Dick Christian's Lectuj^e. 363 



how are you after your boiling ?" At six next morn- 

 ing he knocks at my bedroom, and up I gets. I went 

 into a grocer's shop, and asked them to weigh me. 

 I said, " Put in eleven stone." The Captain, he 

 says, " Nonsense, Dick ; you'll be six pounds more 

 than that." I said, '' I know I'm right :" and it's 

 as true as I sit here alive, I could scarcely pull the 

 eleven stone down — the weights had the best of me. 

 The Captain, he wanted me to have some breakfast, 

 but I said " No ; a very little will fetch me up :" so 

 I had a cup of coffee, and a bit of broiled bacon, and 

 a shaving of bread-and-butter, and just two glasses of 

 sherry : that made me eleven stone four — it's a 

 ticklish thing is weight — but I rode the race and won 

 it, and went back to Birmingham that night with 

 Green of Grantham. The stiftest course I ever rode 

 was at Ross, in Herefordshire — there were seventy 

 fences. I wasn't very lucky ; there was some sludge 

 on the bank, my horse got his fore-feet in, and there 

 we stuck for a bit. 



The Marquis of Hastings was one of my pupils. 

 It was a sad job for foxhunting when he died ; he 

 was just one of my sort. I was two months at his 

 place before he come of age. He sent for me to 

 Donnington, and I broke all his horses : I had never 

 seen him before. He had seven rare nice horses, and 

 very handy I got them. The first meet I went out 

 with him was Wartnaby Stone Pits. I rode by his 

 side, and I says, " My lord, we'll save a bit of distance 

 if we take this fence." So he looked at me, and he 

 laughed, and says, " Why, Christian, I was never over 

 a fence in my life." " God bless me ! my lord, you 

 don't say so !" and I seemed quite took aback at 

 hearing him say it. " It's true enough. Christian ; I 

 really mean it." "Well, my lord," says I; "you're 

 on a beautiful fencer ; he'll walk up to it and jump it. 

 Now I'll go over the fence first." " Well, if I fall off 

 you won't laugh at me." " That I won't, my lord ; 



