Wild Dayrell : a biography of a gentlemen exile

Front matter

BenKEier LIBRARY

UNIVERSITY Of CALkfO&H\A iiiiitni

LONDON : LONGMAN, GKLLN, LONGMAN, & KOBLKTS.

Chapter I

" Is the favourite to win 1" asked a young lieutenant in one of her Majesty^s crack regiments, of Dayrell, who sat opposite him eating his breakfast. " Did you pick up any news when you went to see the thoroughbreds air themselves on Doncaster moor?^'

" You know quite as much as I do/' answered the latter : " that is, what a good horse Sellington is ; how he won the Derby easily, and at York last month beat most of the horses that have to meet him in the race to-morrow. His only dark rivals are Boanerges and Nutmeg, and they, I should think, cannot be of much account, to judge from the disgraceful way their stable companions were beaten when they tried to get the favourite's measure. I consider it a moral certainty, and, turning a deaf ear to the shaves of the race-course, shall stand or fall by the fortunes of Sellington/^

'^ I shall follow your example/' said the young lieutenant, ^^ and, if the favourite wins, I have yet six months^ leave, and, after the settling, shall carry on the war for that time ; if, on the contrary, he is beaten, I shall join my regiment in India. To tell the truth, I am tired of the depot at Maidstone, and would just as soon be roughing it on the banks of the Sutlej as stay here without plenty of money to enjoy my leave and hunting in Northamptonshire/^

Thus, over their coffee and muffins, chatted two average specimens of our rising generation in a small lodging at Doncaster, on the morning preceding that which was to witness the great race of the North.

Our hero, Dayrell, was now about twenty-five years of age, of good family, prepossessing manners, and, as the ladies would say, decidedly good-looking. At an early age he had been sent to a public school, where he had shone as a leader at foot-ball, cricket, and other games — a fact that tended to exalt him much in the good opinion of the boys, but considerably disgusted the head-master, who only tolerated, but by no means loved, such unacademical amusements. His talents were above the average — another fact that rendered other backslidings doubly disturbing to his worthy pedagogue ; and when he did occasionally put his shoulder to the wheel of learning, and send up a copy of verses or Latin prose worthy even of the notice of the Hertford examiners, his plodding companions had good reason for thinking that he would have been a dangerous rival in the race for honours. His tutor thus graphically summed up his character: "He was a good fellow, with plenty of talent, but ruined by his love of field sports." So on making his bow to the public school, his prizes were not the gift of his master, but of his companionsj who testified by a shower of leaving books how deeply they regretted the loss of their cricket captain.

Alma Mater, to whose nursing he was soon afterwards confided, was (and, perhaps, is still) a dangerous mother for such a character as Dayrell. Untrammelled by the wholesome fear of a father, who died when Dayrell was yet a boy, and supplied with more money than most other men of his college, he did not find his own level, but took a position above his less fortunate compeers. Hence he was quite an oracle to the men of his year, and an object of "attention" to those townsmen of the universit}', who quietly prey upon open-handed youth at the same time that they pander to their tastes. No wonder that Dayrell soon saw more of the interior economy of the old Berkshire kennels than the b2 inside of the musty lecture-room, and thought the chances of the favourite for the ensuing Derby more worthy his attention than an Aristotleian theory or a problem in Euclid. In fact, his idle habits grew upon him to such an extent, that it is difficult to imagine how he scrambled through his Little-go. Some people did affirm, that when he wanted the figure for an Euclidian definition, so kindly set before him by the examiners, he solved the difficulty by tossing : —heads, a parallelogram — tails, a triangle ; and that, acting on the result obtained by that original process, he selected the right framework for his proposition. That he escaped rustication was partly owing to his sedulous attendance at chapel — the performance of which duty covers a multitude of sins in the opinion of the authorities — and partly to vague hopes of the Master, that his clever scapegrace might yet do something for the honour of his college. Dayrell did not fulfil any such anticipations. He certainly never was plucked, though how he obtained his degree was a greater mystery than his passage of the pons asinorum. The " threefold" torture now in vogue was, luckily for Dayrell, not invented in his day.

