372 Saddle and Sirloin. 



the ladder, and would maintain that he was " not a 

 lamplighter." Jim Maple carried it after him till well 

 into the afternoon, and finding it a case of " Love's 

 Labour Lost," he flung it away into a ditch. Mr. 

 Bake had it fished out and varnished, and Mr. War- 

 wick and the present bench all go aloft. The ground, 

 both at Lytham and Southport, is nearly all plough 

 and stubble, and with open dykes, like Altcar ; but it 

 is heavier work for the dogs. A few small whin covers, 

 and some whins by the side of the dykes, form the 

 only cover. 



There are an immense number of hares, and many 

 of the old ones are levelled off during the summer, as 

 they are so hard upon the crops. No less than 205 

 were killed at one open meeting at Lytham. This 

 was one which Mr. Nightingale has never forgotten. 

 He had judged at Baldock, and he had to get from 

 there to Wolverton to meet the mail train. He was 

 at Lytham by a quarter before nine — got a cup of 

 tea, and began and decided eighty-four courses the 

 first day. They left off five miles from Lytham, and 

 even Mr. Blake had quitted the field. However, Mr. 

 Nightingale walked home, and danced " into the small 

 hours" at the Clifton Arms. Will V/arner slipped at 

 that meeting, and Lyddesdale won. Will has grown 

 fat and pursy now, and Tom Raper is still the star, 

 while Metcalfe and Wilkinson have a good practice ; 

 but Mr. Nightingale maintained that " Will was the 

 first slipper who put the dogs in a straight line on 

 their game." The practice is now abandoned, but 

 Mr. Nightingale would always keep the slipper in 

 hand and give the distance ; and on one occasion, 

 when his " Go" was not waited for, he turned his back 

 on the dogs, and gave it a " No go." A Waterloo slip 

 will be from 100 to 120 yards. 



Raper still runs well, and delivers his dogs very 

 smoothly and straight on the hare, and will stay any 

 distance. His predecessor, Dick Nobblet, was a 



