A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



DC ever ready to find greyhounds to run at them. 

 A perusal of the lists of members of the Altcar 

 Club for the years 1852 and 1855 shows that of 

 forty-six members in each year considerably 

 more than half were of Liverpool and Man- 

 chester and the immediate neighbourhood. 



Of the officials well known in connexion 

 with the sport we must name first John Bell, 

 a famous flag steward, secretary of the South- 

 port Coursing meeting and assistant secretary of 

 the Waterloo meeting. His was a welcome 

 and familiar figure on many a coursing field. 

 So too is that of Ellis Jolly ,*" of late years and still 

 either flag or slip steward and previously interested 

 in the training of Mr. Briggs' s dogs. 



Next we may mention the brothers Booti- 

 man : Tom for years a slipper of renown and 

 now acting at times with his brother John as flag 

 or slip steward. 



Of the trainers of earlier days Sandy Grant, 

 who trained the Earl of Haddington's greyhounds, 

 John Irven, for years trainer for Sir Thomas 

 Brocklebank, his brother, Joe Irven, who trained 

 for Mr. H. Jefferson, the owner of Judge, 

 Java, Imperatrice, and others, J. Weaver, trainer 

 for Mr. Randell, and Amos Ogden, trainer for 

 Mr. B. H. Jones and later for the Earl of Sefton, 

 were notable men. J. Deans, the trainer of 

 Bab-at-the-Bowster, is still alive and well. As 

 a link between the past and present let us name 

 Archie Coke and his son John — with what 

 good dogs and great successes have they not 

 been identified ! At the present time the many 

 successes of Mr. Pilkington and the Messrs. 

 Fawcett stamp the Wright family (Jack, Joe, 

 and Tom, with Robert, now a slipper) as great 

 trainers. Of slippers, so far as Lancashire is 

 concerned, we need only name the Wilkinson 

 family, though Tom Bootiman, and Raper of a 

 I still earlier time, who was the finest slipper we 

 ever saw, must not be forgotten. 



Lastly we come to judges, and as the Waterloo 

 covers the other meetings in this respect we will 

 only name Messrs. Nightingale, McGeorge, and 

 Dalzell as the principal ones till the time of Mr. 

 Warwick, who judged the Waterloo from 1861 

 to 1873. ^^ ^^ succeeded by Mr. Hedley, who 

 judged for years, and it is needless to write here 

 of the great reputation he so justly earned. He 

 was succeeded by Mr. R. A. Brice, who has 

 filled the position for some years with the 

 greatest success. Judging from the ladder is 

 still the custom at Southport and some other 

 meetings. It used to be so at Lytham too not 

 so very long ago, and it is fortunate for all 

 concerned that nowadays there is not often need 

 to discard the horse. 



*° It is only recently that Jolly has given up wearing 

 clogs, and lie will probab'y never forget the day when, 

 shortly after taking to boots, he came out with two 

 right-foot boots instead of a pair, and had to hobble 

 about all day with a wrong boot on a wrong foot. 



In bringing these notes on Lancashire coursing 

 to a conclusion we must say a few words about 

 Lancashire greyhounds, or such as have been 

 very successful in Lancashire. To quote from 

 ' Stonehenge ' — 



Intended for a totally different country to that 

 of Newmarket or Wiltshire, the Lancashire grey- 

 hound has been bred exclusively for the plains of 

 Altcar and Lytham. Here it is not only necessary 

 that the dog shall be fast to his game, but he must 

 also be high enough on his legs to see it while 

 running at one hundred yards distance and up to his 

 elbows in high stubble, as is often the case at 

 Lytham. Much has therefore been sacrificed to size 

 and speed, even more than at Newmarket ; and, as 

 the judge is generally unable to follow the course 

 on horseback, the first point is often all that is seen 

 by him. 



And again — 



Still even taking the last ten years, the Lanca- 

 shire blood has been greatly triumphant on its own 

 peculiar ground, and the success of Cerito alone in 

 having thrice won the Waterloo Cup, must stamp 

 this strain as well fitted for the plains of Altcar. 



Blacklock, Dressmaker, Titania, and Cerito 

 are all considered to be of pure Lancashire 

 blood, and of the last it has been written in 

 Altcar Coursing Club, 1825-87 : — 



As an Altcar greyhound Cerito must be held to 

 have been in the front rank, for in addition to her 

 three Waterloo Cups we find she won two Altcar 

 Cups, and in the year she suffered defeat in the 

 Waterloo Cup ran second to Dalton for the Altcar 

 Stakes, which at that time occupied the same position 

 as the Purse now does. 



Altogether Cerito won twenty-six courses over 

 Altcar and was twice beaten. At the time 

 she won her last Waterloo she gained great 

 praise for a performance which was at the 

 time considered wonderful ; but good though 

 it was, it has since been eclipsed by Master 

 McGrath and Fullerton. Of the dogs owned 

 or bred by Sir Thomas Brocklebank Clarina, 

 who in her day won two eights, a sixteen, and a 

 four, besides getting into the last four in a thirty- 

 two in a season ; Britomart, winner of the first 

 Members' Plate for thirty-two dogs as well as 

 other stakes ; and Border Boy, who won a 

 good many courses consecutively, must certainly 

 be called Lancashire greyhounds ; and later 

 Briar, her daughter Bacchante by Reveller II, 

 and her grandchildren by Cavalier out of 

 Bacchante — Beeswing, Brown Stout, and Beer, 

 the latter a divider of a couple of Craven 

 Cups at Ashdown Park — might also be con- 

 sidered Lancashire greyhounds. The kennels of 

 Lord Sefton and Mr. B. H. Jones produced 

 many winners, of which we may name Sack- 

 cloth, the sisters Jeannie Deans, Jenny Coxon, 

 and Jenny Denison, Sampler, Jeopardy, and 



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