GIFT OF
/
U
PIERCE EGAN
LONDON: WILLIAM T E G G.
PIERCE EGAN'S
BOOK OF SPORTS.
..
oy
SPORTS
T'lE SWELL DRAGSMAN OF "THE AGE.*'
With spirits gay we mount the box, the tits up to the traces,
Our elbows square, all so prime, dash off to Epsom Races:
Witli Buxton bit, bridoon so trim, three chesnuts and a grey,
\Vellcouple up, my leaders there ! Ya ! hip! we bowl away.
IT may, perhaps, be necessary to observe, in
commencing the " BOOK of SPORTS,"
hat to " START well" is one of the greatest
objects in life ; in fact, a good start, as the
Stewards assert, backed by the knowing or
experienced sort of folks at Epsom, Ascot,
and Doncaster races, is half-way towards
winning the gold cup ; therefore, the Editor
-of the BOOK OF SPORTS is most anxious to
obtain the START; or, in other words, that he
may be enabled to get over the ground like
nothing else but a " good one," and also
to arrive at the winning-post with ease,
in style, and to a certainty:
Hark forward, my boys, see the game it's in view :
we, therefore, hope that our vehicle on the
Road of Life will be found compact, firm, and
" all right, " and composed of the best
materials ; that our cattle will prove them-
M167639
'.P.1ERCE EGAN'S BOOK OF SPORTS.
with the jaw bone of an ass, nor so romantic
a chevalier as DON QUIXOTTE, who attacked
wind-mills; yet, nevertheless, we mean to
Boole all the WIT that crosses our path to
note down all the TALENT we meet with in our
pursuits through life ; and to make use of our
eyes towards keeping a good look out upon
all occasions, to increase our stores of amuse-
ments ; that is to say, to be alive to all the
movements of the Sporting World ; to
selves to be thorough-bred, and that our cha-
rioteer will not be found wanting to render
the journey, at all times, pleasant, full of in-
terest, and of importance to the traveller.
But, as the Editor has always been, and
always will be, fond of " A DIT OF GOOD
TRUTH," he does not want the courage to
assert, that it is far from his intention to be as
prim as a Puritan, or as low and saucy as a
donkey boy in his travels ; yet, perhaps, a tiny
bit of the PAUL-PRY may be seen attached to
his efforts, in order to procure information ;
but nevertheless, he trusts that nothing of
"the MARPLOT" will be discovered in his
character. To resemble the busy bee, if pos-
Bible, by " sipping sweets from every flower,"
but without leaving any of the sting behind
him, will be one of the Editor's most de-
cided points in the BOOK OF SPORTS, i. e.
" Nothing extenuate, or set down aught in
malice." In short, " VARIETY is our motto
every thing by fits and starts and nothing
long, dull, or prosing, to occupy our columns ;"
indeed, to make it a " BOOK FOR EVERY
BODY ;" in which, topics will be introduced to
interest the DUKE and attract the Commoner,
to please the Rich Man and afford amusement
and information to the Poor One ; but never
to give the slightest offence, by " o'erstep-
ping the modesty of NATURE !" A book to
be found welcome at all tables a cheerful
fire-side companion ; and an interesting fellow-
traveller, either in a post-chaise, or a stage
coach. Under the Poet's idea, that "the
proper study of mankind is man;" and to
catch the manners living as they rise :
" One negro say one ting, you take no offence,
BLACK and uhite be one colour a hundred year
hence ;
.And.when Massa DEATH kick him into a grave,
He no spare negro, buckra, nor massa, nor slave :
He dance, and he sing, and a banger thrum, thrum,
He foolish to tink what TO-MORROW may come,
lily laugh and be fat, de best ting you can do,
Time enough to be SAD when you kickara-boo!'
So says the Editor ; therefore he wishes that
sadness may always be a day's march behind
us ; and to follow the excellent advice, given
gratis by the late Lord Chancellor Erskine,
" that a little mirth in this melancholy life is
a good thing." Therefore, it is our intention
to be merry and wise ; and although we do
not puff ourselves off as an ATLAS, capable of
carrying the world upon our shoulders, neither
as strong as a SAMSON, who slew thousands
Chant the pleasures of sporting, the charma of a race,
And ne'er be at fault at a mill or the chace.
