Transcriber's Note:
Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as
possible. Some changes have been made. They are listed at the end of
the text.
The illustration "On Saddle and Pillion" is the frontispiece, but the
list of illustrations has it "Face p. 28".
Italic text has been marked with _underscores_.
Bold text has been marked with =equals signs=.
HORSES PAST AND PRESENT
[Illustration: SADDLE AND PILLION.
(From "The Procession of the Flitch of Bacon," by THOMAS STOTHARD,
R.A.)]
HORSES
PAST AND PRESENT
BY
SIR WALTER GILBEY, BART.
ILLUSTRATED
VINTON & Co., LTD.
9, NEW BRIDGE STREET, LONDON, E.C.
1900
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Introduction 1
Before the Conquest 2
William the Conqueror 5
William Rufus 7
Henry I. 7
Henry II. 8
Richard I. 9
John 10
Edward II. 11
Edward III. 12
Richard II. 15
Henry VII. 17
Henry VIII. 18
Edward VI. and Queen Mary 22
Elizabeth 24
James I. 30
Charles I. 33
The Commonwealth 36
Charles II. 38
William III. 41
Queen Anne 43
George I. 46
George II. 48
George III. 52
George IV. 59
William IV. 60
Her Majesty Queen Victoria 62
Light Horses: Breed--Societies 88
Heavy Horses: Breed--Societies 89
ILLUSTRATIONS.
A Cart-Horse of the XVth Century Face p. 16
On Saddle and Pillion " 28
Guy, Earl of Warwick, XVIth Century " 32
The Darley Arabian " 46
Jacob Bates, The Trick Rider " 52
Grey Diomed " 55
Hunter Sire, Cognac " 64
The Hack Hunter " 70
The Norfolk Phenomenon " 80
_This brief history of the Horse in England to the close of the
nineteenth century is a compilation which, it is hoped, may prove
useful as well as interesting._
_So much has been done to improve our breeds of horses since the year
1800, and so many and important have been the changes in our methods
of travel, in the use of heavy horses in agriculture, in hunting,
racing and steeplechasing, that the latter portion of the book might be
amplified indefinitely._
_It is not thought necessary to do more than touch briefly upon the
more important events which have occurred during Her Majesty's reign._
_The interesting and instructive work by Mr. Huth, which contains the
titles of all the books written in all languages relating to the Horse
shows that the number published up to the year 1886 exceeds 4,060: and
since that date, works on the Horse, embracing veterinary science,
breeding, cavalry, coaching, racing, hunting and kindred subjects,
have been issued from the publishing houses of Europe at the rate of
about two per month. During the ten years 1886-95 upwards of 232 such
works were issued, and there has been no perceptible decrease during
the last four years._
_Under these circumstances an apology for adding to the mass of
literature on the Horse seems almost necessary._
WG
_Elsenham Hall, Essex,
November, 1900._
HORSES PAST AND PRESENT.
First among animals which man has domesticated, or brought under
control to do him service, stands the horse. The beauty of his form,
his strength, speed and retentive memory, alike commend him to
admiration; the place he holds, whether in relation to our military
strength, our commercial and agricultural pursuits, or our pleasures,
is unique. Whether as servant or companion of man the horse stands
alone among animals.
There can be no doubt but that the horse was broken to man's service at
an early period of the world's history. The art of taming him was first
practised by the peoples of Asia and Africa, who earliest attained to
a degree of civilisation; but whether he was first ridden or driven is
a question which has often been debated with no definite result. The
earliest references to the use of horses occur in the Old Testament,
where numerous passages make mention of chariots and horsemen in
connection with all warlike operations.
BEFORE THE CONQUEST.
From very remote times England has possessed horses which her
inhabitants turned to valuable account, as we find occasion to note
elsewhere[1]; and the farther she advanced on the path of civilisation
the wider became the field for utility open to the horse. To the
necessity for adapting him to various purposes, to the carrying
of armour-clad soldiery, to draught, pack work, hawking, hunting,
coaching, for use in mines where ponies are required, &c., we owe the
several distinct breeds which we now possess in such perfection.
