Nothing is more annoying in the mountains than an attack of this
afflicting disease. Grouse shooters are particularly obnoxious to it,
from unavoidable exposure to wet and sudden alterations of atmospheric
temperature. I have known a sporting expedition embittered by this
visitation, and as professional assistance was not procurable, the
sufferer had no remedy but the old and slow one—patience. I recommend
the worthy colonel’s nostrum for two reasons; the first, that I believe
it to be efficacious; and the second, that it is easily
compounded.—_Ed._
TOP, _s._ The highest part of anything; the surface, the
superficies; the extreme joint of a fishing-rod.
TOPHEAVY, _a._ Having the upper part too weighty for the lower—a
great defect in a fishing-rod.
TORCH, _s._ A wax-light bigger than a candle; any large or portable
light.
TOUCHHOLE, _s._ The hole through which the fire is conveyed to the
powder in a gun.
TOUCHWOOD, _s._ Rotten wood used to catch the fire struck from the
flint.
TOW, _s._ Flax or hemp beaten and combed into a filamentous
substance.
TRAIN, _v._ To draw along; to entice; to draw by artifice or
stratagem; to educate, to bring up.
TRAIN, _s._ Artifice, stratagem of enticement, the tail of a bird; a
line of powder reaching to the mine.
TRAINING, _p._ The act of putting into condition for racing,
pugilism, or other violent exercises.
_Training Racehorses._—A month is the least time that can be allowed to
draw the horse’s body clear, and to refine his wind to that degree of
perfection that is attainable by art.
It is first necessary to take an exact view of his body, whether he be
high or low in flesh, and it is also necessary to consider whether he be
dull or heavy, or brisk and lively when abroad. If he appear dull and
heavy and there is reason to suppose it is owing to too hard riding, or,
as the jockeys express it, to some grease that has been dissolved in
exercise, and has not been removed by scouring, then the proper remedy
is half an ounce of diapente, given in a pint of good sack; this will at
once remove the cause, and revive the creature’s spirits. After this,
for the first week of the month, he is to be fed with oats, bread, and
split beans, sometimes the one and sometimes the other, as he likes
best, and always leaving some in the locker, that he may feed at leisure
whilst left alone. At feeding time, whatever is left of this must be
removed and fresh given, by these means the creature will soon become
high-spirited, wanton, and full of play. Every day he must be rode out
on airing, and every other day it will be proper to increase his
exercise, but not so as to make him perspire too much. The beans and
oats should be put in a bag, and beaten till the hulls are all off, and
then winnowed clean, and the bread, instead of being chipped in the
common way, should have the crust cut clean off. If the horse be in good
health and in spirits, when taken up for its month’s preparation the
diapente must be omitted, and the chief business will be to give him
good food, and so much exercise as will keep him in wind, without
over-sweating or tiring him; when he takes larger exercise afterwards,
towards the end of the month, it will be proper to have some horses to
run against him. This will put him on his mettle, and the beating them
will give him spirits: this, however, is to be cautiously observed, that
he has not a blood heat (at full speed) given him for ten days or a
fortnight before the race, and that the last heat that is given him the
day before the race must be in his clothes, this will make him run with
much more vigour, when stripped for the race, and feeling the cold wind
on every part.
In the second week, the horse should have the same food, and more
exercise. In the last fortnight, he must have dried oats, that have been
hulled by beating. After this, they are to be wetted in a quantity of
whites of eggs beaten up, and then laid out in the sun to dry, and when
as dry as before the horse is to have them. This sort of food is very
light of digestion, and very good for the creature’s wind. The beans in
this case should be given more sparingly, and the bread should be made
of three parts wheat, and one part beans; if he should become costive,
under this course, he must then have some ale and whites of eggs beaten
together, this will cool him and keep his body moist. In the last week,
the mash is to be omitted, and barley-water given him in its place every
day until the day before the race; he should have his fill of hay at
first, and then given more sparingly, that he may have time to digest
it, and on the morning of the race-day he must have a toast or two
soaked in sack, and the same just before he is let out to the field.
