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X G^' 
 
 BILLESDON COPLOW 
 
 A f' N 
 
 /■ 
 
 POEM. 
 
 MONDAT, FBBRUART^^, A, D, 1804. 
 
 "V..,^'- 
 
 / 
 
 « Quaeque ipse miserrima vidi 
 
 " Et quorum pars magna fui."— Virg. 
 
 MONTREAL: 
 
 PHINTED BY J. BHOWN, STATIONER, NO. 20, ST. FRANCOIS XAVlEft 
 STREET, OPPOSITE THE SEMiNARY. 
 
 1809, 
 
 i y 
 
 LJ^- 
 
 If 
 
BILLESDON COPLOW, 
 
 o 
 
 'N Monday the 24th of February, 1800, Mr. Meynell's 
 hounds met at Billesdon Coplow ; the day was remarkably un- 
 yomising, the wind being uncommonly high and at N. E. never- 
 theless, the instant the hounds were throv/n into cover, they un- 
 kennelled and went away close at his brush, and after a run of 
 two hours and twenty three minutes, which, with the exception 
 of a check of two minutes, consisted of the hardest running ever 
 known in Leicestershire ; and in the course of which all the 
 horses, with the exception of five or six, were completely done, 
 and many actually left dead in the field. They ran to ground at 
 Enderby warren, have crossed eight and twenty miles of the se- 
 verest country in England, in the above mentioned time of two 
 hours and twenty three minutes. 
 
 Melton, February 21, 1808. 
 
C 3 ) 
 
 BILLESDON CO PLOW, FEB. 24, ISOO. 
 
 W ITH the wind at north-east forbiddiiigiy kseii. 
 The Coplow at Bi'Icsdon, ne'er witnessed I ween 
 Two hundred s>tch horses and men at a burst, 
 All determined to ride, each resolved to be iirst : 
 But to get a good start, over eager and zealous, 
 Two thirds at the liast of these very fine fellows 
 So crowded, and hustled, and jostled, and cros:-eJ, 
 That they rode the wrong way, and at starting wera 
 
 lost. 
 In spite of the unpromising state oi the weather 
 Away broke the Fox and the hounds close together; 
 A burst up to Tilton so brilliantly ran, 
 Was scarce ever seen in the mem'ry of man. 
 What hounds carried scent or which led the way, 
 Your bard, to their names a stranger, can't say, 
 Tho' their names had he known he is free to confess 
 His horse coudn't shew him at such a death pace. 
 Villiers, Cholmondeley, and Forester made sucli 
 
 sharp play, 
 Not omitting Germain, never seen till to day ; 
 Had you judged of these four by the trim of their pace 
 At Bilury you'd thought they'd been riding a race. 
 But these hounds with a scent how they dash and 
 
 they fling. 
 To o'er-ride them is quite the impossible thing ; 
 Disdaining to hang in the wood thro' he raced. 
 And the open for Sheffington gallantly faced ; 
 Where headed and foiled his first point he forsook 
 And merrily led them a dance o'er the brook. 
 Passed Gaily and Norton, Great Stretton and Small, 
 Right onward still. sweeping to old Skelton Hall, 
 Where two minutes check served to shew atone kenj 
 The extent of the havoc 'midst horses and men. 
 
( 4 ) 
 
 Such si<j;hing, sucli sobbing, such trolting, such 
 
 walking, 
 .Such reding, such hahing, of fences such baulking, 
 .Such a smoke in the gaps, such comparing of notes, 
 Such quizzing each other's daubed breeches and coats. 
 Here a man walked on foot, who his horse had half 
 
 killed. 
 There you met with a steed who his rider Lad spilled : 
 .'n t;hort such Dilemmas, such scrapes, such distress, 
 One fox ne'er occasioned, the knowing confess j 
 But alas ! the dilemmas had scarcely began, 
 On lor Wrigston and Ayleston he resolute ran, 
 Where a few of the stoutest now slackened and 
 
 panted, 
 And many were seen irretrievably planted. (1) — 
 The high road to Liccestcr the scoundrel then cro!^t, 
 As Tell Tale (2) and Beaufremont (3) found to their 
 
 cost. 
 