At the age of twenty- one our hero left the University, and took up his quarters in London, where a larger field was open to his talent for readily calculating the odds, and obtaining a practical acquaintance with the doctrine of chances — a more necessary accomplishment on the Turf than any knowledge of the condition or capabilities of the horses themselves. Here also he earned his soubriquet of "Wild," not because he was guilty of excesses, such as the epithet might seem to imply ; on the contrary, he was rather a quiet man, and bet more for the eclat of the thing than from love of money ; but simply from the lucky hit he made when the animal of that name won the principal race of the year. His success for three seasons was unparalleled. "Lucky Dayrell" was in everybody's mouth as the rising guide to fortune. Whatever " Lucky Dayrell " did, should, they said, be implicitly followed. If the gentlemen lost by the defeat of the favourite, it was soon bruited about that Dayrell had laid against him, and had reserved the actual winner to carry him through triumphant. If backers of horses, suspicion's and afraid of the intentions of an owner, held aloof from investing on some good public performer, Dayrell appeared in the market, took the odds heavily from some of the ring, and, when the event was over, simply remarked to his chagrined friends, " I told you how it would be." Altogether our hero, in spite of what sagacious old stagers said, was considered to be the b3 man who had at last cut the Gordian knot^ and discovered the short and certain road to wealth.

The tide^ however, turned at last ; Fortune, weary of her favourite, had been very unkind during the last six months. The results of every great race had been disastrous, and even in those of smaller consequence, where his luck had hitherto been proverbial, his calculations were completely upset. The present St. Leger was to make or mar him. In the former case he had determined to quit the Turf, and take to some less perilous pursuit; for the latter emergency he was not equally prepared, although he clung to the delusive hope that he could still enter upon some plodding path of life, which might offer him a competence, if not steadily lead him on to fortune. Many like him have been led away by the same will-o'-the-wisp, in fancying that, without years of probation and a formed character, they could be received into those professions for which other men qualify by a long course of preparation and study.

Dayrell, although he attended the first day's racing at Doncaster, took but little interest in the proceedings, albeit a goodly show of jockeys answered to the starter's summons, and the decisions of the judge were received with the customary enthusiasm by winners, and ill-concealed regret by the losers. He regarded it, as we should the tuning of the instruments that preface the grand efforts of the band at an opera — a kind of prelude and foil to the all-absorbing event of the following day. When he felt the morrow would see him " aut Ccesar aut nullus,'' he had no inclination for winning or losing a few pounds, which could make but little diiference in the balance that was to be in his favour or the reverse. So he spent his time in loitering near the ring, where stentorian voices proclaimed their willingness to lay against anything, from the favourite to the most hopeless outsider, and persuaded himself, from many investments made, that his horse still basked in the sunshine of popular favour.

That night there was a mighty gathering in ^' the rooms,^* devoted for the nonce to speculators in racing, and devotees of Mammon in yet more exciting games of chance. Thither had flocked the habitues of the Turf, the gentlemen just returned from the moors, the representatives of the army, and all the mixed assemblage that nobody knows anything about, but who are sure to be present on the evening before the St. Leger. There were the betting men in full evening costume, as though they had just left the most recherche dinners instead of their quiet " chop or steak feed " at the Salutation,

B 4s gliding about the room, book in hand, and plying their trade with untiring energy. Knots of men would suddenly congregate round some well-known speculator, listen eagerly to his offers^ as if they could thus fathom his secrets, and would as quickly disperse to form again elsewhere. At intervals might be seen a well-known character, dressed like the most dapper of linen-draper's assistants, who moved from one circle to another, and invested largely against Sellington, wherever a chance backer could be found. Dayrell recognised him as the agent of a magnate of the ring, and knew the commission looked ominous, when he offered 6,000 to 4,000 against the favourite, and met with no response.

No other explanation could be given for Dayrell being so obstinate as not to take a hint like this. Even Andrews, whose business it is to take subscriptions, and see that improper persons do not enter the subscription-room, said to him, winking at the same time, " A deaf man could understand that. Poor Sellington, he is dead to-night; I suppose we shall have his funeral to-morrow."

