MEMOIRS SIR CLAUDE CHAlIPION DE CRESPIGNY BART. - WITH A PREFACE AND NOTES BY THE DUKE OF BEAUFORT, - 1896 - PREFACE - Is introducing Sir Claucle Champion de Crespign ys career as , z most persistent steeple cllaser-and n very successful one-to tliose -1lo take an interest in the Sport, and wllo admire determination and pluck, I feel that there is certainly no gentlcmnn U-ho has had such n varied experience of it, nncl I hardly think any profcssio lal rider citlier. Tllc co nbillatioi t o o of b tllooning allcl stccplechnsing is very remark ulilc. I llarc h td tlic pleasure of Sir Clnucles nciluaintnnce for many years. It nl lst be over fire-and-twenty years ago tllnt I 11-m nnTarc of, and very nearly a witness to, an illeiclent that will give the renders of tliis book an iclca of what, n prolnpt LIICI cl termiliecl man 11c is. Stopping for the nigllt, bct reeu two clays 9 llunting, wit11 my dear and rnluecl fi. icncls. Lord and Lady Algernon St. 31aur at Wilcot Ifanor near Pemsey, Wilts he, alas died as Dukc of Somerset, about two years since, I was C informed by Lord Algernon that Sir Claudc was staying for a day or two at the Phcenix Inn in the village, and that he had invitecl him to dinner. He duly arrived in the ill11 fly, and, is we had been hunting that day and were going to hunt the next day, the fly was ordered early to t, nkc Sir Claude back. When the time came it did not appear, and Sir Claude in evening clress and shoes at once set off to walC dong the slippery, muddy road, n distance of about two miles. Near Pcwscy hc met the fly, ancl blew up the man for not coming in time upon which the flyman-n much bigger man than Sir Claude-got off his box, and told him if he spoke another word he would punch his head. Sir Claudes response was, Put up your hands and defenci yourself, and in about three minutes he gave the man such a thrashing that he begged for mercy. It was bad enough to have to walk in the wet, but to be cheeked besides was too much, and wc 1nrl1-as the flyman was k ion-n as tllc Eully of tllc Village. I nlcntiolr this to show the sort of mnu Sir Clnuclc is most quiet and inoffensive, 1 1fti ll1 of courage, tuld ready to go nny llerc or do anything, not only by sea or by laud, but in the air also. I think tllc rcadcrs of his rcrniliisccl ces will npprwiatc his total clisregarcl of danger or of injury to himself. I consicler him the pIucliicst and llardevt mml I ever linc v, f ull of kindness, moat eollsiclernte to othcrs, nlld most unselfish. I tllinl his recolleetiolls and performances will interest a11 11-110 care fur cross-country sport. INTRODUCTION THE NORMAN AND ENGLISH CHAMPIONS SIR CLAUDE CHAMPION DE CRESPIGNY, whose pursuits on land and sea, as well as in the a , are here reiated, comes of a decidedly adventurous stock, and it may not be alto- . aether out of place to briefly trace his descent. b Like the late Guy de Alaupassant, the wellknown French novelist, who v a s a lso devoted to field sports, to ballooning, and to aclventure in many forms at sea and ashore, he, as his name tells so clearly, is of Norman origin. The farnilv of Champion de Crespigny, Vicomtk St. Hurien, and Sieurs de Crespigny and Vierville, and that of le Champion, Comtes de Cicb, are acknowledged by Laroche, Chamillart, and other French a ae nealogists, as branches of the ancient feudal family of the DSarmions or le Champions de Fonteneys le Marmion...