THE PIGSKINS IN FOREIGN LANDS.

СНАР. І.

PIGGY'S YOUNGER DAYS.

Some of the sayings and doings of Captain Pigskin, the elder, the illustrious father of this our own Piggy, the younger-though, by-thebye, he is now well nigh fifty years of age-were, if I recollect aright, many years since brought to the notice of the public, under the title of Pigskin's Sporting Career;" or, "The Sports and Pleasures of Captain Pigskin," of Heatherbank Hall, N.B., in Maga.

As was his worthy sire, so is the son, a first-rate sportsman, in his own opinion at least, if not precisely so in that of his many friends, among whom he is decidedly popular; moreover, in his youthful days, when he stood 9st 6lb. in his boots, with the power, after a few severe walks in flannel, of getting himself down several pounds, he has been known to win many a flat race, at least so he asserts. Be it so, it is neither courteous nor just to contradict the assertion of any man, certainly not so good a neighbour as Piggy the younger may most justly be considered.

Practically, were I put into a witness-box, I should boldly assert, he was neither a good shot nor a good rider; nevertheless, he is a thorough sportsman at heart, who revels in country pursuits, and loves his neighbour as himself; in fact, he is generous, hospitable, a true-hearted friend, a good husband, and an honest gentleman. What can I say more?

Our Piggy, thus briefly described, glories in the position of only son to a Scottish Lowland laird, who possessed a tract of land, of moderate rental, say fifteen hundred per annum; but fifteen hundred per annum to a Lowland laird, when Piggy was in his teens, might fairly be counted a valuable inheritance. Considering that his good mother died after bringing him into the world, and all his early years were spent with an indulgent father, whose life was passed in sporting and agricultural pursuits, giving and receiving hospitably from his immediate neighbours, with an occasional visit to the south, for the Derby and Ascot, it may reasonably be conceived that our hero did not gain much knowledge of the world beyond the limits of his heathered home. Thus, from his boyhood, otter-hunting, salmon-fishing, and all field sports became a passion, out-door life in fact, with little of in-door learning.

At length, however, the interference of a kind friend induced Piggy the elder to listen to reason, and send his precious boy to school, where he might have learnt much, for he was by no means without quickness; but what he gained there was lost during his holidays, when books were cast to the wind, and fishing-tackle, guns, and ponies came into request; add to which a word to Dad, who always dreaded his boy's absence, secured a week if not a fortnight over the time of returning to school.

In due time, however, he was sent to Harrow, where during two

years, the association of boys at his own age brushed away, in a great measure, the rough, though amiable manners of the young Lowlanders; and ere he left Piggy, became the friend of many whose worldly position and education far exceeded his own. Not that he was of a bad stock, far from it; and I do not say it unkindly when I add that I scarcely ever heard of a Scotchman who was not of a good breed in his own idea-at all events that of Piggy was as good as many who declare their ancestors came over with William the Conqueror, the honour of which ancestry is a riddle to one of a pure Saxon blood.

On one occasion when Piggy the elder, according to his wonted delight, went to the Derby, he then and there met with an old friend, the member for his county, when, after mutual greetings-for Piggy senior was a popular man-the following conversation took place :"What do you intend to do with that fine lad of yours?"

"Do with him?" replied Piggy, "why endeavour to bring him up as an honest man, and a good sportsman. After me he has all that I have, quite sufficient to keep him as a gentleman, and something to

"Admitted," responded the M.P.; "but surely you do not intend him to pass his life shooting grouse in the autumn, fishing in the summer, and hunting away the winter."

Well, not precisely; and yet he might do worse; his disposition is most amiable, and I never found him untruthful."

"Fine qualities, very fine!" said the member, "desirable in every class of life. Still, a lad like young Piggy, who will hereafter belong, as it were, to the county, requires a little worldly tact and experiencecall them polish and manly bearing if you will-and a run to the Continent with my boy and a decent tutor will expand his mind, and make a man of him."

Now, at the period of which I write, a Lowland laird, who had scarcely ever been beyond London-aye, and many an English lord, however unjustly looked on our gallant neighbours, beyond the white cliffs of Albion, as utterly ignorant of all fine qualities.

Italians and Spaniards were simply brigands, Germans beer-drinking louts, Polish counts swindlers, and the rest of Europe more or less savages, and the idea of his beloved Piggy boy learning any virtue on the Continent was repugnant to the elder Piggy's feelings. Nevertheless, he was not the man to be led away by his own feelings, or hasty in his decisions; and so he replied, "your suggestion is most kind, and I will give it my best consideration. There is no one I should like my boy to be on terms of friendship better than with your son, and I will think over it well."

