and at times very bad, notably in 1886 and 1894, but with an expe- 

 rience of the dear old place a long way greater than most people's, I 

 can state that on the whole we have had no reason to complain of the 

 elements, while a fog — think of this, Aintree ! — has never upon any one 

 occasion of the great carnival visited our princely plains — since 1861 at 

 all events. 



The Laragh Run. — The Laragh run is not quite correctly described 

 at p. 164, but was so in an article which appeared from me in Baity' s 

 Magazine of February, 1895. This famous hunt took place on the 26th 

 Xovember, 1859, and from Laragh House, where the fox wheeled to the 

 right after going a mile from the gorse, until he was pulled down in 

 the open close to the fence of Swainstown covt-rt — a thirteen mile 

 point— the line was almost as straight as it could possibly be, and all 

 over grass without the semblance of a check. The distance covered 

 was about eighteen miles, and the time, including fifteen minutes in 

 CollestowD, which was the only covert touched, was one hour and fifty- 

 five mins. Besides those enumerated at p. 164, I have found since that 

 the Baron de Robeck, Mr. Michael Aylmer, Mr. Henry Meredith, Sir 

 James Higginson, and Captain Frank Kennedy, with Gaffney, who was, 

 and still i?, Mr. Blacker's groom at Castle Martin (not Mr. Tuthill's), 

 rode and finished the run, and Lord Naas, who, owing to an accident, 

 was out on wheels that day, got there in time to see the fox broken up. 

 Some one connected with the Magazine alluded to altered my MS. so 

 that I am made to state that the celebrated Will Goodall was hunts- 

 man of the Pijtchley instead of the Belvoir ; and sporting phraseology 

 which I h9d employed was also changed with disadvantage to the 

 article. 



Gextlemen Riders. — Among the gentlemen who rode at Punches- 

 J % town thirty years ag*^, I wish to chronicle those I remember to have 

 been the best. Messrs. Tom Picker nell (" Mr. Thomas "X George Ede 

 (" Mr. Edwards"), George Knox, Willie Long, "Pig" Laurence, Pat and 

 Dan Russell, Dan Canny, Christopher LTssher, Pritchard-Rayner, 

 Thompson, John Hutchinson (" Mr. Appleton "), Dominick Murphy, 

 Jimmy Shee (" Mr. Hume "), and Hickman of the 8th Hussars, Captains 

 Tom McCraith, ''Curley" Knox, Tom Townley, who died only a 

 few months ago, Harford, "Doggie" Smith, Shaw, Bernard, Tempest^ 

 Trocke, Barclay, Hutton, Candy, Warburton, Ricardo, "Joey" Little, 

 Coventry, and last not least, Sir Richard de Burgh o, Bart. Then came to 

 the front the men whose names my readers all know, Messrs. Garrett 

 Moore, W. B. Morris, Murland, the Hon. Reginald Greville-Nugent 

 -^ 2 (" Mr. St. James "), Burn-Murdock, Captains Lee Barber, Orr Ewing,, 

 i '^ " Bay"' Middleton, and later still, Mr. Tommie Beasley, perhaps the 

 ® =^ most accomplished of them all, bar Tom Pickernell. Then followed his 

 "-S g brothers and the many other fine horsemen whose names being con- 

 ^ ^ stantly chronicled in the daily papers need not here be mentioned. 

 5 -c Professional Riders. — Among the old professionals were Darv 



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