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Random documents with unrelated
content Scribd suggests to you:
some that nominations were freely taken; but now, alas, their
sportsman-owner is no more, and these become, through a curious
rule, null and void.
At Punchestown, at the end of April, four Irish sportsmen will be
missed, than whom four better never visited there—the late Baron de
Robeck, John Hubert Moore, Tom Beasley, and Jack Gubbins.
P.S.—Just as the foregoing was sent to the printer news came of the
death, on April 4th, of the greatest friend and life-long comrade of
Mr. Gubbins, his brother-in-law, Wray Bury Palliser, of Annestown,
County Waterford, J.P., D.L. He was the same type of old-time
sportsman, and a genial, jovial companion; loved racing, but never
owned racehorses, and in his day was a first-rate man to hounds,
well-known in the halcyon days of Curraghmore.
H. S.
 Dressing Flies.

Cocking may be (I do not say it is) a thing of the past, but what
possibly may not be generally known is the keen interest fly-
fishermen still have in the preservation and continuation of certain
varieties of the old fighting breeds of English game. Many find it
adds pleasure to the delights of catching fish to capture them with
flies of their own making, and several of these (all amateurs) can and
do turn out at the present day better work than has ever before been
seen. But to achieve this the right material must be to hand, and
from the start difficulty will be experienced in procuring hackles of
the right colour, texture, and—most important in the case of chalk-
stream fishermen—size. For frequently the July and August trout is
not to be beguiled in the mid-day heat by anything bigger than a 000
hook, and the barnyard fowl wears no feathers that will hackle this;
its fibres are much too long. Dyeing is largely resorted to to obtain
with less trouble the exact hues required, but this does not entirely
get over the difficulty, as the commoner red and ginger hackles will
not serve as the groundwork for, say, a pale olive, and the blue, the
honey and other light-coloured duns are just the ones that are most
difficult to lay hands on. So it comes about that to mention blue dun
game in the presence of a fly-tier produces much the same effect as
the word “rats” does on any well-brought-up terrier.
At the present time, if the dun game varieties are wanted the best
localities to search are the West of England, from Cornwall and
Devon, through Wales to Cumberland, a circumstance which it is
somewhat tempting to endeavour to connect with the driving into
these parts of the British, amongst whom, as we know, the Romans
introduced cocking, but this must be left to the antiquarians;
probably it is only a coincidence due either to the presence of many
fishing waters in those districts, or to the fact that in out-of-the-way
England old customs died hard, and the law against cock-fighting
was not so stringently carried out as in the counties more
immediately under the eyes of the lawgivers, whereby the breeds
have lasted longer there.
Gervase Markham, who wrote in the early part of the seventeenth
century, had a poor opinion of the duns, but his strictures on their
merits as fighting birds are not upheld by Robert Howlet, himself an
author of an angling book, who writes, in 1807, that as to colour of
cocks “there is nothing in it, for the world affords no better birds for
the game than many of your duns and whites prove.” However, in
most lists made out in order of merit this colour comes at the
bottom, which perhaps accounts for the little space devoted to it in
the literature so far consulted. I quote Mr. Harrison Weir’s
description of the breed as far as regards plumage: “The truest and
most rare” (of the duns) “is the blue dun, and these are sub-divided
into light and dark. The hackle of the cock bird should be of an
intense indigo-blue, and very bright, also the back and the tail-
coverts; the wing having a distinct bar; the breast and thighs, as well
as the tail, of a beautiful blue dun colour; the face red, with a dark
rim round the eye, or dark eyelid; comb and wattles a brilliant
vermilion.”
By diligent search specimens of these birds may still be found and
procured, though in most instances only at the expenditure of much
diplomatic skill and suasion, including that which is not allowed at
election times, for if the owner supplies the trade he naturally is
interested in limiting the supply and keeping intact a little “corner”
of his own; if, on the other hand, he is a breeder by family tradition,
money is little likely to induce him to part with his best. Still,
perseverance does wonders, and either by getting sittings of eggs, or
by picking up individual cockerels and pullets at prices such as are
asked from hunt secretaries and treasurers of poultry funds, several
enthusiastic fishermen are just now making a beginning at breeding
on their own account.
It must not be thought that this is a new departure, for within the last
thirty years two poultry shows, one at the Crystal Palace in 1871, and
another at the Westminster Aquarium in 1892, have been held, at
which prizes were offered both for hackles suitable for fly-dressing
and for the birds which yielded them; but at this moment fresh
interest seems to be aroused, more and more men are learning to tie,
and thereby induced to breed, so that it should not be long ere such
prizes shall be again competed for at the big poultry shows, which
will by this means attract a visit from many to whom otherwise a
fowl presents no points of interest except at meal-times.
Many of those engaged in poultry breeding know nothing—have
never heard—of the blue dun game or of the demand for it and the
kindred varieties, though they might do worse than run a pen or two
of them, only bearing in mind that, though at present the demand is
not met by the supply, at no time will it ever be very large or of a size
to make game fowl breeding by itself a profitable commercial
undertaking.
Besides shortness of fibre the other peculiar merits of the game
hackles are their brilliancy, hardness, and ability to shoot the water.
They are best obtained from a mature cock in the pink of condition
(in cocking days this would have been the eve of a match), during the
last two months of the year, except in the case of dun hackles, which
are blue at Christmas, but before the autumn moult have golden
tints. Of course, now that paraffin is used by the waterside, hen
hackles are by no means to be despised, indeed, some tiers care little
which they use provided they come off a game bird.
One and not the least advantage of being able to tie his own flies
himself is that it enables the fishermen to judge of the work put into
those he buys, and to put his finger on the exact material that is
wrong when patterns are not copied accurately. This is not
infrequently the case, and a good fly gets a bad name, most
undeservedly, in consequence.
H. L. T. P.
 Navicular Disease.
By Professor J. Wortley Axe.