 And Villiers esteemed it a serious bore 
 That no longer could Shuttlecock (4) fly as before j 
 Even Joe Miller's (5) spirit for fun was so broke, 
 'riiat he ceased to consider the run as a joke ; 
 Then streaming away o'er the river he dashed, 
 Germain close at hand, off the bank Melon (6)dashed j 
 Why the dun proved so stout in a scamper so wild. 
 Till now he had only been rode by a child: (7) 
 After him plunged Joe Miller with Musters'(8) so slim. 
 Who twice sunk and nearly paid dear for his whim. 
 Not reflecting that all water melons must swim. 
 
 ^ 1 Planted means when a horse is so completely tired as to be una- 
 b.e to extricate himself out of heavy ploughed ground, where he 
 itJckstiJl he IS hauled out by main force. 
 'J Tell Tale, Mr. Forester's horse. 
 ;i Beaufremont, Mr. Maddox's horse. 
 
 4 Shuttlecock, Lord Villiers' horse. 
 
 5 Joe Miller, Mr. Musters' horse. 
 
 •; Melon, the name of Mr. Gci main's liorse, 
 '; Mr. Child. 
 ^> Mr. Musters. 
 
Wcli'^'oiisrd \yj their clipr, on tiicy brushed o'er thL** 
 
 boiioni, 
 With liquor on board enough to besot 'cm j 
 But the villain no longer at all at a loss, 
 Stretched away like a devil for Enderby Gorse, 
 Where meeting with many a brother and coui:en, 
 Who knew how to dance a good hays in the Furzen :. 
 J?\ck Raven (D) at length coming up on a hack 
 Which a farmer had lent him, whipt of the game. 
 
 pack, 
 Running sulky old Loadstone (10) the stream 
 
 woud'nt swim, 
 No longer sport proving a magnet for him ; 
 Of mistakes and mishaps and what each man befel, 
 Would the muse could with justice poetical tell. 
 Bob Grosvenor on Plush (1 l)tho' determined to ride,. 
 Lost at first a good start and was soon set aside, 
 Tho' he charged hill and dale not to lose this rare 
 
 chase, 
 On velvet Plush could not get footinc;, alas ! 
 To Tilton sailed bravely Sir Wheeler O'CuS; (12) 
 Where neglecting thro' hurry to keep a good luff; 
 To leeward he drifts, how provoking a case, 
 And was forced tho' reluctant to give up the chase. . 
 As making his way to the pack's not his fort, 
 Sir Lav/ly (13) as usual lost half the sport. 
 But then the professed philosophical creed, 
 That « All's for the best" of Master Candid, 
 
 If not comfort. Sir R reconcile may at least. 
 
 For on this supposition his sporr is the best. 
 
 Orly Hunter (1 4) who seemed to be hunting his fate, 
 
 Got falls to the tune of no fewer than cighi. 
 
 9 Jack Raven, the name of the huntsman. 
 
 10 Loadstone, the huntsman's horse. 
 
 11 Plush, Mr. Grosvenor's horse. 
 
 12 Sir Wheeler Cuff, who being an Irishman, is called by the Mcl- 
 tonians, O'Cuff. 
 
 13 Sir Robt. Lawly, not unusually in the brief dialect of Meltonjs 
 oalled Sir Lawiy. i4 Mr. Orly, h;:nter. 
 
( 6 ) 
 
 Bason's king (\5) upon Glimpse sadly out of 
 
 condition, 
 Pulled up to avoid of being tired, the suspicion : 
 He acted quite right for Og very soon found, 
 His best had he done he'd have ne'er scon a hound. 
 Charles Meynell ^vho lay very well with the hounds,. 
 Till at Skelton he nearly arrived at the bounds, 
 Now discovered that Waggoner ( 1 6) rather wou'd 
 
 creep 
 Than exert his great prowesr, in taking a leap ; 
 But when crossing the turnpike he read 0'^'' Put on 
 