In early times horses were held the most valuable of all property in
Britain; we see evidence of the importance attached to them in the
figures on ancient coins. The Venerable Bede states that the English
first used saddle horses about the year 631, when prelates and other
Church dignitaries were granted the privilege of riding. This statement
needs qualification, for it is certain that riding was practised by the
ancient Britons and their descendants; we shall no doubt be right in
reading Bede's assertion to refer to _saddles_, which were in use among
the nations of Eastern Europe in the fourth century. The ancient Greek
and Roman horsemen rode barebacked; but a law in the Theodosian Code,
promulgated in the fifth century, by which the weight of a saddle was
limited to 60 Roman lbs., proves that saddles were then in general use
in the Roman Empire.
The Saxon saddle was little more than a pad; this would give no very
secure seat to the rider, and therefore we cannot marvel that the art
of fighting on horseback remained unknown in Britain until it was
introduced by our Norman conquerors. Even after that epoch only the
heavily-mailed knights fought from the saddle; for some centuries
subsequently the lightly armed horsemen dismounted to go into action,
leaving their horses in charge of those who remained with the baggage
of the army in the rear. It would be wrong to call these troops
cavalry; they employed horses only for the sake of greater mobility,
and were what in modern phrase are styled mounted infantry.
Saxons and Danes brought horses of various breeds into England,
primarily to carry on their warfare against the British; the most
useful of these were horses of Eastern blood, which doubtless performed
valuable service in improving the English breeds. The Saxon and Danish
kings of necessity maintained large studs of horses for military
purposes, but whether they took measures to improve them by systematic
breeding history does not record.
King Alfred (871 to 899) had a Master of the Horse, named Ecquef, and
the existence of such an office indicates that the Royal stables were
ordered on a scale of considerable magnitude.
King Athelstan (925-940) is entitled to special mention, for it was he
who passed the first of a long series of laws by which the export of
horses was forbidden. Athelstan's law assigns no reason for this step;
but the only possible motive for such a law must have been to check
the trade which the high qualities of English-bred horses had brought
into existence. At no period of our history have we possessed more
horses than would supply our requirements, and Athelstan's prohibition
of the export of horses beyond sea, unless they were sent as gifts,
was undoubtedly due to a growing demand which threatened to produce
scarcity. This king saw no objection to the importation of horses: he
accepted several as gifts from Continental Sovereigns, and evidently
attached much value to them, for in his will he made certain bequests
of white horses and others which had been given him by Saxon friends.
WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR (1066-1087).
William the Conqueror brought with him many horses from Normandy when
he invaded England. Many of these were Spanish horses, if we may
apply to the famous Bayeux tapestry the test of comparison. William
himself, at Hastings, rode a Spanish horse, which had been presented
to him by his friend, Alfonso of Spain, and the riders on horseback
on the tapestry show that the Norman knights rode horses similar in
all respects to that of their leader. They are small, probably not
exceeding 14 hands, and of course all stallions. Berenger[2] describes
these horses as of a class adapted to the "purposes of war and the
exhibition of public assemblies."
There is nothing to tell us when horses were first used in agriculture
in England; the earliest mention of such, some considerable research
has revealed, is the reference to "four draught horses" owned by the
proprietor of an Essex manor in the reign of Edward the Confessor
(1042-1066). Under the Norman and Plantagenet kings the plough appears
to have been adapted for draught by either oxen or horses. The former
undoubtedly were the more generally used, and continued in use until
comparatively recent times in some parts of the country.
One of the pieces of tapestry worked in Bayonne in 1066 shows the
figure of a man driving a horse harnessed to a harrow. This is the
earliest pictorial evidence we possess of the employment of the horse
in field labour.
The Conqueror and his followers came from a country in which
agriculture was in a more advanced state than it was in England, and it
cannot be doubted that the Normans did much to promote the interests of
English husbandry.
WILLIAM RUFUS (1087-1100).
It was probably during the reign of William Rufus that the first
endeavour to improve the British breed of horses was made. Giraldus
Cambrensis informs us that Robert de Belesme brought Spanish stallions
to his property in Powysland, Central Wales, and that to these
importations many years afterwards the district owed its reputation
for a superior stamp of horse. The results of this enterprise were
certainly of a lasting character, for "a Powys horse" occurs among the
purchases made by Edward II. (1272-1307), indicating clearly that the
locality still produced a good stamp of animal.