There is no disease which so seriously affects the feet of our horses as

“navicular disease.” Its commencement is subtle and its progress so
insidious that it is only when the malady has reached a dangerous
condition that it becomes known to the ordinary horseman. At this
stage veterinary aid is usually sought, with the result that the owner
has to be told that nothing can be done in the way of cure and very
little towards stemming its onward progress. Why, it may be asked,
do we occupy the pages of this Magazine with a subject so absolutely
devoid of matter to which attention can be profitably directed. Our
reply is that if little can be done in these directions we are not
without hope of ministering to its prevention, and for this we claim
some justification for so far imposing on our readers.
Before the days of Moorcroft and Turner navicular disease, although
much in existence, was not recognised by the profession, and the
lameness arising out of it was referred to the shoulder, with no other
reason, save that indications of disease were not detected or
detectable in other parts of the limbs. Then, as now, the feet of
horses were noticed to contract, and when this condition was found
to exist the lameness was attributed to it, and it alone. No one seems
to have thought to look for the cause of contraction, and thus to trace
the fons et origo mali, but all remained satisfied that the lameness
arose from the pinching of the sensitive structures of the foot by the
contracting hoof.
No doubt in some measure this was true, for it is impossible to think
of a normal state of the sensitive parts of a structure like the foot
being enclosed within a small and contracted hoof. As a secondary
cause, therefore, contraction would be sure to make itself felt sooner
or later by diminishing the size of the foot and interfering with the
play of the parts within.
The peculiar stilty action which this disease induces brought into use
the term “chest founder.” This term was meant to convey the idea of
pain in the muscles of the chest, where the disease giving rise to it
was supposed to exist, and it was not until Moorcroft and Turner
traced the disease to the navicular bone that these meaningless terms
ceased of employment, and the much more rational one,
“navicularthritis,” came to be used in their stead. Whether this term
is an appropriate one or not may be open to question, but it locates
the disease, and in this respect it is distinctly useful.
Causes.—We cannot speak of the cause of navicular disease without
referring to the influence of heredity. There can be no doubt that the
property of transferring to the offspring the weakness inherited by
the parent is just as marked in this as in any other affection, and the
writer, in a long experience, has seen numerous instances of the
disease handed down from the latter to the former. It must be
understood that the transmission of hereditary taint or
predisposition is what is understood here by hereditary disease. It is
not that the disease in an active state is born with the animal, but
that the parts are in that condition in which the disease may be easily
excited in them by causes which would not affect an animal who was
not the subject of hereditary weakness. It must not however, be
stated that because a horse inherits a predisposition to navicular or
any other disease that he should necessarily contract it. A good deal
will depend upon the degree of intensity of the inheritance on the
one hand, and the severity of the cause which acts upon it on the
other. If it exists in such form as to be easily excited into action, it is
not unlikely to appear, but where the hereditary predisposition is
only possessed in a mild measure the animal may not meet with a
cause sufficiently severe by which the predisposition can be made to
assume an active state.
Exciting Causes.—They are numerous and varied. Conformation,
action, shoeing, weight of body and general management, all play
their respective parts in causing the disease.
Side View of
Healthy
Foot.

Side View of
Diseased
Foot.

Back View of
Healthy
Foot.
 Back View of
Diseased
Foot.

As to conformation, it would seem that the more upright the parts

below the fetlock joint, the less elasticity they present, and the more
do they assume a mere column of support. In this case the weight of
the body falls more directly upon the navicular bone, and the
absence of that elastic recoil afforded by the oblique pastern tends to
excite disease in it.
Action.—This will commend itself as an exciting cause to anyone who
will watch the movement of different horses. The animal who lifts his
limbs high in the air and brings them down again almost in the place
from which he took them is much more likely to contract the disease
than the horse whose movements are less exalted and more
progressive. Especially is this the case if the body is loaded with flesh
and the horse is in soft condition.
Shoeing.—Notwithstanding the very great benefits which have
resulted to shoeing smiths from recent efforts in their behalf by
Agricultural Societies and County Councils, there still remains much
to be done ere we can claim to have placed the shoeing of horses
outside the causes of navicular disease.
It is perfectly true that the impression left on the mind of a visitor to
agricultural shows where shoeing competitions are in evidence is
usually assuring, but it gives no idea of the general unfitness of the
great bulk of the craft to follow the chosen calling of their lives. This
is said in no want of respect for the shoeing smith, but rather with
the object of drawing attention to him as a much-neglected
individual, and one who is always thankful for anything that may be
done for him in the way of education.
Paring the sole, the frog and the bars are all still in evidence both in
town and country, but it is not always the wish of the shoeing smith
that it should be so; too often it is the wish—nay, the will—of the
owner or the coachman that the feet shall look smart, and in order to
do this the smith abandons his better knowledge to “oblige.”
Nothing tends so much to lay the foundation for navicular disease as
the repeated mutilation of these parts in shoeing. The sole, the frog
and the bars are together designed among other things to keep the
heels apart and protect the sensitive structures within, and
notwithstanding this there are still those who for reasons of their
own continue to disregard this very obvious truth and to insist on
their horses’ feet being cut out of shape and weakened to the last
degree. It is never given a thought that thickness of sole and frog is a
defensive quality, and to cut them is to weaken them and to expose
the parts within to pressure from without. Apart from bearing their
share of the weight of the body, the bars are specially intended to
keep the heels open and to maintain a healthy state of the foot, which
cannot possibly exist where they are repeatedly cut away in the act of
shoeing.

