Flurry
James Knox
Some Experiences of an Irish R.M. Somerville and Ross (The Surtees Society £7.95)
The Surtees Society, who have already had such success with their facsimile first editions of the adventures of Mr Jor rocks, Mr Sponge and Mr Romford have now decided to add to this distinguished list the experiences of Major Yeats, the Irish R.M. Rereading this classic is strongly recommended, particularly at this time of the hunting season when horses seem to g° lame even more frequently than usual, and the going — that is if one lives in country similar to that of Flurry Knox — gets deeper and deeper. The heroes of this book are Flurry Knox M.F.H. and his hounds, supported by members of the Knox tribe with their horses, dogs and foxes. And the grand theme which runs through all the best stories is the courtship and eventual mar- riage of Flurry to Miss Sally Knox of Castle Knox. Unfortunately when Somerville an:/,, Ross depart at length from the antics of the Knox family — in 'Waters of Strife' and 'Lisheen Races, Second Hand' — I was reminded of Kipling's Barrack Ro°'" Ballads and my mind began to wander to that lame horse in the stable yard. Flurry comes over as such a convincing character because he is full of contradict- ions and often caught out. His grand' mother discovered him hiding her favourite colt buried up to its neck in a ditch, but .„. because it was Flurry all she did was 1'0'. with laughter. And although Flurry 15 famous for his wild ideas, such as barn*" ing Lady Knox's best coach horse as anex- tra in a complicated piece of horse coping' the reader suspects that underneath that weather-beaten scarlet coat lies a heart after all. The depth of Flurry's love for Sallyy. 1.5 expressed in his extreme loathing of her rich suitor Bernard Shute. Somerville and 11°5s were undoubtedly half in love with F11-01.,, . themselves for they do everything in thelcj' power to show Flurry's behaviour in a goo light — even to the extent of making 13eife nard Shute ride over hounds — leaving t" reader no option but to hate him too. The drama of Flurry's love life and the awkward situations in which the gauche R.M. (he wears a hat-guard out hunting) finds himself are all brilliantly portrayed against the world of Irish hunting. Here Somerville and Ross have a real genius for describing the thrill and fear of the chase from the first heart-stopping holloa away from covert to the endless hours spent hunt- 1ng too many foxes in dripping policies of tosydandrums'. And in describing this world they are as accurate writing about animals as they are about the humans. Who hasn't ridden a horse like Quaker with that infuriating habit of refusing banks and then Immediately tearing hurried mouthfuls of grass as though nothing had happened? ;6'ncl who hasn't known a spaniel as charm- ing and infuriating as Maria? Again and again Somerville and Ross capture the essence of sporting life. This extremely fun- ny book should be read, or reread, as soon as Possible: without it no hunting season is complete.
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