HENRY I. (1100-1135).
King Henry I. would appear to have taken an interest in the work of
horse-breeding. The scanty existing records of his reign contain
mention of a visit paid in 1130 to the royal manor at Gillingham, in
Dorsetshire, by a squire "with a stallion to leap the king's mares." In
this king's reign the first Arabs were received in England from Eastern
Europe, in the shape of two horses, with costly Turkish armour, as a
gift. One of these horses was retained in England and the other was
sent to King Alexander I. of Scotland, who presented it to the Church
of St. Andrews.
HENRY II. (1154-1189).
Henry II. took a keen interest in horses, and the records of his reign
show us the system then in vogue for the maintaining the royal studs.
The horses, in greater or smaller numbers, with their grooms, were
placed under the charge of the Sheriffs of counties, whose duty it was
to provide them with pasture, stabling, and all necessaries, recovering
the cost from the Exchequer. The Tournament was introduced into
England in this reign; but these knightly exercises received little
encouragement from the king, who forbade them under ecclesiastical
pressure.
William Stephanides, a monk of Canterbury, has left us a Latin tract or
pamphlet descriptive of the mounted sports of Londoners in the latter
half of the twelfth century, which possesses both interest and value.
From this it is evident that races of a primitive character, and sham
fights of a rough and ready kind had place among the recreations of
the people of Henry II.'s time. Smithfield, then a level expanse of
grass where periodical horse markets were held, was the scene of these
amusements:--
"Every Sunday in Lent after dinner young men ride out into the
fields on horses which are fit for war and excellent for their
speed. The citizens' sons issue out through the gates by troops,
furnished with lances and shields, and make representation of
battle and exercise and skirmish. To this performance many young
courtiers yet uninitiated in arms resort, and great persons to
train and practice. They begin by dividing into troops; some labour
to outstrip their leaders without being able to reach them; others
unhorse their antagonists without being able to get beyond them.
At times two or three boys are set on horseback to ride a race and
push their horses to their utmost speed, sparing neither whip nor
spur."[3]
RICHARD I. (1189-1199).
Richard I., ignoring the opposition of the Church, which held them
dangerous alike to body and soul, encouraged tournaments as valuable
training for his knights; and it may here be observed that from his
time through the succeeding ages until 1559, when a fatal accident to
King Henry II., of France, in the lists, caused the institution to go
out of fashion, tournaments were held from time to time in England.
Some of our kings encouraged them for military reasons; others
discouraged them under Church influence, or as records show, because
they were productive of loss in horses and arms, which the resources of
the country could ill afford.
We find traces of the old "Justs of Peace," as tournaments were
officially called, in the names of streets in London. Knightrider
and Giltspur Streets, for example: the former owed its name to the
circumstance that through it lay the route taken by knights on their
way from the Tower to the lists at Smithfield; the latter to the fact
that the makers of the gilt spurs worn by knights carried on their
business there. Cheapside was the scene of some historical tournaments,
as were the Barbican and Roderwell. The Tiltyard near St. James's was
the exercise ground of knights and gentlemen at a later date.
JOHN (1199-1216).
King John reigned at a period when the armour worn by mounted men was
becoming stronger, and when the difficulty of finding horses powerful
enough to carry heavily mailed riders was increasing. This sovereign,
so far as can be discovered, was the first to make an endeavour to
increase the size of our English breed of Great Horses; he imported
from Flanders one hundred stallions of large size. The Low Countries,
in the Early and Middle Ages, were the breeding grounds of the largest
and most powerful horses known; and John's importations must have
wrought marked influence upon the British stock. He also purchased
horses in Spain which are described as Spanish _dextrarii_, or Great
Horses. _Dextrarius_ was the name by which the war horse was known at
this period and for centuries afterwards.
EDWARD II. (1307-1327).
Edward II. devoted both energy and money to the task of improving our
horses. We have record of several horse-buying commissions despatched
by him to the Champaign district in France, to Italy and other parts
vaguely described as "beyond seas." One such commission brought home
from Lombardy thirty war horses and twelve others of the heavy type.
There can be no doubt but that the foreign purchases of Edward II.
were destined for stud purposes; the more extensive purchases of his
successor, Edward III., suggest that he required horses for immediate
use in the ranks.
