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CHAPTER XVIII 



Early steeple-chasing — Qualities of a good steeple-chaser — St. Albans 

 in 1833-34 — Aylesbury — IModerate stakes — The rise and temporary 

 fall of the Aylesbury meeting — Young ' Oxford ' at Aylesbury vice 

 Banbury, abandoned — A tremendous line of country — Twice across 

 eighteen feet of naked water and over a turnpike road — 'Grief — 

 Well-known cross-country gentlemen riders at Aylesbury — Their 

 hardihood and pluck — A cruel course and unjumpable fence — A 

 carefully laid-out line at Aylesbury — Abuses and their reform — A 

 great meeting — H.R.H. the Prince of Wales prevented from being 

 present — A defaulting official — The late Earl of Darnley — 

 Reminiscences of 'Varsity steeple-chasing — Assumed names of the 

 riders — The disguise stripped off by ' Bell's Life ' — Bishop Wilber- 

 force and the steeple-chases. 



A GREAT deal has been written, and many more or 

 less conflicting statements have been made concern- 

 ing the actual origin of the steeple-chase. It is not 

 my intention to enter as a controversialist into this 

 very debatable question, but as one of the oldest 

 sportsmen connected with the truly athletic exercise, 

 I may be allowed to give my own practical experi- 

 ence, and to recount the part I have played and the 

 scenes I have witnessed in the pursuit of this great 

 popular cross-country sport. I believe there is no 

 better test of a man's true courage in the saddle than 

 can be supplied by a successful struggle in a good 

 steeple-chase. The chief elements of success are, 

 1st, great courage ; 2nd, a cool nerve ; 3rd, good 



