THE eulogy at the funeral of Elizabeth (Dorothy) Tolerton on Thursday, September 20th, was given by Ann Cully who first met Elizabeth when, aged 11, her new friend Margaret brought her home from school one day for tea.

“I was immediately smitten by the hurly-burly of the Tolerton household, revolving, as it did, around all things equine, and by the elegant and beautiful Elizabeth and, of course, her home cooking. Who can forget her legendary sponge cakes, light as air and filled with homemade jam and cream which she seemed to be able to produce at the drop of a hat without any effort at all.

“For years I begged Elizabeth to hold masterclasses in her Beechmount kitchen, to pass on the secrets of her cake-making prowess to myself and other devotees, but she always laughed at the very idea and told me not to be so silly.”

The life of the then Elizabeth Gardner became entwined with that of Richard Tolerton when they began their courtship, on horseback, in the lanes between their family farms in Lisburn.

Elizabeth lived with her parents and her younger sister Jennifer at ‘Glenroyd’ on the Ballynahinch Road while the Tolertons lived at ‘Holborn Hall’ on Plantation Road. Richard tells the story of riding home in the twilight one evening after meeting Elizabeth and taking a “near cut” over a hedge.

His horse fell into the sheugh on the other side with its legs in the air and, after 10 minutes trying to extract it, he had set off home on foot to get help only to find that the horse had got itself out and was following him up the field. Richard was much relieved at not having to confess that escapade to his father!

After leaving school Elizabeth completed a shorthand and typing course at Garvey College before commencing work in the Eagle Star office in Belfast, while Richard worked on the home farm with his father and brothers.

However, marriage and the birth of James and then Margaret saw Elizabeth established in her new home at Holborn Cottage on the side of Plantation Road. She used to joke that if she leaned out of the window from her bath she could make a call from the public phone box which was just outside the house!

Although weekdays were spent busy in the house and out in the yard with the horses and the barns full of hens, at weekends Elizabeth would pack up the jeep, hitch up the trailer and horses and set off with Richard to local shows, seldom returning without silverware or rosettes.

She bred Yorkshire Terriers and Corgis and soon there were ponies for the children as well. Margaret revealed a natural aptitude for showing and show jumping, while James ultimately turned his attention to karts and scrambler bikes.

In 1972 the family moved further up Plantation Road to Beechmount Farm where they ultimately established their own farming enterprise specialising in pigs, cattle and laying hens.

The yard was always busy with callers buying eggs and each day Elizabeth could be seen loading the back of her little white Peugeot with trays of eggs for delivery to local restaurants and shops. One of her restaurant deliveries was to ‘Pizzarellys’ in Lisburn which James had recently opened. Elizabeth helped James in his early years of trading by making all of the restaurant desserts in her own kitchen at Beechmount. Her pavlovas were amazing!

PROUD MOMENTS

However, ponies and horses were still the main activity on the farm. Elizabeth helped Richard and Margaret produce some well-known animals including Canny Lad and Canny Rye; Fancy Free of Daldorn and Decimal Coin with whom Margaret won the 14.2hh showing and the 14.2hh show jumping championships respectively at Dublin Horse Show in 1975; the home-bred Beechmount, Beechpatrol, Ballymullan and Camlin River; and the Biddy Taylor-owned Willowdale, Rosdale and Ravensdale.

There were many trips and travels with the horses. Elizabeth was never prouder than when watching Margaret represent Ireland in eventing at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 on Ipi Tombi and in show jumping at Spruce Meadows, Calgary in 1992 on Ravensdale.

And who amongst you remembers the Eventing Ireland days at Beechmount, when Elizabeth served fabulous judges’ lunches in the house, and loaded up her Peugeot with tea coffee and the legendary cream sponge cakes to serve dressage judges and scribes in the morning and fence judges during the long afternoon?

In time spent away from the farm, Elizabeth enjoyed hunting with several packs including the East Down and then latterly with the Killultagh Old Rock and Chichester Harriers, reliving the day’s excitement over picnics she provided and forging and sustaining lasting friendships.

Although initially Elizabeth hunted whichever animal was available in the yard, eventually she and Margaret ventured to a sale at Mossvale Equestrian Centre to buy her a hunter of her own. She fell in love with a hairy-legged three-year-old bay cob with big feet and a white blaze, and so ‘Paddy’, as he was christened, arrived at Beechmount. When Richard saw him unloaded from the trailer he declared them mad to have bought such an animal and didn’t mention him again for two whole weeks!

Paddy turned out to be the most wonderful hunting partner – as even Richard eventually had to concede. When the hunting season was over, he became the perfect partner for rural rides with the Irish Long Distance Riding Association, of which Elizabeth was a founding member, and for biannual trips to Donegal with her friends Ros, Cynthia, Josie and the late Sheelagh, whom we dubbed ‘The Galloping Grannies’. For added to the Tolerton clan were now daughter-in-law Margaret and son-in-law Niall, and grandchildren Jonathan, Charlotte and William.

All three grandchildren spent much of their childhoods with Elizabeth at Beechmount, helping her with chores, and having lots of fun riding bikes, quads and Custard the pony. It was due in no small part to her care of the grandchildren that James was able to build his business, and that Margaret was able to continue to compete at a high level. She was so proud of all three of them, and of the wonderful young adults they have become.

VERY HAPPY LIFE

It was a full life and a very happy life spent supporting her family and Richard, from whom she never seemed to be apart, until she cruelly suffered a severe stroke in 2012. Thus began the Nicholson House years and the family’s association with ‘the Nicholson House girls’ who so diligently and lovingly looked after Elizabeth during her time as a resident there.

The unstinting care and devotion of Richard, Margaret and James, and her many friends, sustained Elizabeth and enhanced her quality of life for as long as possible. On the morning of Monday, September 17th she passed away peacefully, some 65 years since her courtship with Richard began, secure in his love and that of her family.

Elizabeth’s old hunter Paddy died peacefully, aged 29, in the field at his home at Beechmount just a few weeks ago. I like to think, and I hope that you might too, that he and Elizabeth are now reunited and are enjoying another long and exhilarating day’s hunting together, just out of sight, over the horizon.