Navicular Bone.|
Showing Small
Ulcers invading its
Structures.
Calks, and such means as are adopted to remove the frog from the
ground, operate unfavourably on the feet, and especially where
mutilation is part of the operation of shoeing.
Contraction of the foot not infrequently results where the hoof is
allowed to grow unduly long and the frog is removed from the
ground, or where, as the result of injury to some part of the limb, the
foot is rested for a long period. Whether the result of the one cause or
the other, it is a condition which, if not carefully rectified by shoeing,
may excite navicular disease.
It is comparatively seldom that navicular disease is found to exist in
the hind feet, and the preference which it shows for the fore ones
may possibly be found in the difference which exists in the
conformation of the limbs. The straight fore-leg allows the weight to
fall directly on to the feet, while in the hind one it is first broken and
diffused in passing through the angle forming the hock, so that by
the time it reaches the foot the sharp edge of concussion is removed
and the foot escapes the injury which is inflicted through the
straighter column in front.
Prevalence of the Disease.—As to the horses which suffer from this
affection, it may be somewhat difficult to say in which particular
variety it is most prevalent. Between the light and heavy horses there
is a great difference in favour of the latter, although since they have
been called upon to do so much trotting work the malady has
increased in the same proportion. There is a much greater number of
cases among harness horses than any other description, but it must
not be forgotten that they are the more numerous. And on this
account we should look for more cases than are to be found in the
other varieties.
Hunters are frequently found to be affected by navicular disease,
although their work is for the most part over soft, yielding ground.
These animals suffer most when made to jump from high banks into
roads, especially when the muscles are tired and have lost much of
their power. In these circumstances the full weight of the body falls
upon the feet, with the result that the navicular bone may suffer by
impact with the ground and become the seat of disease. But apart
from these special accidents, hunters become subjects of the malady
as the result of constant wear.
The racehorse, as such, is comparatively seldom the victim of this
affection. So long as he is in training he is constantly on the turf, and
at an early period is relegated to the stud, and ceases to be exposed to
the causes by which the disease is excited. If, however, he does not
himself contract the malady, his peculiar habits of life have a
tendency to weaken the feet and to predispose his stock to contract
the disease. In this way he becomes a factor in its propagation. His
constant absence from the hard road does little to encourage the
secretion of a thick, strong horn, and to impart to the feet that flinty
hardness so much to be admired in a sire. “No foot, no horse,” is an
axiom as true to-day as it was when first formulated by Lafosse. This
is not said to prejudice the thoroughbred, for which the writer has a
very high regard as a sire both of hunters and harness horses, but
rather to hold out the caution to those who use him.
Symptoms.—There are few diseases in which the symptoms are so
obscure and ill-defined in the earlier stages as they are in navicular
disease.
The situation of the injured part forbids that inspection and
manipulation which we may readily apply to other diseases, and
there is too frequently no visible effects of the injury to guide the
expert, but only an insidious and slowly progressive lameness.
It is more than probable that for some time the owner will be in
doubt as to whether there is any defect at all. The only change
observable to him is an uneasy sensation experienced when the horse
is ridden in his fast paces. Soon, however, the defect becomes
obvious in one leg or the other, and later in both.
At this time careful search may or may not discover visible
contraction of the diseased foot. This condition, however, soon
follows on by resting the foot in the stable or relieving it when at
work. In the former case it is partially flexed and advanced more or
less so as to take it away from the bearing, and in the latter the heel is
kept as far as possible from the ground, and the weight is thrown on
to the front part of the foot. All the changes which follow upon this
are in the direction of contraction of the heels, and as this takes place
the foot narrows behind. With the progress of the disease and the
constant use of the sound foot it also begins to show signs of trouble,
and the lameness which had hitherto been confined to the one now
appears in the other. Knee action becomes defective, the step is short
and “proppy,” or, as it is commonly expressed, “groggy.” On leaving
the stable the horse is very lame, but as he continues to move the
lameness in great measure passes away. The fore limbs are now
upright, or he stands over at the knees, a fulness appears in the
hollow of the heel, the foot becomes blocky, and the crust thick and
dense, the sole is unusually concave, the frog wasted, and may be
affected with thrush.
Treatment.—It may be accepted as true that once the disease is
started its progress continues, and sooner or later brings its victim to
the knacker’s.
In some horses the malady makes slow progress, but in others it is
rapid and destructive. If the disease cannot be cured by the adoption
of palliative treatment, much useful work may be obtained from an
animal affected by it. When navicular disease is known to exist,
special attention will, of course, be given to the shoeing. Here much
may be done to keep the disease in check.
We see by the concavity of the sole and the contraction of the heels
that the latter have not been allowed to come to the ground in the
ordinary way. This is the keynote to which attention must be directed
in regard to treatment. The heels must be defended by slightly
thickening the shoe at this point, and the introduction of a leather or
india-rubber band to break the jar on concussion.
The crust must not be allowed to grow unduly, but must be kept
down by occasional rasping. By doing this, contraction of the foot is
to some extent prevented, and the conditions of its elasticity
preserved.
When in the stable a cold wet swab should be worn; it softens the
hoof, prevents contraction, and enables the animal to work with
comparative ease. Horses with navicular disease, especially those
advanced in years, should be kept at work. Of all occupations none
suit these animals like working on the land, where the feet meet with
the least resistance. Mild counter-irritants to the coronets while still
working may be applied, but on no account should the animal be
allowed a “long rest,” during which he loses condition, and with it all
the courage by which he has been enabled to “suffer and to work.”
The last and final act in the treatment of navicular disease is division
of the plantar nerves.