 here," 
 'Twas enough to make any one bluster and 3wear.(l 7) 
 The Waggoner feeling familiar the road, 
 Was resolved not to quit it — so stock still he stood. 
 'Tis money they say makes the mare to go kind, 
 The proverb has vouched for this, time out of mind : 
 But tho' of this truth y-ou admit the fidl force, 
 'It may not hold good of every horse, 
 ^f it did, Charles Lllis need not hustle and hug, 
 .1>y name, not by nature, his favorite Slug ; (18) 
 Vet Slug as he is the whole of this chase, 
 ('harles ne'er could have seen had he gone a snail's 
 
 pace. 
 (Old Cradus (19) v\]iosc fretting and fuming at first, 
 Disqualifies Strang*. ly for such a light burst, 
 ^■]'er to Tilton arrived, ceased to p\ill and to crave. 
 And tho' foolish at Skelton he stepp-d a " Pas grave" 
 
 1 j Mr. OiJiaiu'.tT, who accordiin; to Uie above mentioned dialect, 
 joes by the faniiliiir najnc of 0[:. 
 
 10 Waggoiur, the iiMne of Mr. Charles Meynell's horse. 
 17 Mr. C. Meynell had threatened never again to attempt follow- 
 ;;igthe hounds from Billesd on, as no horse could earry his weight up 
 .0 thtm in that part of the Cvumtry. 
 
 Yet prithee dear Ch^irles why rash vows will you tnalie, -) 
 
 'i'liy leave of old Billesdon tj iir.a.\\y tak?, ' / 
 
 Since from Seoshill (*) for instance or perhaps Meltcn Spinny, 
 If they ?^o 11 good jir.ce you are heat tor a giiinen. 
 ■■* Segsh:!!, a very different jinrt of the'country. 
 
 18 Slug, the n.-ime of ]Mr. C. Kllis' hor^e. 
 
 :9Grc^'us.th?name of ::r. Q:or-c EUU' hcrje,,. 
 
 S 
 
 ^ 
 
out of 
 
 icion : 
 
 hound, 
 hounds, ^ 
 ids, 
 r wou'd 
 
 ' Put on 
 
 car. (17) 
 
 e stood, 
 kind, 
 f mind : 
 :e, 
 
 hu.fi^, 
 (18) 
 
 a snail's 
 
 at first, , 
 
 >.♦ 
 
 crave, 
 s grave 
 
 led dialect. 
 
 ipt follow- 
 weight up 
 
 ? 
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 Where in turning him over a cramp kind of a place,. 
 He overturned George, whom he threw on his face ; 
 And on foot to walk home it had sure been his fate. 
 But that sofjn he was caugi:*- and tied up to a gate. 
 Near Wrigston occurred a most singular joke. 
 Captain Millar (20) averred that his leg he had broke, 
 And bemoaned in most piteous expressions how hard 
 By so cruel a fracture to have his sport marred. 
 In quizzing his friends he fch little remorse. 
 To finesse the complete doing up of his horse, 
 Had he told a long story of losing a shoe. 
 Or of laming his horse he very well knew : 
 That the Leicestershire Creed out this Truism Worms, 
 Lost shoer, and dead beat are synonimous terms, (21) 
 So a horse must here learn whatever he does, 
 To die game as at Tyburn, and die in his shoes. 
 Maynard'i; lord (22) M'ho detests competition & strife, 
 As well in the chase as in conjugal life. 
 Than whom nobody harder has rode in his time : 
 But to crane (23) now and then he thinks it no crime, 
 'I'hat ho bet some crack riders mor t fairly may crow j 
 For he lived to the end tho' he scarcely knows how, 
 With snalle and martingale kept in the rear. 
 His horse's mouth half open up to his car. 
 Mr. Wardle who threatened great things (24) over 
 
 night, 
 Beyond Stretton ^'/as left in a most piteous plight. 
 Too lean to be pressed yet egged on by compulsion. 
 No wonder his nag tumbled into convulsion — 
 
 20 Capt. Millar of the Blues. 
 
 21 Indeed so implicit is this article of Meltonian belief, that many 
 a horse, in addition to the misfortune of breaking his hoof from losing 
 3 shoe, has laboured likewise under the aforesaid unavoidable imputa- 
 tion to his everlasting disgrace. 
 
