From the evidence of philology it appears that the horse was already
known to the Aryans before the period of their dispersion.[1]
The first mention of the British horse occurs in the well-known passages
in Caesar (_B.G._ iv. 24. 33, v. 15. 16; cf. Pomp. Mela iii. 6), in
which he mentions the native "essedarii" and the skill with which they
handled their war chariots. We are left quite in the dark as to the
character of the animal thus employed; but there would appear to be much
probability in the surmise of W. Youatt, who conjectures the horse to
have been, "then as ever, the creature of the country in which he lived.
With short fare, and exposed to the rigour of the seasons, he was
probably the little hardy thing we yet see him; but in the marshes of
the Nen and the Witham, and on the borders of the Tees and the Clyde,
there would be as much proportionate development of frame and strength
as we find at the present day." After the occupation of the country by
the Romans, it appears that the horses of their cavalry were crossed
with the native mares, and thus there was infused into the breed new
blood, consisting probably of strains from every quarter from which
Roman remounts were procured. As to the effect of this cross we are not,
however, in a position to judge. We are also quite uncertain as to the
extent to which the Jutes and Saxons may in their turn have again
introduced a new breed of horses into England; and even to the close of
the Anglo-Saxon period of English history allusions to the horse are
still very infrequent. The _horsthegn_ we know, however, was from an
early period a high court official; and from such a law as that of
Athelstan prohibiting the exportation of horses except as presents, it
may be inferred that the English breed was not only much valued at home
but also in great request abroad.[2]
The period of the Norman Conquest marks an important stage in the
history of the British horse. William the Conqueror's own horse was of
the Spanish breed, and others of the same kind were introduced by the
barons on their estates. But the Norman horses included many varieties,
and there is no doubt that to the Conquest the inhabitants of Britain
were indebted for a decided improvement in the native horse, as well as
for the introduction of several varieties previously unknown. According
to Giraldus Cambrensis, Roger de Bellesme, a follower of William I.,
afterwards created earl of Shrewsbury, imported some stallions from
Spain into England; their produce was celebrated by Drayton the poet. It
is curious to notice that agriculture seems to be the last use to which
the horse has been put. The earliest suggestion that horses were used in
agriculture is derived from a piece of the Bayeux tapestry, where a
horse is represented as drawing a harrow. This, however, must have been
an exceptional case, for we know that oxen were used until a
comparatively late time, and that in Wales a law existed forbidding
horses to be used for ploughing.
In 1121 two Eastern horses are said to have been imported,--one of them
remaining in England, and the other being sent as a present by King
Alexander I. to the church of St Andrews, in Scotland. It has been
alleged that these horses were Barbs from Morocco, but a still more
likely theory is that they existed only in name, and never reached
either England or Scotland. The crusades were probably the means of
introducing fresh strains of blood into England, and of giving
opportunity for fresh crossings. The Spanish jennet was brought over
about 1182. King John gave great encouragement to horse-breeding: one of
his earliest efforts was to import a hundred Flemish stallions, and,
having thus paved the way for improving the breed of agricultural
horses, he set about acquiring a valuable stud for his own use.
Edward III. was likewise an admirer of the horse; he procured fifty
Spanish horses, probably jennets. At this time there was evidently a
tendency to breed a somewhat lighter and speedier horse; but, while the
introduction of a more active animal would soon have led to the
displacement of the ponderous but powerful cavalry horse then in use,
the substituted variety would have been unable to carry the weight of
armour with which horse and rider were alike protected; and so in the
end the old breed was kept up for a time. With the object of preserving
to England whatever advantages might accrue from her care and skill in
breeding an improved stamp of horses, Edward III. forbade their
exportation; they consequently improved so rapidly in value that Richard
II. compelled dealers to limit their prices to a fixed maximum. In the
ninth year of his reign, Edward received from the king of Navarre a
present of two running horses, supposed to have been valuable. The wars
of 1346 checked the improvement of horses, and undid much of what had
been previously accomplished, for we read that the cavalry taken into
France by Edward III. were but indifferently mounted, and that in
consequence he had to purchase large numbers of foreign horses from
Hainault and elsewhere for remounts. The reign of Richard III. does not
seem to have been remarkable for the furtherance of horse-breeding; but
it was then that post-horses and stages were introduced.
Our information on the whole subject is but scanty down to the reign of
Henry VII., who continued the enactment against the exportation of
stallions, but relaxed it in the case of mares above two years old. His
object was to retain the best horses in the country, and to keep the
price of them down by limiting the demand and encouraging the supply. In
his reign gelding is believed to have had its origin, on account of
numerous herds of horses belonging to different proprietors grazing
together, especially in time of harvest. Henry VIII. was particularly
careful that horse-breeding should be conducted on right principles, and
his enactments, if somewhat arbitrary, were singularly to the point. In
the thirty-second year of this reign, the "bill for the breed of horses"
was passed, the preamble of which runs thus:--"Forasmuch as the
generation and breed of good and strong horses within this realm
extendeth not only to a great help and defence of the same, but also is
a great commodity and profit to the inhabitants thereof, which is now
much decayed and diminished, by reason that, in forests, chases, moors
and waste grounds within this realm, little stoned horses and nags of
small stature and of little value be not only suffered to pasture
thereupon, but also to cover mares feeding there, whereof cometh in
manner no profit or commodity." Section 2 of the act provides that no
entire horse being above the age of two years, and not being of the
height of 15 "handfulls," shall be put to graze on any common or waste
land in certain counties; any one was to be at liberty to seize a horse
of unlawful height, and those whose duty it was to measure horses, but
who refused to do so, were to be fined 40s. By section 6 all forests,
chases, commons, &c., were to be "driven" within fifteen days of
Michaelmas day, and all horses, mares and colts not giving promise of
growing into serviceable animals, or of producing them, were to be
killed. The aim of the act was to prevent breeding from animals not
calculated to produce the class of horse suited to the needs of the
country. By another act (27 Henry VIII. chapter 6), after stating that
the "breed of good strong horses" was likely to diminish, it was ordered
that the owners of all parks and enclosed grounds of the extent of one
mile should keep two mares 13 hands high for breeding purposes, or, if
the extent of the ground was 4 m., four mares. The statute was not to
extend to the counties of Westmorland, Cumberland, Northumberland or the
bishopric of Durham. Henry took great pains to improve the royal stud:
according to Sir Thomas Chaloner--a writer in the reign of Elizabeth--he
imported horses from Turkey, Naples and Spain.