This is an excellent method, because the two extremes of fullness and
fasting are at this time to be equally avoided, the one hurting his
wind, and the other occasioning faintness that may make him lose. After
he has had his food, the litter is to be shook up, and the stable kept
quiet that he may be disturbed by nothing till he is taken out to run.
* * * * *
_The training of Jockeys._—John Arnall, when rider to his Royal Highness
the Prince of Wales, was desired to reduce himself as much as he
possibly could, to enable him to ride some favourite horse, without his
carrying more weight than was agreed upon; in consequence of which, he
abstained from animal and even farinaceous food for eight succeeding
days, and the only substitute was now and then a piece of apple; he was
not injured by it at the time, and is now in good health: added to
which, Dennis Fitzpatrick, a person at this time continually employed as
a rider, declares that he is less fatigued by riding, and has more
strength to contend with a determined horse, in a severe race, when
moderately reduced, than when allowed to live as he pleased, although he
never weighs more than nine stone, and frequently has reduced himself to
seven stone seven pounds.
* * * * *
REPLY TO SIR JOHN SINCLAIR’S QUERIES BY
MR. SANDEVIR OF NEWMARKET.
How long does the training of jockeys continue?
With those in high repute as riders, in a greater or lesser degree, from
about three weeks before Easter to the end of October, but a week or ten
days are quite sufficient for a rider to reduce himself from the weight
he is naturally of, to sometimes a stone and a half below it.
What food do they live on, both solid and liquid, and what quantities
are allowed them of each?
For breakfast, a small piece of bread and butter, with tea, in
moderation. Dinner is taken in a very sparing way, a very small piece of
pudding, and less meat, and when fish is to be obtained, neither one nor
the other are to be allowed; wine and water is their usual beverage, in
the proportion of one part wine to two of water. Tea in the afternoon,
with little or no bread and butter, and no supper.
What exercise do they get, and what hours of rest?
After breakfast, having sufficiently loaded themselves with clothes,
that is, five or six waistcoats, two coats, and as many pair of
breeches, a severe walk is taken, from ten to fifteen or sixteen miles;
after their return home, dry clothes are substituted for those that are
made very wet and uncomfortable by sweat, and, if much fatigued, some of
them will lie down for an hour before dinner; after which, no severe
exercise is taken, but the remaining part of the day is spent in that
way that may be most agreeable to themselves; they generally go to bed
by nine o’clock, and continue there till six or seven the next morning.
Are they purged, and what purges and other medicines are given them?
Some of them that do not like excessive walking, have recourse to
purgative medicines, two ounces of Glauber’s salts is the usual dose,
and it is very seldom that any other medicine is had recourse to.
Mr. Sandevir would recommend a similar process to reduce corpulency in
either sex, as, from experience, he perceives, that the constitution
does not appear to be injured by it, but he is apprehensive that hardly
any person could be prevailed upon to submit to such severe discipline,
that had not been inured to it from his infancy.
* * * * *
The art of training for athletic exercises consists in purifying the
body and strengthening its powers by certain processes, which thus
qualify a person for the accomplishment of laborious exertions. It was
known to the ancients, who paid much attention to the means of
augmenting corporeal vigour and activity; and accordingly among the
Greeks and Romans certain rules of regimen and exercise were prescribed
to the candidates for gymnastic celebrity.
The great object of training for running or boxing matches, is to
increase the muscular strength and to improve the free action of the
lungs or wind of the person subjected to the process, which is done by
medicines, regimen, and exercise. That these objects can be accomplished
is evident from the nature of the human system. It is well known (for it
has been demonstrated by experiments) that every part of the firmest
bones is successively absorbed and deposited. The bones and their
ligaments, the muscles and their tendons—all the finer and all the more
flexible parts of the body, are as continually renewed, and as properly
a secretion, as the saliva that flows from the mouth, or the moisture
that bedews the surface. The health of all the parts and their soundness
of structure, depends upon this perpetual absorption and perpetual
renovation; and exercise, by promoting at once absorption and secretion,
promotes life without hurrying it, renovates all the parts, and
preserves them apt and fit for every office. When the human frame is
thus capable of being altered and renovated, it is not surprising that
the art of training should be carried to a degree of perfection almost
incredible; and that by certain processes the breath, strength, and
courage of man should be so greatly improved as to enable him to perform
the most laborious undertakings. That such effects have been produced is
unquestionable, being fully exemplified in the astonishing exploits of
our most celebrated pedestrians, which are the infallible results of
preparatory discipline.
