Prevalence of wagering in the eighteenth century--Riding a horse backwards--Lord Orford's eccentric bet--Travelling piquet--The building of Bagatelle--Matches against time--"Old Q." and his chaise match--Buck Whalley's journey to Jerusalem--Buck English--Irish sportsmen--Jumping the wall of Hyde Park in 1792--Undressing in the water--Colonel Thornton--A cruel wager--Walking on stilts--A wonderful leap--Eccentric wagers--Lloyd's walking match--Squire Osbaldiston's ride--Captain Barclay--Jim Selby's drive--Mr. Bulpett's remarkable feats. In the eighteenth century the bloods of the day bet on anything and everything. A well-known spendthrift, for instance, made a practice of backing one raindrop to roll down a window quicker than another--a practice which gave rise to the following lines:-- The bucks had dined, and deep in council sat, Their wine was brilliant, but their wit grew flat: Up starts his Lordship, to the window flies, And lo! "A race!--a race!" in rapture cries; "Where?" quoth Sir John. "Why, see the drops of rain Start from the summit of the crystal pane-- A thousand pounds! which drop with nimblest force, Performs its current down the slippery course!" The bets were fix'd--in dire suspense they wait For vict'ry pendent on the nod of fate. Now down the sash, unconscious of the prize, The bubbles roll--like pearls from Chloe's eyes, But ah! the glittering charms of life are short! How oft two jostling steeds have spoiled the sport. Lo! thus attraction, by coercive laws, Th' approaching drops into one bubble draws-- Each curs'd his fate, that thus their project cross'd; How hard their lot, who neither won nor lost! Besides the huge sums which were lost at games (in 1793, £22,000 changed hands in a single day between two players at some billiard-rooms in St. James's Street), a great deal of money was frittered away in matches of an eccentric kind. In 1722, for instance, a number of young men subscribed for a piece of plate, which was run for in Tyburn Road by six asses, ridden by chimney-sweepers. Two boys rode two asses on Hampstead Heath for a wooden spoon, attended by above five hundred persons on horse-back. Women running for Holland smocks was not uncommon; and a match was even projected for a race between women, to be dressed in hooped petticoats. Considerable sums of money are said to have changed hands over these events, whilst a wager of £1000 depended on a match between the Earl of Lichfield and Mr. Gage that the latter's chaise and pair should outrun the Earl's chariot and four. The ground was from Tyburn to Hayes, and Mr. Gage lost through some accident.