Sentence:  ...his lordship was out of humour. That was the way Chollacombe described as knaggy an old gager as ever Charles had had the <WSD>ill</WSD>-fortune to serve. Stiff-rumped, that's what he was, always rubbing the rust, or riding grub, like he had been for months past. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Unpropitious, unkind, faulty, not up to reasonable standard.