THE BEECH.

The effect of this operation is not to cure the disease, but by severing
all connection with the brain, to prolong his working powers. This
done, the animal ceases to feel the pain which troubled him before,
and commences to use the diseased foot without giving it the
slightest protection. The lameness, which was evidence of the care he
bestowed upon it, passes away, and the foot, weakened by disease,
resumes the work it did when in a sound condition. This tends to
aggravate the mischief, and sooner or later to bring him to the hands
of the knacker.
 The Beech as a Commercial Tree.

There can be no doubt that the oak takes precedence of all our forest
trees, both on account of its place in English hearts, and its visible
expression of strength and durability. The lover of Nature, too, sees
in it the emblem of all that is grand and beautiful, its mighty trunk,
great spread of branches, and dignity of age. Nevertheless, the beech
takes a firm hold of our sympathies, and, as an ancient writer has
observed, it may be looked upon as the Venus among trees. There are
in the tree a few characteristics which belong to no other, and which
lend a charm all its own; the lovely canopy of green, the high
columnar trunk, standing grey among the greenery, and the great
open space beneath, broken only by the lovely green of the holly
bushes which almost invariably attend it. The view through the forest
glade is unobstructed by coppice growth, for no bushes but the holly
will grow beneath its spread of branch.
What can be more beautiful than the open glade, carpeted with the
brown leaves of the late autumn, the dark glossy holly leaves and the
tall grey columns?
Commercially, too, when in quantity and well grown, it is universally
valuable; and the quantity which an acre, well stocked, will produce
is very great.
The tree, though the fact is questioned by many old writers, is
doubtless indigenous, though not confined to these small islands; for
it is found throughout Middle and Southern Europe, Western Asia,
and elsewhere.
The beech belongs to the natural order Amentaceæ, or Cupuliferæ,
as some prefer to call it, and to the genus Fagus. It is monœcious,
leaves simple and deciduous, and its fruit is known as mast. From
the mast, or nut, may be extracted a valuable oil, used for culinary
purposes, and also a flour or meal, used in some countries as food for
man. In this country it is used only as pig food, and it is from this
that the term “masting” is derived.
The leaves, enormous in quantity, decay rapidly, and soon become
incorporated in the soil, thus providing the food which the tree
requires. Beneath this natural carpet the seeds lie, and with the
admission of light and air, soon grow and develop. There is no
British tree which lends itself so completely to natural reproduction;
neither can any artificially planted beech compare with these natural
offspring for rapid growth and quality of timber.
It is not necessary to point out to the owners of beech estates the
importance of managing the natural thicket from infancy to
maturity, because such is known already and recognised; and if an
example of sound British forestry be wanted, it is to these areas we
should turn. Nevertheless, there are many estates with few or no
beeches growing upon them which are naturally suitable to their full
development.
Under these conditions it is necessary to resort to artificial stocking,
and here lies the difficulty, for the beech is by no means a tree which
lends itself to rapid establishment. Whether such is best performed
by the sowing of seed, planting of seedlings, or of nursery trees of
more advanced age, is a question for foresters. Again, is it well to
plant pure and close together, or to plant with Scots pine, larch, or
other trees? Opinions vary, and no decisive advice seems requisite.
As a natural seedling the beech will find its way through almost any
tangle and force its way to the light, hindered only by the thick
canopy of the parent, but as a transplant its vigour is defective.
The beech may be divided into two classes—the beautiful wide-
spreading tree of the park, with its branches sweeping the sward; and
the tall, straight column, topped with a canopy of lovely green—
branchless for, perhaps, fifty feet and more.
It is to the latter that the merchant looks for his supply of timber,
and to which the owner looks for his revenue. The former, through
its charm, lends to the estate a value by no means inconsiderable; but
the latter, under favourable conditions, yields so regular a return that
it may be reduced to a yearly revenue. Under proper management
there should be a continual cutting and a continuous and progressive
growth: there should be no periods of vacancy.
If some of the schemes for the planting of waste lands—many of
them wild and impractical—should reach ripeness, it is to be hoped
the beech will be planted on soils suitable to its development—and
these are calcareous loams resting on a rocky bottom—because there
is likely to be a demand at a fair price, this class of timber not being
much affected by foreign imports.
Beech reaches a useful and commercial value in from forty to sixty
years when growing naturally close together, and under proper and
judicious thinning; but if such be left until decay sets in, the value
per cubic foot is greatly diminished. Trees will, of course, live and
grow for a much longer period; but after, say, eighty years, it is
doubtful economy to let them stand.
Another feature in the beech is that when decay once sets in it is
rapid in its progress, and the tree dies as a whole. The oak will live
for centuries in a decayed and dying condition, but not so the beech;
and it is only when the timber is sound that the best price can be
obtained. It is, too, a timber which soon stains if exposed, so that
conversion should follow cutting.
What is necessary for the successful growing of beech may be
summed up in a few words: A suitable soil, close contact, felling
when commercially ripe, and speedy conversion.
C. E. Curtis.
 The Hermit Family

