STATE OF THE ODDS, &c. Mr. Starkey's hunters were sold at the same time. Fisherman bad been previously disposed of. Lord Glasgow gave Lord Derby 2,400 guineas and half the Grand Duke Michael Stakes for Toxophilite just previous to that race. Joseph Hawley purchased Lord Nelson in the Second October meeting. Mr. Wentworth has sold Cheery Chap to Captain Reynard; Lord Portsmouth Olympias to Mr. Ten Broeck; and the latter Charleston, as a stallion, to Sir Joseph Hawley. J. G. Dockeray, private trainer to Mr. T. L. Massaloff, of Moscow, has purchased the following blood stock for Russia: Brown yearling filly by The Confessor out of Cornucopia; chesnut filly by Harkaway out of Kitty-Cut-a-Dash; chesnnt yearling filly by Stockwell out of Plush; bay yearling colt by Daniel O'Rourke out of Sauter la Coupe's dam, for Mr. Massaloff; and Clara, 2 yrs., for Mr. Ford's stud at Moscow. Count Batthyany, a most popular sportsman with all classes, has been elected a member of the Jockey Club. Henry Wadlow, the trainer, is dead; and Death, of Ascot, has retired from business. Mr. Robert Ridsdale, a prominent man on the turf some thirty years ago, died suddenly at Newmarket on the 23rd of October. He was the owner of St. Giles and Margrave, and at one period a confederate of Mr. Gully's. But fortune did not always smile so kindly on the Ridsdales. The autumn edition of "Ruff's Guide" appeared early in the past month, made right up to Doncaster, with performances of the twoyear-olds, Derby lots, and an index as complete and handy as usual. In fact, there is no such ready reference to what is doing on the turf. At the time we write there is nothing left, up to the form of a Derby first favourite. Seldom, indeed, has the race looked so open. The Promised Land was going back even before his defeat, and "good information," and such like authority, will now have plenty of scope. The placing of our table may be considerably disarranged even before the end of this Houghton week, as there is scarcely anything with character enough to withstand the latest impression. E M BEL JAMES LISHMENT S. MORRELL, ESQ., (LATE MASTER of the old Berkshire.) ENGRAVED BY J. B. HUNT, AFTER THE ORIGINAL PICTURE BY FRANCIS ENGRAVED BY E. HACKER, FROM A PAINTING BY A. COOPER, R.A. CONTENTS. DIARY FOR DECEMBER. THE OMNIBUS PAGE. The late Mr. H. Combe-Stud Mems.-The Flying DutchmanTwos and Threes-Sporting Prints and Books-" Hawthorn " on Grouse Protection-Coursing of the Month-Mr. Rarey's Lapland Tour-Ralph Holding, the Horse Tamer-Death of Young Leedham-Sundry Hound Books-Mr. Ferneley's Melton Studio-The Quorn, The Belvoir, and The Tedworth. . 371 JAMES MORRELL, ESQ. (LATE MASTER OF THE OLD BERKSHIRE) 381 GUY LIVINGSTONE THE SWEET O' THE 384 KNAPSACK WANDERINGS IN MERRIE ENGLAND.- BY LINTON RABBIT SHOOTING.-BY AUCEPS HOUNDS AND HUNTING THE PAST AND THE PRESENT.-BY BRIDGEWATER AND WEST BELFORD-PAIN'S LANE-JENKINSTOWN PARK 430 434 438 440 442 444 26 First Sunday after Christmas. s 3 54 21 12 25 S Christmas Day. 27 M Boxing Day. 28 T Caledonian Coursing Meeting. 29 W Char Fishing ends. 30 T 31 F r8 822 Morning. 7 5 7 31 s 3 5523 1 18 7 58 8 24 r 8 924 2 36 8 56 9 31 's 3 57 25 3 5210 310 37 r 8 926 5 711 1111 46 0 6 16 6 41 Leyburn (Wensleydale). Hordley (Salop).. Ridgway Club (South- (Lockerbie) Market Drayton........ COURSING MEETINGS IN DECEMBER. 1 Ardrossan ............ 8 (Thirsk 15, 16 .......... 15, 16 8, 9 Altcar Club. 1 &c. Mountainstown ... 2, 3 Ledbury Ellesmere.... 15, 16 16 17, 18 21 8 &c. Amicable Club.. ...... 9 Bredwardine .......... Harmer Hill (Salop).......... 13 Southminster .......... 21, 22 2, 3 Cork Southern Club ... 14 &c. | Caledonian (Open) 28 &c. 7 Baldock (Open).. 14 &c. Kenilworth (Open) .... 28 &c. North of England Club Hornby Catterick ...... 28, 29 (Belsay) 15 7,8 Newmarket Champion.. 7 &c. THE OMNIBUS. "There he sat, and, as I thought, expounding the law and the prophets, until on drawing a little nearer, I found he was only expatiating on the merits of a brown horse."-BRACEBRIDGE HALL. The late Mr. H. Combe-Stud Mems-The Flying Dutchman-Twos and ThreesSporting Prints and Books-"Hawthorn" on Grouse Protection-Coursing of the Month-Mr. Rarey's Lapland Tour-Ralph Holding, the Horse TamerDeath of Young Leedham-Sundry Hound Books-Mr. Ferneley's Melton Studio-The Quorn, The Belvoir, and The Tedworth. The last November has been a very dreary one, the hunting bad as a general thing, owing to the absence of wet; and the race-meetings devoid of any great interest; the afternoons chill, dark, and foggy, and the judge hardly able at last to tell which colours won, The Turf has lost a staunch supporter in a small way with Mr. H. Combe. He will be best remembered by The Nob and Cobham, whose eccentric running caused him to make that still more eccentric descent with a trained band, on to John Scott's stables, at a time when the law considered that a trainer had a lien for training expenses, and take him bodily out of his stall. In the hunting world, he will be remembered as the purchaser of Mr. Osbaldeston's pack (a bargain, which, by the bye, produced a very memorable action), and hunting the Old Berkeley with Will Todd and the Furrier bitches. Latterly his fame rested more on his Shorthorn herd, and he bought the oldest bull at Mr. Marjoribank's great Bushey sale for 500 guineas. Newmarket and Ascot were his