 2-2 Lord Maynard. 
 
 '-'3 Crane— This word derives its origin from the necessary extension 
 Dl'neck which such sportsmen must make use of who dare to incur 
 the reproach of venturing to look before they leap. 
 
 'Ji Mr. Wardle is said to have threatentd overnight; that he would 
 bsut the whylg field next day. . 
 
Ah! had ho but lost ;i fore whoe or fell kiiUc\ 
 'Twould only his sport have ciirtailetl, not his faine. 
 Lorraine (i*5) than whom no one his game play v 
 
 more safe, 
 Who the last than the first prefers sccinfj by half, 
 What with necking (26) and keeping a constant look 
 
 out, 
 Every turn of the scent surely turned to account. 
 The wonderful pluck of his horse surpri/cd souk^, 
 But he knew they were making point blank for his 
 
 hoine, 
 ** Short home'* to be brought we all should de- 
 sire, 
 C <uld we manage the stick like the Enderby squire. 
 Wild Shelly (27) at starting all ears and all eyes, 
 Who to get a good start all experiments tries, 
 Yet contrived it so ill as to throv out poor Gipsey (28) 
 And he rattled along as if h'} were tipsy. 
 To catch them again, but tho' famous for speed 
 He never could toucli (29) thcni much less get the 
 
 lead^ (30) 
 So disheartened, (31) disgainted and beat home he 
 
 swings. 
 Not much unlike a fiddla wh-n hung upon strings. 
 
 S.l r.r.rraine Smith, Esq. of Enderby House, where the hounds run 
 to ground. 
 
 '26 Neeking, thf prolongation of the neck, which is necessary for 
 those sportsmen who, by keeping a good look out to the hounds, 
 judge from the turns of the scent which way they are likely to point, 
 thence making all the short cuts in their power, by which means 
 they are nine times out of ten thrown out, and for which express 
 purpose more than sport, some are silly enough to suppose he hunts, 
 and which the' he did actually succeed in some seasons ago, he pro- 
 bably will never do again, having threatened it frequently since with 
 as little succesp. 
 
 27 Sir John Shelly. 28 Gipsey, Sir John's mare. 
 
 29 Touch, meaning according to the Melton dialect, overtake. 
 
 30 Get a lead, by which it is understood securing the privilege of 
 breaking your neck first, and when you fall, being rode over by a 
 hundred & ninety-nine of the best fellows on earth to a dead certainty. 
 _ 31 Nor can that astonish any one when it 15 consiUereU what an. 
 inestimable privilege he has lost. 
 
 W 
 
 •it 
 
 i 
 
s fa inc. 
 le pliiy^ 
 
 half, 
 ant look 
 
 uint. 
 i sonio, 
 . for his 
 
 )uUl de- 
 
 squlrc. 
 eyes, 
 
 s, 
 
 sey (28) 
 
 iced 
 
 ; get the 
 
 home ho 
 
 . strings. 
 
 lounds run 
 
 ccssary for 
 he hounds, 
 y to point, 
 Kich means 
 ich express 
 e he hunts, 
 o, he pro- 
 since with 
 
 ■rtake. 
 jrivilege of 
 over by a 
 i certainty. 
 ,'U what an 
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 An H H (132) who in Leicestershire never had been, 
 So of course such a Tickler(;ifj)could never have seen, 
 Just to see them throw off on a raw (34) horse was 
 
 mounted. 
 Who a hound had ne'erseenor a foncehad confronted; 
 But they found in such style (35) and went off at 
 
 such score, (tiG) 
 That he could not resist the attempt to see more — 
 So with scrambling (37) and dashimr (38) and one 
 
 rattling fall, (39) ^ ^ 
 
 He saw all the fun up to Skelton's White-hall : 
 
 By no chance ever tired (40) was taken in tow. 
 And what's worse, she gave him such a devilish jog, 
 In the fiice with her head, plunging out of a bog, 
 
 32 It is not quite clear whether these initials are meant to apply to 
 a Hampshire hog or the Hampshire hunt j if the hog, it does not 
 quite appear that he saved his bacon. 
 