Like a troubled spirit, Dayrell left the large room, and went to one of the smaller, where were roulette tables covered with sovereigns, which moustachioed gentlemen picked up and relinquished with a nonchalance which savoured strongly of co-operation with the proprietor. But this game was unpopular, so he went up-stairs to the two tables, where the oftrepeated "Make your sets/' and "The main will be," had collected a double row of players. But he did not join them. His mind was pre-occupied. He was not even enticed by the plethoric, gouty-toed Norris, who, with his hands in his pockets, and shaking his head, repeated his old, old story : " The bank, sir, has been nearly ruined to-night by the good luck of the gentlemen ; only five minutes ago Mr. Digwell threw eleven mains."

Restless and disgusted with the scene, Dayrell left the rooms and passed through the mob that thronged the entrance, and the knots of idlers who, regardless of the drizzling rain, conversed on the pavement, or the middle of the street, or wherever they could find standing-room, in their anxiety to pick up information that might be turned into gold on the morrow. He returned to his room, whither the hum of voices from the centre of operations still followed him, and whose interior was rendered more gloomy by the sickly light that came from the gas-lights in the street below. Let us pass over the wearisome night. We have none of us reason to envy the state of the speculator's mind when awake, or the tossings and unquiet rest, when fitful slumbers at length fall to his share.

At the first break of day, Dayrell was aroused by the roll of vehicles and the clamp of feet, betokening the arrival of fresh patrons of the great northern carnival. It was a foggy morning, and from his window he contemplated the living stream that passed below. Here a party of stout graziers, with greasy Macintosh coats on their arms, and their pockets bulging with substantial luncheons, making the best of their way to their customary halting-places. On their heels followed jolly-looking farmers, breeders of short horns, tradesmen, and Yorkshiremen of every grade ; some speculating, in their broad dialect, on the result of the race, others laughing and joking, as true holiday-makers should. In the square opposite Dayrell saw the stall of the old game-vendor, sole occupant of that area, who, sticking his hands cabman-fashion against his sides to promote circulation of the blood, looked out for customers among the better-dressed, or cracked jokes with his poorer brethren. Looming through the mist, and suspended by the lower mandible, hung the spectral corpses of four grouse, changed, indeed, in appearance since they saluted the rising sun with the proud gestures and shrill crow of their species. Tell us, Mr. Gamedealer, what superstition inclines you to the mystic number four? Why have we never seen more or less in your stall on any of our visits to Doncaster ? Tell us, are they dummies, or are they the ghosts of their unfortunate predecessors ?

Dayrell hastily dressed himself, and, as his custom was, started for the course on foot to see the sheeted strings take their morning canters. Bent on the same errand, a sprinkling of gentlemen, snugly wrapped in coats and comforters, had already made their appearance ; as well as a legion of touts, who occasionally made frantic rushes towards the rails when the horses cantered by, in the hope of gathering information for their credulous employers. Gentlemen sportsmen, as the card-sellers call you, you are not likely to realize much benefit from your early attendance. Any conclusions that you amateurs may form from what you see of the horses at exercise will probably result in delusion and loss. Few of you know one horse from another, swathed as they are from head to knee in their thick clothing. Like an opera-girl reft of her spangles and paint, and removed from the foot-lights, the animal, that you attempt to recognise this morning, is very different to the gleaming satin-coated thorough-bred that you remember to have seen stretched in a preliminary canter on some other race-course. Granted that you know the horses apart, and that you are good judges of action and style of " going ;." whatever new ideas might be grafted on your germinating mind will bear no fruit ; for, alas, your opinions have been already formed, and certain figures are even now entered in your " little book," which will inevitably warp your better judgment. If you only congregate here this morning pour passer le temps, well and good : the fresh air of Doncaster Moor is as healthful and invigorating as that of the mountains you have so lately quitted.

" Good morning. Captain." Each new comer was a captain with the individual who now addressed Dayrell, as he leaned on the rails of the course. The intruder on his meditations was one of those Bedouins of the Turf, who are always on the watch to earn half-a-crown, honestly if possible, but at all events to make it somehow.

