Roundabout County Papers.

County Councils.

The virile action of the London County Council has of late occupied the attention of critics who, as a rule, devote themselves to Imperial interests only. The power of granting or withholding licenses, in the case of places of public amusement, is a matter about which public opinion has been much divided, especially since it involved a claim to a species of control over morals and taste. Of course rural County Councillors have been on the watch to take lessons from their metropolitan colleagues; and now that they have to begin the exercise of their powers, doubtless there will be some attempts made by the John McDougalls of our counties to make rules for races, cricket, football matches, and other sports. But there is one safeguard against vexatious innovations. Upon reading a list of the names in almost every county, it is found that a majority of the councillors is made up of the good old right sort of country residents, who will satisfy themselves that any proposed changes are improvements before they adopt them. This has been known for some time to be the case in English counties, and now I read the Scotch County Council elections that have lately taken place have, on the whole, been favourable to the lairds. Lord Breadalbane, after a hard fight, has got his seat. So have been elected Lord Dalkeith, Sir A. Crum-Ewing, Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, Mr. Montgomerie, Mr. Dalrymple, and many more well-known proprietors; but in some northern counties the candidates of Crofters and Land Leaguers have been in most cases successful-notably in Sutherlandshire. Men of position and large farmers have gone down before local politicians, who will find much to do in parishes where the rates have mounted to 6s. 8d. in the pound. Generally there is a vast power given by the Local Government Act, and many rural evils, eye-sores, dangerous buildings, roads, etc., may and should be swept away.

Meetings of "Old
Boys,"

which can, of course, in this country only take the form of dinners, are increasingly popular. This is a good sign. We are nowadays so alarmingly cosmopolitan that it is well to adopt any means to foster that old-fashioned "clannishness" which may be a relic of barbarism, but which has, nevertheless, been a powerful force in the making of England. Happily our sports serve to maintain the significance of county boundaries; and the son of Devon, or the man of Kent, still keeps his interest in the county of his birth. But there is no bond of union which is stronger than that of the "old school." Perhaps it is that as one gets older he gets more suspicious, or more exigent; but most men will own that the friendships which date from school or university are often the strongest of life. The "Old Boys'" dinner, as an institution, however, does not rest on personal friendship; it rests rather on the common attachment to "the schoolboy spot we ne'er forget, though there we are forgot." At Bath, in mid-January, a handful of Old Wykehamists dined together in perpetuation of a habit which, in this instance, is of unknown antiquity. An accurate account of each annual dinner, and the company present, has been preserved since

1800; but how long previously the function-to adopt the fashionable phrase-had been instituted is not known. But that convivial chronicle of ninety years must be interesting reading. There is, we may be sure, a goodly number of old West-country names on that yearly dining list. The maintenance of even a popular institution requires a fostering and organising hand. In the case of the Bath Wykehamist dinner, Mr. W. S. M. Goodenough (whom many cricketers will know as the secretary of the Lansdown Cricket Club) is at present the controlling spirit.

enham,

the residence of the late General Peel, is shortly Marble Hill, Twick- to be sold. It was built for Lady Suffolk (who died there in 1767, leaving the Hall to her nephew, Lord Buckinghamshire), and early in this century this historic house was occupied by the "Lass of Richmond Hill (Mrs. Fitzherbert), for whom a royal lover sang, "I'd crowns resign to call her mine," and for whom music has made a melody likely to outlast the old mansion.

County Balls.

The county balls of 1890 have been well attended, notably the Herefordshire, Monmouthshire Hunt, and Newbury. Sandringham inititated the return to favour of "square" dances. The quadrille was honoured by opening the evening. Truly many a dame and gallant, who must look back to "forty" with oft-reverted eyes, yet like dancing for its own sake-its rhythm and motion-but who find the swift galops and spinning waltzes a trifle exhausting. The minuet must yet return. The dance programme must be for all ages, since the young like it, and our fine old English gentleman at seventy can "sprightly lead the ball." The Market Harborough Ball, held February 6th, was a great success, having the largest attendance on record, many visitors coming from a distance by special trains. Stamford Hall, Rockingham Castle, Great Oakley Hall, and most of the big houses in the neighbourhood, furnished large contingents of dames and gallants of high degree.

Country towns not so dull as they look,

Notabilities crop up sometimes in unexpected quarters and in curious associations. The quaint little town of Wallingford is well known to frequenters of the river, but mostly in summer-time. Truth to tell, its attractions in winter may seem to the critical non-resident less. But there is a certain amount of delusiveness about the assumed hibernation of a country town. Among other resources in Wallingford, for instance, appears to be a Social and Debating Society, at which, no doubt, all the problems of the universe are in turn discussed, and more or less satisfactorily settled. At a recent meeting, the subjec to fdebate was, "Which exercises the most influence on mankind-music or poetry?" The opener of the debate took the side of poetry, and he was followed on the other side-as they say in the Law Courts-by Mr. G. D. Leslie, R.A., author of "Our River." Unfortunately I am unable to report the arguments with which Mr. Leslie championed the cause of music, but it is interesting to note that they prevailed; for the " Heavenly maid" won on a division by a substantial majority of 22 votes to 14. Who says we are not a musical nation?

Embellished with

Portrait of Captain E. R. OWEN.

Engraving of THOROUGHBRED STALLION, "SULEIMAN."

Captain E. R. Owen.

THE readers of BAILY will not have much difficulty in recognising the portrait which this month serves as a frontispiece. It is that of Captain E. R. Owen, than whom none of our gentlemen jockeys is better known or more appreciated. By his friends-the public, too, perhaps he is generally spoken of as "Roddy Owen," in order to distinguish him from an elder brother (Hugh Owen), who also has been regarded for a long time as being, in the same capacity, in the very first rank.

Captain E. R. Owen was born in 1856, of a good old Pembrokeshire family, which settled in Cheltenham some five-andVOL. LIII. No. 362.

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