Queen Elizabeth is reputed to have been an accomplished horsewoman, and
to have indulged in riding late in life. In the first year of her reign
she revived an act passed by Henry VIII. making it felony "to sell,
exchange or deliver within Scotland, or to the use of any Scottishman,
any horse"; this, however, was very naturally repealed by James I.
Carriages were soon after introduced, and the use of them speedily
became so fashionable that a bill was brought in "to restrain the
excessive and superfluous use of coaches." Prior to the introduction of
carriages horseback was the means of locomotion, and Queen Elizabeth
rode in state to St Paul's on a pillion; but even after carriages were
used, horseback was held to be more dignified, for James I. and his
judges rode on horseback to Westminster Hall. One advantage of the
introduction of carriages was that it created a demand for a lighter and
quicker sort of horse, instead of the ponderous animal which, despite
all attempts to banish him, was still the horse of England--the age of
chivalry having been the first epoch of the British horse.
Gunpowder, too, was invented; and now that the weight of the cavalry
soldier was diminished by the substitution of lighter armour, a quicker
and better bred horse was thought desirable for military service. The
introduction of carriages and the invention of gunpowder thus opened out
a new industry in breeding; and a decided change was gradually creeping
on by the time that James I. came to the throne (1603), which commences
the second epoch. James was a thorough sportsman, and his taste for
racing, in which he freely indulged, caused him to think but little of
the speed of even the best English horses. With the laudable motive,
therefore, of effecting improvement in horses, he gave the then large
sum of 500 guineas for an Arab stallion which had been procured from
Constantinople by a Mr Markham, since known as the "Markham Arabian."
This is the first authentic account we have of the importation of Arab
blood, and the _Stud-Book_ says he was the first of that breed ever seen
in England. The people having to do with horses at that time were as
conservative in their notions as most of the grooms are now, and the
"Markham Arabian" was not at all approved of. The duke of Newcastle, in
his treatise on horsemanship, said that he had seen the above Arabian,
and described him as a small bay horse and not of very excellent shape.
In this instance, however, prejudice (and it is difficult to believe
that it was anything else) was right, for King James's first venture
does not appear to have been a success either as a race-horse or as a
sire, and thus Arabian blood was brought into disrepute. The king,
however, resolved to give Eastern blood another trial, and bought a
horse known as Place's White Turk from a Mr Place, who subsequently held
some office in connexion with the stable under Cromwell. Charles I.
followed in the footsteps of James, and lent such patronage to the
breeding of a better kind of horse that a memorial was presented to him,
asking that some measures might be taken to prevent the old stamp of
horse "fit for the defence of the country" from dying out.
We now come to a very important period in the history of the British
horse, for Charles II. warmly espoused the introduction of Eastern blood
into England. He sent his master of the horse abroad to purchase a
number of foreign horses and mares for breeding, and the mares brought
over by him (as also many of their produce) were called "royal mares";
they form a conspicuous feature in the annals of breeding. The
_Stud-Book_ shows of what breed the royal mares really were: one of
them, the dam of Dodsworth (who, though foaled in England, was a natural
Barb), was a Barb mare; she was sold by the stud-master, after Charles
II.'s death, for forty guineas, at twenty years old, when in foal by the
Helmsley Turk.
James II. was a good horseman, and had circumstances been more
propitious he might have left his mark in the sporting annals of the
country. In his reign, according to the _Stud-Book_, the Stradling or
Lister Turk was brought into England by the duke of Berwick from the
siege of Buda.
The reign of William III. is noteworthy as the era in which, among other
importations, there appeared the first of three Eastern horses to which
the modern thoroughbred race-horse traces back as the founders of his
lineage. This was the Byerly Turk, of whom nothing more is known than
that--to use the words of the first volume of the _Stud-Book_--he was
Captain Byerly's charger in Ireland in King William's wars. The second
of the three horses above alluded to was the Darley Arabian, who was a
genuine Arab, and was imported from Aleppo by a brother of Mr Darley of
Aldby Park, Yorkshire, about the end of the reign of William III. or the
beginning of that of Anne. The third horse of the famous trio, the
Godolphin Arabian or Barb, brought to England about five-and-twenty
years after the Darley Arabian, will be more particularly referred to
further on. All the horses now on the turf or at the stud trace their
ancestry in the direct male line to one or other of these three--the
Byerly Turk, the Darley Arabian, and the Godolphin Arabian or Barb. In
the female line their pedigrees can be traced to other sources, but for
all practical purposes it suffices to regard one or other of these three
animals as the _ultima Thule_ of racing pedigree. Of course there is a
large interfusion of the blood of each of the trio through the dams of
horses of the present day; indeed, it is impossible to find an English
race-horse which does not combine the blood of all three.
