THE HARROW COUNTRY 151 



Now for Lord Cork ; in Goodall's journal there are con- 

 stant references to his riding. He is always there to keep 

 the field in order, help to take a deer, and to show them 

 how to ride in any and every sort of country. So his 

 opinion of the Harrow Vale is worth having. 



' A good many short and some long runs,' he writes me, 

 ' soon convinced me that on a good horse, and with one's heart 

 in the right place, there were few greater enjoyments than a 

 turn-out at Bull's Farm, at Down Barn, at North Holt, and at 

 Wiltshire's Farm, near Hayes, or a take near Harrow or 

 Pinner. During 1869 the 9th Lancers were quartered at 

 Hounslow, and a cheery hard-riding lot they were. Headed 

 by Lord Bill Beresford, they were ahvays to the front over 

 both the Bracknell and Harrow country, and — may I be 

 forgiven for saying it — sometimes nearer the stag than the 

 hounds. 



' I remember well a run at the end of December, when, in 

 consequence of King's illness, I had to hunt the hounds my- 

 self, a difficult task at any time, particularly when personally 

 the hounds know little about one. The meet was at 

 Uxbridge Common, the field large, consisting of some of the 

 hardest riders from London and adjoining neighbourhood, and 

 my 9th Lancers. My friend, Mr. F. Cox, in his day one of 

 the finest horsemen in England, and still with a seat w^hich 



was nearly all grass, with flying fences, plenty of water to get over, but less 

 room between the fences than Leicestershire. To negotiate this country a 

 horse must not only be able to jump, but both race and stay — the only draw- 

 back to this country being that there was not enough of it, and the meets were 

 long distances from the kennels, the nearest being Hayes, sixteen miles away. 

 My favourite horses for this country were ' Cardinal,' chestnut, very plain look- 

 ing, but good ; ' Norman,' a chestnut purchased by Lord Hardwicke, whom I rode 

 for ten seasons, and who only gave me one fall, which I may say was a very 

 bad one, and laid me up for the rest of the season. ' Crusader,' a grey horse 

 purchased by Lord Cork, was a very great favourite of mine, and I think the 

 best I ever rode during my long hunting career. He was a big upstanding 

 horse, standing 1G.2, full of quality, no fence too big, no water too wide, and 

 no day too long. 



