Part 56

One or two of our general officers suffered defeat in South Africa a few years ago, but we never heard of any of them exulting in the idea that it was a “good thing, as it had given a fillip to fighting in South Africa.” And we may be sure that Mr. Warner, over this unfortunate tour in Africa, has been throughout as keen as any general officer. But he had not got the men!

Now, what is to be said of “Mr. Lacey’s opinion,” as reported in the _Star_ newspaper, when he consented to be interviewed upon the “unaccountable defeat of the M.C.C. team in four Test matches out of five.” The Secretary of the Marylebone Club is stated to have said, “Not unaccountable at all. It is a case in which the better side has won.”

Later on Mr. Lacey is reported as saying: “It was never intended to send a representative eleven of England, but I thought we had chosen a side quite worthy of upholding the cricket honour of the country. Apparently we were wrong.”

Now here is an important statement. Mr. Lacey seems to imply that he could have sent a more powerful team to South Africa if he or the management of the Club had been able to realise that the Africans, whom they had seen winning at Lord’s in 1904 against their own Eleven of England, were an extremely good side of cricketers.

According to the _Star_, Mr. Lacey has now no good word for the side of which he says, “I thought we had chosen a side quite worthy of upholding the cricket honour of the country.” He says: “I can only attribute the defeat of our eleven to inferior play. The fielding has been poor, the bowling only moderate, and the batting, with one or two exceptions, second-rate.”

“I believe the chief cause of our defeat has been poor fielding. Then again, such really great batsmen as P. F. Warner and Hayes have not done themselves justice.” Further, he says, “A great many judges of the game attribute the apparent failure of our team to the fact that our men are playing on matting, but I can scarcely agree with them. I have practised a lot on matting wickets, and judging from my own experience, it should hold no terrors for a really good batsman.”

The great want of the team appears to have been a really good batsman, and it seems a thousand pities from the point of view of the cricketing public that Mr. Lacey did not personally conduct this team.

But “All’s well that ends well,” and the final paragraph of the opinion of Mr. Lacey upon South African cricket states that:—

“Our defeat cannot do any harm; in fact, it may lead to a lot of good, and if the South Africans visit us in 1907, they should command a great amount of respect from all the first-class counties” (not yet, even, is the Marylebone Club pledged to extend any more respect to South Africa than was the case in 1904), “as judging by the improvement in their play, the South Africans will give us some good games, and may even be a hard nut to crack for a representative English team.”

Yes! they probably will be all that Mr. Lacey predicts, because, unless we are mistaken, the South African team so long ago as 1904 came up to that form, and it would have been as well if Mr. Lacey and those who assist him in the management of the Marylebone Club had realised this obvious fact a few months ago, before they organised this Majuba of cricket which has caused so much disappointment to cricketers in the two hemispheres.

Mr. Lacey and Mr. Warner are agreed that “the better side has won.”

Cricketers are almost entitled, respectfully, to ask upon this point whether a better team could have been sent by the M.C.C. than this team which Mr. Lacey now runs down. And if the answer to this be in the affirmative, then the next question is, why was not a better team sent to represent England?

The Africans asked to meet the strength of England, and they have handsomely beaten the team put into the field against them. They have performed their part of the bargain, and it seems almost ungenerous of the Secretary of the Marylebone Club to assume this air of patronage and to talk of the South African team as if they were a lot of schoolboys undergoing an Easter course of coaching on the matting practice wickets at Lord’s.

A result of this unfortunate business is that the Africans are already knocking at the gate again, and we are informed that immediately at the conclusion of the tour a cable was despatched asking that a South African team should be received in England in 1907 on the same lines as an Australian team, which appears to signify a programme including five test matches, which may mean, according to Mr. Lacey, five hard nuts “to crack for a representative English team.” But why not have sent the nut-crackers to South Africa first?

CRICKETER.

Some Fables on Horses.

Probably, for research and widely diffused knowledge, spread over a long and laborious life, the work of that celebrated octogenarian, Dr. Cobham Brewer, who, at the age of eighty-five, brought out his new edition of “Phrase and Fable,” is, to my thinking, unique in its way, teeming as it does with interest to every class of both reader and writer.