_The Race-horse._--The third and last epoch of the British horse, viz.
that of the thoroughbred racer, may be taken to date from the beginning
of the 18th century. By thoroughbred is meant a horse or mare whose
pedigree is registered in the _Stud-Book_ kept by Messrs Weatherby, the
official agents of the Jockey Club--originally termed the keepers of the
match-book--as well as publishers of the _Racing Calendar_. The first
attempt to evolve order out of the chaos which had long reigned supreme
was made in 1791, for we find in the preface of the first volume of the
Stud-Book, published in 1808, that "with a view to correct the then
increasing evil of false and inaccurate pedigrees, the author was in the
year 1791 prevailed upon to publish an _Introduction to a General
Stud-Book_, consisting of a small collection of pedigrees which he had
extracted from racing calendars and sale papers and arranged on a new
plan." It will be seen that the compiler of the volume on which so much
depends had to go back fully a century, with little else to guide him
but odds and ends in the way of publications and tradition. Mistakes
under such circumstances are pardonable. The _Stud-Book_ then (vol. i.),
which is the oldest authority we have, contains the names and in most
cases the pedigrees, obscure though they may be, of a very large number
of horses and mares of note from the earliest accounts, but with two
exceptions no dates prior to the 18th century are specified in it. These
exceptions are the Byerly Turk, who was "Captain Byerly's charger in
Ireland in King William's wars (1689, &c.)," and a horse called
Counsellor, bred by Mr Egerton in 1694, by Lord D'Arcy's Counsellor by
Lord Lonsdale's Counsellor by the Shaftesbury Turk out of sister to
Spanker--all the dams in Counsellor's pedigree tracing back to Eastern
mares. There is not the least doubt that many of the animals named in
the _Stud-Book_ were foaled much earlier than the above dates, but we
have no particulars as to time; and after all it is not of much
consequence.
The _Stud-Book_ goes on to say of the Byerly Turk that he did not cover
many bred mares, but was the sire of the duke of Devonshire's Basto,
Halloway's Jigg, and others. Jigg, or Jig, is a very important factor,
as will be seen hereafter. The _Stud-Book_, although silent as to the
date of his birth, says he was a common country stallion in Lincolnshire
until Partner was six years old--and we know from the same authority
that Partner was foaled in 1718; we may therefore conclude that Jigg was
a later foal than Basto, who, according to Whyte's _History of the
Turf_, was a brown horse foaled in 1703.
The reign of Queen Anne, however (1702-1714), is that which will ever be
inseparably connected with the thoroughbred race-horse on account of the
fame during that period of the Darley Arabian, a bay stallion, from whom
our very best horses are descended. According to the _Stud-Book_,
"Darley's Arabian was brought over by a brother of Mr Darley of
Yorkshire, who, being an agent in merchandise abroad, became member of a
hunting club, by which means he acquired interest to procure this
horse." The _Stud-Book_ is silent, and other authorities differ, as to
the date of the importation of this celebrated Arab, some saying he came
over in the year 1700, others that he arrived somewhat later; but we
know from the _Stud-Book_ that Manica (foaled in 1707), Aleppo (1711),
Almanzor (1713), and Flying Childers (1715) were got by him, as also was
Bartlett's Childers, a younger brother of Flying Childers. It is
generally believed that he was imported in Anne's reign, but the exact
date is immaterial, for, assuming that he was brought over as early as
1700 from Aleppo, he could scarcely have had a foal living before 1701,
the first year of the 18th century. The Darley Arabian did much to
remove the prejudice against Eastern blood which had been instilled into
the public mind by the duke of Newcastle's denunciation of the Markham
Arabian. Prince George of Denmark, consort of Queen Anne, was himself a
large horse-owner; and it was in a great measure owing to his
intervention that so many valuable stallions were imported during her
reign.
At this period we find, among a mass of horses and mares in the
_Stud-Book_ without any dates against their names, many animals of note
with the earliest chronology extant, from Grey Ramsden (1704) and Bay
Bolton (1705) down to a mare who exercised a most important influence on
the English blood-horse. This was Roxana (1718) by the Bald Galloway,
her dam sister to Chanter by the Akaster Turk, from a daughter of
Leedes's Arabian and a mare by Spanker. Roxana threw in 1732 the bay
colt Lath by the Godolphin Arabian, the sorrel colt Roundhead by
Childers in 1733, and the bay colt Cade by the Godolphin Arabian in
1734, in which year she died within a fortnight after foaling, the
produce--Cade--being reared on cow's milk. The Godolphin Barb or
Arabian, as he was commonly called, was a brown bay about 15 hands in
stature, with an unnaturally high crest, and with some white on his off
hind heel. He is said to have been imported into England from France by
Mr Coke, where, as the editor of the _Stud-Book_ was informed by a
French gentlemen, he was so little thought of that he had actually drawn
a cart in the streets of Paris. Mr Coke gave him to a Mr. Williams, who
in his turn presented him to the earl of Godolphin. Although called an
Arabian, there is little doubt he was a Barb pure and simple. In 1731,
being then the property of Mr. Coke, he was teazer to Hobgoblin, and on
the latter refusing his services to Roxana, the mare was put to the
Godolphin, and the produce was Lath (1732), the first of his get, and
the most celebrated race-horse of his day after Flying Childers. He was
also the sire of Cade, own brother to Lath, and of Regulus the maternal
grandsire of Eclipse. He died at Gogmagog in Cambridgeshire, in the
possession of Lord Godolphin, in 1753, being then, as is supposed, in
his twenty-ninth year. He is believed to have been foaled in Barbary
about 1724, and to have been imported during the reign of George II.
In regard to the mares generally, we have a record of the royal mares
already alluded to, and likewise of three Turk mares brought over from
the siege of Vienna in 1684, as well as of other importations; but it is
unquestionable that there was a very large number of native mares in
England, improved probably from time to time by racing, however much
they may have been crossed at various periods with foreign horses, and
that from this original stock were to some extent derived the size and
stride which characterized the English race-horse, while his powers of
endurance and elegant shape were no doubt inherited from the Eastern
horses, most of which were of a low stature, 14 hands or thereabouts. It
is only necessary to trace carefully back the pedigree of most of the
famous horses of early times to discover faults on the side of the
dam--that is to say, the expression "dam's pedigree unknown," which
evidently means of original or native blood. Whatever therefore may be
owing to Eastern blood, of which from the middle of the 17th to the
beginning of the 18th century a complete wave swept over the British
Isles, some credit is unquestionably due to the native mares (which
Blaine says were mostly Cleveland bays) upon which the Arabian, Barb, or
Turk blood was grafted, and which laid the foundation of the modern
thoroughbred. Other nations may have furnished the blood, but England
has made the race-horse.
