Strathmore's St. Leger, 11st. 81b. (2), Captain Hervey's Mushroom, 10st. 12lb. (3), and the following not placed: Mr. Peel's Chandler, 12st. 3lb., Mr. Hunter's Anna, 10st. 6lb., Mr. J. R. Walker's Mushroom, 10st. 6lb., Mr. Clifton ns. Young Lottery, 10st, 4lb., Mr. Anderson's Profligate, 10st., and Mr. Whitfield's Gipsy Queen, 9st. 91b.; 4 to 1 agst. The British Yeoman; won easily; the winner refused, and fell.

In April, at the Metropolitan, carrying 11st. 8lb., and ridden by Land, he ran third for the Handicap Chase of 25 sovs. each, with 200 added, four miles, won by Mr. Crawford's The Shaver, 11st. 6lb., Mr. Elmore's Gazely, 10st. 2lb., second; five others also started. 6 to 1 agst. The British Yeoman, who fell twice.

At Newport Pagnel, ridden by Mason, and carrying 11st. 8lb., he ran third for the Free Handicap Chase of 10 sovs. each, with 100 added, four miles, won by Mr. Clifton's Mahomed, 10st., Mr. Elmore's Gazely, 10st. slb., second; fifteen others also started. 3 to 1 agst. The British Yeoman.

In November, at Worcester, ridden by Mason, and carrying 11st. 10lb., he was not placed for the Handicap Chase of 20 sovs. each, with 100 added, four miles, won by Captain Madock's Proceed, 12st., Lord Strathmore's Red Lancer, 10st. 4lb., second; sixteen others also started. 7 to 1 agst. The British Yeoman.

At Newport Pagnell, ridden by Butler, and carrying 11st. 8lb., he was not placed for the Handicap Chase of 25 sovs. each, with 100 added, four miles, won by Mr. Symond's Charity, 9st. 13lb., Mr. Oliver's Pullaway, 10st., second; four others also started. The British Yeoman fell.

In February, 1849, at Liverpool, ridden by Mr. Bevill, and carrying 11st. 4lb., he was not placed for the Grand National Chase, of 20 sovs. each, with 100 added, four miles, won by Mr. Mason's Peter Simple, 11st., Captain D'Arcy's The Knight of Gwynne, 10st. 7lb., second; twenty-one others also started. 12 to 1 agst. The British Yeoman, who ran well up.

In March, at Lincoln, ridden by Mr. Bevill, and carrying 11st. slb., he ran second to Mr. Sheffield's Rachel, 10st., for the Handicap Chase of 20 sovs. each, with 100 added, four miles; seven others also started, but were not placed. Won cleverly; The British Yeoman refused.

At Leamington, ridden by Mr. Bevill, and carrying 10st. 121b., he was not placed for the Grand Annual Chase of 25 sovs. each, with 100 added, four miles, won by Mr. Taylor's The Victim, 11st. 21b., Captain Peel's Proceed, 11st. 9lb., second; ten others also started. 12 to 1 agst. The British Yeoman, who was knocked down by another horse at a fence.

In April, ridden by Archer, and carrying 11st. 2lb., he won the Grand Metropolitan Chase, of 25 sovs. each, with 250 added, four miles, beating Captain Little's Commoner, 10st. 6lb. (2), Mr. Vevers' Vengeance, 10st. 3lb. (3), and the following not placed: Mr. Taylor's The Victim, 11st. 91b., Captain Peel's Proceed, 11st. 10lb., Lord Gilbert Kennedy's Spring Buck, 11st. 2lb., Captain D'Arcy's Knight of Gwynne, 11st. 1lb., Mr. Johnson's Chaldean, 10st. 121b., Mr. Mason's Falcon, 10st. 121b., Mr. Wright's Donnybrook, 10st. 121b., Marquis of Ailsa's Liberty, 10st. 10lb., Mr. Webb's Maurice Daly, 10st. 3lb., Mr. Symonds' Charity, 10st. 2lb., Mr. Britton's Bold Davy, 9st. 131b, Lord Strathmore's Chatham, 9st. 13lb., Mr. Butler's Oily Gammon, 9st. 12lb., Mr. I. Day's Sparta, 9st., and Mr. Tollett's Valiant, 10st. 9lb. 5 to 1 agst. The British Yeoman, who made nearly all the running, and ran in alone.

