The Sun.
London, England, 1868-04-18 00:00:00

THE SCENE ON THE COURSE.

But all this time the Prince and Princess, the Lord-
Lieutenant and Lady Abercorn, are speeding on their
way to Punchestown. The arrival of the royal
party was delayed, as we have seen, but at two o'clock
there drove up to the entrance of the Grand Stand
a line of carriages, which were hailed by such a shouting
and rejoicing as were never heard even on an
Ascot Cup day. The Prince and the Princess
had come at last. And they had had such a time of
it. All the way from Sallins, where they left the
special train, to the moment of their arrival, they were
escorted by a running, shouting, buzzing crowd, and Lord
knows how many hands the good Princess shook or had
her hand shaken by ! " Harro for the Countess of Dublin !"
" Shure, won't you stay with us, or promise you'll soon
come back and stop for ever ?" " God bless the Earl of
Dublin !" Such cries and ejaculations, and such greetings
and gesticulations ! And now the gentle Princess seems
quite used to them, and the Prince, always gay and kindly,
understands the feelings of the crowd around him. They ru ih
among the horses, dive under the chargers of the police, who
are intended to clear the way, and not as an armed guard.
They hang on by the sides of the open carriage ; in fact,
two or three poor fellows who held on behind yesterday as
the carriage entered the Castle lost their coat tails, which
were grasped by the indignant constabulary, and con-
tinued their career—non tali auxilio—in high glee, laugh-
ing and rejoicing till they were brought up by detainers
on more substantial attachments. At this time the scene
from the Grand Stand was, even to a native of Punches-
town—there is no such town, but there are natives for all
that—most strange, and to all most curious and interesting.
Beside the Grand Stand was the Stewards' Star d; next to
it, and part of the same structure, was the Royal Stand,
which was fitted up with taste and perfect comfort for the
royal visitors and the viceregal party. A scarlet carpet was
laid on the sward, from the gateway to the flight of rather
steep steps to the estrade, on which were placed the chairs
of the illustrious party. Whatever may be said of the
non-appearance of the Irish peers and gentry in the pro-
cession yesterday— and it would seem as if there were
reasons for it which go far to render censure not alto-
gether so justifiable as it appeared to be—there is not a
word to be uttered against them in that respect as regards
Punchestown. There has never been so great a gathering
of the peers and gentry of Ireland since George IV. came
over as there is in Dublin at present, and most of them
were on the course. Behind the Grand Standwere booths
and large tents, at which refreshments could doubtless
be obained on reasonable terms, and, strange to say,
though the sale of liquor was forbidden, no one was
drunk, at least visibly so, up to a late hour. And be it
added, that at night, after all the excitement of the day
and the fatigue of the excitement, and then the illumina-
tions of the evening, there was scarcely a drunken man in
the streets. When the Prussians close up all the temples
of fortune and misfortune in Germany there will be a
refuge left for the spirited proprietors at Punchestown,
for there no police vex those who love the hazard of the
die, nor check the roll of the roulette ball, or arrest
the course of the nimble pea. In front of the Grand
Stand, of course, the great throng of people was
collected. These received the royal visitors with
cheers repeated again and again and once more, and it
was a tribute to the popularity of the Lord-Lieutenant
and of Lady Abercorn that in the midst of the enthusiasm
the people did not forget to pay their Excellencies special
honour. The Duke of Cambridge was greeted, too, most
heartily ; and those who recognised Prince Teck gave him
a round for himself. As the Princess, who looked exceed-
ingly beautiful, ascended the estrade, the cheers never
ceased. The Prince, who led Lady Abercorn, was, of
course, included, and when the Prince and Princess
presented themselves in their places to the multitude,
a waving of hats and handkerchiefs and a roar of
many voices expressed the delight and loyalty. of
the mass which thronged the course. Again a. 141

again the cheers burst forth. There was no mistake about
the success of the test now. A change of attitude, a
glance—the slightest movement of the royal pair, seemed
to produce a fresh outburst, in which, indeed, all did not
always take part, though they were never tired of gazing.
" Isn't it grand, my boy? Isn't the Prince illigant ? And
was there ever such a princess out of a fairy tale ?" One
bitter thing, for there are bitters now and then—good for
the constitution, perhaps, overhere—surgit amari aliquid—
was said by one man to whom his neighbour was debating
the good results of the Prince's presence. " Yes,
indeed ! But wasn't it a pity it took well-nigh a rebellion
to bring him over to us?" And there in the midst of all
the gaiety there ran in whispers, with looks of anger and
sorrowful indignation, the news that another victim had
fallen, that another blot had been fixed by the murderous
'land on the scutcheon of Ireland in the face of civilised
Europe. The bell rings to clear the course. Can it ever be
,lone ? There are but a few mounted police, some score or
two of constabulary on foot, to force back the mass which
blocks up the course and pin it within the ropes. These lawless
people yield at once, and, cheering and laughing good-
humouredly, give way. One peculiarity in this crowd; it
is not noisy. It is not what one expects an Irish crowd to
be. The same of the road—much quieter than the people
on the road to Epsom or Ascot. The first race is at hand.
And what happened in it, as in all others, must be left to
the chronicler of the races to tell. The Prince took the
:iveliest interest in the sport. His Royal Highness,
nis Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, his
Serene Highness Prince Teck, and Prince Edward
of Saxe - Weimar came to the top of the Royal
Stand whenever any race was going on, and it is a
matter on which the Prince congratulates himself for the
sake of his wife and of himself, that for once Punchestown
was distinguished by a series of hard races in which there
were, it is said, no bones broken, no horse killed—nobody
hurt, in fact, although there were divorces between the
upper and lower parts of several centaurs. The Prince
was delighted with the view, with the scene, with the
sports. His Royal Highness has, lam told, expressed the
greatest possible gratification at his reception by the
people, and the Princess of Wales shares the feelings of
her illustrious consort to the fullest extent.