Without prosecuting this subject further, it may be enough here to
follow out the lines of the Darley Arabian, the Byerly Turk, and the
Godolphin Arabian or Barb, the main ancestors of the British
thoroughbred of the 18th and 19th centuries, through several famous
race-horses, each and all brilliant winners,--Flying Childers, Eclipse,
Herod and Matchem,--to whom it is considered sufficient to look as the
great progenitors of the race-horse of to-day.
1. The Darley Arabian's line is represented in a twofold
degree--first, through his son Flying Childers, his grandsons Blaze
and Snip, and his great-grandson Snap, and, secondly, through his
other son Bartlett's Childers and his great-great-grandson Eclipse.
Flying or Devonshire Childers, so called to distinguish him from other
horses of the same name, was a bay horse of entirely Eastern blood,
with a blaze in his face and four white feet, foaled in 1715. He was
bred by Mr Leonard Childers of Carr House near Doncaster, and was
purchased when young by the duke of Devonshire. He was got by the
Darley Arabian from Betty Leedes, by Careless from sister to Leedes,
by Leedes's Arabian from a mare by Spanker out of a Barb mare, who was
Spanker's own mother. Spanker himself was by D'Arcy's Yellow Turk from
a daughter of the Morocco Barb and Old Bald Peg, by an Arab horse from
a Barb mare. Careless was by Spanker from a Barb mare, so that
Childers's dam was closely in-bred to Spanker. Flying Childers--the
wonder of his time--was never beaten, and died in the duke of
Devonshire's stud in 1741, aged twenty-six years. He was the sire of,
among other horses, Blaze (1733) and Snip (1736). Snip too had a
celebrated son called Snap (1750), and it is chiefly in the female
line through the mares by these horses, of which there are fully
thirty in the _Stud-Book_, that the blood of Flying Childers is handed
down to us.
The other representative line of the Darley Arabian is through
Bartlett's Childers, also bred by Mr Leonard Childers, and sold to Mr
Bartlett of Masham, in Yorkshire. He was for several years called
Young Childers,--it being generally supposed that he was a younger
brother of his Flying namesake, but his date of birth is not on
record,--and subsequently Bartlett's Childers. This horse, who was
never trained, was the sire of Squirt (1732), whose son Marske (1750)
begat Eclipse and Young Marske (1762), sire of Shuttle (1793). This at
least is the generally accepted theory, although Eclipse's dam is said
to have been covered by Shakespeare as well as by Marske. Shakespeare
was the son of Hobgoblin by Aleppo, and consequently the male line of
the Darley Arabian would come through these horses instead of through
Bartlett's Childers, Squirt, and Marske; the _Stud-Book_, however,
says that Marske was the sire of Eclipse. This last-named celebrated
horse--perhaps the most celebrated in the annals of the turf--was
foaled on the 1st of April 1764, the day on which a remarkable eclipse
of the sun occurred, and he was named after it. He was bred by the
duke of Cumberland, after whose decease he was purchased by a Mr
Wildman, and subsequently sold to Mr D. O'Kelly, with whom he will
ever be identified. His dam Spiletta was by Regulus, son of the
Godolphin Barb, from Mother Western, by a son of Snake from a mare by
Old Montague out of a mare by Hautboy, from a daughter of Brimmer and
a mare whose pedigree was unknown. In Eclipse's pedigree there are
upwards of a dozen mares whose pedigrees are not known, but who are
supposed to be of native blood. Eclipse was a chestnut horse with a
white blaze down his face; his off hind leg was white from the hock
downwards, and he had black spots upon his rump--this peculiarity
coming down to the present day in direct male descent. His racing
career commenced at five years of age, viz. on the 3rd May 1769, at
Epsom, and terminated on the 4th October 1770, at Newmarket. He ran or
walked over for eighteen races, and was never beaten. It was in his
first race that Mr O'Kelly took the odds to a large amount before the
start for the second heat, that he would place the horses. When called
upon to declare, he uttered the exclamation, which the event
justified, "Eclipse first, and the rest nowhere."
Eclipse commenced his stud career in 1771, and had an enormous number
of foals, of which four only in the direct male line have come down to
us, viz. Potoooooooo, or, as he is commonly called, Pot-8-os (1773),
his most celebrated son, King Fergus (1775), Joe Andrews (1778), and
Mercury (1778), though several others are represented in the female
line. Pot-8-os was the sire of Waxy (1790) out of Maria (1777) by
Herod out of Lisette (1772) by Snap. Waxy, who has been not inaptly
termed the ace of trumps in the _Stud-Book_, begat Whalebone (1807),
Web (1808), Woful (1809), Wire (1811), Whisker (1812), and Waxy Pope
(1806), all but the last being out of Penelope (1798) by Trumpator
(1782) from Prunella (1788) by Highflyer out of Promise by Snap, while
Waxy Pope was out of Prunella, dam of Parasol (1800) by Pot-8-os.
Trumpator was a son of Conductor, who was by Matchem out of a mare by
Snap.
Whalebone's best sons were Camel (1822) and Sir Hercules (1826). Camel
was the sire of Defence (1824) and Touchstone (1831), while Sir
Hercules was the sire of Birdcatcher (1833) and Faugh-a-Ballagh
(1841), own brothers, and of Gemma di Vergy (1854). Touchstone was the
sire of Newminster (1848), who begat Lord Clifden, Adventurer, and the
Hermit, as well as of Orlando (1841), sire of Teddington (1848).