" Si possint recte, si non "

He was known to the world by the soubriquet of ^^ Scrapings," and report said that he " lived by his wits ; " but as he had by no means a superabundance of that commodity, it would have been nearer the truth to say that he throve on his consummate impudence. His character may be easily guessed, from the answer of a wag who, when asked where Scrapings was likely to be found, replied, " If he is not borrowing a stilling, picking a pocket, or fighting, you may be certain to find him in the nearest horsepond, being ducked for some piece of rascality." Scrapings, however, had lately had a turn of luck; and, presuming on a new coat, and the possession of a little ready money, had approached Dayrell, and accosted him.

" Good morning. Captain," said he ; "I beg pardon, but they do say that you are backing the favourite for this race. Now, I tell you he canH win — no how."

" Why, what on earth," exclaimed Dayrell, " can you know about it, you who never told me anything by which I could make a sixpence ? "

''Don't be too hard upon us. Captain; you've given me many half-crowns when I've been out at elbows, and 1^11 just tell you how it is: I've been talking to the lad who exercises Sellington every day, and has ridden him this last eighteen months, and he says as how he does not go free-like in his gallops, and how he seems quite a difi'erent horse to what he was before he won the Derby. Just take my advice this once ; it is all true that I am telling you. Thank'ee, Captain," continued Scrapings, pocketing the douceur tendered him by Dayrell ; and holding up his finger, as if in warning, " Don^t forget ; the favourite will not win."

The sun had cleared away the morning mist, and now shone brightly on the thousands thronging every part of the Doncaster race-course. Ding-dong, ding-dong, from the top of the stand rang the great bell, that never seemed to cease uttering its warning notes, save when the horses were actually engaged in the strife for victory. Ding-dong, ding-dong ; clear and loud it pealed above the hubbub of the betting-ring, the jargon of would-be judges of horse-flesh, the persuasive vociferation of those who proflPered the odds, as well as of the thousands of less agitated spectators congregated in the wide area near the Grand Stand. Ding-dong, ding-dong ; it was heard above the stentorian voices and trumpets of booth-proprietors, the shouts of vendors of correct cards, the drums of the juggler- troops, the bones and banjoes of soi-disant Ethiopian melodists, and all the motley herd that strove so incessantly to relieve the visitors of their superfluous cash. Ding-dong, ding-dong ; it drowned the hum of voices proceeding from the crowds of admirers that followed the sheeted quadrupeds, as they were led up the course to be saddled for the part they were to play in the coming struggle.

The various scenes in the Turf drama that precede every great race were duly enacted. Formed under their inspector's eye, a solid phalanx of policemen advanced, to clear gently, but efi'ectively, the long green lane of the gaping multitude. The elastic thoroughbreds were divested of their clothing; the jockey boys, those precocious nondescripts, were hoisted into their tiny saddles. In twos and threes they cantered up the course, ere long returning past the stand at a pace equalling in severity that for the actual race itself. Individuals, who had been separated from their friends, made a rush for the opposite side, pursued by an indignant policeman, fiercely wielding his truncheon, but whose efforts to catch the offender were generally ineffectual, and provoked a burst of laughter from the good-humoured lookers-on. That time-honoured institution, the inevitable dog, was turned out, and, hooted by a thousand voices, rushed hither and thither in frantic haste, to disappear no one knew where, though " Surtees" has attempted to follow his vagaries. The last loiterer — I think the great Mr. Toole, of trowser-making celebrity — has been let into the Stand; the gates are closed, the course is cleared, and even the monotonous bell has stilled its warning notes.