Greater excitement was never noticeable on Epsom Downs than on

May 22nd, 1867. The public had gone dead for the Two Thousand
winner, Vauban. He had won the Newmarket race in great style by
two lengths, and he belonged to the popular Duke of Beaufort. Every
third man you met declared for Vauban, and in the enormous field of
thirty the son of Muscovite was backed down to 6 to 4. The ring
naturally fielded heavily, and there were stout partisans of Sir Joseph
Hawley’s stable, as the Kentish baronet was known to be exceedingly
fond of The Palmer. There was also a strong party behind Van
Amburgh, and those who invariably followed the boy in yellow stood
Marksman. If he could quite stay home was the question about The
Rake, who had broken a blood-vessel, as also had Hermit. But it was
altogether a magnificent collection of horses on the Derby day, and
amongst others there was the handsome d’Estoarnel, the shapely
Julius, the useful Uncas, and the light-coloured bay from France,
Dragon.
It was a tremendous race as they swept round Tattenham Corner;
Vauban, Van Amburgh, Marksman, The Palmer, and Hermit were all
in it, and shouts in turn proclaimed Van Amburgh and Vauban as the
winner by the time they had reached the Bell, when Grimshaw
brought out Marksman with a rush. He would win, or he would not;
a pink jacket was creeping on him; it was Hermit. The race was a
terrible one, but Johnny Daley had timed his effort to a hair’s
breadth, and the verdict was by a neck. Owing to the breaking of a
blood-vessel ten days before, Hermit’s starting price was 1,000 to 15;
Mr. H. Chaplin, it was said, taking £100,000 out of the ring, and that
the Marquis of Hastings had lost as much; but figures may have been
exaggerated in the excitement of the time, and, at any rate, it was a
most popular victory. The great Middle Park Stud was a gainer by it,
as it had bred both Hermit and Marksman, the Squire of Blankney
expending 1,000 gs. for the possession of the former in his yearling
days. Mr. Chaplin has been heard to say that Hermit was his best
friend, as, besides the Derby coup, he bred him some great winners,
made the Blankney Stud, and became the greatest sire of his day.
The writer had a close inspection of Hermit in the winter of 1873,
when he had been at the stud some three or four years, and a good
two-year-old was much talked of by him in the Rev. Mr. King’s Holy
Friar, only beaten once in his seven attempts, and thought to be
about the smartest of the season. There was also the speedy Trappist,
Per-se, Brenda, St. Agatha and Maravella to give early promise of his
stock, and from that time he never looked back. A very impressive
horse was Hermit. Perhaps I was rather more taken with Rosicrucian
the year before, but that was in June, and the glorious little brown
had his summer coat on. When I looked over Hermit it was the end
of December, and so there was scarcely the same brightness
apparent. He looked then a ruddy chesnut, with no white bar or
small streak down his face. A model in head, shoulders, back and
loins, and his quarters were very remarkable, so full and thick, and
coming down to a noticeable second thigh. This gave him, perhaps,
the cobby appearance he had, and made him look smaller than he
really was. One would not have thought him more than 15.2, but I
believe he was always reckoned to be 15.3. Very beautiful he was, his
outline quite perfect, and so blood-like.
His advancement in fame was very rapid, as by the time he was
eleven years old he stood very high indeed in the list of winning
stallions, and he became absolutely at the head a few years later, and
then for several seasons in succession. His son Trappist was
considered the speediest of his day until “aged” was appended to his
name; and then there was Peter, Devotee, Hermia, Out of Bounds,
Trapper, Remorse, and St. Hilda, all of one year, with Charon
running as a four-year-old, when he won the Brighton Cup as if he
was one of the stoutest horses in England.
That classic races would quickly follow the Blankney champion’s
other stud successes was certain enough, and his batch of 1878, when
he was just fifteen, brought him into this distinguished order, as the
Duchess of Montrose’s Devotion, a daughter of Stockwell’s, seemed
to hit exactly with Hermit. Her third produce was by him, foaled in
1878, and as Thebais was destined to win the One Thousand and
Oaks of 1881, being unquestionably the best filly of her year. There
was then quite a spell of great doings to the credit of the Hermit
family, as in 1879 were foaled his daughters Shotover and St.
Marguerite, who between them took the Two Thousand, One
Thousand and the Derby. A singularly fine mare was Shotover, bred
by Mr. Chaplin, and the style in which she won the Derby under Tom
Cannon made her a worthy successor in honours to Eleanor and
Blink Bonny. St. Marguerite, who beat Shotover in the One
Thousand, was still more beautiful. In the Plantation at Newmarket,
when saddling for her first race, someone said, “What a beautiful
filly!” and Mr. Chaplin replied, “That does not describe her. Has
anyone ever seen anything more perfect?”
To follow up the series of great successes, there was dropped, in