As a sportsman, it appeals to me in many a page, and in culling a few tit-bits from it I may help to enlighten and enliven your readers on things not generally known.

_Longchamps_ is, as we know, to-day, the scene of one of the most fashionable French racecourses, yet history tells us that every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in Passion week, the Parisians went there in procession in private carriages and hired cabs, all the smartly dressed men and women who wished to display their spring fashions. The origin of the custom being that there was once a famous nunnery there, noted for its singing. In Passion week all who could went to hear these religious women sing the Psalms. This custom grew into a fashion, although the nunnery no longer exists, the procession is as fashionable as ever, and so is the racecourse.

_Lose the horse and win the saddle._ A man made a bet of a horse that another could not say the Lord’s Prayer without a wandering thought. The bet was accepted, but before half-way through, the person accepting the bet looked up and said, “By the bye, do you mean the saddle also?”

_A horse_ is worthy of especial notice here. A good horse is said to have fifteen points. He should have three properties of a man, three of a woman, three of a fox, three of a hare, and three of an ass—of a man, bold, proud, and hardy—of a woman, fair-breasted, fair-haired, and easy of movement—of a fox, a good tail, short ears, with a good trot—of a hare, large eyes, a dry head, and good running—of an ass, a big chin, flat legs, and a good hoof.

Neptune is supposed to have created the horse. When Athene, the goddess of wisdom, contended with Neptune as to which should give the name to Athens, the gods decided that it should be called by the name of that deity which bestowed on men the most useful boon. Athene created the olive tree, and Neptune created the horse. The vote was given in favour of the olive tree, and the city was called Athens.

The first person that drove a _four-in-hand_ was, Virgil tells us, Ericthonius.

On the death of Smerdis, King of Persia, the competitors for the throne agreed that he should be king whose horse neighed first when they met the day following. The groom of Darius showed his horse a mare on the day appointed, and immediately it arrived at the spot on the following day the horse began to neigh, and won the crown for its master.

A horse in the catacombs was an emblem of the swiftness of life.

In Christian life the horse is the emblem of courage and generosity.

The horses of Diomed, Tyrant of Thrace, were flesh-eaters, and were fed on the strangers who visited his kingdom. Hercules vanquished the tyrant, and gave his carcase to the horses to eat.

In the British Army we have Elliot’s Light Horse, Paget’s Irregular Horse, The Black Horse, The Blue Horse, The Green Horse, The Royal Horse Guards, and The White Horse, as applied to particular regiments.

Both in mythology and history we have a multitude of celebrated steeds. Thus:—

_Akabar._—A hot one. Was one of the horses of Sunna.

_Abaster._—Away from the stars—belonged to Pluto.

_Abraxus._—Was one of the horses of Aurora.

_Actæon._—Effulgent, was one of the horses of the sun.

_Æthon._—Fiery red. Was another horse of the sun.

_Acton._—Swift as an eagle. Was a horse of Pluto’s.

_Aligero Clavileno._—The wooden pin-winged horse on which Don Quixote mounted to effect the deliverance of Trifaldi and her companions.

_Amathea._—No loiterer. Was one of the horses of the sun.

_Aquiline._—Like an eagle. Raymond’s steed, bred on the banks of the Tagus.

_Arion._—War horse. Hercules’ horse, given to Adrastos. Brought out of the earth by Neptune with his tridents. Its right feet were those of a human being; it spoke with a human voice, and ran with incredible swiftness.

_Arundal._—Swift as a swallow. The horse of Bevis of Southampton.

_Babicca._—The simpleton. The Cids’ horse. He survived his master two and half years, during which time nobody was allowed to mount him, and he was buried before the gates of the Monastery of Valencia, and two elm trees were planted to mark the spot. This horse’s name arose because Roderigo in his youth was given the choice of a horse by his god-father, and chose a rough colt, and his donor called him Babicca, a fool, for doing so, but Roderigo transferred the name to his gift horse.

