32 The Co7irse, the Camp, the Chase 



eldest brother. 1863 saw Honble. F. G. Pelham, 

 master, who won the School mile, and was second 

 in the steeplechase. H. Meysey-Thompson was the 

 first Whip, and won the hurdle race, running third also 

 in the mile. The second Whip was Griffiths, afterwards 

 the captain of the boats. In 1864 H. Meysey-Thompson 

 became master, and won the 3 -mile steeplechase. He should 

 have also easily won the mile, which was run on the 

 Dorney Road. He was leading past the Sanatorium, when 

 a man called Gaffer — one of the " cads " who hung about 

 the wall doing odd jobs — drove rapidly by in a baker's 

 cart and purposely turned right across him just before 

 going under the railway bridge, of course stopping him 

 altogether. Another competitor, Bering, shot by in the 

 confusion, and my brother was never able to get through 

 the crowd of boys, who were running in with the com- 

 petitors, and had perforce to finish second. 



Amongst his other achievements, he afterwards ran 

 second for the Inter-'Varsity hurdle race. It proved rather 

 a disastrous race, for part of the course had been newly 

 turfed, and only one of the competitors had sound, old 

 grass to run on. This was Jackson, who, though really 

 far the slowest of the four runners, won the race for 

 Oxford through the accident of having firm ground to run 

 on. The paths of the others could easily be traced after 

 the race, the turf having been torn up by the spikes of the 

 running shoes, and the course looking more like a newly- 

 ploughed field, instead of a running ground, excepting the 

 line of Jackson's hurdles, which remained as smooth as 

 a bowling-green. The four runners were — C. N. Jackson, 

 1 ; H. Meysey-Thompson, 2 ; Hildyard, 3 ; R. Fitzherbert, 

 4. My brother soon afterwards ran second for the hurdle 