The skilful trainer attends to the state of the bowels, the lungs, and
the skin; and he uses such means as will reduce the fat, and at the same
time invigorate the muscular fibres. The patient is purged by drastic
medicines; he is sweated by walking under a weight of clothes, and by
lying between feather beds; his limbs are roughly rubbed; his diet is
beef or mutton; his drink strong ale; and he is gradually inured to
exercise by repeated trials in walking and running. By attenuating the
fat, emptying the cellular substance, hardening the muscular fibre, and
improving the breath, a man of the ordinary frame may be made to fight
for one hour with the utmost exertion of strength and courage, or to go
over one hundred miles in twenty-four hours.
The most effectual process for training is that practised by Captain
Barclay, and the particular mode which he has adopted has not only been
sanctioned by professional men, but has met with the unqualified
approbation of amateurs. The following statement, therefore, contains
the most approved rules, and it is presented to the reader as the result
of much experience, founded on the theoretic principles of the art.
The pedestrian, who may be supposed in tolerable condition, enters upon
his training with a regular course of physic, which consists of three
doses. Glauber’s salts are generally preferred, and from one ounce and a
half to two ounces are taken each time, with an interval of four days
between each dose. After having gone through the course of physic, he
commences regular exercise, which is gradually increased as he proceeds
in the training. When the object in view is to accomplish a pedestrian
match, his regular exercise may be from twenty-four miles a-day. He must
rise at five in the morning, run half a mile at the top of his speed up
hill, and then walk six miles at a moderate pace, coming in about seven
to breakfast, which should consist of beefsteaks or mutton chops under
done, with stale bread and old beer. After breakfast he must again walk
six miles at a moderate pace, and at twelve lie down in bed without his
clothes for half an hour. On getting up he must walk four miles, and
return by four to dinner, which should also be beefsteaks or mutton
chops, with bread and beer as at breakfast. Immediately after dinner he
must resume his exercise by running half a mile at the top of his speed,
and walking six miles at a moderate pace. He takes no more exercise for
that day, but retires to bed about eight, and next morning proceeds in
the same manner. After having gone in this regular course for three or
four weeks, the pedestrian must take a four mile sweat, which is
produced by running four miles in flannel at the top of his speed.
Immediately on returning a hot liquor is prescribed in order to promote
the perspiration, of which he must drink one English pint. It is termed
the sweating liquor, and it is composed of the following ingredients,
viz. one ounce of carraway seed, half an ounce of coriander seed, an
ounce of root liquorice, and half an ounce of sugar-candy, mixed with
two bottles of cider, and boiled down to one half. He is then put to bed
in his flannels, and being covered with six or eight pairs of blankets
and a feather bed, must remain in this state from twenty-five to thirty
minutes, when he is to be taken out and rubbed perfectly dry. Being then
well wrapped in a great coat, he walks out gently for two miles to
breakfast, which on such occasions should consist of a roasted fowl. He
afterwards proceeds with his usual exercise. These sweats are continued
weekly, till within a few days of the performance of the match, or in
other words he must undergo three or four of these operations. If the
stomach of the pedestrian be foul, an emetic or two must be given about
a week before the conclusion of the training, and he is now supposed to
be in the highest condition. Besides his usual or regular exercise, a
person under training ought to employ himself in the intervals in every
kind of exertion which tends to activity, such as cricket, bowls,
throwing quoits, &c., that during the whole day both body and mind may
be constantly occupied.
The diet or regimen is the next point of consideration, and it is very
simple. As the intention of the trainer is to preserve the strength of
the pedestrian, he must take care to keep him in good condition by
nourishing food. Animal diet is alone prescribed, and beef and mutton
are preferred. The lean of fat beef cooked in steaks, with very little
salt, is the best, and it should be rather underdone than otherwise.
