or by men who "sent on" to distant meets of Squire Drake the Heythrop, than Seckham's stable furnished. And now the last-and, next to Charley Symonds, the best known and most popular-Joe Tollit, has passed away at the ripe age of 81. How well the present writer remembers his tall, slim figure, as he came forward in his yard to greet his customers with perfect bow and manners! There were some hard-riding men at Trinity at the time we speak of. On a hunting morning, often from fifteen to twenty hacks might be seen at the gates in Broad Street, and "pinks" were flitting about the quads without fear of rebuke. For dear old Tommy Short, the senior tutor, was fond of hunting men, and a hunting day was generally a valid excuse for cutting lecture. Trinity was not, alas! a reading college, and the only books most of us were deep in were those of livery-stable keepers, wine merchants, and tailors. Pity it was so, but so it was; and the repentance of the future but little availed. While the Holywell stable was what we should call the swell stable-for Charley Symonds was a dealer as well as a livery-stable keeper-Tollit's was the one men went to for a horse with some breeding in him—one that could win a flat scurry over Bullingdon, or a steeplechase over the Aylesbury course. There was another favourite course in the Bicester country, the name of which we are sorry to say we have forgotten, but on which we well remember a horse from the Holywell stable beating a crack of Tollit's, and worst of all, losing what we considered a lot of money in consequence. As a rule, Tollit's horses generally carried all before them, because, as we have just said, he had an eye to a bit of blood, something that could gallop at the finish. Perhaps Ned Wheeler-a man the very antithesis of Tollit-had better hunters of a class than had the latter. Ned was famous for light-weight screws, which would go a wonderful pace in a quick twenty or five-and-twenty minutes, but Tollit was the man for a long day. He was himself, of course, always admirably mounted, and his get-up was faultless. Nothing of the dandy, and yet an ensemble from hat to boots in which no hole could be picked. Charley Symonds was smart, and his seat perfection; but Joe Tollit looked a gentleman, and a well-known writer in the D.T. mentions an anecdote of how Mr. St. Leger Glyn, on returning from a Balliol steeplechase, being mistaken by the bulldogs for Tollit, escaped the clutches of the Proctor, and was the only one of the culprits not rusticated. By the way, there were no Balliol steeplechases in our time, and it certainly was not a hunting college. The late Lord Londonderry, then Lord Seaham, sported pink now and then, but we cannot remember anyone else who did. No; Trinity was the hunting college from '37 to '43-4, and we fear some of its members were deeper in the ledgers of Tollit and Symonds than poor paterfamilias found agreeable. But all this has long since changed. With the death of Joe Tollit has passed away the last of those ministrators to the follies and inexperience of youth, with which the University fifty years ago abounded. Now it is the fashion to read more than to ride; dons no longer favour hunting men, and we have heard that a "pink" in Trinity quad is an unknown quantity. Perhaps it is better so. Half a century ago we did pretty much as we "darned please," and with some bitter results. Now, the more VOL. LIII.—NO. 363. A A virtuous alumni try the banks of the Isis, without being a whit less manly, finding boating and cricket a safty valve, even better than racing at Bullingdon-afternoons at the Quintain, and long days with the Heythrop or the Squire and certainly less expensive. The last Wednesday in March gave us a great The Society of Arts. field-day under the presidency of Colonel Sir Nigel Kingscote K.C.B., when Mr. Hooper read his paper on "Carriage Building and Street Traffic in England and France," topics of unquestioned interest to our readers. Of course, the base for the paper was the late Exhibition in Paris, and the remarks on the policy of the State as regards International Exhibitions are well worth consideration by our statesmen, for certain it is that in France they allow only the best makers to exhibit, "to the absolute exclusion of makers of low qualities." Thus visitors become impressed with an excellence that is "of advantage to the whole carriage industry of the country." In the discussion which followed the reading of this excellent paper, it seemed to be generally admitted that the French excel us in smith's work, and in their upholstering of carriages; but their "lines" are not much in advance of our own, and they have certainly borrowed from us in the case of our four-horse drags. Everybody will endorse the remarks of the president, that the police should exercise a little more authority in keeping heavy traffic to the kerb. The Journal of the Society of Arts, where all this is set forth, is dated 28th March, and should be sought after by those interested. George Bell and Sons, York Street, Covent Garden, are the publishers. Mr. H. Boden's According to his custom of disposing of his horses every other year, the hunters, hacks, and ponies of Mr. Henry Boden, of The Friary, Derby, will be brought to the hammer at Albert Gate, on the 2nd of June-the Monday in the Derby week. They will doubtless command the attention that Mr. Boden's horses always have done. He is so well known in many countries-known to be in the first flight, and known also to ride no horses which will not get there that there is generally a rush to have something of his. We have reason to believe that the lot he will send up on this occasion is fully equal to the many others for which Mr. Tattersall has obtained good prices; though the reserve Mr. Boden puts on them is always a modest one. Most of them go well in harness, and have also carried ladies; and those who know Mr. Boden's family need not be told what that recommendation means. Roundabout County Papers. Evelyn's House. The World has given Surrey and Wotton House a distinguished place, and acknowledges the county and Mr. Evelyn's seat to have charms and associations that rank with the highest classical landscapes and homes of England. Wotton abounds with interest; and most of the curiosities have been brought together in a library with hooded chimneys, decorated arches, and a vaulted roof. Naturally the vellum bound MS. of "John Evelyn's Diary," 185 years ago, is one of the greatest treasures of his descendant. May these county chronicles increase in number, until we know most of the worthies, and the houses they lived in ! Licensing Magistrates. The