favourite meetings; but he never entered into either racing or hunting with very great zest; and his name was attached to but very few entries. The entries, bar Goodwood, have been good, Newmarket especially so, and with plenty of new names on the list. Any one who can back Promised Land at 10 to 1 after seeing what he has grown into, must have strange notions of what is required in a Derby horse; and Electric's weak fetlocks keep him back, as few believe that he can be prepared. The removal of Surplice and the other Clifden mares from Doncaster to Danebury, and the installation of Lord Glasgow's in their place, is the great stud event of the month. The Earl has prospered as a matcher in Alick Taylor's hands, and there is now less reason in that celebrated sketch by an amateur of "The Meet at Devil's Dyke," in which Admiral Rous is huntsman, and his Lordship is the fox coming out of the ditch, with Lord Derby as the leading hound just snapping at his brush, which is composed of bank-notes. His connection with Middleham, where Croft first made his red-and-white sleeves a thing of dread, is severed at last. Barbatus and the colt by Melbourne out of Clarissa are his two sires; and the former he might as well have left behind for the suppers of the Bedale, as a parting present. It is said that the shareholders in The Dutchman cannot agree about the horse. Seven were for accepting a £4000 offer, which was made for him about last Goodwood races; but two held out, and as it was agreed that no change was to be made without the consent of all, the horse, we believe, still remains at Rawcliffe, on his own hook. The two consider that his yea rings are finer this season than they have ever been be on. fore, and that the horse will come again. In the first part of this opinion we concur, albeit we have consistently stated our dislike to the horse from the moment he was first sent to the stud. As it is, he has done very poorly this season, and it is surely quite enough for one stud to give a horse seven seasons' trial. The French Government are at present negotiating for him, and there seems a probability of his departing at last The company, it is said, lost £500 by him last year, and paid £5,900 for him in all. We trust, as we said before, that we shall hear no more of shareholders contracting with shareholders, as, if anything goes wrong, there is always such bitter dissatisfaction. The general rule that Guardians may not contract with the Board, nor M.P.'s with the Government, is a very salutary one, and ought to be adhered to. We hear that they have a very promising lot of yearlings, and like their mares better since the Doncaster draft, though there was one mare they ought to have put a much higher reserve Newminster has had some sixteen more mares offered him than he could take; but for our parts, we prefer Fandango to him, and expect a more wear-and-tear stock. Footstool has been bought by Captain Barlow, of Hasketon, near Woodbridge; and Autocrat (who came to Tattersall's with a cut tail) has gone back to the late Mr. Cooper's place, as the nucleus of a new stud. His weak fetlocks, which are observable in his stock, operated against him. The sale was a good one, and Bay Rosalind and Miss Tennyson touched William Day's cheque-book for 300 gs. between them. Two two-year-old Dutchwomen were sold the same day and averaged 21 gs. each; one of them, a sister to Amsterdam, who fetched 210 gs. as a yearling at Rawcliffe! The Bay Rosalind colt foal went for 110 gs., the best price which has been given for a long time. Lord Lincoln has purchased Indifference, who still remains with Mr. Parr; but there is no truth in the report that his lordship purchased Gaspard. Yorkshire says that Sir Tatton will ride up to London once more, if there is any chance of his having to lead this son of Daniel back to the Derby scale. Old Fisherman is thrown up in a large loose box for the winter, and is so fresh that he may not improbably add ten more Queen's Plates to his list next season. Already has won 26. Lord Londesboro' has been staying at Lord Stradbroke's with a distinguished party of four; and 684 pheasants, 311 hares, 265 rabbits, 27 partridges, and 16 woodcocks fell to the six guns. Lord Londesboro' bought Boarding-school Miss, heavy in foal to Orlando, during the visit at a stiff price; and we hear that Admiral Rous asks £400 for Habena. Several blood sires are in the market, but one of the principal of them is said to be suffering from incipient cataract. At Admiral Rous's suggestion, a change has been made in the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster, wherein a winner of 400 sovs, for the future is to carry 5lbs. extra. There really seems nothing wanting, to make the list almost perfection, but a Derby, St. Leger, and Oaks penalty in the Don Stakes Admiral Rous still maintains that the Eglinton Stakes change is wrong, and that at the present weights, 7 st. and 8st. 12 lbs., the three-year-olds must always win. He says, "Look at Newmarket, far later in the year, they make the three-year-olds give 30 lbs., as you used to do." That argument, however, proves nothing, as it is merely an attempt to fortify the opinion of Admiral Rous by appealing to a code of weights as settled by Rous (Admiral). The trainers take the Doncaster view of the subject; and, in fact, they think that the |