Olden Tmies. 79 



"but I fear mine are not big enough for you round 

 the collar." " Big enough ?" says the Squire ; " why, 

 if they will fit you, they will 'fit a hog, and it's hard if 

 they won't me." Pole, yclept Dobbin, was another of 

 the old set. He loved hunting dearly, but his horses 

 were not of the first caste. The one he chiefly rode 

 was an old grey, with a rusty snaffle-bridle, and the 

 stuffing hanging out of the pannels of the saddle. He 

 relied on his knowledge of the Forest, and saw a good 

 deal of sport. He was rough in his attire, and did not 

 (like Brummell) impregnate the air with otto of roses. 

 One of the most joyous sportsmen who j^j^. Boscawen 

 came to see the April fun, was Bos- and Admiral Cod- 

 cawen ; a thorough polished gentleman, ""s^°^- 

 of the old regime. He was, when young, a captain in 

 the Horse Grenadiers, a regiment which acted as a 

 body-guard to George the Third, but which was dis- 

 banded eighty or ninety years ago. His love of the 

 chase was extreme, and although advanced in years, 

 he was as wild as a boy. One day they got away close 

 to a fox, and ran into him in a quarter of an hour, 

 without a check. Only three men were there, among 

 whom was Boscawen. One of them exclaimed, " What 

 a beautiful thing !" and the other said, " Why, it's a 

 nothing ; my horse had hardly got on his legs." 

 Boscawen, who was close by him, said, " I do not 

 know whether your horse had got on his legs, but I 

 know that mine had just got off his." He bought a 

 light cat-legged horse of some one at Lyndhurst, and 

 one morning, as they were going to covert, he asked 

 Tom Sebright what he thought of him. " Why," says 

 Tom, " I would rather shoot him nor ride him ; he 

 ain't got legs bigger nor our Hoodman (Woodman)." 

 Mr. Compton, the master of the hounds, lived at the 

 Manor House, and had generally some friends with 

 him in April, and amongst them was the late Admiral 

 Codrington. He was a good sportsman ; and though 

 a sailor, no landsman could ride better. He had a 