sale of intoxicating liquors seems permitted in a very irregular fashion. Take Kensington, Middlesex, with a licence of 1.6 per 1,000 inhabitants. Change to St. Pancras, and there are 10 per 1,000. Some boroughs do not exceed 2.5 per 1,000; others run up to 16. Amongst large towns Leeds has but 2-6, in contrast with Manchester, 54. In these calculations grocers' licences are not included. Cricket Clubs. These may follow the example of the Victoria Park Cricket Association, which, whilst thanking the London County Council for its endeavours to improve cricket regulations on open spaces, asks the Council to withdraw its regulations for the present year, owing to the short notice given of them. Tickets. A suggestion, made to charge a stamp duty on Duty on Admission tickets of admission to theatres, music-halls, race-meetings, and other places of recreation. where gate-money is paid, to provide funds for enlivening the outdoor resorts of the people, was very prudently answered by the London County Council, "that it was not within the province of County Councils to suggest methods and forms of taxation." Lord Norton's Country Seat Burnt. On Tuesday, April 22nd, Lord Norton's seatHams Hall-the building of which dates from 1760, whilst the place has been the family home of the Adderleys for centuries, was almost entirely destroyed by fire. The valuable library and many heirlooms, choice furniture, and other valuables, were saved by the help of neighbouring gentlemen and of the fire brigades of Coventry, Nuneaton, and Tamworth. Unhappily, the falling in of the roof-within two hours of the outbreak of the fire-injured several firemen and killed one. Bucks. Shall April go by without the men of Buckinghamshire making a note of the 19th-the death day of Benjamin Disraeli, who died Earl of Beaconsfield? The Queen duly sent her memorial wreath to be placed over the tomb at Hughenden Church, which church is rightly described in the London daily papers as beautifully picturesque. It is so; and as the writer saw it at the funeral, when three princes of the blood royal followed the Queen's dead servant and minister. And we cannot but remember the love of sport shown then by a large muster of "Bucks" natives; for in the big beeches near the church a lively squirrel was discovered, and not all the impressions created by the funeral could prevent the rural love of hunting, and the Hughenden squirrel was captured before the visitors were clear of the park. May-Day. For May-poles and May-queens go to Staffordshire. These Midlands, the heart of England, still beat faithfully to old customs, and for fairs and market places where can those of Nottingham and Northampton be excelled? Correspondence. HUNT STEEPLECHASE MEETINGS. To the Editor of " Baily's Magazine." SIR,-As is common at the end of the hunting season, in many of the countries there have been held, during the last three weeks, what are now the customary steeplechase meetings. It may be said that such gatherings are generally intended to be an agreeable kind of rendezvous for the members of a Hunt during a dull month of the year. I have visited a fair number of such places, and have, beyond a doubt, occasionally spent a jolly day at some of them; yet I see, with regret, how much room there still is for improvement in their conditions, regulations, and general ordering. They do not show anything like the sport that they might; whilst their influence for good upon the Hunt which organises them is in very many cases simply nil. In most cases the visitor witnesses the same old game, i.e., “one horse first, and the rest nowhere," for the second and third horse will be found to be two or three fields behind the winner. I point this out, for I believe that the stewards and other officials are often looking astern rather than ahead, on these occasions. And I ask why should such facilities be continually given for entering some thoroughbred-which has been kept wholly for racing and steeplechasing and for allowing it to compete against half-bred horses, which, through the season, have been regularly ridden by members of the Hunt? These are the chief supporters and the backbone of the whole opportunity of sport, and yet they are practically shut out from taking part in it. Surely it should be the first aim to create excitement on these occasions, and to invest the proceedings with as much as possible of general interest. This can only be done by giving those who have been riding together throughout the season a fair opportunity of trying their bona fide hunters against one another. It is not in the least beneficial or attractive to permit outsiders to qualify some steeplechase horse (by sending their grooms upon him to the meet three or four times), and then, having done this, to run him, all fresh as he is, against those genuine hunters which have borne, throughout the season, the burden and the heat of many a heavy day! Of course one open steeplechase is absolutely necessary at all such places, and I do not wish to be understood to be finding fault with having one. But the rest of the card should surely be devoted to farmers' plates, or to races for members of the Hunt, riding the selfsame horse as they have themselves ridden through a part of the season just expired. At a meeting which I recently attended, an open flat race was made the chief feature. At this one regular performer turned up which walked over for the money. It goes without saying that this was a sheer waste of cash, time, and opportunity, and utterly absurd upon the face of it. Yet I have been present on other occasions when the sport was not very much better, and for the self-same reason, i.e., that a well-arranged programme had not been sketched out by the promoters beforehand. A CONSTANT READER OF "BAILY." MAORI. To the Editor of "Baily's Magazine." SIR,-Referring to the final paragraph of Odds and Ends" in BAILY for April, Maori is mentioned as having, at Chicago, U.S.A., beaten the record of the world for a mile (time, 1 min. 393 secs.), and is spoken of as an "American mare." She was bred in this country, and was exported to the States, at three years old, by Captain Pennell-Elmhirst. She is by Poulet out of Queen of Cyprus, by King Tom, and was bred by Mr. Jennings, of Newmarket. B. Lowlander and Galopin. IT was a soft October day, As, with a friend, down to "The Ditch" I strolled, My mind, that to a secret bias rolled, Inclined to view the chances of the old Horse best. So passion doth with judgment play ! The flag is down! They're off! The old horse first- In the dim mist they slowly fade away. 'Tis over now. Well, Youth has won the day. R. E. L. |