THE OLD COACHING ROADS. 57 



the drovers, who sometimes rode with saddle, and 

 bridle, but, in default of possessing those articles, 

 would ride bareback with or . without a bridle, as 

 the case might be, or with only a halter. That the 

 usual attire of a jockey was entirely dispensed with 

 followed as a matter of course ; so far from putting 

 on any costume, the practice was generally the reverse, 

 the riders being in their shirt-sleeves, with pocket- 

 handkerchiefs tied round their heads, the only qualifi- 

 cation being that they should be hondjide Welshmen, 

 and drovers. 



The shouting and jabbering in Welsh at the start- 

 ing-post was something terrific, there generally being 

 about ten or a dozen runners ; and as they came into 

 the straight run to the winning-post the cattle- 

 dealers, on their horses, followed immediately, gallop- 

 ing up the course as hard as they could go — all 

 shouting, of course. Then some half-dozen of the 

 dealers would start off for a race on their own account, 

 going the whole round of the course, shouting all the 

 time. It was certainly a scene that should have been 

 witnessed to be thoroughly understood. When the 

 Great Northern Railway Company made their branch 

 line from Finsbury Park to Barnet the racing was 

 done for, the line running straight along a consider- 

 able part of the course. 



Innkeepers in Barnet made a grand harvest at the 