Whalebone's blood also descends through Waverley (1817) and his son
the Saddler (1828), while Whisker is represented by the Colonel (1825)
and by Economist (1825) and his son Harkaway (1834), sire of King Tom
(1851). Birdcatcher begat, besides Saunterer (1854), the Baron (1842),
sire of Stockwell (1849) and of Rataplan (1850). Stockwell, who was a
chestnut with black spots, was the sire of Blair Athol (1861), a
chestnut, and also of Doncaster (1870), another chestnut, but with the
characteristic black spots of his grandsire; and Doncaster was the
sire of the chestnut Bend Or (1877).
To turn to Eclipse's other sons. King Fergus (1775) was the sire of
Beningbrough (1791), whose son was Orville (1799), whence comes some
of the stoutest blood on the turf, including Emilius (1820) and his
son Priam (1827), Plenipotentiary (1831), Muley (1810), Chesterfield
(1834), and the Hero (1843). Joe Andrews (1778) was the sire of Dick
Andrews (1797), and from him descend Tramp (1810), Lottery (1820),
Liverpool (1828), Sheet Anchor (1832), Lanercost (1835), Weatherbit
(1842), Beadsman (1855), and Blue Gown (1865). Mercury was sire of
Gohanna (1790), who was foaled in the same year as Waxy, and the two,
who were both grandsons of Eclipse and both out of Herod mares, had
several contests, Waxy generally getting the better of his cousin.
Gohanna's descendants come down through Golumpus (1802), Catton
(1809), Mulatto (1823), Royal Oak (1823), and Slane (1833).
2. The Byerly Turk's line is represented by Herod, the Turk being the
sire of Jigg, who was the sire of Partner (1718), whose son Tartar
(1743) begat King Herod, or Herod as he was commonly called, foaled in
1758. Herod's dam was Cypron (1750) by Blaze (1733), son of Flying
Childers. Cypron's dam was Selima by Bethel's Arabian from a mare by
Graham's Champion from a daughter of the Darley Arabian and a mare who
claims Merlin for her sire, but whose mother's pedigree is unknown. In
Herod's pedigree there are fully a dozen dams whose pedigree is
unknown. Herod was a bay horse about 15 hands 3 inches high, possessed
both of substance and length,--those grand requisites in a
race-horse,--combined with uncommon power and stamina or lasting
qualities. He was bred by William, duke of Cumberland, uncle of King
George III. He commenced his racing career in October 1763, when he
was five years old, and ended it on the 16th of May 1767. He ran ten
times, winning six and losing four races. He died in 1780, and among
other progeny left two famous sons, Woodpecker (1773), whose dam was
Miss Ramsden (1760) by Cade, son of the Godolphin Barb, but descended
also on the dam's side from the Darley Arabian and the Byerly Turk,
and Highflyer (1774), whose dam was Rachel (1763) by Blank, son of the
Godolphin Barb from a daughter of Regulus, also son of the Godolphin.
These two horses have transmitted Herod's qualities down to the
present day in the direct male line, although in the female line he is
represented through some of his other sons and his daughters as well.
Woodpecker was the sire of Buzzard (1787), who in his turn became the
father of three celebrated sons, Castrel (1801), Selim (1802), and
Rubens (1803), all three chestnuts, and all out of an Alexander mare
(1790), who thereby became famous. This mare was by Eclipse's son
Alexander (1782) out of a mare by Highflyer (son of Herod) out of a
daughter of Alfred, by Matchem out of a daughter of Snap. Bustard
(1813), whose dam was a daughter of Shuttle, and his son Heron (1833),
Sultan (1816) and his sons Glencoe (1831) and Bay Middleton (1833) and
Middleton's sons Cowl (1842) and the Flying Dutchman (1846), Pantaloon
(1824) and his son Windhound (1847), Langar (1817) and his son Epirus
(1834) and grandson Pyrrhus the First (1843), are representatives of
Castrel and Selim.
Highflyer is represented through his greatly esteemed son Sir Peter
Teazle, commonly called Sir Peter (1784), whose dam was Papillon by
Snap. Sir Peter had five sons at the stud, Walton (1790), Stamford
(1794), and Sir Paul (1802) being the chief. Paulowitz (1813), Cain
(1822), Ion (1835), Wild Dayrell (1852), and his son Buccaneer (1857)
bring down Sir Paul's blood; whilst Walton is represented through
Phantom (1806), Partisan (1811) and his sons Glaucus (1829) and
Venison (1833) and Gladiator (1833), Venison's sons Alarm (1842) and
Kingston (1849), Gladiator's son Sweetmeat (1842), Sweetmeat's sons
Macaroni (1860) and Parmesan (1857), and Parmesan's sons Favonius
(1868) and Cremorne (1869). It may be added that in the first volume
of the _Stud-Book_ there are nearly a hundred Herod and Highflyer
mares registered.
3. The Godolphin Barb is represented by Matchem, as the former was the
sire of Cade (1734), and Cade begat Matchem, who was foaled in 1748.
He was thus ten years the senior of Herod, representing the Byerly
Turk, and sixteen years before Eclipse, though long subsequent to
Flying Childers, who represent the Darley Arabian. Matchem was a brown
bay horse with some white on his off hind heel, about 15 hands high,
bred by Sir John Holme of Carlisle, and sold to Mr W. Fenwick of
Bywell, Northumberland. His dam was sister to Miss Partner (1735) by
Partner out of Brown Farewell by Makeless (son of the Oglethorpe
Arabian) from a daughter of Brimmer out of Trumpet's dam, by Place's
White Turk from a daughter of the Barb Dodsworth and a Layton Barb
mare; while Brimmer was by D'Arcy's Yellow Turk from a royal mare.
