8 Tallyho, 



into the heart of this country, the great posting-house 

 on the road from London to York. The records of 

 this celebrated hostelry prove that not only was it 

 frequented by all the nobles of the land, as shown by 

 the fact that no less than five dukes put up there on 

 one occasion — a perfect covey of coronets — but it was 

 also the resting-place of Royalty, her Majesty the 

 Queen, accompanied by her Royal Highness the 

 Duchess of Kent and their retinue, having rested here 

 whilst journeying northwards. In fact^ not to know 

 " Tom Percival,^^ of Wansford, is to be unacquainted 

 with one of the most pleasant, kind, considerate, and 

 genial of sportsmen ; and not to have rested under his 

 hospitable roof is a proof of little knowledge of sport- 

 ing matters, and, at any rate, shows that he who 

 makes that confession could never have been 

 " entered ^^ at Cambridge, for it was here that the 

 overworked undergraduate was in old times wont to 

 retire for a while — especially on hunting days — in 

 order to obtain rest and recreation when oppressed by 

 severe study and reflection. 



It was here that the late Duke and Duchess of 

 Bedford were in the habit of retiring every season for 

 a while, exchanging the splendours of Woburn for the 

 comforts and quiet of Wansford ; here Byron rested, 

 and a search over the archives of the Haycock would 

 show that most people of note in the pre -railway era 

 have ab one time or other sought the hospitality of this 

 noted hostelry. To say nothing of the lot of jolly 

 fellows who have from time to time put their feet 

 under the well-worn " mahogany ^' when the days would 

 run so curiously into the nights that, with that and 

 other causes, there was a probability of their finding 