All the horses have taken their preliminary canters, the last to pass the Stand being the favourite; he was, of course, the cynosure of a thousand eyes. Good judges saw with suspicion symptoms of lathering and hurried training; more than one sage old lover of horse-flesh shook his head ominously, and pronounced an adverse verdict. The occupants of the ring became quiet, and adjusted their glasses, or listened to the prattle of adventurous souls, who, by their comrades^ help, had mounted the rails of the betting circle, and thus commanded a more extensive view. Dayrell nervously watched the line formed by the sixteen competitors, as they were led up to the post by the skilful, but nonchalant, Hibburd, and his heart beat high, when the flag dropped, and a somewhat straggling start was effected. No reason, however, had he for complaint. Sellington was one of the lucky horses, and in the front rank — a position that his jockey maintained, but did not injure by attempting to force the pace. Hound the hill they sailed, and, as the pace improved, the tail of beaten horses became longer, and the shouts of the backers of the different favourites were redoubled. Down the incline they rattled, a cloud of dust forming as background for the display of the advancing wall of parti-coloured jackets. The shouts soon merged into a roar, till, at the distance post, Sellington was evidently in trouble; his jockey^s ari^s and legs were at work : and " The favourite's beat," was reechoed by a hundred throats. Past the Stand they rushed like a whirlwind; the three leading horses cleared the winning post, and the hubbub ceased;

for no one, but the judge, could tell who had won. This breathless suspense, however, was but for a second; the number of the winner upon the telegraph was the signal for half a dozen hats to fly into the air, and for a general rush to the exit from the stand, when all was over, save the exuberant joy of the Yorkshire lads, who thronging round their pet, as he returned to scale, shouted at the top of their voices, " Now, boys, one cheer more. Malton, Malton, for ever."

With an almost insupportable load at his heart, Dayrell threaded his way through the ground sacred to stick-throwers, proprietors of gorgeous aunt Sallys, exhibitors of the noble game of prick the garter, and, heedless of all invitations to try his luck, made his way to a carriage drawn up on the opposite side of the course. Here he found his friends, elated, or depressed, as they^happened to have won or lost, and listened apathetically to the stories, already passed from one to another, accounting for the defeat of the favourite, many of them as incredible as they were false. That cunning reader of physiognomies, the tall, sun-burnt, gipsey Ellen, guessed what had happened from simply seeing Dayrell's dejected air, and wisely forbore to ask for her accustomed present. That quiet, respectably-dressed individual yonder, whom the London club waiters designated " Mr.

Dayrell's agent" (meaning touter), prudently stood aloof and waited for a more convenient moment to offer consolation and to borrow a fiver. Even that short man with the red face and black whiskers, Mr. Wiley's assistant, took the hint, and did not present his card of invitation for an afternoon visit to what he called " his place for a little amusement."

Dayrell must indeed have been hopelessly out of sorts, otherwise he would have been amused with the new manoeuvre for raising money that Scrapings was practising upon the occupant of a neighbouring carriage. This worthy, in making his rounds, had spied a pale-faced, mild-looking young man of five and twenty, who held the responsible situation of trusty clerk to the famous house of Silvercorn and Co. He sat on the box of the family four-wheel, and detailed to his mother and sisters some particulars respecting the horses and their riders. The scoundrel marked him as a victim, and sidehng up with a wink and a leer, exclaimed,

"Ah, Captain, here we are again. You don't forget your old pal, I see. You'll give him something for the sake of old times."

" Go away, man," said Paleface ; " I don't know you."

" How can you say that, Captain ? " said Scrapings, in a louder key; "have you forgotten our good luck at Hampton and Chesterfield, and how you gave me a sovereign and said, * Scrapings, if ever you want a trifle, come to me?^ "

"Go away, man," reiterated Paleface, his complexion changing rapidly from white to red, for he had been to Hampton races unknown to his family, who thought at the time that he was paying a visit to an old schoolfellow in the country.

" What ! have forgotten, Captain," continued Scrapings, "the fifty half-crowns we won at roulette, and how, after the races, you and 1, and the la — "

Down dropped poor Paleface from his perch, and rushed across the course to speak to a friend (as he said afterwards), in a state of hopeless horror at the advent of so terrible a dream; and before he hid his head again in the family carriage, he had made a three-mile circuit round the course.