Matchem commenced his racing career on the 2nd of August 1753, and
terminated it on 1st September 1758. Out of thirteen engagements he
won eleven and lost two. He died in 1781, aged thirty-three years. His
best son was Conductor (1767) out of a mare by Snap; Conductor was the
sire of Trumpator (1782), whose two sons, Sorcerer (1790) and Paynator
(1791), transmit the blood of the Godolphin down to modern times.
Sorcerer was the sire of Soothsayer (1808), Comus (1809), and
Smolensko (1810). Comus was the sire of Humphrey Clinker (1822), whose
son was Melbourne (1834), sire of West Australian (1850) and of many
valuable mares, including Canezou (1845) and Blink Bonny (1854), dam
of Blair Athol. Paynator was the sire of Dr Syntax (1811), who had a
celebrated daughter called Beeswing (1833), dam of Newminster by
Touchstone.
The gems of the three lines may be briefly enumerated thus: (1) of the
Darley Arab's line--Snap, Shuttle, Waxy, and Orville--the stoutest
blood on the turf; (2) of the Byerly Turk's line--Buzzard and Sir
Peter--speedy blood, the latter the stouter of the two; (3) of the
Godolphin Barb's line--Sorcerer--often producing large-sized animals,
but showing a tendency to die out, and becoming rare.
On the principle that as a rule like begets like, it has been the
practice to select as sires the best public performers on the turf, and
of two horses of like blood it is sound sense to choose the better as
against the inferior public performer. But there can be little doubt
that the mating of mares with horses has been often pursued on a
haphazard plan, or on no system at all; to this the _Stud-Book_
testifies too plainly. In the article HORSE-RACING mention is made of
some of the great horses of recent years; but the following list of the
principal sires of earlier days indicates also how their progeny found a
place among the winners of the three great races, the Derby (D), Oaks
(O), and St Leger (L):--
_Eclipse_: Young Eclipse (D), Saltram (D), Sergeant (D), Annette (O).
_Herod_: Bridget (O), Faith (O), Maid of the Oaks (O), Phenomenon (L).
_Matchem_: Teetotum (O), Hollandaise (L).
_Florizel_ (son of Herod): Diomed (D), Eager (D), Tartar (L),
Ninety-three (L).
_Highflyer_: Noble (D), Sir Peter Teazle (D), Skyscraper (D), Violante
(O), Omphale (L), Cowslip (L), Spadille (L), Young Flora (L).
_Pot-8-os_: Waxy (D), Champion (D, L), Tyrant (D), Nightshade (O).
_Sir Peter_ (D): Sir Harry (D), Archduke (D), Ditto (D), Paris (D),
Hermione (O), Parasite (O), Ambrosio (L), Fyldener (L), Paulina (L),
Petronius (L).
_Waxy_ (D): Pope (D), Whalebone (D), Blucher (D), Whisker (D), Music
(O), Minuet (O), Corinne (O).
_Whalebone_ (D): Moses (D), Lapdog (D), Spaniel (D), Caroline (O).
_Woful_: Augusta (O), Zinc (O), Theodore (L).
_Whisker_ (D): Memnon (L), The Colonel (L).
_Phantom_: Cedric (D), Middleton (D), Cobweb (O).
_Orville_ (L): Octavius (D), Emilius (D), Ebor (L).
_Tramp_: St Giles (D), Dangerous (D), Barefoot (L).
_Emilius_ (D): Priam (D), Plenipotentiary (D), Oxygen (O), Mango (L).
_Priam_ (D): Miss Seltz (O), Industry (O), Crucifix (O).
_Sir Hercules_: Coronation (D), Faugh-a-Ballagh (L), Birdcatcher (L).
_Touchstone_ (L): Cotherstone (D), Orlando (D), Surplice (D, L),
Mendicant (O), Blue Bonnet (L), Newminster (L).
_Birdcatcher_ (L): Daniel O'Rourke (D), Songstress (O), Knight of St
George (L), Warlock (L), The Baron (L).
_The Baron_ (L): Stockwell (L).
_Melbourne_: West Australian (D, L), Blink Bonny (D, O), Sir Tatton
Sykes (L).
_Newminster_ (L): Musjid (D), Hermit (D), Lord Clifden (L).
_Sweetmeat_: Macaroni (D), Mincemeat (O), Mincepie (O).
_Stockwell_ (L): Blair Athol (D, L), Lord Lyon (D, L), Doncaster (D),
Regalia (O), St Albans (L), Caller Ou (L), The Marquis (L),
Achievement (L).
_King Tom_: Kingcraft (D), Tormentor (O), Hippia (O), Hannah (O, L).
_Rataplan_ (son of the Baron): Kettledrum (D).
_Monarque_: Gladiateur (D, L).
_Parmesan_ (son of Sweetmeat): Favonius (D), Cremorne (D).
_Buccaneer_: Kisber (D), Formosa (O, L), Brigantine (O).
_Lord Clifden_ (L): Jannette (O, L), Hawthornden (L), Wenlock (L),
Petrarch (L).
_Adventurer_: Pretender (D), Apology (O, L), Wheel of Fortune (O).
_Blair Athol_ (D, L): Silvio (D, L), Craig Millar (L).