To be awake at the Theatres, in order to per-
petuate the doctrine of our immortal Bard,
" to hold, as it were, the mirror up L to Na-
ture ;" and be able to show our passport, if
required, at the turnpike-gate of Knowledge,
as to an acquaintance with society in general
FORTH N i? in men has some small difference made,
One Haunts in raps, one flutters in brocade ;
The cobler apron'd, and the yarson gown'd,
The friar hooded, and the MONAKCH crown'd.
" What differ more (you cry), than crown and covrl'l"
I'll tell you, friend, a WISE man and a FOOL!
If then, in the recital of our ANECDOTES, we
cannot prove ourselves as funny as Jack
Reeve, we will endeavour to keep him in
our eye, as an excellent model to produce
mirth and laughter : also, if it is not within
our grasp to tell our STORIES like Liston, to
keep our readers continually on the broad
grin; nevertheless, we will put as comical a
face upon the subject as our capabilities will
allow us to do; and lastly, though not
the least, in the Court of Momus, if we should
not be able to give that sort of pith and
strength of humour by way of illustration
to our TALES, like the much-admired, irresist-
ible comedian, Charles Mathews, we shall
exert ourselves to be as near " AT HOME," as
possible ; or, in other words, no exertions
shall be wanting on our part (if we cannot
command it), to deserve success. We now
start for the winning-post, with a sketch of
real life :
THE SWELL DRAGSMAN OF "THE
"AGE!"
Or, in plain English, a well-dressed Stage
Coachman; but the character of the thing
must be preserved and a driver of four
' good uns' ought not to be described with
any thing like the gravity of a parson, whose
" good ones" are of another guess sort ; there-
fore, if a ' tiny bit' of slang now and ther.
PIERCE EGAN'S BOOK O* SPORTS.
should pop out, it must only be considered
in keeping with the picture.
His late Majesty, King George the Fourth
when Prince of Wales, could ' push along,'
keep moving, with his four ' nonesuches,' and
give the ' %o-by' to all his nobles like fun ;
indeed, the Prince was the delight of all the
jockies and coachmen in the kingdom ; but
amongst the grooms, huntsmen, and whippers-
in, at^Brighton, Windsor, Newmarket, &c.,
he was their idol. His late Majesty had
always a taste for driving, and very much at-
tached to the turf. Not very long before he
died, hc> asked one of his grooms, with whom
he AV;IS conversing on the subject of his
racijtig stud" Well," said the King, " and
\\lmt do they say of me at Newmarket?"
" What do they say of your Majesty," replied
the groom, " why they say that you are the
most rannint of 'em all, and they wish that
.hey had you back again at Newmarket."
The phrase " varmint" was a cant term in the
days of the merry monarch Charles II., and
was frequently used when speaking of him.
The late high-minded, splendid, Duke of
Bedford, who never stood still at trifles, but
got over the ground with all the ease of a
bowling-green, with a * turn-out' worthy of
one of the highest rank in the peerage, was
also considered a iirst-rnte coachman ; and
likewise the never-to-be-forgotten Squire Mel-
lish in the sporting world who would not
be second to any body, or at any thing a
first-rote charioteer, and nothing else, upon
all occasions with * neck or nothing' for his
motto galloping up and down the Brighton
hills, with all the playfulness of style and
ease of manners, like the best bred gentleman
in a ball-room. I think I see him now on a
Rate Course, surrounded by characters of
the lirst rank in society, communicating life
and spirits to the circle ; indeed, he was a
* magnificent' fellow on horseback; a com-
plete hero on the box ; and an * out-and-outei'
in every other point of view upon the Turf,
and all the et ceteras belonging to it ; and,
* take him for all in all,' I have seen nothing
like the late Squire Mellish since thatfoe to the
human race, Death, placed him under it. And
last, though not least in the ' Scale of Merit'
in the whip line, the present venerable Sir
John Lade, bart., the father of the driving-
school for gentlemen. The ease and elegance
displayed by Sir John in handling the reins,
was quite a picture to the admirers of good
coachmanship his eye was precision itself,
and he was distinguished for driving to an
inch. Sir John's memorable wager of driving
through a gate only wide enough to admit his
carriage, almost with the rapidity of light-
ning, two-and-twenty times in succession,
and scarcely allowing himself room to turn
round, sets this matter of fact at rest :
such a superiority of command had the
once gay, dashing, baronet over his high-bred
cattle. This will account, in some degree,
for the Brighton road having been conspicuous
for upwards of the last fifty years for f rst-rate
coachmen; indeed commoners, mere whips-
ters, would not have been able to have kept
their seats, but have been voted, by the
visitors of this splendid watering place, of
* no use, and compelled to retire from the
stage.