 33 Tickler (Meltonied) a run so severe that there is no laughing at it. 
 
 34 Raw fidtdj a horse who knew nothing of the business he was 
 gonig about, or wi ,hed to know. 
 
 35 Style means the best possible means of doing any thine; as for 
 instance, when a man rides his horse full speed at a double post and 
 rails with a squire trap on the other side, which is a ditch of about 
 two yards wide cut on purpose to break gcnth men's necks— He is 
 then reckoned at Melton, to have rode at it in style, especially if he is 
 
 " caught m the said squire trap. ' ' f / 
 
 3fi Score means that kind of pace which perhaps neither you nor 
 your horse ever went before, and if you have not more luck than 
 tails to the share of every experiment of the kind, 'tis ten to one but 
 he falls belore he can (what they call) get on his legs, in which case 
 you may rest perfectly satisfied that he must roll over you, two or 
 three times at least, before he can stop himself. 
 
 37 Serambhng means when a horse does not leave above three of 
 his legs behind him and saves himself by pitching on his head. 
 
 38 Dashing means when a man charges a fence, which no other 
 word can express so fully; on the other side of which it is imoossible 
 to guess what miselnef awaits him, but where his getting a fill is re- 
 duced as nearly as possible to a moral certainty. 
 
 39 Rattling Fall— Q:E:D. 
 
 tiu?n.T"i'N^''^''vP'?°[- 'T''' wanting, ascertained beyond an>, 
 thins else the seventy of this chase. ' 
 
I 
 
 ( 10 ) 
 
 That with eye black as ink, or as Edward's famed 
 
 prince, 
 Half blind has he been and quite deaf ever since : 
 But let not that mortify thee shack a back (41) 
 She only was blown (42) and came home a rare hack. 
 Then Craven (43) too slopped whose misfortune, not 
 
 fault. 
 
 His mare unaccountably vex?d with string halt, (44) 
 And when she had ceased this spasmodic to prance, 
 Her mouth 'gan to twitch with St. Vitus' dance. (45) 
 But who shall describe the fate of Rose Price, (46) 
 Whose favourite gelding conveyed him so nice. 
 Thro' thick and thro' thin that he vowed and pro- 
 tested. 
 No money should part them as long as life lasted :(47) 
 But the pace that aifected which money could not, (48) 
 For to part and in death was there no distant lot. 
 In a fatal blind ditch Karlo Khan's (49) powers failed, 
 When lancet (50) nor laudanum (5 1) neither availed." 
 
 41 A familiar appellation borrowed from Blue Beard, and bestow- 
 ed by his friends at Melton on Mr. Vanneck, than which nothing more 
 thoroughly prove the estimation in which he is held therj, since none 
 Dut good te lows are ever esteemed, according to the Meltonian nrin- 
 ciplf s, worthy of a nick-name. 
 
 42 Which was his own observation, the merit of which I should 
 scorn to assume, but for the truth of which (at least the latter asser- ' 
 tion; 1 can vouch, as I perfectly agree with him that I never saw a 
 more complete hack, tlio' he is pleased to call her a hunter. 
 
 43 Ilonble. Berkely Craven. 
 
 44 & 45 Two nervous airections in every sense of the word, very 
 distressing, especially to a by^stander who cannot command his risi- 
 ble faculty's on the ociv.cion. 
 
 46 A gentleman of whom it has been erroneously said, that he ne- 
 ^^'iri"/"^'^ ^''^"^ hunting without lamin- or knocking up his horse 
 
 47 At the cover side, this horse had been particularly admired, and 
 upwards of SIX hundred guineas offered for him. 
 
 48 Which is a complete answer to that important question so 
 yauntmgly asked by a favorite poet, when he exclaiming in language. 
 Lannot 'f"""^''''^'^^ ^""^^^ " ^''^^ ^^^^^ '^^n do that which money 
 
 49 The name of poor Mr. Price's horse. 
 
 50 & 51 Two excellent restoratives, when the patient is not too 
 rar gone— when he is (as in the present case), inimitable sooorifics. 
 