In regard to mares it has very frequently turned out that animals which
were brilliant public performers have been far less successful as dams
than others which were comparatively valueless as runners. Beeswing, a
brilliant public performer, gave birth to a good horse in Newminster;
the same may be said of Alice Hawthorn, dam of Thormanby, of Canezou,
dam of Fazzoletto, of Crucifix, dam of Surplice, and of Blink Bonny, dam
of Blair Athol; but many of the greatest winners have dropped nothing
worth training. On the other hand, there are mares of little or no value
as racers who have become the mothers of some of the most celebrated
horses on the turf; among them we may cite Queen Mary, Pocahontas and
Paradigm. Queen Mary, who was by Gladiator out of a daughter of
Plenipotentiary and Myrrha by Whalebone, when mated with Melbourne
produced Blink Bonny (winner of the Derby and Oaks); when mated with
Mango and Lanercost she produced Haricot, dam of Caller Ou (winner of
the St Leger). Pocahontas, perhaps the most remarkable mare in the
_Stud-Book_, never won a race on the turf, but threw Stockwell and
Rataplan to the Baron, son of Birdcatcher, King Tom to Harkaway, Knight
of St Patrick to Knight of St George, and Knight of Kars to Nutwith--all
these horses being 16 hands high and upwards, while Pocahontas was a
long low mare of about 15 hands or a trifle more. She also gave birth to
Ayacanora by Birdcatcher, and to Araucaria by Ambrose, both very
valuable brood mares, Araucaria being the dam of Chamant by Mortemer,
and of Rayon d'Or by Flageolet, son of Plutus by Touchstone. Paradigm
again produced, among several winners of more or less celebrity, Lord
Lyon (winner of the Two Thousand Guineas, Derby and St Leger) and
Achievement (winner of the St Leger), both being by Stockwell. Another
famous mare was Manganese (1853) by Birdcatcher from Moonbeam by Tomboy
from Lunatic by the Prime Minister from Maniac by Shuttle. Manganese
when mated with Rataplan threw Mandragora, dam of Apology, winner of the
Oaks and St Leger, whose sire was Adventurer, son of Newminster. She
also threw Mineral, who, when mated with Lord Clifden, produced Wenlock,
winner of the St Leger, and after being sold to go to Hungary, was there
mated with Buccaneer, the produce being Kisber, winner of the Derby.
We append the pedigree of Blair Athol, winner of the Derby and St Leger
in 1864, who, when subsequently sold by auction, fetched the then
unprecedented sum of 12,000 guineas, as it contains, not only Stockwell
(the emperor of stallions, as he has been termed), but Blink Bonny and
Eleanor--in which latter animal are combined the blood of Eclipse,
Herod, Matchem and Snap,--the mares that won the Derby in 1801 and 1857
respectively, as well as those queens of the stud, Eleanor's
great-granddaughter Pocahontas and Blink Bonny's dam Queen Mary. Both
Eleanor and Blink Bonny won the Oaks as well as the Derby.
/Whalebone* (1807) /Waxy* (1790)
/Sir Hercules< \Penelope (1798)
| (1826) \Peri (1823) /Wanderer (1790)
/Birdcatcher < \Thalestris (1809)
| [++] | /Bob Booty (1804) /Chanticleer (1787)
| (1833) |Guiccioli < \Ierne (1790)
| \ (1823) \Flight (1809) /Escape (1802)
/The Baron[++]< \Young Heroine
| (1842) | /Whisker* (1812) /Waxy* (1790)
| | /Economist < \Penelope (1798)
| | | (1825) \Floranthe (1818) /Octavian (1807)
| |Echidna < \Caprice (1797)
| \ (1838) | /Blacklock (1814) /Whitelock (1803)
| |Miss Pratt < \Coriander mare (1799)
| \ (1825) \Gadabout (1812) /Orville[++] (1709)
/Stockwell[++]< \Minstrel (1803)
|(1849) | /Selim (1802) /Buzzard (1787)
| | /Sultan < \Alexander mare (1790)
| | | (1816) \Bacchante (1809) /Williamson's Ditto (1800)
| | /Glencoe < \Sister to Calomel (1791)
| | | (1831) | /Tramp (1810) /Dick Andrews (1797)
| | | |Trampoline < \Gohanna mare
| | | \ (1825) \Web (1808) /Waxy* (1790)
| |Pocahontas < \Penelope (1798)
| \ (1837) | /Orville[++] (1799) /Beningbrough (1790)
| | /Muley < \Evelina (1791)
| | | (1810) \Eleanor*[++] (1798) /Whiskey (1789)
| |Marpessa < \Young Giantess (1790)
| \ (1830) | /Marmion (1806) /Whiskey (1789)
| |Clare < \Young Noisette (1789)
| \ (1824) \Harpalice (1814) /Gohanna (1790)
Blair | \Amazon (1799)
Athol*[++] < /Sorcerer (1796) /Trumpator (1782)
(1861) | /Comus < \Young Giantess (1790)
| | (1809) \Houghton Lass (1801)/Sir Peter* (1784)
| /Humphrey < \Alexina (1788)
| | Clinker | /Clinker (1805) /Sir Peter* (1784)
| | (1822) |Clinkerina < \Hyale (1797)
| | \ (1812) \Pewet (1786) /Tandem (1773)
| /Melbourne < \Termagant
| | (1834) | /Don Quixote (1784) /Eclipse (1764)
| | | /Cervantes < \Grecian Princess (1770)
| | | | (1806) \Evelina (1791) /Highflyer (1774)
| | |Daughter of < \Termagant
| | \ (1825) | /Golumpus (1802) /Gohanna (1790)
| | |Daughter of < \Catherine (1795)
| | \ (1818) \Daughter of (1810) /Paynator (1791)
|Blink Bonny*[+]< \Sister to Zodiac
\ (1854) | /Walton (1799) /Sir Peter* (1784)
| /Partisan < \Arethusa (1792)
| | (1811) \Parasol (1800) /Pot-8-os (1773)
| /Gladiator < \Prunella (1788)
| | (1833) | /Moses* (1819) /Whalebone* by Waxy* (1807)
| | |Pauline < \Gohanna mare
| | \ (1826) \Quadrille (1815) /Selim (1802)
|Queen Mary < \Canary Bird (1806)
\(1843) | /Emilius* (1820) /Orville[++] (1799)
| /Plenipote- < \Emily (1810)
| | ntiary* \Harriett (1819) /Pericles (1809)
|Daughter of < (1831) \Selim mare (1812)
\ (1840) | /Whalebone* (1807) /Waxy* (1790)
|Myrrha < \Penelope (1798)
\ (1830) \Gift (1818) /Young Gohanna (1810)
\Sister to Grazier by Sir
Peter* (1808)
* Winner of the Derby.