The late George Simcock, as the term goes
now-a-days, was a * rum one to look at,' but
a ' good one' to get over the heavy ground on
the Forest as light as he could, by keeping
his leaders to their work, and also making
the wheelers do their duty ; indeed, George
was admitted to be a sound, practical coach-
man, and the lives of his passengers were
considered safe under his protection ; and a
truly facetious fellow into the bargain. He
had a tale for every body on the coach, and
one or two to spare for his friends in the
evening, when he left his coach to * blow a
cloud/ take his glass, and keep the * game
alive,' until the hand of the clock pointed
out to him it was time to * rack up' for the
night, and also that coachmen, like other
folks who have business to look after, must
go to roost. George had a great many merry
little * dtdges' belonging to his character
and was a great favorite both up and down the
road. The gentlemen passengers he caused
to laugh heartily at his comical jokes ; and
the fair ones to smile, but not to blush ; his
wit was always so well wrapped up ; George
being a family man, and fully aware of the
necessity of 'keeping the line.' But it was
a perfect treat to hear him get the JOHNY
RAWS * in a string,' by telling them to have
a care of the phantasmagoria sort of sights,
which would stare them full in the face at
every turn in the metropolis. * The London
ghosts are a queer set of chaps,' said George,
1 and very likely to make your teeth chutter
again, if you only look at them ; but, if you
touch them, it is all up with you ; therefore, I
say, be on your guard. Why, you would
scarcely believe it, that a friend of mine, a
very strong countryman, who had the hardi-
hood to tackle one of those nothing sort of
things, as he thought, to his great surprise,
during the struggle for victory, every hair of
his head became as thick as a broomstick/
The passengers, in general, were laughing
from the beginning of their journey to the
end of it ; and the whole of them felt sorry
when George touched his castor, and said,
"The coachman!" "Remember the coach
man !" said a gentleman one day, "d n the
fellow! I shall never forget him. I shan't
get my jaws right again for some time, they
have been so widely extended with laughing
during the journey."
" Why," said George, to a country fellow
who expressed his astonishment at Simcock's
lingo, " when you have been as long upon
the stage as I have, you then, perhaps, may
see as many strange sights as I have seen."
" Lord ! Measter iimfocfc," replied the Johny
Raw, " What, have you ever been upon the
U 2
FIERCE EGAN'S BOOK OF SPORTS.
stage; one of those strolling player sort of
chaps that go about the country living by
their wits? I never heard of it before, I de-
clare." "Yes," answered George, "to be
sure I have ; and performed a great many
parts ir. my time : don't you see I am on the
stage now." - " Lord, so you, be Mcaster
Simeock," said the yokel, "how droll!
well, I never thought of that before. You
really are such a funny fellow, it is worth all
the fare only to keep you company up to
London." It is well known that poor George
Simeock was the delight of that stage on
which he exercised his talents; but, like
Other great actors, with all his knowledge
and care, he suffered ' Old Death' to get the
whip-hand of him, and who compelled George
to quit his box against his will, and also to
laugh on the other side of his mouth. It is
also true that his place has been supplied ;
but his box has never since been filled by
any of his successors like the original ' ru,m
one/ No, indeed ; { no more like my father
than I ani to Hercules.' Peace to his manes!
Sam Goodman and * the Snows' were well
known on the Brighton road as first-rate
coachmen safe drivers prime cattle with
elegant turn-outs, and gentlemanly behaved
men in every point of view, long, very long,
before the late Harry Stevenson had ever
entertained the slightest notion of mounting
the box as a coachman for hire, and becoming
a competitor with the above experienced
dragsmen. In fact, it might almost have been
observed that the road, which they had passed
over so many years with credit to themselves
end satisfaction to their passengers, exclu-
sively belonged to them ; they were so punc-
tual to their time, did their business like
clock-work, and civil and attentive to all
their patrons, that nothing, it was thought,
would have had any chance with them, they
played their parts so well upon the stage.