1880, a colt afterwards known as St. Blaise, and he was the winner of
the Derby in 1883. Another Oaks winner was seen two years
afterwards in Lonely, and soon afterwards granddaughters of Hermit
swelled the classic rank, as, in 1888, Seabreeze, daughter of St.
Marguerite, won the Oaks and St. Leger, and the following season
L’Abbesse de Jouarre, a daughter of Trappist, was the heroine of the
ladies’ race. Other great winners by Hermit, and their descendants
again, have been almost legion. There was Timothy, winner of the
Ascot Cup and Alexandra Plate in 1888; Gay Hermit the Royal Hunt
Cup in 1887; and Peter ditto seven years before; St. Helena, second
in the Oaks to Lonely, and winner of the Coronation Stakes at Ascot;
Philosophy, winner of the Great Whitsuntide Plate at Manchester,
and many other valuable races; Friar’s Balsam, probably the best of
his day; with Marden, Nautilus, Gordon, Raffaello, Ste-Alvere, Grey
Friars, Tristan, Queen Adelaide, Melanion, Whisperer, and really a
host of others too numerous to mention.
It is in subsequent generations, though, that the greatness of Hermit
has been so solid and remarkable. There is all the Devotion family,
the Sailor Prince family, through the mare Hermita by Hermit. This
is largely distributed through America, and there has been a return of
it into this country—the Amphion family, through Suicide by Hermit;
the Gallinules, including Pretty Polly, through Moorhen by Hermit;
the Marco line through Novitiate, the Orion branch through
Shotover, the Solimans through Albeche, the Father Confessors
through the Abbot, the coming produce of Black Sand, the
Cesarewitch winner of 1902, and a very likely sire, by Melanion, son
of Hermit; the very numerous descents through the daughters of
Peter; and then there has been Mark, Torpedo, Retreat, Whitehall,
Zealot, Swillington, Southampton and Exile II. In sons there is now,
naturally, a dearth, as the old horse has been dead seventeen years,
and I have regretted that one of his youngest, Baron Rothschild’s
Heaume, died much too early, as he was a beautiful horse, a shade
bigger than his sire, but made like him, and in his action the same. It
was a pity also that Melanion left these shores when quite in his
prime, but still there was much usefulness in many that escaped the
foreign buyer. His son Exile II., for instance, got a better horse than
himself in Aborigine, the winner of the Ascot Stakes and the
Alexandra Plate at the same meeting. The Turf has shown, in fact,
that the next generation in male tail has possessed, if anything, more
stamina than the immediate sons of Hermit, as, besides Aborigine
being stouter than his sire Exile II., there has been Black Sand
stouter than Melanion, and Whitefeather a better stayer than
Retreat; whilst in the case of Piety, who was out of a Hermit mare,
there was possibly nearly the greatest glutton over a distance of all
times.
So much, though, for the Turf proper, but there is another arena in
which Hermit’s name will be honoured for ever. Many by the
Blankney chesnut were very good jumpers and cross-country
performers of considerable ability, but with his fee at 250 guineas for
many years his offspring were rather too expensive for the jumping
game generally. However, such names as Bridget, second in the great
hurdle race at Kempton, Anchorite, Stylites, Spinster and Xavier
recur to one’s memory, and Mr. J. C. Hill and Mr. Brockton will still
declare that there was no safer conveyance over a country than
Moorhen. It was through his sons in the next generation, though,
that this particular excellence came out, as the best part of Retreat’s
stock were his jumpers, if one excepts Alice, a great mare over a
distance of ground, and perhaps Whitefeather. There was no greater
honour taker though than Father O’Flynn, the gallant winner of the
Grand National in 1892, under the popular Captain “Roddy” Owen.
At that time also there were four or five first-class steeplechasers by
Retreat. One of Hermit’s first sons must have been Ascetic, as he was
foaled in 1871, and was out of Lady Alicia, a Melbourne mare, at the
time nineteen years old. She had produced a few to run, such as
Rapparee, winner of an Ascot Stakes, Ratcatcher, Ribbon, and
Ratcatcher’s Daughter. She could run a bit herself, too, among other
performances winning the Champagne Stakes at Stockbridge (Bibury
Club) as a two-year-old, it being a notable race, as she won by a short
head from Saucebox, the winner of the St. Leger in the following
year, and Lambs wool, who ran a dead-heat with Saucebox, whilst
the fourth, Redemption, was not beaten more than a neck. Lady
Alicia also won a race at Egham as a three-year-old. She was a very
fine bred mare by Melbourne out of Testy by Venison, her dam
Temper by defence, and dropped at the Causton Paddocks; she first
of all belonged to Lord John Scott. When turned out of training Mr.
W. H. Brook had her for four or five years, and sold her to the Rev.
Mr. King (or Mr. Launde, to speak of him in his racing name). This
accounts for her being allied to Hermit in her old age, as Mr. King’s
well-known establishment was not far from Blankney. The owner of
Apology had, therefore, the honour of breeding Ascetic, but he does