In November, ridden by Mason, and carrying 11st. 12lb., he again won the Metropolitan Chase of 20 sovs. each, with 100 added, four miles, beating Mr. Carew's Lansquinet, 10st. (2), Mr. Sait's Alexander, 9st. 11lb. (3), Mr. Anson's Liberty, 9st. 111b. (4), and the following not placed: Mr. Mason's Commoner, 10st. 8lb., Mr. Oliver's Outcast, 10st. 7lb., Mr. Hunter's Hope, 10st. 6lb., and Mr. Butler's Young Lottery, 10st. 5lb. 3 to 1 agst. The British Yeoman, who won easily by four lengths; he went on the wrong side of a flag early in the Chase, and had to be turned.

At Aylesbury, ridden by Mason, and carrying 12st. 61b., he ran second to Mr. Vevers' Vain Hope, 9st. 10lb., for the Great Handicap Chase of 20 sovs. each, with 100 added; Mr. Tredgold's Maria Day, 10st. 5lb., and four others, also started. 5 to 2 agst. The British Yeoman, who was beaten by half a length after a very severe race. The line, though only called four, was nearly if not quite five miles, and The British Yeoman carried 2st. more than anything else that ran.

In December, at Leamington, ridden by Mason, and carrying 11st. 12lb., he ran fourth for the Grand Open Chase of 20 sovs. each, with 100 added, four miles, won by Mr. Fort's The Knight of Gwynne, 11st. 1lb., Captain Thompson's Abd-el-Kader, 9st. 10lb., second, and Mr. Fowler's Little Fanny, 9st. 4lb., third; eight others also started, but were not placed. 5 to 2 agst. The British Yeoman.

At the Metropolitan, ridden by Mason, and carrying 12st., he ran fourth for a Handicap Chase of 20 sovs. each, with 100 added, four miles, won by Mr. Tredgold's Maria Day, 10st., Mr. Vevers' Vain Hope, 10st. 9lb., second, and Lord Strathmore's The Doctor, 11st. 1lb., third; five others also started. 6 to 1 agst. The British Yeoman.

SUMMARY OF THE BRITISH YEOMAN'S PERFORMANCES:

In 1847 he started three times, and one once:

A Chase at Newport Pagnell, value clear ....

£75

In 1848 he started eleven times, and won three, and ran third five times:

In 1849 he started eight times, and won twice, running second twice and fourth twice:

690

The Spring Handicap Chase at the Metropolitan..
The Autumn Handicap Chase at the Metropolitan 295

A LAY OF OLD 'FORTY-NINE.

BY COLONEL CHASSE.

"Nec fortuitum spernere cespitem leges sinebant."

£1,905

Old '49 sat in his high-backed chair,

With his withered shanks on the fender;
Like a lover exposed to the frosty air,

His toes and his heart were tender;

'Twas 20 to 12 by Shrewsbury clock,

When he thus replied to Old Time's door-knock :

"Lift the latch gently and hasten thee in,

Thy rough handiwork witness in me ;

Ah! the once buxom year is now aged and thin,
As he didn't ought' to be.

Why should my tenure of life thus cease

At the end of a paltry twelve-moons-lease?"
"Take comfort, take comfort!" Old Time growled out,
"Thou hast been right zealous for fun,

In each style of sporting true running throughout
Thou hast made 'neath shower and sun :
Archer and Oliver, Marlow and Nat,

In thy short life have prospered o'er brooks and the flat.”

Quoth '49, "Many an old boy loves

To prose over sports gone by,

Each passage of arms with the foils and the gloves,
Each triumph with ground-bait or fly,

His pointers or long-tails, and haply, forsooth,

Each success of his flirts with the elephant's tooth.""

"Yon stop-watch, with which I was wont to mark
The thorough-breds as they flew past

From the Hibburd flag to the chair of Clark,
Shows I've scarcely a quarter to last;
Remorse does no good-reflections are tough-
So just bear a hand with my Sportsman and Ruff.”
"Well said," quoth his senior blythe,
Leaning on his tempered scythe.
"Thousand turf-feats fill my pate,
Since the merrie king' in state-
When ladies and a minstrel crew
Were the only special train he knew—
Travelled in his sporting suit
By the Eastern Counties route
(Long before surveyors lingered
On trim lawns, and pertly fingered—
Careless of all vested rights
And trespass their theodolites),
Skirting, fearless of each bog,
The ancient hills of Gogmagog, (1)
Where began for weal and woe
The strange career of Plenipo;
Viewing on his left the town

Where sucking bishops in the gown

Were trained for Oxford's fire and pitch, (2)

He came in sight of the Devil's-ditch,

And hugged himself with the thoughts of each lark,
At the Heath by day and the feast by dark."

