Sporl Forty Years Ago and To-day 1 5 



How much better off in every way are the labouring 

 classes now ! 



In 1853 a terrier bitch was bought by one of the 

 keepers, J. Eobshaw, which laid the foundation of a very 

 plucky race, that came into my possession in 1866, and 

 has been carefully treasured ever since. A travelling 

 tinker came to the stableyard at Moat Hall (where my 

 father lived during his father's lifetime), accompanied by a 

 white terrier ; and the keepers, who were waiting about to 

 go out shooting, began to chaff the man about his dog. 

 It ended in an offer to back the bitch to kill three cats in 

 a given number of minutes, " and they might put them 

 how they liked." The offer was quickly accepted, the cats 

 obtained, and then cats and dog were bundled into a sack 

 together, the mouth tied up, and the " poke " thrown on 

 the floor. The keepers greatly enjoyed the joke, and the 

 presumed discomfiture of the tinker. There was a great 

 rumpus in the sack ; but when the time was up, and the 

 contents were shaken on to the ground, every cat was 

 dead, and the keepers had to pay up. Such a dog could 

 not be allowed to go away, and after much chaffering a 

 bargain was struck, and the terrier bought by Eobshaw. 

 This man was a great character in his way, and queer 

 stories occasionally cropped up as to what his life had 

 been before he became a keeper. He had the best game- 

 cocks in the country, and many a main was fought in 

 some quiet corner, usually when other folks had gone to 

 church. He loved a good dog, and seemed to have friends 

 everywhere who kept him posted as to the whereabouts of 

 every noted dog of every known breed. 



A short time previously he, and a friend of his, 

 had managed to annex a bull-dog that had just won 



