And whin we politely axed

That Lord High Admiral if he

Would lay his fleet at the conquerin' feet
Of our good ship "Anna Liffey,"

He did it, bedad, in a jiffey.

But wan tires in coorse av time

Av such scenes av sorraful strife;

So wid lashins av pinsion and hon'rable mintion
I widdrew into private life,

A Caylebs in search av a wife.

So all you rich young maids,

And widdies wid iligant farms,

Since I've freely tould what a haro bould
I'm proved by my deeds av arms,
Listen now to my paicable charms!

First I wakes meself up in de mornin'

Wid a cannon I brought from de East,
Den I kills half a cow for my break'ast,
Before milkin' de rest of de baste,
Lest de crayther should go to waste.

Next I washes de nourishment down
Wid spring wather mixed wid potheen,
Thin I sits my cabin on fire,

To ridden me ould dudheen,

But no matther-de thatch is green.

And dere isn't a weddin' at all,

A funeral or a fair,

Or any sort of fun and sport,

But me and de shtick is dere,
Impatient to have our share.

So all you heiresses dear,

For I've thought of de purtiest plan,

Come in sixes and sivens, and tins and ilivens
To your darlin' ould Connaught man,

And he'll marry yez all if he can.

ALFRED PERCEVAL GRAVES.

ON HORSEBACK.

BY A LADY.

IDING! What pages, nay, what volumes, have been written on the subject of that most delightful and invigorating of all modes of exercise, and with what result? One would suppose from the theories propounded, and from the number of persons of both sexes who have been induced, simply by reading articles treating of the horse and his rider, to try their skill in the noble art of horsemanship, that there was nothing left that could be said, and no further advice that could be offered, either to those who wish to learn, or to others who have already "graduated." But it is one thing to read, and quite another to understand and profit by what is read-to mark, learn, and inwardly digest the thoughts and meaning of the writer as conveyed by his words; and this more especially applies to all that has ever been written in regard to riding.

Practical experience has proved to me the difficulty of making pupils comprehend, in the spirit, simple instructions, even when they profess to understand the meaning of any technical expression made use of; and unless you can succeed in that respect the chances are very much against any satisfactory result being gained by the lessons given.

My remarks are intended to apply almost exclusively to the female sex, and I venture to assert that there is no more charming sight than a graceful woman sitting her horse with ease and confidence ; but a really good horsewoman, in the fullest acceptation of the term, is rare to find. I make this assertion with all due deference to the numbers who ride, and who ride well in the eyes of the multitude who are not over critical; but there is not one woman in fifty who knows what she is about; and it is not always the riders' own fault that they are so ignorant, it is chiefly the consequence of bad teaching. No man, and still less a woman, can expect to ride well unless he begins very young, and a girl has less chance than a boy of learning to ride properly, unless she has a mother, or other female relative, who, being herself a good rider, is also capable of imparting her own knowledge to her youthful pupil. The custom prevalent in many families, of the daughters being allowed to take lessons in riding either in a fashionable riding-school in London, o

at some watering place, is, in many respects, most objectionable, and, to say the least of it, is a waste of time and money, for a woman cannot learn to ride well by such means. A man who has good hands himself may teach a woman how to handle reins, and to humour her horse's mouth; but it is quite impossible for him to teach her how to sit in her saddle, from the simple fact that he cannot do it himself. A man is as much at sea in a side-saddle as a landsman would be if he were sent up to the mast-head without having learned in early youth how "to hold on by his eyelids!"

I am continually told that a side-saddle must hurt a horse's back unless the animal has long been accustomed to carry a lady; but there is no greater mistake than to suppose that to be a necessary consequence. If the saddle fits the horse, and the rider sits straight, there will be no more mark on the horse's back than from a man's saddle; but I candidly confess that these two points are not very easy to attain—firstly, because one seldom finds more than one sidesaddle, or at most two, in ordinary saddle-rooms, and they do not fit horses so easily as a man's saddle, and the second point can only be acquired by practice. The saddle must not only fit the horse properly, but it ought to suit the rider equally well; and this latter and most important point is in most cases completely ignored. I hold that for the rider to be comfortably seated goes a long way towards preventing the saddle from injuring the horse's back. When a saddler makes a side-saddle to order, he invariably wishes the lady to see it in progress at his shop, and to sit on it for him to judge of the position of the pommels; but in default of personal measurement, in sending a written order the lady should be very particular to describe her height, and whether she possesses long or short legs, for to be correct in this last respect is of great importance, as far as comfort in the saddle goes. If the rider has short legs, and is put into a long saddle, her right leg will not have a proper grasp of the centre pommel, and she will thereby feel less secure in her seat, besides being uncomfortable; and the same argument applies to long legs in a short saddle with even greater force. It is also most necessary that the third pommel should come exactly in the right place, for if it is placed too low it will press on the rider's leg, and it ought not to be felt unless it is wanted. Many persons advocate extra straps on a side-saddle-called balance straps!—with a view to keeping it straight; but this is a most absurd and erroneous idea, for if the rider does not sit straight, or the saddle does not fit the horse, all the straps that ever came out of a saddler's shop will not keep the saddle in its place, and, for my own part, I even

object to the usual outside strap attached to side-saddles; it is simply useless lumber.

Having procured a suitable saddle, the next step is to learn to sit on it, and without experience this is not so simple as it looks. Nothing but constant practice will give either a good or a secure seat; balance is the great point, and, this gained, security will be the result. Many a woman will have a pretty and graceful seat on horseback, but it does not follow that it is a good one, and a good and secure seat may not always be a graceful one. When the horse is going only at a foot pace the rider may appear to sit straight and well, but put him into a trot and then let us watch-the lady is now all on one side, leaning well in her stirrup, so as to rise to the action of the horse, leaving a great space of saddle on the off side; this is not as it should be. It is quite possible for a woman to sit as straight in trotting as at a slower pace, and she should not attempt to rise solely from the stirrup, for by so doing she brings the saddle out of its place, and a sore back is probably the consequence. She ought to rise from her right knee, pressing it down between the pommels, and then there will be no fear of the saddle moving. If the rider cannot accomplish this at first, she should practise a few times without a stirrup, and she will then realise the merit of the plan suggested, both in keeping the saddle straight and securing her own balance.

In these days of extra pommels a stirrup is not necessary to a lady in the same degree that stirrups are to a man, and if it were dispensed with in a beginner, till her balance in the saddle is certain, we should not see ladies "working" in their, saddles, for they would then have no lever to enable them to wriggle about, and it is this same wriggling that gives so many sore backs, which a quiet, firm seat never does.

To revert to a previous remark on the rarity of good horsewomen I again repeat it, but I use the term as distinguished from "plucky or hard riders. Women who combine these qualities, and who rid well to hounds, are generally mounted on good hunters who know their business, and their riders being ignorant of their danger the get the credit of being good riders, though it does not follow th they are good horsewomen; but if one of the number can add th latter accomplishment to the list she gains a hundred per cent. pleasure more than her sister equestrians.

One often hears men say that such a horse in their stable pulls hard that there is little pleasure in riding him, although he is perfe in every other respect, and yet that he is as quiet as a lamb with lady, because all women have light hands. This is so far true that woman's hand must be lighter than a man's, for the reason that the