Mutton being reckoned easy of digestion, may be occasionally given, to
vary the diet and gratify the taste. The legs of fowl are highly
esteemed. It is preferable to have the meat broiled, as much of its
nutritive quality is lost by roasting or boiling. Biscuit and stale
bread are the only preparations of vegetable matter which are permitted
to be given; and every thing inducing flatulency must be carefully
avoided. Veal and lamb are never allowed, nor pork, which operates as a
laxative on some people; and all fat or greasy substances are
prohibited, as they induce bile and consequently injure the stomach. But
it has been proved by experience that the lean of meat contains more
nourishment than the fat, and in every case the most substantial food is
preferable to any other kind.
Vegetables, such as turnips, carrots, or potatoes, are never given, as
they are watery and of difficult digestion. On the same principle fish
must be avoided, and, besides, they are not sufficiently nutritious.
Neither butter nor cheese is allowed; the one being very indigestible,
and the other apt to turn rancid on the stomach. Eggs are also
forbidden, excepting the yolk taken raw in the morning. And it must be
remarked, that salt, spices and all kinds of seasonings, with the
exception of vinegar, are prohibited.
With respect to liquors, they must always be taken cold; and home-brewed
beer, old but not bottled, is the best. A little red wine, however, may
be given to those who are not fond of malt liquor, but never more than
half a pint after dinner. Too much liquor swells the abdomen, and of
course injures the breath. The quantity of beer, therefore, should not
exceed three pints during the whole day, and it must be taken with
breakfast and dinner, no supper being allowed.
Water is never given alone, and ardent spirits are strictly prohibited,
however diluted. It is an established rule to avoid liquids as much as
possible, and no more liquor of any kind is allowed to be taken than
what is merely requisite to quench the thirst. Milk is never allowed, as
it curdles on the stomach. Soups are not used; nor is any thing liquid
taken warm but gruel or broth, to promote the operation of the physic,
and the sweating liquor mentioned above. The broth must be cooled, in
order to take off the fat, when it may be again warmed, or beef tea may
be used in the same manner, with little or no salt. In the days between
the purges, the pedestrian must be fed as usual, strictly adhering to
the nourishing diet, by which he is invigorated.
Profuse sweating is resorted to as an expedient for removing the
superfluities of flesh and fat. Three or four sweats are generally
requisite, and they may be considered the severest part of the process.
Emetics are only prescribed if the stomach be disordered, which may
sometimes happen, when due care is not taken to proportion the quantity
of food to the digestive powers; but, in general, the quantity of
aliment is not limited by the trainer, but left entirely to the
discretion of the pedestrian, whose appetite should regulate him in this
respect. Although the chief parts of the training system depend upon
sweating, exercise, and feeding, yet the object to be obtained by the
pedestrian would be defeated, if they were not adjusted to each other,
and to his constitution. The skilful trainer will, therefore, constantly
study the progress of his art, by observing the effects of the processes
separately, and in combination.
It is impossible to fix a precise period from the completion of the
training process, as it depends upon the condition of the pedestrian;
but from two to three months, in most cases, will be sufficient,
especially if he be in tolerable condition at the commencement, and
possessed of sufficient perseverance and courage to submit cheerfully to
the privations and hardships to which he must unavoidably be subjected.
The criterion by which it may be known whether a man be in good
condition, or, what is the same thing, has been properly trained, is the
state of the skin, which becomes smooth, elastic, and well coloured, or
transparent. The flesh is also firm, and the person trained feels
himself light and full of spirits. But in the progress of the training,
his condition may be as well ascertained by the effect of the sweats,
which cease to reduce his weight, and by the manner in which he performs
one mile at the top of his speed, as to walk a hundred; and therefore,
if he performs this short distance well, it may be concluded that his
condition is perfect, or that he has derived all the advantages which
can possibly result from the training process.
