rricaded--the whole town looks plague-stricken. The
courtyard of the inn we stopped at was grown over with
weeds, and a mouthing idiot lolled against the corner of the
house, like the evil genius of the spot. Next to a prison or
a lunatic asylum, preserve me from living at Bowes!

Although he was anything but a sportsman, he was interested in the
subject of betting, from a mathematical standpoint solely, and in 1857
he sent a letter to _Bell's Life_, explaining a method by which a
betting man might ensure winning over any race. The system was either
to back _every_ horse, or to lay against _every_ horse,
according to the way the odds added up. He showed his scheme to a
sporting friend, who remarked, "An excellent system, and you're bound
to win--_if only you can get people to take your bets_."

In the same year he made the acquaintance of Tennyson, whose writings
he had long intensely admired. He thus describes the poet's
appearance:--

A strange shaggy-looking man; his hair, moustache, and beard
looked wild and neglected; these very much hid the character
of the face. He was dressed in a loosely fitting morning
coat, common grey flannel waistcoat and trousers, and a
carelessly tied black silk neckerchief. His hair is black; I
think the eyes too; they are keen and restless--nose
aquiline--forehead high and broad--both face and head are
fine and manly. His manner was kind and friendly from the
first; there is a dry lurking humour in his style of
talking.

I took the opportunity [he goes on to say] of asking the
meaning of two passages in his poems, which have always
puzzled me: one in "Maud"--

Strange that I hear two men
Somewhere talking of me;
Well, if it prove a girl, my boy
Will have plenty; so let it be.

He said it referred to Maud, and to the two fathers
arranging a match between himself and her.

The other was of the poet--

Dowered with the hate of hate, the scorn of scorn,
The love of love.

He said that he was quite willing it should bear any meaning
the words would fairly bear; to the best of his recollection
his meaning when he wrote it was "the hate of the quality
hate, &c.," but he thought the meaning of "the quintessence
of hatred" finer. He said there had never been a poem so
misunderstood by the "ninnies of critics" as "Maud."

[Illustratio