For months together were Goodman and Snow
seen driving up to London and down again
to Brighton every day, actually performing
six hundred and twenty -four miles in the
course of every week, regardless of wind and
weather, and in opposition to clouds of dust,
storms of hail and rain, and violent tempests
of thunder and lightning. Indeed, it was
the general opinion of the inhabitants of
Brighton that any thing like an opening for a
new coach was entirely out of the question ;
that Sam Goodman, as the punsters had it,
was nothing else but a l good' man ; indeed,
his points were all good. He was lively in
conversation full of anecdote anxious to
give satisfaction to all parties ; and Sam
could handle subjects in general with as
much ease and freedom as he handled his
reins. And although the quotation of Shaks-
peare might be made use o* against his op-
ponent SNOW " Wert thou as chaste as ice,
or as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape
calumny," yet, nevertheless, he stood equally
in fa? or with the visitors to and from Lon-
don ; and, in spite of a hot burning sun at
times, and during the melting moments of
summer, yet SNOW was always to be seen as
a fixture upon his box, completely unchanged
in his duty towards his passengers and his
horses. The obstacles thus thrown in the
way of STEVENSON to deter him from the at-
tempt of starting a new coach at Brighton
had not the desired effect ; he thought other-
wise, and therefore with the advice of his
friends he " took the road."
STEVENSON, it appears, had received his
education at Cambridge ; but, notwithstand-
ing the degrees he had taken at that cele-
brated seat of learning, prudence and economy
were not amongst them. He soon got rid of
his patrimony in mixing with society, and
" keeping it up," as other swells of his ac-
quaintance were wont to do. Harry Steven-
son was ultimately " told out." The treasury
became empty ; and it was with him, " pockets
to let, unfurnished." " He could not beg,"
and " to dig lie was ashamed ;" to become a
clerk, or to stand behind a counter, were
ideas too groveling to be adapted to the taste
of a ci-devant gentleman ! Yet something
must be done to make the pot boil : breakfast
was absolutely necessary to keep up an ap-
pearance in life ; dinner he could not dispense
with ; a cup of twankey, and a muffin, were
equally essential to prevent the human frame
from decay ; and supper, by way of winding
up the day, a most important feature in the
history of man's career. A glass of grog also
wanting to keep up the spirits a cigar to
cogitate over as to future events or a bottle
of wine to make the " w'tsit pleasant," if the
funds and numbs could procure it. The stage
then was the only thing that struck his fancy
as the readiest road to preferment and riches;
or, pernaps, a more humble phrase might better
elucidate the matter, namely, " to keep the
wolf from the door." In this dilemma this
state of nothingness Stevenson was too high-
minded to perform the character of Sponge,
although a living must be procured for him
some how or other. He was considered a
crack gentleman driver the hero of the tale
amongst all his pals who could " tool a jervy,"
and also voted by them " a proper marvel-
lous man" to appear before the public in the
personification of a regular drapsmnn. The
practicability of the thing was canvassed by
all his immediate friends the points well
considered and the result that Harry Ste-
venson should make his debut not in a box at
the opei-a, with an eye-glass to stare his way
into elegant society amongst the Corinthians,
but upon the box of a stage-coach, with a
whip in his hand, to persuade the horses that
they had a master behind them ; and likewise
to obtain the good opinion of (whom, all in
public or in private worship) THE TOWN?
His noble pals, fellow-collegians, and
sprigs of nobility, were fully acquainted with
the doctrine and advantages laid down by the
late Lord Chesterfield, that a prepossessing
PIERCE EGAN'S BOOK OF SPORTS.
appearance ia every thing in Society there-
fore, in order to heighten the debut of Steven-
son upon the stage, directions Avere given for
a new drag to be made by the best workmen,
calculated to "take the shine" out of every
thing on the road. His tits, as fine as stars,
possessing the qualities of race horses for
speed, blood, and bone, with harness tasteful
in the extreme, and placed on the pradj with
as much studied attention and care as the
diamond necklace round the lovely alabaster
neck of a beautiful duchess, or the gold chain
upon the most handsome countess in the world,
to attract admirers ; and then the coachman,
to correspond, or rather to harmonize, with
the whole, a complete PELHAM in his walk of
life; his dress was good, and his address of
the same quality : his manners mild and in-
teresting; his figure slight, but carrying with
it the air of a gentleman, and his " pickers
and stealers," as the classic might call them;
his fingers and hands, as the sober sort of
folks would term them ; or, as the sporting
men would have it, his " bunch of fives,"
were protected from the inclemency of the
rude elements by " white kid gloves."
