12 COURSING 



profitable investment as it turned out ; for Mr. Gorton had 

 .backed his nomination to win a good round sum, having an idea 

 that a bitch called Wild Geranium (believed to be very smart) 

 would fill it. So he won his money, as it were, against his 

 will. 



1866. — Here again was a dea ex machina, to the great benefit 

 of Mr. Stocker, who had secured the Newmarket Champion 

 Puppy Stakes winner, Saucebox, to fill his nomination. This 

 bitch went wrong after a trial with Lobelia, but so smartly did 

 the latter run that Mr. Stocker sent her to fill his nomination, 

 and, moreover, threw a fresh commission into the market. 

 ' Lobelia,' says ' Robin Hood,' ' ran her first three courses some- 

 what unsteadily ; but settling down to her work she won the 

 remainder most brilliantly: her decisive victory over Royal 

 Seal in the last course being one of the smartest performances 

 imaginable. She took part in the Waterloo Cup in the two 

 subsequent years, and won four courses each time, but 

 was compelled twice to lower her colours to the invincible 

 Irishman.' ' She was a small wiry greyhound by Sea Foam, 

 weighing a shade over 44 lbs. 'When Lobelia secured her 

 memorable victory, so great was the enthusiasm at Southport 

 that a messenger was despatched from Altcar with instructions 

 that the bells of the parish church were to be rung in honour 

 of the event.' 



We now come to what may be termed the Master McGrath 

 era— viz. from 1868-1871, for this prodigy made a mark on the 

 records of coursing which is quite indelible, and stamped it 

 with a public interest which reaches far beyond the limits of 

 the true votaries of the sport. His was a name to conjure by, 

 and many a one who had never seen a course, who would 

 not know a greyhound from a lurcher, would discourse of the 

 prowess of this canine giant — giant only in achievement, for he 

 was by no means a b'g dog ; nor was he a remarkably hand- 

 some one, having a short, even sour, head; but he was compactly 

 built, and stood on the best of feet and legs. In another 



1 Master McGrath. 



