School-life at Winchester College : $b or, the reminiscences of a Winchester junior under the old régime, 1835-40.Mansfield, Robert Blachford
History
School-life at Winchester College : $b or, the reminiscences of a Winchester junior under the old régime, 1835-40.
Mansfield, Robert Blachford
Students -- England -- Winchester; Winchester College -- History
This was not our last interview with this gentleman, but on the second
occasion our intentions were innocent; we were walking through this same
plantation, without guns, or any notion of game, when we espied a hare
lying dead under a tree; on closer inspection it proved to be caught in
a wire; we held an inquest on the body, and the unanimous opinion being
that a _post-mortem_ examination was necessary, and that that would more
conveniently be entered upon at home, it was forthwith tucked up in one
of our gowns; but, lo! scarcely had this been accomplished when, in the
tree immediately above that under which the corpse had been lying, we
heard a cracking of twigs, and before we could fully realise the state of
things, our friend without a palate lay on his back in the midst of us.
As he had heard all the particulars of the inquest, he must have known
that we were not the murderers, but on our representing this to him, he
very sagely remarked, that he had been up in the tree for six hours,
and that he was quite contented with having secured us, and had not the
slightest intention of mounting guard again for the chance of discovering
the real offenders. We had a long argument with him, but he failed to see
the thing in the proper light, and we with some difficulty succeeded in
compromising the affair for a half-sovereign.
Popjoy was not contented with a little poaching in the shooting line, but
used also occasionally to indulge his fishing propensities without going
through the preliminary form of requesting leave. He one day had recourse
to a stratagem to indulge in his favourite pursuit that for brazen
impudence beats anything of the kind I ever heard of. He drove over to
Avington, and commenced fishing in the Duke of Buckingham’s best water.
Of course he hadn’t been there half an hour before the keeper appeared,
saying—
“You mustn’t fish here, sir.”
_Popjoy._ “I have the Duke’s leave; please stand back, you disturb the
fish.”
_K._ “What’s your name.”
_P._ “Popjoy.”
_K._ “Don’t know that name, and you must be off.”
“Wont you believe the Duke’s own handwriting,” rejoined the undaunted
Popjoy, handing him a letter received that morning from his affectionate
mamma.
The keeper twisted the mysterious document about in his hands for a
little, and returned it to the owner with a grunt. Popjoy then proceeded
to extract from him all possible information about flies, the haunts of
the fish, &c., &c., and had a particularly good day’s sport.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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