. Echoes of old county life : being recollections of sports, politics, and farming in the good old times. orse, andtaking the halter in his hand, he rode him up into thecorner of the room, which was about forty feet long bytwenty-two feet wide, the table in the meantime havingbeen slightly slued round : Manning struck the horsewith his heel, and with a slap on his neck with his righthand he sent him flying over the table, covered as it waswith all the usual appurtenances to a repast: he clearedit well, then, to the surprise of all, he turned the horse insplendid style and jumped him back again
. Echoes of old county life : being recollections of sports, politics, and farming in the good old times. orse, andtaking the halter in his hand, he rode him up into thecorner of the room, which was about forty feet long bytwenty-two feet wide, the table in the meantime havingbeen slightly slued round : Manning struck the horsewith his heel, and with a slap on his neck with his righthand he sent him flying over the table, covered as it waswith all the usual appurtenances to a repast: he clearedit well, then, to the surprise of all, he turned the horse insplendid style and jumped him back again. The gentleman who first suggested the attempt,now a noted parish priest in an extreme northerncounty, then essayed the same feat. The horseanswered to his cry of Come up, and just clearedthe table, but caught one of his heels on its edge,and pulling the cloth over smashed a few plates andglasses, which fell with a loud clatter, whereupon therider struck the gallant steed with his open hand, andagain he cleared the whole in much better style thanbefore. Of course, immediately a dozen others, emulous. A JUMP OVER A TABLE. 175 of fame, wished to essay the feat, but I thought there hadbeen enough done to try the temper of the noble Httlehorse, and a veto was put on any more displays of circusriding. Then the difficulty arose—How are we to getthe horse to descend the stairs ? From the RochesterRoom to the top of the staircase there was a long gallerywith floor of polished oak, and this gallery had to betraversed before the descent commenced ; a narrowcarpet ran the entire length, and along this the horsewent quietly enough, but on coming to the top of thestairs he stoutly refused to make the descent. Nothing wecould do would induce him to put his foot downwards onto the first step, and although all the time he was as quietas a lamb, no one could suggest a means of overcominghis scruples at taking so unusual a course. In thisdilemma a learned , who was staying in the house,wh
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubj, booksubjectcountrylife