In the good old days when noblemen and gentlemen attended races in greater numbers than at present, the wholesome practice of settling debts of honour on the morning after they were incurred was rigidly adhered to. Then, if Major McSwindle or Captain O'Tryon did not put in an appearance and liquidate their heavy liabilities, the usual penalties were inflicted on them as defaulters, viz. — they were prevented from entering the Grand c2

Stand, and perhaps compelled to leave the town by the importunate demands of their creditors. Hence the beautiful allegory, oft quoted by the veterans of the ring, that describes an insolvent gentleman, the morning after the race, as having been seen crossing London Bridge — his only luggage a carpet-bag, his face set towards the Continent. Mais nous avons change tout cela, much to the disgust of the legitimate speculator. By tacit agreement the settling hour is postponed, and bills do not fall due till the next gathering at Tatter sails. A few sanguine individuals, however, still cling to the old system, attend early in the subscription-room, produce their books, and by make-believe settling try to induce a tyro at least to part with his cash; but their efforts are unavailing. They may look hungry, and expect, but their debtors know better than to come and be bled. The pleasure and grief connected with paying and receiving must stand adjourned till the following Monday. Of this new system unprincipled adventurers, who have lost quite as much as they can pay, if not more, take unfair advantage; they know thej^ cannot be in a worse position than they are at present, and so make fresh bets, with a view of recovering the whole of their previous losses.

But Dayrell, now that the great event had come off against him, laid down his book and pencil, and thought only how best he might satisfy his numerous creditors. This was not an easy matter, seeing that a ring-man loves deeds better than words. He owed some small sums. Such creditors are inclined to be troublesome and clamorous, so they were paid at once. Luckily he found those to whom he owed most in a good humour, being large winners on the race. They did not object to a piece of stamped paper, a promise to pay at some not-farremoved future. As to interest — "A trifle like that, Mr. Dayrell would not refuse," they said ; and the trifle, which turned out to be sixty-five per cent., was accordingly added to the amount. "Well," thought Dayrell, as he handed the last bill to the plethoric Norris, " there ^s the end of my folly; it did not require a prophet to tell the result of my betting. What is the use of blaming myself for not backing Scott^s horse, or the Field, when the real question I have to ask myself is. Why did T bet at all? Does not common sense tell me that every gentleman in the long run must lose ? Has cleverness, age, or brains ever been able to cope with chicanery and unfair odds ? How is it possible to win without associating with people below one's station, without departing from the honourable principles that govern gentlemen ; without c3

Sacrificing health, heart, and every moment of one*s time to that abomination — the betting-book ? "

"No, thank you, Pavis," said Dayrell to the leviathan speculator, of the eagle eye and unimpeachable integrity, who proffered a bet in tens, ponies, or hundreds.

" Will you do anything ? " enquires the sprightly Spleen, and stands aghast at hearing Dayrell say he intends to give up betting ; then he slinks back into the crowd, concluding that Mr. D. has either no more money to lose, or that he will change his mind next week.

"You may have the favourite against the field,^' says Bunt on, the grey-headed layer of short odds, the soi-disant commissioner of a marquis, and ever on the heels of speculative youth. " You must win of me," he adds ; " I am so unlucky this meeting. I have only won 15/. on the week's balance " — an announcement that did not, it is needless to add, induce our hero to change his mind.

The races are over; the Doncaster of 185 — is numbered with the things that have been. Noblemen, gentlemen, — " patrons of the national pastime," the newspapers call them, — hangers on to the Turf, ringmen, and the indescribable 6t ttoXXoI of the race-course, hurry to the railway station, just as anxious to quit the old Yorkshire town, as they were to come. Dayrell is amongst the number who await the express-train. Ten minutes may elapse before it arrives ; not an instant must be lost. Although the Leger is over — nay, well nigh forgotten, is there not a great handicap at Newmarket in a fortnight? On this the layers are occupied; they are offering the same odds nearly as yesterday, the names of other horses only being substituted. They never cease, never rest. The more the races, the merrier for them, for they know they must win in the long run. Hence with careless indifference they count up their losses, should they extend over a month, or even six months. Their turn must come ; it is only a question of time and industry. The train arrives; they shut up their books, and take their places. But speculation is only scotched, not killed. A dozen boards are dragged from their hiding places by the railway guards : between this and London the ringman will not lift his eyes from the cards dealt him at whist.