Dick Christian again. 1 5 



it's a plantation now, and they've filled it up from 

 bottom to top. She was a beautiful mare, this Mari- 

 gold, but very bad to break ; she throwed two of my 

 sons, and no end of grooms, but she never got rid of 

 me. Mr. Coke had another bay mare with her ; he 

 gave 300 guineas for the pair, at three years old. 

 They were both bred by one farmer at Scalthorpe, 

 just by here. Field Nicholson had them in Lincoln- 

 shire, to learn them fencing, but he was too hasty 

 with them ; so Mr. Coke sends them to me, and I had 

 a tough fortnight's job of it. Field Nicholson was 

 always a great man with Sir Harry Goodricke ; him 

 and Tom Brooke of Croxby first come for a fortnight 

 to Melton together, and stopped at The George. 

 The fences in the Vale are tremendous, when you 

 comes at them — stake and bounds — wide ditches — 

 timber very big, as big again as these 'ere, when you 

 get where the grazing ground is. I once hear a great 

 shooter — a reverend gent — say he fairly stood and 

 trembled before a Vale fence, to think how he could 

 get over. Sometimes they goes right away for Wid- 

 merpool — by Broughton, Hickling, and Colston Bas- 

 sett way — and sometimes they bends short to Piper 

 Hole. That's Wartnaby Stone Pits — The Road to Six 

 good laying — gorse and thorns-like ; it's ^^^^^• 

 been a great meet ever since I can remember. Sir 

 James Musgrave, he was always uncommon fond of 

 the Ranksboro' country, and the RoUeston country ; 

 Mr. Osbaldeston, he liked Barkby Holt, and Dalby 

 and Gartree ; poor Sir Richard, I think he'd be more 

 for Six Hills and them parts — we'll be at them di- 

 rectly. It's precious hot. Blame me, if you ain't 

 dropping off to sleep ! You'd nigh missed Cant's 

 Thorns — that's one of them bye-covers ; what a 

 country they have to Harboro', thirty miles right on 

 end ! I've ridden in a run from it, and grass all the 

 way. Not half a mile from that's Lord Aylesford's 

 cover : rare things I've seen from that, right away to 