not appear to have kept him very long, as he was brought out as a
two-year-old at Newmarket by a Mr. T. Smith, running but
moderately in the Exning Plate at the second spring meeting. This
was his only performance in public as a two-year-old, and he was
brought out three times the year following, but without gaining any
success. He was regarded, however, with a certain amount of respect,
as his weight in the Lincolnshire Handicap was 6 st. 12 lb., the
winner, The Gunner, also four years old, carrying 6 st. Then he ran in
the Stewards’ Cup at Goodwood at 7 st. 4 lb., and also in the
Chesterfield Cup at 7 st. 1 lb. He was second in the Champagne
Stakes at Brighton, six furlongs, beaten by the Master Fenton filly;
with eight others behind him. He ran third also in the Newal Stakes
at Lewes, but in all, his performances were nothing remarkable,
excepting to show that he was the sort of racehorse that so frequently
develops into the high-class sire to get the best of steeplechasers and
hunters. Victor’s best distance was thought to be a mile, and under a
very light weight, 5 st. 13 lb., as a four-year-old, he spread-eagled a
large field for the Royal Hunt Cup at Ascot. Ascetic was thought best
of for the six furlongs in the Stewards Cup at Goodwood and about
his best race was over the easy six furlongs at Brighton. The sharp
quick horse to be into his bridle in a moment, as the saying goes,
seems to be the most likely horse to get jumpers.
In due course the clever Irish breeders secured Ascetic, and for a
great number of years his home was at Mr. John M. Purdon’s,
Cloneymore, Athboy, co. Meath. From this quarter he proved himself
to be a second Victor, or even more, as the latter never got a Grand
National winner, and four of these events have been credited to sons
of Ascetic. Those who have looked over Cloister will have retained
the impression, as I have done, that he was one of the grandest
hunters ever seen. I saw him take one of his victories at Aintree, but
it was not the most important, as he won, or was placed eight times
over the course, and it was in the autumn, when he won the Sefton,
that I saw him. Standing over 16 hands, with tremendous power
everywhere, wonderful in front of the saddle, with quite
Leicestershire shoulders, and immense depth through the girth. Had
he a lean loin, or was it that his back ribs and big quarters made it
look light? I thought him one of the best-looking horses I had ever
seen, and what a performer! His second victory in the Grand
National was certainly the greatest performance ever heard of, as,
against a good field he galloped everything down when carrying 12 st.
7 lb., giving the second horse, who finished forty lengths off, 31 lbs.
To have got a dual winner of the Grand National is a great boast, but
Ascetic has done a deal more. In 1903 there was another Grand
National hero to take the posthumous honour for Ascetic, and a very
great horse, no doubt, is Mr. John Morrison’s Drumcree; there being
this to note also in his victory, that he beat, amongst others, a
grandson of Ascetic’s in Drumcree by Royal Meath, one of the most
beautiful of Ascetic’s sons, and a brilliant performer over a country.
This year comes more honour to the memory of Ascetic (the old
horse died in August, 1897), as Ascetic’s Silver won his Grand
National in quite the Cloister style, and the third Aunt May was a
daughter. Then there has been Roman Oak who did about everything
but win a Grand National, Royal Meath, West Meath, Breemont Oak,
Æsthetic, Hermit, Midnight, Noiseless, Leinster, Fairland, winner of
the Great Lancashire Steeplechase, Hidden Mystery, Aunt May,
Nickel Jack, and a host of others to make up over a hundred
steeplechase winners, so it is said.
There are other Hermit sires that have had this extraordinary gift of
getting jumpers, though perhaps in less degrees. Cassock got some
very good ones, and so has St. Honorat, Nautilus, Bookworm, Bold
Marshall, Edward the Confessor, The Abbot, Hawkstone, and Peter,
but Ascetic and Retreat brought in the Grand National records. It
must not be forgotten, also, that the hunters by the sons of Hermit
have been quite unique. If any one enquires about Birdsall or
Malton, as to how the best hunters have been bred of late in
Yorkshire, they will hear nothing but praise of the Gordons, and the
Whisperers, Marks and Homilies have all done their meed of good in
hunting quarters. It would seem that Hermit’s mission in life was to
create an extraordinary family to be the very mainstay of sport in
every branch that has anything at all to do with horses. It is
estimated that three millions have been won by Hermit and his
descendants, and yet it is barely forty years since the scene at Epsom
was enacted. One recalls the suspense and excitement of the crowd,
the yellow in apparent command; then like a flash there is a pink
streak, as it were, closing, and the little interval, scarcely perceptible
to any but the judge, has made all the difference. Other Derbies have
followed in its wake—Ascot Cups, Goodwood Cups, many Oaks, St.
Legers, Alexandra Plates and Grand Nationals, have shaken the very
sporting world in widespread interest, and the thread of it all is from
Hermit.
G. S. Lowe.
 Sport at the Universities.

