3oS The Pytchley Htmi, Past and Present. 



for an explanation of the name, one day at Newmarket 

 by the writer of these pages, Mr. Crawfurd laughingly 

 replied, ^^Why, don't you see, old fellow, I name him 

 after my brother-in-law, Harry Everard." He was a bad 

 horse, worthy of a name embodjdng so bad a joke. For 

 the name of his famous mare '^Thebais,'^ Mr. Crawfard 

 was indebted to the well- stored intellect of his sister, 

 wife of the gentleman whose name, rendered into Latin, 

 became " Semper Durus.'^ Requested by her brother to 

 find a name for a filly by " Hermit " out of "Devotion," 

 for many an hour, as she herself describes it, did she 

 ponder over the task imposed upon her. Ideas in plenty 

 sprang up suitable to the suggestive names of either 

 parent, but to unite the two in a happy combination 

 — there lay the difficulty. At length, early one morniug — 

 the time when the brain is clearest and at its best — the 

 happy thought came across her of the desolate reg'ion on 

 the banks of the Nile, where the Hermits of old used to 

 eke out their miserable existence in holes in the rocks. 

 This district, from beiug in the neighbourhood of the 

 ancient city of Thebes, was known as " Thebais," or " the 

 Thebaid." There it was ! Hermit and Devotion — the 

 aptest and most appropriate hit that could possibly be 

 found. The elated inventor might well be pardoned for 

 waking her partner with cries of ^' Eureka ! Eureka ! " 

 and right good reason had she to be proud of her name 

 and of the beautiful filly that bore it. The nomenclature 

 of racehorses so as to bring the two parents into combi- 

 nation is no easy matter; but it is pitiable to see well- 

 worn names used over and over again^ denoting a poverty 

 of invention on the part of the owners that is positively 

 distressing. The thanks of all who appreciate a " happy 