"Take a pull, I beseech you, my honoured sire,
And let me go on with the lead;

And I'll take a final poke at the fire,
And a final puff at my weed;

And my drinking bouts I'll bring to their close,
By a drain at this tankard of prime dog's-nose.'"

"Let Henry, till his lungs are spent,
Lectures give to Parliament,
Dealing out his leaden raps
On Steeple-chasing Handicaps;
Still may Strathmore duly strive
To keep the stirring game alive;
Though The Chandler's sun is set,
British Yeoman, Mason's pet,
With crush-weights contrives to cope;
Those who stood upon Vain Hope
Trusted to no broken reed;
Peter Simple and Proceed,
Faithless to their nomenclature,
Made a barter of their nature-
P. at fences turned right mulish,
P. S. made his foes look foolish,

"

With Cunning-Tom" upon his back,

And half the tin of Beverlac, (3)

And oft with his owner 'neath high-pressure stress,
Gallantly cheeking The Holderness. (4)

་

"Then with more legitimate' glories,

I could fill full many a tome;

For as to turf contests there never were smarter

Since first Old Frank Buckle to wastes' was a martyr, From that day when Young Fernhill bowled over The

Tartar, (5)

Till our James' rallied Rathmines home. (6)

"First I'll celebrate the good

Bay Sheet Anchor Collingwood,
Each successive golden gain

Added secret pangs to Payne; (7)
Still o'er Ascot's Cup Course he
Struck his flag to victors three,
Gamely struggling in the rear
Of Cossack, Van, and Chanticleer;
Though the grey' was made to feel
Flatman's whip and steel-armed heel;
Mindful of a laurel lost, (8)

The goodliest son of Lanercost

Made his speed and bottom tell,

Then bade the Turf a proud farewell.

Eager too for Sultan life,

Little Hero cuts the strife;

Like Tom Carlyle may John Day

Find the Hero worship' pay;

Nor will Ebor's sons forget

How he proved there was life in the old horse yet.'

D

"Where was the once champion Surplice?
Echo answers Where !'

Clifden's fondest hopes have proved
Castles of thin air ;

A second struggle now he'd rue,
In bandages with Canezou.

When once the spell was broken,
Admiring Yorkshire saw

6

The tartar' of Lord Eglinton

A rival to the straw :'

"Well might that Dutchman's owner
The first night of the meeting,
Declare he could live the distance and give
Each foe a stone and a beating.'

Nor the mention will I shirk
Of the high-bred Nunnykirk,

Though his long and dismal look

Made his fate no fast-sealed book,

But plain in his eye and his gait to be read
On the Derby morning at Leather-head,
Still each second-place and win
Rank him next to the Lady Evelyn.
Many a better bagged many a groat

Out of white-faced Vatican's brilliant coat;
Many bitterly swore as they dropped their money,
Beguiled by a taste for the Clifden honey;
And perchance to forget many others would fain
The black-jacket tricks of a Legerdemain, (9)
And wished from their hearts that the Saturday night
Of the trial had brought her young Ion to light;
While one and all roared when the

Jacques

bullock' of

Made Belus pull up in a Produce Stakes

O'er Doncaster Moor, whose fast-setting sun
Rose again when the hurly burly was done. (10)

"Seldom did a trainer's hand

Strip the hood and loose the band
From such nags as lately we
Viewed cantering up each T.Y.C.;
Many a one Perquavi' spoke (11)
Behind white-stocking Bolingbroke,'
And thrice as many bit the mire,
Levelled by the Kentish fire.' (12)
Countess vanquished many a field,
Ne'er did Ghillie Callum yield
In the dance, though friends confess
He earned a prize for clumsiness;
Those who love good thighs and joints.
May carefully scan the Compass-points;
Harriot proved herself sound stuff,
Officious met with no rebuff,