_Barjado_ was Ronaldo’s horse, of bay colour, once the property of Amadis of Gaul. He was found in a cave guarded by a dragon, which the wizard slew. He is said to be still alive, but flies at the approach of man, and no one can hope to catch him.

_Babico._—Swift, like Zanthos, his sire was the West Wind, and his dam Swiftfoot the harpy, and was given by Neptune to Peleus.

_Bayard._—A bright bay. He belonged to the four sons of Aymon, and grew larger or smaller as one of these four mounted him.

_Bevis._—The swift. The horse of Lord Marmion.

_Black Agnes._—Belonging to Mary Queen of Scots, given her by her brother Moray, and named after Agnes of Dunbar.

_Black Saladin._—Warwick’s famous horse. Coal black. His sire was Malek, and it was said of him that when the race of Malek failed the race of Warwick would fail also, and so it came to pass.

_Borak._—The lightning. The horse that conveyed Mahomet from earth to the seventh heaven. He was milk white, had the wings of an eagle, and a human face with a horse’s cheeks. Every pace he took was equal to the furthest range of human sight.

_Brigliadoro._—Golden bridle. Orlando’s famous charger, second only in swiftness and wonderful powers to Bayardo.

_Bronte._—Thunder. A horse of the sun.

_Brown Hal._—A model pacing stallion.

_Bucephalus._—Ox-head. The celebrated charger of Alexander the Great, who was the only person that could mount him, and he always knelt down to receive his master. He was thirty years old when he died, and Alexander built a city as a mausoleum, which he called Bucephala.

_Capilet._—A grey horse of Sir Andrew Aguecheek, spoken of in Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.” A capilet signifies a small wen on a horse’s neck.

_Celer._—Swift. The horse of the Roman Emperor Verus, that was fed on almonds and raisins, covered with purple, and stalled in the Imperial palace.

_Cæsar._—A model Percheron stallion.

_Copenhagen._—The Duke of Wellington’s charger that he rode at Waterloo. Napoleon’s favourite charger was called Marengo, and was represented in the famous picture by Vernet of Napoleon crossing the Alps. His remains are now in the United Service Museum in London.

_Cyllaros._—Named from Cylla in Troas, a celebrated horse of Castor and Pollux.

_Dinos._—The Marvel. Was Diomed’s horse.

_Doomstead._—Was the horse of the Fates.

_Ethon._—Fiery. Was one of the horses of Hestor.

_Fadda._—Was Mahomet’s white mule.

_Fiddleback._—Was Oliver Goldsmith’s unfortunate pony.

_Galathé._—Cream coloured. Was a horse of Hector’s.

_Grané._—Grey coloured. Was Seigfried’s horse of marvellous swiftness.

_Grizzle._—Grey coloured. Was the skin-and-bone animal that carried Dr. Syntax.

_Haizum._—Was the horse of the Archangel Gabriel.

_Harpagos._—A rapid carrier. One of the horses of Castor and Pollux.

_Hippocompés._—A horse of Neptune that had only two legs, his hindquarters being a dragon’s tail.

_Incitatus._—The Roman Emperor Caligula’s horse, which he made a priest and a consul. Its manger was of ivory, and it drank out of a golden pail.

_Jenny Geddes._—Was Robert Burn’s mare.

_Kantaka._—The white horse of Science.

_Ganhama of India._—Mentioned by Budda.

_Kelpie._—The colour of seaweed. The water horse of fairy mythology.

_Lampos._—Shining like a lamp. One of the horses of the Sun.

_Lamri._—The curvetter. King Arthur’s mare.

_Morocco._—Bank’s famous horse. Its shoes were of silver, and one of its exploits was to mount the steeple of St. Paul’s.

_Molly._—Sir Charles Napier’s mare that died at the age of 35 years.

_Orelia._—The charger of Roderick, the last of the Goths. Noted for its speed and symmetry.

_Pale Horse._—On which Death rides.

_Pegasos._—Born near the source of the ocean. The winged horse of Apollo that Perseus rode when he rescued Andromeda.

_Phæton._—The shining one. A steed of Aurora.

_Phlegon._—The blazing one. One of the horses of the mid-day sun.