 
 ■f^ 
 
 
I 
 
 i's famed 
 
 since : 
 :41) 
 
 are hack, 
 •tune, not 
 
 ia!t, (44) 
 prance, 
 ice. (45) 
 •ice, (46) 
 lice, 
 and pro- 
 
 ;ted:(47) 
 not,(4&) 
 It lot, 
 :rs failed, 
 r availed. " 
 
 nd bestow- 
 athing more 
 , since none 
 -onian pvin- 
 
 ;h I should . 
 latter asser- 
 ever saw a 
 ;r. 
 
 word, very 
 md his risi- 
 
 that he ne- 
 p his horse. 
 Imired, and 
 
 question so 
 in language' 
 ich money 
 
 t: is not too 
 joporifics. 
 
 ( 1' ) 
 
 More care (52) of a horse than he took could no matt, 
 
 He'd more straw than would serve any lying-in woman, 
 
 Still he died, yet just how as nobody knows. 
 
 It may truly be said he died under the rose. 
 
 At the death of poor Khan Melton (53) feels such 
 
 remorse, 
 That t^xcyVe christened the ditch the vale of white 
 
 horse. 
 Thus ended a chace, which for distance and speed, 
 Its fellow we never have heard of or read ; 
 What a good country hunter (54) mry here prove A 
 
 Every species of ground every horse does not suit; 
 And unless for all sorts of strange fences prepared, 
 A man and his horse are sure to be scared. 
 This variety gives constant hfe to the chace, 
 But as Forrester {55) says " Sir, what kills is the 
 pace." {56} 
 
 52 Indeed it is only to be lamented that Mr. Price had not taken 
 rather more care of him a little earlier in the day, which probably 
 would have abated the necessity of this accouchement. 
 
 53 Which redounds highly to the credit and sympathy of the 
 Melton gentlemen, and completely refutes every ill natured but 
 groundless supposition that this sensibility will ever suffer them to 
 make a joke of any heavy loss a gentleman may sustain, especially if 
 the gent, likewise happens to be heavy himself, which of course, 
 doubtles the weight of the misfortune. 
 
 54 As every country gentleman may not comprehend the force of 
 this expression, he ought to'' know that the Meltonians hold every 
 horse in thorough contempt who cannot " Go along a strapping 
 pace."—" Stay at that pace."—" Skim, ridge and furrow."— <« Catch 
 his horse."—" Top off light rails."—" Come well into the next 
 field."—" Charge an ox fence."—" Go in and out clever."—" Face 
 a breach."— Swish at a rasper."— And in short do all that kind or 
 thing v/hich is so plain & intelligible, that it is impossible to mistake 
 its meaning. That horse is held in the same contempt in Leicester- 
 .shire as a coxcomb holds a country bumpkin. In vulgar countries, 
 i. e. all others where these accomplishmbnts are not indispensable, he 
 may be a hunter. 
 
 55 Cecil Forrester, Esq. one of the boldest and best riders in En- 
 gland : a gentleman who practically explains all the above mentioned 
 accomplisments, to the great edification of young horses, and the no 
 less astonishment of weak minds. 
 
 5G A favorite maxim of Mr. Forrester, of the truth of which he 
 
C 12 ) 
 
 Jn most other countries they boast of then* breed. 
 For carrying at times such a beautiful head : (56) 
 But these hounds to carry a head cannot fail, 
 And constantly too, for by George there's no tail. (57) 
 Talk of horses, and hounds, and of system in kennel, 
 Give me Leceistershire nags and the hounds of old 
 Meynell. 
 
 seldom loses an opportunity of endeavoring to make his friends 
 thoroughly sensible. 
 
 SG & 57 As heads and tails are not to be understood in the 
 common acceptation of the words ; and as all ladies are not sports- 
 women enough to be aware that they have no reference to the human 
 head and tail— they should know that when you can cover the hounds 
 with a sheet (which any true sportsman will explain to them more 
 particularly), they are then said to carry a good head. When on 
 the contrary they ft^liow their leader in a line, like a floci^ of wild 
 *owI, they are then said to tail.