The Sun.
London, England, 1807-10-13 00:00:00

CAPT. BARCLAY AND WOOD:

Our account* from Newmorket, state, that the
ground on which the long-expected contest between
_these two swift-footed heroes, -is to. be decided, was
finally hied and measured for some. clays. . It is an
exaa,mile upon the left side of the first mile of the
turnpike road from Newmarket. It is a fine firm
piece of ground, well calculated, fora fair trial. It
was settled on Sunday, that the parties should start
this.morning at eight, and not at nine o'clock, as re- ,
port 'stated. Wood arrived on Sunday at New-
market, , from Cambridge. Capt, Barclay had. ar-
rived previously. They both take, strong exercise.
Their food is parboiled mutton, and half broiled beef
steaks, of which they eat heartily. They are both
well, and each confident of success: Capt. Barclay
is trained by Ward, Gully, and Crib. 'limy are
very attentive-to their pupil, and' speak ibliglitereas
of his performance.. Wood is trained, by Grets6b,
the noted Lancashire man, who, according to re-
prirt, is to fight Gully on 'Wednesday Omit the scene
of action was riot, known :yesterday. The odds on
Sunday morning. were 6 to b upon Captain Barclay.'
In the, course of the day they rose to 2to I and 5
to 'Thii pedestrian feat,.the expetied pugilistic
performance, and the races, have attracted more
company to .Newmarket than .hasvi3 ever. been seen
there .at on Q&ober Meeting. There is scarcely
a bed, or place for a horse, to be had in the neigh-
bourhbod, and provisions, are, of course, dear in
proportion. Imthense sums 'are ;depending' upon
this match, and the parties interested who remain
in town are all atpLiety i accounts of the progress of
the pedestrians will be reported by a series of ex-
presies sent off to London until the final determi-
nation of the contest.

• - ' Monday, Eight o'clock, A. 1111
The ground this morning was all life and bustle,
and wc,re a most variegated appearance. It waico-
vered with tents and. booths, filled_ at an early hour
ith company from London, Cambridge, Newmar-
ket, and all the surrounding country for Many miles.
No ;Fair was ever 'more crowded. The number 'of
carriages was very, great, consisting of barouches,
Oilstone; sociables, buggies, caravans, &c. , Captain
Barclay, and his competitor Wood, had each a mar-
quee, with a sopha in it, on which to rest them.
selves when they-should think proper. These mar-
quees were pitched close to the ground on which
they performed. Exactly at eight these two midi':
pedestrian fame appeared at theirrespective
goals, for
gea.s, and commenced their contest. They were
dressed alike in white flannel jackets and drawers,
open at the knees ; light sandal shoes, with flannel'
socks, but no stockings, and a small bandkerchrdf
tied loose round the neck. Two time-pieces, regu-
lated by Mr. Bramble, watchmaker, Oxford-road,
were sent clown to Newmarket last week for the ca;,.
Oslo!). . The persons appointed to held them 'being
.Placed at their stations, and all the prelitninary bu-
siness being settled, the swift footed heroes 'started
exactly: at right o'clock, and at a quarter to nine
o'elock, ,when our account was sent olf, Wood had
performed four miles, and Captain Barclay three
miles. The odds on the ground, at that time, were
25 to ten, and five to three upon Captain Barclay.
Among the company present were the Earl of Bar-
rymore • Lards Foley, G. Cavendish, V. Beauclere,
&c. ; Air. Mellish, and, iu short, all the sporting
Noblity and Gentry. The match, as we stated in
a former Paper, is to walk for 24 hours, and the
man who performs the greatest number of miles in
that time is to be the winner, Wood allowing his'
competitor 20 miles 3: so that,:even in the event 'of
,Ciptain Barclay's sweep), he will only prove him,
self a very interior man to Wood, unless, the latter
should' greatly disappoint the general expeetatioe.
The bets in London la 4 night were 7 to 4; end 5
.to 2in favour of Captain Barclay. The odds were
also held by Wootrs friends, that he would perform
• ton miles in the first lfi hours.
Captain Barclay, ‘t hose pedestrian exertions have
been so remarkable, is the liheal descendant of the
celebrated 'Author of The Apology for the Quakers.
I'M: is of a family remarkable for athletic exercises.
1. His latherohe late Barclay, of Urie, who nine-
;wanted Kincardine, used to walk every Session of
Parliament from Scotland to Loudon, and could per-
forth the journey as soon as the ordinary stages .of
that time ; but he frequently deviated' trinphis
ieet toad, in order to attend any lairs which hap:
peed to be held at that time. Dtee.ed like a plain
''farmer, he mingled freely in all the rural sports usual
at these Meetings, particularly codgel-playing end
wrestling, and won Many a prize hat in his progress
to St. SteptiereaChapel.. .

In addition to the above,. we have this morning
received the following
.Letter, from Newmarket,
dated yesterday, afternoon :-
4, This match, which excited sn much cariosity,
and upon which so much money was betted, ter-
Alinatect very unexpe6tedly this afternoon soon after
two o'clock,, very much to the disappointment of all
the, spe&ntors. Captain B. and Wool) started at the
appointed time, and both appeared 40 be in high
health and spirits. Wool) set off with considerable
velocity, which he kept al; the whole of the first
Itoitt, during which time he went exactly eight
miles. In the two succeeding hours he slackened
his pace s little, going only, at the rate of seven
'miles an hour ; coorsequently; at the end of three
hours he had gone 22 miles.:

" Capt. BAIICI.AY set Offat a mtich 4ower,:pace than
Woon, but he kept it with the greatest exatiness ;
wentalmost to a minute six miles an hour. .At
the end of the first three hours therefore
he had gone eighteen. Miles, and WooD had
gained .four miles. About this time the bets
Wigan.
,to pin more in favour of WooD. At
starting they were three to one in tltvour of the
Captain, and as there was a kind of general
whisper that he was certainly to win, very few
people would even take the odds. But when pop
gaited four miles upon his adversary in tlicee
hours, he odds apinst him fell from a tu. t to it°
4. 114 during tie remanider of lire Wool". a
peed and bottsti seemed completely to fit'him., It

Was necessary, in order to bring) pills 2ri,miles which
he had gnu Capt. BARCLAY, that be should gain
sixteen miles upon Lim in the retnaining twenty
hours ; but instead of gaining upon the Captain
,during the second three hours, he did not`even keep
pact with him. He stopped twice to rest, and ap-
peared considerably distreued ; the second time Le
stopped, he pulled off his shoos and ran without,
by which means he cut his feet. At length having
gone forty miles in six hours and twenty minutes,
he declined the contest, and appeared so weak, that
there was no probability of his gaining it, if be had
continued it.

" When Woen gave in, Capt. BARCLAY had re-
duced the four miles advantage, which Woon gained
upon him in the first three hours, to about' three
miles, told he continued running until 1e had
brought up that distance.
" Capt. B. went during the whole time etaaly
six miles an hour, and at the conclusion appeared
fresh and strong. After he had gone thirty-sic
miles, he stopped and ate heartily. This very un-
expeaed termination-of the match has created much
o.issatisfaaion, at least among the losers, and some
of them have refused to pay the bets. But the ge-,
neral opinion seemedto be that the match was per•.
feetly fair, and that Wow) really gave up from
real fatigue, though upon a former occasion he had
gone 40 miles in much less time.
It is not yet settled when GULLEY and Gage-
sox are to fight."