 the companion of the highest in the land, lived in an 