The manner of training jockeys is different from that which is
applicable to pedestrians and pugilists. In regard to jockeys, it is
generally wasting with the view to reduce their weight. This is produced
by purgatives, emetics, sweats, and starvation. Their bodily strength is
of no importance, as they have only to manage the reins of the courser,
whose fleetness depends upon the weight he carries; and the muscular
power of the rider is of no consequence to the race, provided it be
equal to the fatigue of a three or four mile heat.
Training for pugilism is nearly the same as for pedestrianism, the
object in both being principally to obtain additional wind and strength.
But it will be best illustrated by a detail of the process observed by
Cribb, the Champion of England, preparatory to his grand battle with
Molineaux, which took place on the 29th of September, 1811.
The champion arrived at Ury on the 7th of July of that year. He weighed
sixteen stone; and from his mode of living in London, and the
confinement of a crowded city, he had become corpulent, big-bellied,
full of gross humours, and short-breathed, and it was with difficulty he
could walk ten miles. He first went through a course of physic, which
consisted of three doses; but for two weeks he walked about as he
pleased, and generally traversed the woods and plantations with a
fowling-piece in his hand. The reports of his musket resounded
everywhere through the groves and the hollows of that delightful place,
to the great terror of the magpies and wood-pigeons.
After amusing himself in this way for about a fortnight, he then
commenced his regular walking exercise, which at first was about ten or
twelve miles a day. It was soon after increased to eighteen or twenty;
and he ran regularly, morning and evening, a quarter of a mile at the
top of his speed. In consequence of his physic and exercise, his weight
was reduced in the course of five weeks, from sixteen stone to fourteen
and nine pounds. At this period he commenced his sweats, and took three
during the month he remained at Ury afterwards; and his weight was
gradually reduced to thirteen stone and five pounds, which was
ascertained to be his pitch of condition, as he could not reduce farther
without weakening.
During the course of his training, the champion went twice to the
Highlands, and took strong exercise. He walked to Mar Lodge, which is
about sixty miles distant from Ury, where he arrived to dinner on the
second day, being now able to go thirty miles a day with ease, and
probably he could have walked twice as far if it had been necessary. He
remained in the Highlands about a week each time, and amused himself
with shooting. The principal advantage which he derived from these
expeditions, was the severe exercise he was obliged to undergo in
following Captain Barclay. He improved more in strength and wind by his
journeys to the Highlands, than by any other part of the training
process.
His diet and drink were the same as used in the pedestrian regimen, and
in other respects the rules previously laid down were generally applied
to him. That he was brought to his ultimate pitch of condition, was
evident from the high state of health and strength in which he appeared
when he mounted the stage to contend with Molineaux, who has since
confessed, that when he saw his fine condition he totally despaired of
gaining the battle.
Cribb was altogether about eleven weeks under training, but he remained
only nine weeks at Ury. Besides his regular exercise, he was
occasionally employed in sparring at Stonehaven, where he gave lessons
in the pugilistic art. He was not allowed much rest, but was constantly
occupied in some active employment. He enjoyed good spirits, being at
the time fully convinced that he would beat his antagonist. He was
managed, however, with great address, and the result corresponded with
the wishes of his friends.—_Sporting Repository._
TRAP, _s._ A snare set for thieves or vermin; an ambush, a stratagem
to betray or catch unawares; a play at which a ball is driven
with a stick.
I place my trap a few yards to the right or the left of the partridge’s
nest (so that it may not catch the parent bird) but plainly in view, so
that when the magpie approaches it cannot fail to see the bait. As
magpies are fond of eggs, nothing can form a better bait (particularly
in the breeding season) than a hen’s egg, which should be perforated at
each end, the contents blown out, and a small twig run through it into
the ground, in order to give the magpie some trouble to get it off; and
while it is endeavouring to pull it away, its feet should be on the
bridge of the trap, the bait being placed at the requisite distance for
that purpose. The plunderer is sure to be caught. The mere shell of the
egg answers better for the purpose of a bait than if it contained its
original contents, and it is thus more easily fastened to the requisite
spot. I repeat, that the square is much preferable to the semicircular
trap, as the latter is more apt to miss the thief, owing to its form.
If an egg be not at hand, or easily obtained, a piece of raw meat will
answer the purpose, and will form a good bait:—a magpie is not very
particular in its food.