"Think over it! Yes; you will think over it till you determine not to part with the lad. But the horses are about to start, so let us see the

race.

When the Elder Piggy recrossed the Scottish border, and calmly viewed the matter, after a considerable delay and many a severe struggle, he at length agreed that little Piggy, young McGregor, and an Oxford B.A. should go forth on their travels; meanwhile I cannot say precisely whether the B.A. was of the High or Low church. People were content when Piggy was a lad to serve God without the slightest qon

sideration of dress or priestly adornment, if the heart was in the right place they were satisfied; and so one fine morning, of early summertime, when salmon and trout-fishing were in full swing, the two lads and the B.A. started on their travels, with feelings somewhat akin to being transported across the seas, for which of their sins they knew not, while Daddy Pig returned to his solitary domicile, and, 'tis said, shed a manly tear and drank an extra glass of "toddy-with."

Their continental travels, however, were of no long duration, probably six months, during which time the lads were expected to learn French, dance probably a cotillion, and receive no end of foreign polish. I must now refer to the journal of their worthy tutor, lent me in order to continue this history. He speaks like a man, and evidently was an amiable B.A.; however, I fancy he must have been a sportsman, in as much as instead of the custom of the present day when saints, unknown to the world at large, turn up afresh each sabbath, I find he calls on his patron St. Hubert:

By St. Hubert, if our forefathers or even our respected parents were to rise from the dead, what different ideas they would have of human nature, and how utterly disgusted would they be at the idea of continental polish, gastronomy, or economy in the days we live!

Be it as it may, we started one-score-years-and-ten lang syne on our travels. My two young lairds were a wee bit down-home-sick if you will it and I own that, being somewhat peculiarly ignorant of foreign manners, I was not precisely elated. I had, however, a duty to perform, and the lads were good lads; aye, and merry lads as the world goes, but where we were going and how we were to get there were questions not so readily defined as in the days we live and smoke, and, in sorrow be it also said, of railway smashes. Meanwhile, their worthy Dads-a far better appellation than governor-had some idea the amiable B.A.—that is, your humble servant-they had selected was well up in European geography across the channel. I admit they did me an injustice; at all events I had studied the map of France, au reste" theory by practice soon becomes fact, and so I endeavoured to convince myself they were correct.

I will pass over the misery of crossing the channel in bad weather; it is wretched enough when fair, even in a good steamer. I therefore at once confess, from my birth upwards, having considered the sea very pleasant to look at and bathe in, as long as it produces turbots, soles, and lobsters, I would rather leave its enjoyments-such as I am told they are, though I confess never having discovered them-to mariners and yachtmen; in fact, were I a rich man, desiring to visit the Imperial city called Paris, I should proceed to Dover or Folkstone, take up my abode at the best hotel, order an appropriate little repast, imbibe a bottle of Burgundy, aud tell my servant to call me in time for the boat, provided the so-called glorious ocean was in a state of absolute calm. If not, why I should remain, read the papers, smoke my Havannah, eat fresh shrimps, and pass my day as agreeably as human nature ought to do having the means. Consider then, ye sportsmen, who live at home at case, the horrors of a stinking sailing packet, rough sea, and foul wind. The young lairds, fresh from broiled salmon, Finnon haddies, marmalade, and Scotch feeding, succumbed in ten minutes; while I, a "B.A.," am bound to confess that I soon

followed their example-my dignity was considerably over-balanced. By St. Hubert I never swear, but I should like to know where a man's dignity is when suffering from sea-sickness. I note that a rough sea is the only means of bringing a prince to the level of a chimney sweeper.

