THE SQUIRE’S DAUGHTER.

’Twas the opening day of the season And the fences were thick and blind, But we joyously rode to covert, To a wood where we always find: And what a crowd of horsemen Were at the covert side, In leathers white and scarlet; All gallant men to ride. And many a handsome lady Well mounted for the fray. I never saw a finer field Than on that opening day. But among those noble ladies, The brightest and most fair, Was the squire’s only daughter On a well-bred chestnut mare. Squire Harding’s only daughter, Diana she was named; And throughout the country for her Splendid riding she was famed: And not another lady In the country could compete With the squire’s only daughter For beauty, hands, or seat. Now Miss Diana Harding, Had suitors, one, two, three: They were, Captain Browne, Jim Ashton And the Rev. Thomas Leigh. The Captain was a hunting man, Jim Ashton so was he, And the only one that wasn’t Was the Rev. Thomas Leigh. Now Diana to the Captain And Jim Ashton then did say, “I will wed the man that brings to me The fox’s brush to-day. But there are only two of you, And I have suitors three, So, I, myself am riding For the Rev. Thomas Leigh: And if I am there before you When they pull the red fox down Then Tom Leigh can come and take me For his very, very own.” Jim Ashton rode “The Watcher,” A big upstanding bay, Who could jump the very stiffest gate And gallop for a day. The Captain rode “Olympus,” A clever looking black, Who could carry fourteen stone As if he’d nothing on his back: And the squire’s only daughter, To beat this sporting pair, Came out on little “Heath-bell,” A well-bred chestnut mare. And the wildest of excitement Was seen in every face, For we all had heard the story And we waited for the race. The squire hunted hounds himself, (As every master should), And with, “Yooi in there and wind him,” Capped ’em into Birky Wood. ’Twas a real well bottomed covert Where the heather and bracken grow, And the hounds went in with a cheery dash As if they seemed to know That the game old white tagged varmint In his couch of bracken lay, And the only open fox earth Was full seven miles away. The squire himself went with them, Right down the soft green ride, And Dan the whipper-in was Watching on the other side: First there came a whimper And then a better note, And then a splendid chorus Seemed to burst from every throat. The squire saw him cross the ride And cheered his beauties on, Two, four, six, eight, sixteen couple, They were at him every one. “Hark for’ad, for’ad to him” Came the squire’s voice so gay, And the next we heard Was Danny yelling, “Tally ho! Away!” “Hold hard! Give the hounds a moment.” We heard the squire roar, And then like the start for the “National” Over the grass we tore. Over a dozen pastures, Over a brook, and now Right down a furzy hillside On to a holding plough. Passing Brownbeck village, Bearing away to the right Till the big, green, rolling common Of Walton, appeared in sight. While galloping o’er the common, Hounds running strong and true, The squire found his hunter Had cast his off fore shoe. With never a check to rest us, The pace began to tell: A slip at a double oxer And Danny the whipper fell. Like a hare before the greyhounds, The Captain led the way, With the squire’s daughter close behind And Ashton on the bay. The pack were almost out o’ sight, And racing hard for blood, And our horses were white with lather, And our breeches black with mud. We saw the hounds pull down their fox And from the road a man Run in in time to save the brush; And then the race began. The squire’s daughter led the way, The other two gave chase, Hardly a neck between the three; And the rest of us watched the race. Only one fence between them And the spot where the screaming pack Were striving to pull Red Rover From the man who was beating them back. Over the fence together, And then the final burst, Flogging and spurring like mad folk, And Jim Ashton got there first. Crying, as from his horse he sprang, “Quick, give the brush to me!” “I rather think I’ll keep it,” Said the Rev. Thomas Leigh.