If the kite or the buzzard be the object of consideration, the trap
should be placed precisely in the same manner, but the bait should be a
pigeon, a small rabbit, (or a piece of either) or any of the smaller
kind of birds, or a piece of raw meat or liver will answer the purpose.
The bait should be fastened, and if a few feathers are scattered about,
it will be more easily perceived by these birds—they will discern it
indeed at a great distance.—Kites and buzzards, though very mischievous,
are few in number, and do not approach the human habitation with the
same familiarity as the magpie or the crow. They are fond of being able
to see a great distance around them, as if to prevent surprise; and for
this reason they may be often seen, when they alight on the ground, to
take their station on some hillock or eminence, on downs or other open
places, whence they can survey the surrounding country. Wherever it is
perceived that these birds frequent or haunt, the traps should of course
be placed. Let it be further understood, that the application of these
remarks is not intended to be confined to the breeding season. Whenever
vermin, of any kind, are discovered, they should be trapped or
destroyed—there is no mode so certain as the steel trap, when properly
prepared and set.
The sparrow hawk, the hobby, &c., require a smaller trap than the kite
or the buzzard, which is, however, to be prepared and placed in the same
manner, and baited with a sparrow, lark, or other small bird (excepting
the swallow tribe, which birds of prey refuse) and a few of its feathers
scattered about for the purpose of attracting the object to be caught.
In regard to the quadrupedal vermin, and first of all for the polecat,
it may be remarked, that when this animal is suspected of making free
with the eggs of the pheasant or the partridge, the trap may be prepared
for him precisely in the same manner as already described for the
magpie, and he is sure to be caught; or should the track to his hole be
discovered, he may be taken by placing the trap in it, close to the
hole, (covered in all cases, as the most certain means of success,) with
or without the bait, but the latter mode is preferable; or the deception
may be placed a little out of his track; and perhaps half a yard out of
his track is the better method. This animal is attracted by the smell of
musk, and therefore the bait may be anointed with a little of the
essence of this strong perfume: but it will answer the purpose without
it; and the only effect, in fact, that it has, is merely enabling the
polecat to smell or scent the bait at a greater distance. A trap placed
at the entrance of the hole of the polecat, without a bait, will take
him, if covered in the manner described in the preceding pages; but if
not concealed, its effective operation will be very uncertain; with a
rat it would fail: if the trap were so placed that the rat could not
miss it in coming out, he would form another hole to avoid it, when the
calls of hunger compelled him to leave his hiding place. The bait for a
polecat should be a rat, a mouse, a bird, entrails, or indeed almost any
animal substance will answer the purpose.—And what I have stated
respecting the polecat is equally applicable to the stoat, and to all
the weasel tribe.
The cat, as I have previously stated in a separate article, is very
destructive to game; for which nothing is a more tempting bait than a
sparrow, lark, &c., and, as these animals are attracted by valerian, the
bait may be rubbed with it if convenient; but it is not absolutely
necessary, as a cat is easily caught without that addition. Valerian
may, as well as musk, be obtained at any druggist’s shop. It will be
requisite, of course, to set a larger trap for a cat than that which is
used for a weasel or a magpie.
The caution of rats in approaching a trap is very well known, and, in
fact, those who attempt to take them in the common way uniformly fail;
an odd one may perhaps be caught (and that not often) and the business
ends. But when the trap is concealed in a proper manner, the rats are
sure to be caught.—_Gamekeeper’s Directory._
TRAP, _v._ To ensnare, to catch by a snare or ambush; to decorate.
TRAPPINGS, _s._ Ornaments appendant to the saddle; ornaments, dress,
embellishments.
TRAVEL, _s._ Journey, act of passing from place to place; the rate
of a setter.
TRAVERSE, _v._ To cross, to lay athwart.
TRAUMATIC BALSAM, _s._ Compound tincture of benzoin, friar’s balsam,
&c.
Benzoin 3 oz.
Strained storax 2 oz.
Balsam of tolu 1 oz.
Aloes ½ oz.
Rectified spirit 1 quart.