Page:Lancashire Legends, Traditions, Pageants, Sports, Etc., with an Appendix Containing a Rare Tract.djvu/201

 excluded. Of these unfortunates, some turn listlessly homewards, while others, more persevering, gather in groups along the bank of the stream, and select a place for fording. The youngsters then strip, and fasten their bundled apparel upon their heads; the men turn up their trousers, slinging their shoes and stockings over their shoulders; thus prepared, they enter the water, some crossing with comparative ease, but others, on dropping a cap or swimming a stocking, or sinking deeper than they expected, lose heart and return, to the infinite amusement of those on the winning side. After the river, the suspension bridge that spans it is the chief point of interest. Several times have I curiously examined the mechanism of this structure, since 1831, in which year it betrayed forty or fifty marching soldiers, treating them to a plunge-bath in the stream beneath when they least expected or desired such a visitation. Though several of these involuntary bathers were severely injured, no one was drowned or killed. The first race on the new course [in May 1847], for the Wilton Stakes, ended in a dead heat; which tie was considered a favourable omen. On account of the Art Treasures Exhibition there were four days' races in 1857. During the race for the "Exhibition Stakes" a serious accident occurred. Josephine, one of the competing horses, fell at the back of the course, through catching her leg against the rails, and her boy-rider, Johnson, fell under her. Upon the filly rising from the ground, the jockey was conveyed to the grand stand, where it was seen that his collar-bone was broken. In the races of 1861, a wild, unmanageable horse, named North Lancashire, ran on the rails, and threw over his rider. Motley, who received a fracture of the right leg. While galloping riderless along the course, the horse knocked down a boy, inflicting a severe