+ Winner of the Oaks.
++ Winner of the St Leger.
The shape of a race-horse is of considerable importance, although it is
said with some degree of truth that they win in all shapes. There are
the neat and elegant animals, like the descendants of Saunterer and
Sweetmeat; the large-framed, plain-looking, and heavy-headed Melbournes,
often with lop ears; the descendants of Birdcatcher, full of quality,
and of more than average stature, though sometimes disfigured with curby
hocks; and the medium-sized but withal speedy descendants of Touchstone,
though in some cases characterized by somewhat loaded shoulders. In
height it will be found that the most successful racers average from 15
to 16(1/2) hands, the former being considered somewhat small, while the
latter is unquestionably very large; the mean may be taken as between
15(1/2) and 16 hands (the hand = 4 in.). The head should be light and
lean, and well set on; the ears small and pricked, but not too short;
the eyes full; the forehead broad and flat; the nostrils large and
dilating; the muzzle fine; the neck moderate in length, wide, muscular,
and yet light; the throat clean; the windpipe spacious and loosely
attached to the neck; the crest thin, not coarse and arched. The withers
may be moderately high and thin; the chest well developed, but not too
wide or deep; the shoulder should lie well on the chest, and be oblique
and well covered with muscle, so as to reduce concussion in galloping;
the upper and lower arms should be long and muscular; the knees broad
and strong; legs short, flat and broad; fetlock joints large; pasterns
strong and of moderate length; the feet should be moderately large, with
the heels open and frogs sound--with no signs of contraction. The body
or barrel should be moderately deep, long and straight, the length being
really in the shoulders and in the quarters; the back should be strong
and muscular, with the shoulders and loins running well in at each end;
the loins themselves should have great breadth and substance, this being
a vital necessity for weight-carrying and propelling power uphill. The
hips should be long and wide, with the stifle and thigh strong, long and
proportionately developed, and the hind quarters well let down. The hock
should have plenty of bone, and be strongly affixed to the leg, and show
no signs of curb; the bones below the hock should be flat, and free from
adhesions; the ligaments and tendons well developed, and standing out
from the bone; the joints well formed and wide, yet without undue
enlargement; the pasterns and feet similar to those of the forehand. The
tail should be high set on, the croup being continued in a straight line
to the tail, and not falling away and drooping to a low-set tail.
Fine action is the best criterion of everything fitting properly, and
all a horse's points ought to harmonize or be in proportion to one
another, no one point being more prominent than another, such as good
shoulders, fine loins or excellent quarters. If the observer is struck
with the remarkable prominence of any one feature, it is probable that
the remaining parts are deficient. A well-made horse wants dissecting in
detail, and then if a good judge can discover no fault with any part,
but finds each of good proportions, and the whole to harmonize without
defect, deformity or deficiency, he has before him a well-shaped horse;
and of two equally well-made and equitably proportioned horses the best
bred one will be the best. As regards hue, the favourite colour of the
ancients, according to Xenophon, was bay, and for a long time it was the
fashionable colour in England; but for some time chestnut thoroughbreds
have been the most conspicuous figure on English race-courses, so far as
the more important events are concerned. Eclipse was a chestnut;
Castrel, Selim and Rubens were chestnuts; so also were Glencoe and
Pantaloon, of whom the latter had black spots on his hind quarters like
Eclipse; and also Stockwell and Doncaster. Birdcatcher was a chestnut,
so also were Stockwell and his brother Rataplan, Manganese, Mandragora,
Thormanby, Kettledrum, St Albans, Blair Athol, Regalia, Formosa, Hermit,
Marie Stuart, Doncaster, George Frederick, Apology, Craig Millar, Prince
Charlie, Rayon d'Or and Bend Or. The dark browns or black browns, such
as the Sweetmeat tribe, are not so common as the bays, and black or grey
horses are almost as unusual as roans. The skin and hair of the
throughbred are finer, and the veins which underlie the skin are larger
and more prominent than in other horses. The mane and tail should be
silky and devoid of curl, which is a sign of impurity.
Whether the race-horse of to-day is as good as the stock to which he
traces back has often been disputed, chiefly no doubt because he is
brought to more early maturity, commencing to win races at two years
instead of at five years of age, as in the days of Childers and Eclipse;
but the highest authorities, and none more emphatically than the late
Admiral Rous, have insisted that he can not only stay quite as long as
his ancestors, but also go a good deal faster. In size and shape the
modern race-horse is unquestionably superior, being on an average fully
a hand higher than the Eastern horses from which he is descended; and in
elegance of shape and beauty of outline he has certainly never been
surpassed. That experiments, founded on the study of his nature and
properties, which have from time to time been made to improve the breed,
and bring the different varieties to the perfection in which we now find
them, have succeeded, is best confirmed by the high estimation in which
the horses of Great Britain are held in all parts of the civilized
world; and it is not too much to assert that, although the cold, humid
and variable nature of their climate is by no means favourable to the
production of these animals in their very best form, Englishmen have by
great care, and by sedulous attention to breeding, high feeding and good
grooming, with consequent development of muscle, brought them to the
highest state of perfection of which their nature is capable.
(E. D. B.)
[Illustration: PLATE I.
SHIRE STALLION.
CLYDESDALE STALLION.
SUFFOLK STALLION.
HACKNEY STALLION.
BREEDS OF HORSES. (_From Photographs by F. Babbage._) The comparative
sizes of the horses are shown.]
[Illustration: PLATE II.
THOROUGHBRED STALLION.
SHETLAND PONY STALLION.
COACHING STALLION.
POLO PONY STALLION.
BREEDS OF HORSES. (_From Photographs by F. Babbage._) The comparative
sizes of the horses are shown.]