Mr. R, Lee Bevan. 251 



greater number of times tlian Mr. R. Lee Bevan; have 

 had horses of higher quality, or ridden them in a more 

 workmanlike manner. Having studied the animal with 

 an earnest desire of becoming acquainted with its struc- 

 ture and peculiarities of disposition^ it would not be easy 

 to find any non-professional with a better knowledge of 

 what to look for in a hunter, and with a more assured 

 feeling of the ease with which the most knowing are 

 occasionally taken in. Possessed of perfect hands, 

 abundant nerve_, and a strong seat^ until time and 

 tumbles robbed him of it, he ever loved to school a 

 "young one,''^ and teach him such manners as are re- 

 quired in a hunter. 



Combining persuasiveness with a modicum of coercion^, 

 the " four-year-old "" in his hands was not long in finding- 

 out that refractory ways were not " those of pleasant- 

 ness/^ nor led to the ^'^ paths of peace."" Not greatly 

 caring for an animal that required no riding, he at no 

 time laid himself out for the purchase of a made 

 hunter, and the hotter the mount, the more he seemed 

 to relish his position. 



For many a year, " Tomblin," the well-known dealer 

 of Lye Lodge, near Oakham — the only horse-dealer 

 who has ever filled the office of High Sheriff of a 

 county — furnished Mr. Bevan with his entire stud. That 

 a man occupying the position of Mr. Tomblin should 

 have been required to undertake a duty of so much 

 dignity and importance, points to the fact that Eutland- 

 shire at that time must have been sadly deficient in 

 gentlemen properly qualified for the office. 



Although there are not many dealers of repute with 

 whom Mr. Bevan has not had negotiations since those 