So far Cambridge leads in the great fight for all-round sporting

supremacy this year. Twelve Inter-’Varsity competitions have been
already decided, Cambridge boasting seven victories, and Oxford
five. Ten contests were brought off during Lent Term, just past, and
during that period honours were “easy.” Both Universities won five
events. The Light Blues started well by winning the Association
football and hockey matches during February. Oxford, however, were
unfortunate in losing several of their best men either at the eleventh
hour or during the actual fray. But for bad mishaps to O. T. Norris
(the Oxford captain) and other Dark Blues, Cambridge would hardly
have won the “Soccer” match by 3 goals to 1. They would probably
have won the hockey match in any case, yet the enforced absence of
Messrs. Round and Butterworth made all the difference to Oxford’s
play. At boxing and fencing and billiards Oxford asserted superiority
early in March. In the first-named competition their victory was
most pronounced (7 events to 1), and some really fine science was
shown both with the gloves and the foils. Although played at
Cambridge, the Dark Blues repeated their 1905 billiards triumph by
2 games to 1, but shortly afterwards Cambridge beat their rivals
somewhat easily at lacrosse by 10 goals to 3.
The Inter-’Varsity “Grind” was again won by Oxford (56 points to
45), Mr. H. W. Aston’s Aughamore (owner up) beating Mr. Fred
Cripp’s Ballycraigy by a neck for first place. Mr. Atkinson’s Dandy
Dan (the Hon. B. B. Ponsonby up) finished third for Cambridge. A
course between Aylesbury and Leighton Buzzard was utilised this
year, and a very large and fashionable crowd was en evidence. Lord
Orkney was judge, and Mr. Leopold de Rothschild and Mr. W. Selby
Lowndes, M.F.H. Stewards. Oxford also retained the Chambers
Shield by winning the Inter-’Varsity sports by the big margin of 7
events to 3. The Cantabs only accounted for the 100 yards, one mile,
and weight items. The salient features of the meeting were the
running of President Cornwallis (Oxford), who won the “Quarter” in
51 secs., and the “Half” in 1 min. 56⅖ secs., and the mile running of
Mr. A. R. Welsh (Cambridge), who completed the distance in 4 min.
21⅕ secs. On the sodden track and under most wretched conditions
all these performances were remarkable. Other notable feats were
the hammer-throwing of Mr. A. H. Fyffe (Oxford), who created a
fresh Inter-’Varsity record by hurling 136 ft. 3 ins., the jumping of
Mr. P. M. Young (Oxford), who won the long jump at 22 ft. 3 ins.,
and the high jump at 5 ft. 7¼ ins., the weight-putting of President G.
W. Lyttelton (Cambridge), 38 ft. 3¾ ins., and the hurdling of Mr. E.
R. J. Hussey (Oxford), who beat Mr. F. H. Teall (Cambridge), the
1904–05 winner, in the fine time of 16½ secs.
Cambridge again won the golf competition at Hoylake by the
excellent margin of 30 holes to 7. The play on the whole was
somewhat disappointing, nor did Mr. A. G. Barry (amateur
champion) do all that was expected for the Light Blues. “As a team,”
however, the Cantabs were overwhelmingly superior, the best form
for Oxford being shown by the captain (Mr. Grundy) and Mr. H. J.
Ross. The annual chess match produced some sound all-round play,
and, in the result, Oxford repeated their last year’s victory by exactly
the same margin (4½ games to 2½). Shortly before this, the
combined Oxford and Cambridge teams had drawn with the
American Universities in their periodical contests for the Rice
trophy. The play was per cable telegraph, and, in the main, was
worthy the occasion. The trophy still remains on this side of the
Atlantic. So far Oxford had drawn nearly level with Cambridge, and
the Boat Race excited exceptional interest. How Cambridge won a
very one-sided race, leading from start to finish, in the fine time of 19
min. 26 secs., is now a matter of history. They finished comparatively
fresh, while four, at least, of the Oxonians were much distressed.
I quite agree with a distinguished Old Blue that the history of the
1906 practice, culminating in the race of April 7th, will ever stand as
the most paradoxical on record. Before the crews left home waters
Oxford were vastly superior “as a crew.” They could have given the
Cantabs a dozen lengths over the championship course. Upon the
crews’ arrival at Henley and Bourne End respectively, Cambridge
improved out of all knowledge. In a flash, as it were, they became a
crew, and subsequently beat all records over the Cookham course
and every part of it. Nor were the Oxonians idle. They, too, advanced
in appreciable fashion, greatly pleasing such sound judges as Sir
John Edwards-Moss, Messrs. Fletcher, Harcourt Gold, Dr. Bourne,
&c. Then followed the crews’ advent at Putney. Cambridge went on
improving, and were visibly fit enough to row the race a week before
the eventful day. Oxford were clearly in the rough, yet showed the
longest and steadiest swing of any Oxford eight since 1897. Most
experts expected a repetition of last year’s procedure, when the Dark
Blues trained on and were fit to row for their lives on the morning of
battle. But something was lacking during the last week. And that
something never came. The spectacle was afforded on April 7th of
this fine crew being outpaced and out-rowed from pillar to post. To
most it was a perfect enigma. Some blame the boat, others their lack
of fitness, and others again their over-doing matters. In any case the
fact remains that one of the most powerful crews of modern years
were pulverised by a Cambridge eight, whose great merit was
uniformity and speed. Theirs was a sculling style pure and simple,
while that of Oxford at their best was that of a first-rate
oarsmanship. Does this mean a new theory in the matter of future
make-up, training, and coaching?
Several other Inter-’Varsity contests have to be decided during the
Summer Term, now in full swing. These include the polo match
(June 25th) and the cricket match (July 5th, 6th, and 7th). Cricket
prospects are rosy enough both ways. Mr. W. S. Bird (Malvern and
New College) is the new Oxford captain, and Mr. E. L. Wright
(Winchester and New College) hon. sec. Other old blues available are
Messrs. G. N. Foster, E. G. Martin, N. R. Udal, G. T. Branston, and O.
T. Norris, while many well-known senior men will be again in
residence. These include Messrs. A. O. Snowden, P. T. Lewis, H. H.
Worsley, H. M. Butterworth, B. Cozens-Hardy, E. Cripps, C. A. L.
Payne, and the Hon. C. N. Bruce. Mr. C. H. Eyre (Harrow and
Pembroke) is the Cambridge captain, and Mr. M. W. Payne
(Wellington and Trinity) hon. sec. No fewer than eight old blues are
available, viz.: Messrs. R. A. Young, C. C. Page, F. J. V. Hopley, K. P.
Keigwin, L. G. Colbeck, G. C. Napier, P. R. May, and A. F. Morcom.
With only one vacancy to fill up, competition for places will be
exceptionally severe this year. The best known senior men available
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