h I carried in my pocket. Ere departing,
however, I determined to stroll about and examine the town, and observe
more particularly the humours of the fair than I had hitherto an
opportunity of doing. The town, when I examined it, offered no object
worthy of attention but its church--an edifice of some antiquity; under
the guidance of an old man, who officiated as sexton, I inspected its
interior attentively, occasionally conversing with my guide, who,
however, seemed much more disposed to talk about horses than the church.
"No good horses in the fair this time, measter," said he; "none but one
brought hither by a chap whom nobody knows, and bought by a foreigneering
man, who came here with Jack Dale. The horse fetched a good swinging
price, which is said, however, to be much less than its worth; for the
horse is a regular clipper; not such a one, 'tis said, has been seen in
the fair for several summers. Lord Whitefeather says that he believes
the fellow who brought him to be a highwayman, and talks of having him
taken up; but Lord Whitefeather is only in a rage because he could not
get him for himself. The chap would not sell it to un; Lord Screw wanted
to beat him down, and the chap took huff, said he wouldn't sell it to him
at no price, and accepted the offer of the foreigneering man, or of Jack,
who was his 'terpreter, and who scorned to higgle about such an hanimal,
because Jack is a gentleman, though bred a dickey-boy, whilst 'tother,
though bred a lord, is a screw, and a whitefeather. Every one says the
cove was right, and I says so too; I likes spirit, and if the cove were
here, and in your place, measter, I would invite him to drink a pint of
beer. Good horses are scarce now, measter, ay, and so are good men,
quite a different set from what there were when I was young; that was the
time for men and horses. Lord bless you, I know all the breeders about
here; they are not a bad set, and they breed a very fairish set of
horses, but they are not like what their fathers were, nor are their
horses like their fathers' horses. Now, there is Mr. . . . , the great
breeder, a very fairish man, with very fairish horses; but, Lord bless
you, he's nothing to what his father was, nor his steeds to his father's;
I ought to know, for I was at the school here with his father, and
afterwards for many a year helped him to get up his horses; that was when
I was young, measter those were the days. You look at that monument,
m