_Phrenicos._—Intelligent. The horse of Hiero of Syracuse that was the winner of the Olympic prize for single horses in the seventy-third olympiad.

_Rubicon._—With a dark tail and some white hairs. Astolpho’s horse in Orlando Furioso. Its dam was Fire, and its sire Wind, and it fed on unearthly food.

_Ronald._—Was Lord Cardigan’s thoroughbred chestnut horse, with white stockings on the near fore and hind feet, that carried him through the charge at Balaclava.

_Rosabelle._—Mary Queen of Scots’ favourite palfrey.

_Rosignol._—Was the palfrey of Madame Ghatalet, of Crecy, the lady with whom Voltaire resided for ten years.

_Shinfaxe._—Shining mane. The steed which draws the car of day.

_Sleipnor._—Odin’s grey horse, that had eight legs, and could traverse either land or sea. He typifies the wind, which blows over land and water from eight principal points.

_Sorrel._—The horse of William the Third, that used to catch his foot in a mole-trap, and ultimately caused his death. He was blind of one eye and mean of stature. Is ill-fitted to carry a king.

_Strymon._—Named from the River Strymon in Thrace, and immolated by Zerxes before he invaded Greece.

_Vegliantino._—The famous steed of Orlando, meaning “the little vigilant one.”

_Zanthos._—The chestnut coloured. One of the horses of Achilles that announced his approaching death when unjustly chidden by him.

_O’Donoghue’s White Horse._—Denotes the waves, which come on a windy day, crested with foam. The spirit of the hero appears every May-day, and glides to sweet yet unearthly music over the lakes of Killarney on his white horse, preceded by groups of young men and maidens, flinging spring flowers in his path.

We have the phrases: “A dark horse”—one whose merits are unknown. “Flogging a dead horse.” “Riding the wooden horse”—a military punishment, a sort of flogging stool, now abolished. “I will win the horse or lose the saddle”—neck or nothing.

“They cannot set horses together.” That is, they cannot agree.

“The Trojan horse” is a deception, a hidden danger.

“It is a good horse that never stumbles.” Every one has his faults.

“To get upon his high horse.” To give one’s self airs.

“To set the cart before the horse.” To reverse the right order of things.

“When the horse is stolen lock the stable door.”

“Working on a dead horse.” Doing work which has already been paid for.

I could continue to play on this horsey fiddle almost _ad infinitum_, thanks to old Dr. Brewer, who very clearly illustrates how from the most ancient days the horse came to the forefront in mythology, history, poetry, and romance. The one quadruped created for the benefit of man, and honoured with the first place from the earliest ages in man’s affections. Notwithstanding the fact that in these last days man has devised sundry inventions aimed at his dethronement, such as steam and motor power, let us hope that he may long survive those machinations.

In the illustrious days of Roman greatness it is worthy of note that the horse was promoted almost to divine worship, as, indeed, he had been in Grecian mythology. The Emperor Caligula made him a priest and a consul. We have come to regard horses as of some value, when we are not afraid of appraising one of them at nearly £40,000, and selling our casts off at £20,000 and upwards.

The fables which I have ventured to string together here may have their transient interest, and help owners of racehorses with a few appropriate names for their best. This will aid to prove the truth of their worth, and show that although the world has grown older, and the age of romance and love of mythology has passed away, the horse in all his beauty and perfection is with us still, and we trust that he ever will be so.

BORDERER.

[Illustration:

HOT ON THE TRAIL. ]

[Illustration:

THE WORRY.

_Photos by T. C. Bristow Noble._] ]

The Advent of the Otter-hunting Season.

Never, perhaps, was otter-hunting more popular than it is to-day, though it is one of the oldest sports in existence. Even as far back as the reign of King John otters were hunted with hounds throughout the summer months. But until comparatively late years the sport seems to have always been that of the few rather than, as now, that of the many. In a great measure it owes its increasing popularity to the more generous spirit that happily now prevails among sportsmen.

