many
irregular ones as well; and, under the management of "Old Matt," the
huntsman, with the stentorian voice, whose holloa could be heard at
Therfield by persons in Royston, the chase excited no little interest
and excitement. Thriplow Heath was also a favourite place of meeting
for Squire Wortham's harriers, and, among the many horsemen who
followed the pack, a notable figure was that of Sir Peter Soame, of
Heydon.

[Illustration: THE HUNT BREAKFAST.]

Sir Peter was a dark, handsome man, of great muscular power and
activity. It was commonly said that he could plant a dozen hurdles
only a yard apart and clear them one at a time. As a horseman he had
few equals, and was famous for the condition of his horses, which were
the best turned out in the hunting field, and Sir Peter himself made a
notable figure in his skin-fit leather breeches. It was the fashion
then {132} to wear the hunting breeches so tight that it would have
been impossible to get into them but for the expedient of hanging them
in the cellar or some damp place overnight! Even then, to put them on
was no child's play, and Sir Peter, it is said, used to put his on by
sliding down the bannister! In this way he got into garments which
fitted him like a second skin, and, regardless of the dampness of them,
rode out in the pink of condition, on the best horse in the district!
Unless reports did him injustice, the sporting baronet was devotedly
attached to the bottle, and more than once came to grief when driving
his pony home from Cambridge, when he would be picked up by one of the
"fly" wagons and given a lift to the Black Horse at Fowlmere. Of Sir
Peter in other sporting aspects more will be said presently.

The Heath appears to have been associated with other forms of sport,
from the following lines taken from a local poet, to whose picturesque
descriptions and facile handling of the heroic measure, I must be
indebted in this chapter. I refer to a book entitled "Visions of
Childhood," by W. Warren Butler, of Barkway, printed and published by
John Warren in 1843. Of one questionable form of sport on the Heath,
he writes--

Here on this very spot, here have I seen
Such bloody deeds performed upon the ground;
And men have search'd the secret coverts round,
Where ev'ry harmless rabbit could be found.
* * * * * *
The innocent collection in a sack,
Are carelessly slung round their murd'rer's back
And o