My friends, you are well aware time was, and that not lang syne, when express trains and steam boats were not, and no buffet, with hot cutlets and cold chicken to receive you, presented itself at Calais or Boulogne, unquestionably not the most lively towns of France, where now you pay half-a-crown for the wing of a half-starved fowl, and well nigh as much for a bad cup of tea; and I only wish I had some shares in those concerns. But in the year of our Lord, when I first landed on the Gallic shore with my youthful charges, knowing very little French, and in sad plight from the effect of the internal sufferings we had endured, these conveniences were not, and I believe if the truth was known we should have gladly returned forthwith in a balloon, or any other conveyance, not across the sea, that could possibly have conveyed us safe once more to Heatherbank Hall, N.B. Even now, after the lapse of so many years, I never think of that voyage of three or four hours, without feeling an inward all-overishness that literally subdues me for the day; and having on one occasion the temerity to allude to it to my dear friend and patron Piggy the younger, he replied, and his temper is generally of the best," B.A."-he calls me always B.A.-"the very thought of the sufferings I endured that evening is such that it takes away my appetite for a week." "Does it?" I replied, "I can assert that it did not take away your appetite for two hours. It must be the idea, my dear friend, the fact was proved beyond doubt at the hotel to which that very lazy-looking commissioner conducted us." Moreover, a sixteen-year-old stomach and spirit soon recovers itself, the weather cleared, and the novelty of the scene did much; but that which I well recollect did far more to renew our courage was the fact of our finding ourselves in a comfortable hotel, wherein, having refreshed ourselves by ablutions, we joined the party assembled at a really first-rate table d'hôte-three francs a-head, good and abundant wine included. This, however, recollect was in the era, when fine ladies were wont to call Birmingham" Brummagem," boiled mutton "biled mutton," and a plucky individual a "spunky man." "Such times are changed," says

the cat's-meat man.

Spite of these recent sufferings-I pass over my own, the recollection of which is too terrible to dwell on-Piggy the younger and his friend Mac set to at the eatables placed before them with a vigour which I have never seen surpassed; hitherto they had imagined, I take it, that Frenchmen lived on frogs, and Russians on lamp-oil; thus fillets and fricandeaux, delicacies hitherto scarcely known in the lowlands, were soon discussed; in fact, as at the wedding of Ballyowen "whole barons of beef were cut down, sir, demolished unto the back-bone."

The oft-told story of the man who entered a beef-shop in London at a shilling a head occurred to me, who, being a good feeder, and having demolished about half-a-crown's worth, expressed his satisfaction to the landlord in the following words:

"Your beef, sir, is excellent, regular cut and come again." On which he received the following reply:

"You may cut as much as you like, sir; but I am dcome again."

-d if you

If fancy the anticipation of our host as to profit out of our three francs a-head must have been cruelly disappointed; at least, matters are strangely altered in this the year 1869, when you pay treble and obtain half.

After this copious repast, washed down by a cup of good, clear, strong coffee, now rarely obtainable à chasse, of real cognac, equally unobtainable, and at which the lads smacked their lips, having secured the coupé of the diligence-we travelled by night, the better I conclude to see the uninteresting country-in due time, and a long time it was, reached that paradise to all Frenchmen called Paris.

Paris, as I have said, that paradise of any Frenchman, who having once been located there seldom desires to leave it, in the hour I write is no more like the Paris when we three rambled there than Piggy the present to Piggy the past; indeed, there are few of my acquaintances having means and being desirous of getting rid of those means without much trouble, but that will agree with me in admitting that for a brief season it is by no means an unpleasant abiding place; and although my young fellow travellers were utterly dissimilar in disposition and taste, save in the matter of sporting, they were nevertheless equally pleased with the novelty, while I blush not to admit that in those days of my early manhood, B.A. though I was, I judged both the chaussure as the general mise of the French grisettes far more seductive than at present, the gastronomical indulgences far superior, and all things, save fine buildings, draining, and general polish, infinitely more attractive and agreeable, to say nothing of the outlay.

Why, my dear friend, a gentleman with "dix milles livres de rente," as the French have it, or about £400 per annum, was then a millionaire, now he is simply a beggar. It may be that in the first thirty years of existence one scarcely takes cognizance of trifles, the world appears so cheerful one is less apt to find fault with the strength of one's coffee, or the toughness of a steak. Be it so as far as I am concerned, I feel far more pleasure in looking back to those days of early travel with Piggy and Mac than I should now experience if located on the fourth floor, of a "Grand Hotel," with little to contemplate at the "table d'hôte" save the gilding on the ceiling of the room in which the travelling world assemble, which so materially lightens the gilding of one's purse.

Piggy and Mac, I have already remarked, were totally different in character: the former had a bad habit of boldly speaking out everything that was on his mind; the latter, on the contrary, was more silent and reserved; nevertheless they were both amiable and warm-hearted lads. This candour, if I may so call it, on the part of Piggy on more than one occasion however got him into boyish scrapes, as even at "table d'hôtes" he bounced out the few words of French he soon picked up, and listened to the few he understood with no common keenness of observation, but utterly devoid of tact. Thus being one day placed at table next a somewhat fat and vulgar lady fresh from the provinces, who had helped herself to the last two cutlets in the dish, he boldly exclaimed to his companion:

"Mac, confound the old woman, no wonder she is so fat and greasy,