No "petted" race horse was ever brought
to the starting post in better TRIM than the
late HENRY STEVENSON ; indeed, he was
ushered upon tin* stage under patronage of
the very first quality, a young honorable, the
son of a very eloquent nobleman in the House
of Louis, placing himself by his side on the
box, the roof of the coach also covered with
several young gentlemen connected with some
of the highest families in the kingdom. The
sta>e of the crowd was completely gratified ;
his cad (or assistant) also better attired than
usual, to keep the unison of things perfect,
who placed the boxes, and handed up the
passengers. STEVENSON paying no other at-
tention but to his horses, and when the signal
was given " all right," his start was a first
rate thing altogether a Taglioni movement:
and he handled the ribbons with as much
case and confidence as Paganini when playing
one of his favorite solos on the violin ; he
likewise held up his prads compact, firm, and
coachman -like, and he left Castle Square,
Brighton, triumphantly; he turned the corner
of North Street like a charioteer ; he was
upon the London Road in a twinkling, and
almost out of sight before you could utter
" Jack Robinson !" The spectators crying
cut, in the words of Goldfinch, *' That's* your
sort."
He had scarcely made his appearance on
tiie stage, as an actor, before he became a
great favourite with "the TOWN :" in fact, he
was immediately patronized by all the beaus
and belles as one of the " great creatures " of
the AGE in which ho lived, wheo the capabili-
ties of a stage-coachnian became the theme of
discussion. Stevenson was quite a feature
\i\> ai;d down the road ; " mine hosts " were all
" can in hand " to him when he pulled up at
th'.'ir doors; and the good-natured smiling
hostesses always greeted him with a kindly
welcome ; and the dashing bar maids looked
"unutterable things," in favor cf the gentle-
man dragsman. The " fine women" from the
metropolis would always go with Stevenson,
he was such a nice, kind, genteel, obliging,
coachman ; and the Corinthians, and better
sort of folks, would always book with him for
the sake of being in " good company."
But, notwithstanding the above high flights
of patronage cf the "young swells," who
were always upon the tout for him, united
with the smiles and interest of some of the
best dressed and most attractive females of
the day, yet Harry Stevenson, nevertheless,
had his " work" to do ; it was an Herculean
task to attempt to get the best of such bang up
drivers " old stagers on *he road from boys
to manhood." It was true he had pictured
to himself the accomplishment of " great
things," but it was scarcely possible to achieve
any thing like improvement in the Coach De-
partment, every portion of which was so well
done on all sides. STEVENSON, however, was
resolved upon making a dash to try the ques-
tion, at all events, he was determined ; when
he was immediately viewed as a dangerous
rival by the " old uns ;" his exertions to pro-
duce novelty were scanned with jealousy ;
and all his movements were watched with
the most scrutinizing eyes by his knowing
opponents. Sam, the pleasant, much re-
spected Sam Goodman, was always a fast
coachman ; Snoic (the good-natured, jolly
fellow, fond of life and all the good things
attached to it, in his business) was equally
on the alert to keep " his time," nay, to get in
before the appointed minute : indeed, all the
dragsmen were on tlie look out to be placed
any where on the list by the proprietors,
except the last ! They were all " quick
chaps," and every one of them endeavoured to
make their prads put their best legs foremost
to get over the ground with all the celerity of
ten miles an hour. There was nothing like
timing to be witnessed on the boxes, nay, on
the contrary, they were compelled to be
"wide awake," in order that they might not
give half-a-chance away likely to be turned
to good account by their learned; accom-
plished, and leary rival, who was anxious to
stand very high in the opinion of the public. .
Although it should seem that Stevenson's
box was not exactly a "bed of roses" to hi:{
feelings, but rather a difficult place to be
firmly seated upon ; yet there was a certain
" sort of style" about his conduct that caused
him to be attractive in his line: " the GEN-
TLEMAN COACHMAN!" The most perfect
stranger could not view Stevenson with in-
difference, either when standing by the sides
of his horses, or seated upon his " box :" in-
deed, the appellation of " the gentleman
coachman," is such that few men can obtain
the. name, without it is attached in an eminent
' degree to their personal requisites a* to stamp
the character: gentility of demeanour is uct
PIERCE EGAN'S BOOK OF SPORTS.
one of those common-place sort of things to
"oe assumed at will by every body ; neither is
il to be put on with as much ease and indif-
ference as the stage coachman puts on his
upper tog when the rude elements assail his
outward man. The " smart fellow" is another
sort of appearance in the eye of the critic ;
'the good-looking man" a different caste al-
together, to the common observer of men and
manners; and the "dashing, knowing sort of
driver," who has crept up by degrees to ob-
tain a seat upon the box, and a good suit of
clothes into the bargain, is considered to
partake more of the swaggering qualities of
human nature, in the mind's eye of the paintrr,
than any thing like the idea of conveying the
portrait of " a gentleman."
The remarks which took place as STEVENSON