Related article: ronised by the highest personages in the realm. Amongst the com- petitors in Newcastle cock-pits were the Duke of Hamilton, Sir Henry Liddell, General Beckwith, Mr. Fenwick of Bywell, &c. In 1790 a main was fought between the Duke of Northumberland Tenoretic Tablets and Charles Grey, Esq. (afterwards Earl Grey), jointly, and Mr. Fen- wick. Alter the death of that great cocker. Sir Harry Vane, however, the sport was little pat- ronised by the gentry. The pit in Newcastle was usually the centre of a large room round which seats were ranged, and with an inner circle railed off for book- makers. Among these, about sixty years ago, was one named Sin- clair, noted for his extraordinary memory ; he never used pen or pencil, never entered a bet, yet would give or take the odds thirty or forty times without making the slightest mistake. The pit-men were passionately fond of cocking, and on pay Saturday there was always a regular tournament got up for their delectation, and al- though the price of admission was as high as half -a -crown, the place would be crowded with eager and • interested miners. Long after the sport was put down by Act of Parliament, mains continued to be Tenoretic 50 fought in spite of law, police and fines, and that not only among the working classes, but among the influential people of the town. A well-known magis- trate, who died only a few years ago, kept game - cocks, and the 362 BAILY S MAGAZINE. [May back part of his house Generic Tenoretic being well screened from public view, he frequently had a fight for his own entertainment and that of a select number of friends, amongst the latter being a learned judge, who was delighted to assist in breaking the law — at least, when on the Northern circuit. Cocking, how- ever, is dead and gone, even in the North, though I fancy there are still some enthusiasts who carry on the sport in secret. In- deed, I was once taken, not so yery long ago, to an underground establishment in London where a large number of game-cocks were kept, and I was told that there were Members of Parliament who sometimes came to these subter- ranean vaults to witness a main sub rosd. Every one wagered frantically in those good old days. Horace Walpole tells a story of a man falling down in St. James' Street and being carried into White's Club- house, Tenoretic Generic the members of which began to bet on the probabilities of his recovery, those who laid against objecting to any restora- tives being applied as affecting their chance. This tale is almost capped by the following : — Colonel Hay, notorious for his love of betting and gambling, had been struck down by a bullet on one of the battlefields of the Peninsula. As he lay apparently lifeless, two brother officers came up, one of whom exclaimed sadly, ** Poor Hay ; he's gone at last." The words were scarcely spoken when a faint voice came up from the ground, ** I'll lay you a cool hun- dred he's not." The Colonel had opened his eyes, Buy Tenoretic but the glaze of death seemed on them, and the end appeared only a question of a few minutes. ** Book the bet," said the Colonel, faintly, ** and you. Captain Marston, be witness." Then he lay quite motionless. Unlike the gamblers at White's, Major Winsor, with whom the bet was made, had the Colonel conveyed to the hospital. After the patient had been brought back to consciousness by restcn^a- tives, the surgeon told him there was a ball in his body which could only be got at by sawing through two of his ribs, and in- troducing a child's hand, as the forceps would not touch it. ** But," added the surgeon, " the chances are that you will die under the operation." " If any- body will bet me fifty pounds on the event I'll consent," said the Colonel; "send for Winsor, and I'll get him to make it double ac quits." Winsor was sent for, and agreed to the terms. " Now saw away and be d d ! " cried the Colonel. '* I won't die." And be did not ; the operation was suc- cessfully performed, and the Major, much to his satisfaction, as he averred, for the two were fast friends, paid the two hundred. ** I tell you," the Colonel used to say, "that but for that l>et I should be a dead man now; it was only my determination to win it that kept me alive." Even the great Henry Brougham was not. above making a catch- bet, in the days, of course, before he reached the Woolsack. He once made a bet of /"50 that no one w^ould tell the conveyance in which he would be carried to Ascot. All kinds of surmises were made, but no one hit the mark. He went in a Sedan chair. Elated by this success, he laid another £^0 that nobody would guess the way in which he would return to London ; again the nwKt extraordinary vehicles that had ever been invented were men- tioned, and again everylxxly was wrong. This time Tenoretic 100 the future 1899.] ANECDOTAL SPORT. 363 Chancellor quietly and decorously drove back in a postchaise. No one had ever dreamed of mention- ing such a commonplace vehicle, and once more the canny Scotch- man pocketed the stakes. Frank Buckle, the famous jockey, once made an extraordin- arily lucky bet. He took 100 to I that he won the Derby and Oaks on horses not supposed to have the slightest chance of being anywhere in either race. He won the Derby on the Duke of Grafton's Tyrant, beating Young Eclipse and a fair field of horses. Young Eclipse made the running, and was opposed by Sir Charles Bun- bury*s Orlando, who contested every inch of ground with him for the first mile. From Buckle's fine judgment of pace he was con- vinced they could not keep it up, so following and watching with Tyrant he came up, and was first past the post on one of the worst horses that ever won a Derby. Having made one of his two events safe, Buckle had a fancy that Mr. Wastell's Scotia could win the Oaks, if he were on her back, and though she was beaten three times between Tattenham Corner and home, he got her to the front, and won by a head. In connection with betting, I