The Druid's Versatility. 237 



gracefully marked his sense of her favours 

 by the presentation of a ,£200 Plate to its 

 races, which was won by the Black Doctor 

 in 1850. One of his earliest racers was a 

 very elegant grey mare, Queen Bathsheba, 

 who drew first blood for him in a £jo Plate 

 at Ayr. In 183 1, his stud only consisted 

 of three, but was trebled before three more 

 seasons were out. At that time George 

 Dawson, father to Thomas, Matthew, Joseph 

 and John Dawson, trained for him at Bog- 

 Side, in Ayrshire, not far from Eglinton 

 Castle, and led not a few winners back to 

 scale. His lordship often rode his own 

 horses, and Tommy Lye was in the saddle 

 when professional weights were necessary. 

 Matches, in which his lordship seldom de- 

 clared to ride under 12 st. 7 lbs., were his 

 great delight, and as Sir James Boswell and 

 Sir David Baird were like-minded, the good 

 people of Ayr found those three names per- 

 petually figuring in the ' correct race-lists ' 

 of that day. As a general rule, Lord 

 Eglinton got the better of the Baronets, and 

 the same success attended him in his more 

 recent match mounts at the Eglinton Park 