The member of the angling society and the owner of the private fishery are no longer at war with the interesting little quarry, that is, on those rivers which are visited by otterhounds, and on many that are not. Indeed, it is more than probable that in a few years’ time it will be considered as discreditable an action for a private person to shoot or otherwise destroy an otter, as it is to secretly kill a fox in the Midlands. During the season that is slowly commencing there will be twenty-four packs of otterhounds hunting in the United Kingdom, as was the case last year. The first meet took place on April 6th, when the Essex Otterhounds, which Mr. L. Rose still continues to hunt, met at Witham Station.

This was an early start indeed. The water must have been very cold, and the hounds in consequence could have shown no great keenness. The truth is, April is too early a month in which to make a commencement. It is wiser by far to wait till about the middle of May before bringing the hounds from their kennels. By this time the countryside is putting on her most resplendent mantle, the water is growing warm at last, and followers and hounds alike can thoroughly enjoy the sport.

It is not a sport that only the rich can indulge in. Almost any and everybody can afford to follow it, whilst rarely has the agriculturist occasion to complain of damage being done to either his crops or fences by the followers. It is gratifying to notice that masters are determined to put a stop to the increasing practice of riding to otterhounds. Apart from it being quite unnecessary to be mounted, horse people are often a danger and always a nuisance among the legitimate following.

There is, moreover, a growing inclination to utilise the rough-coated hound to a greater extent than hitherto. But one of the most pleasant features of modern otter-hunting is the large number of ladies that follow and subscribe to the various packs, coupled with which must be the fact that there are now two lady “masters”—Mrs. Walter Cheesman, the Master of Crowhurst Otterhounds, and Lady Mary Hamilton, who owns the Hamilton pack, which, as we write, was given to her a few days ago by Mr. R. Carnaby Forster.

The two photographs that we reproduce herewith were taken during a recent run and kill with Mrs. Cheesman’s hounds.

A Hundred Years Ago.

(FROM THE _SPORTING MAGAZINE_ OF 1806.)

COCKINGS. ROYAL PIT, WESTMINSTER. Monday, April 15th.—The grand main of cocks, between the Hon. George Germaine (Potter, feeder) and Mr. Wilson (Lester, feeder), consisting of twenty-seven main and twenty byes, commenced fighting. The following is a statement:—

LESTER M. B. POTTER M. B. Monday 3 3 1 0 Tuesday 2 4 2 0 Wednesday 1 0 3 4 Thursday 3 0 2 3 Friday 2 1 3 1 Saturday 4 1 1 1 —— — —— — 15 9 12 9

SETTERS.—Walters for Mr. Wilson and young Potter for Mr. Germaine.

Before fighting, 11 to 8 on Potter; after Monday’s fight, 6 to 4 on Lester; after Tuesday’s fight 7 to 4 on Lester; after Wednesday’s fight, 11 to 8 on Potter; after Thursday’s fight, 12 to 10 on Lester; after Friday’s fight, even betting.

The whole of the fighting was remarkably good, and did much credit to both the feeders and setters.

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In the short space of two hours in the afternoon of the 19th ult. [March] Mr. Isaac Pearson, of Poolbank, near Kendal, killed ten woodcocks at eleven shots on the woody grounds at Whitbarrow.

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The following curious circumstance happened on Monday, the 17th ult. The Allendale Foxhounds pursued a fox for some time on Staward banks and the grounds adjacent, until at last poor reynard was under the necessity of taking shelter in the crags; and the sportsmen, with greatest difficulty, opened the hole and secured their prey, which, upon examination, was found to be a large bitch-fox. She was taken to Bishopfield, where, to the great surprise of the keeper, on the Thursday following, she brought forth six fine young cubs, which are at this time with the mother, and are all likely to live.

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HOME CIRCUIT.—Brown _v._ Boxall. At Kingston, March 27th, this action was brought against the defendant for having in his possession a tunnel net for catching partridges, contrary to the statute of Queen Anne. The fact of finding the net at the defendant’s house was proved by one of the Duke of York’s gamekeepers. The net was produced, and it appeared to have been recently used, as a great many partridges’ feathers were sticking to it. No defence was made, and the plaintiff had a verdict for the penalty of five pounds.

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