Husbandry in England was at a low ebb during the thirteenth century,
but towards the end of Edward II.'s reign it began to make progress in
the midland and southwestern counties. The high esteem in which English
wool was held caused large tracts of country to be retained as pasture
for sheep for a long period, and while farmers possessed this certain
source of revenue the science of cultivation was naturally neglected.
EDWARD III. (1327-1377).
Edward III., to meet the drain upon the horse supply caused by his
wars with Scotland and France, bought large numbers of horses on the
Continent; more, it would appear, than his Treasury could pay for,
as he was at one time in the Count of Hainault's debt for upwards of
25,000 florins for horses. These were obviously the Great Horses for
which the Low Countries were famous; all the animals so imported were
marked or branded. Edward III. organised his remount department on a
scale previously unknown in England. It was established in two great
divisions under responsible officers, one of whom had charge of all the
studs on the royal manors north of the Trent, the other exercising
control of those south of that boundary; these two custodians being in
their turn responsible to the Master of the Horse.
There is ample evidence to prove that Edward III. took close personal
interest in horse-breeding, and it is certain that the cavalry was
better mounted in his wars than it had been at any previous period.
The Great Horse, or War Horse, essential to the efficiency of heavily
armoured cavalry, was by far the most valuable breed and received the
greatest meed of attention; but the Wardrobe Accounts of this reign
contain mention of many other breeds or classes of horse indispensable
for campaigning or useful for sport and ordinary saddle work--palfreys,
hackneys, hengests, and somers, coursers, trotters, hobbies, nags, and
genets.
The distinction between some of these classes was probably somewhat
slight. The palfrey was the animal used for daily riding for pleasure
or travel by persons of the upper ranks of life, and was essentially
the lady's mount, though knights habitually rode palfreys or hackneys
on the march, while circumstances allowed them to put off for the time
their armour. The weight of this, with the discomfort of wearing it in
the cold of winter and heat of summer, furnished sufficient reason for
the knights to don their mail only when actually going into action, or
on occasions of ceremony.
"Hengests and somers" were probably used for very similar purposes,
as more than once we find them coupled thus: these were the baggage
or transport animals, and were doubtless of no great value. "Courser"
is a term somewhat loosely used in the old records; it is applied
indifferently to the war horse, to the horse used in hunting, and
for daily road work, but generally in a sense that suggests speed.
"Trotters," we must assume, were horses that were not taught to amble;
and the name was distinctive at a period when all horses used for
saddle by the better classes were taught that gait. Edward III.'s
Wardrobe Accounts mention payment for _trammels_, the appliances, it is
supposed, used for this purpose, and at a much later date in another
Royal Account Book, we find an item "To making an horse to amble, 2
marks (13s. 4d.)." The amble was a peculiarly easy and comfortable
pace which would strongly commend itself to riders on a long journey.
Hobbies were Irish horses, small but active and enduring; genets were
Spanish horses nearly allied to, if not practically identical with,
the barbs introduced into Spain by the Moors. The animal described as a
"nag" was probably the saddle-horse used by servants and camp followers.
RICHARD II. (1377-1399).
Richard II. was fond of horses and did not neglect the interests of
breeding; though he on one occasion displayed his regard in a fashion
which to modern minds is at least high-handed. There was a scarcity of
horses in the early years of his reign, and prices rose in conformity
with the law of supply and demand. Richard, considering only the needs
of his knights, issued a proclamation (1386) forbidding breeders to ask
the high prices they were demanding. This proclamation was published in
Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Yorkshire.
Passing mention may be made of an Act which was placed on the Statute
Book in 1396. In those days all travelling was performed on horseback,
and the equivalent of the coach or jobmaster of much later times was
the hackneyman, who let out horses to travellers at rates of hire
fixed by law. The hackneymen were in the very nature of their business
liable to be imposed upon by unprincipled persons, who would demand
horses from them without tendering payment, on the false plea that they
were royal messengers journeying in haste on business of the State.
Not infrequently, too, the hirer or borrower was none other than a
horse-thief, who rode the animal into some remote country town, and
sold him to whoever would buy. Richard II.'s Act of 1396, aimed at
suppression of these practices, laying penalties upon anyone found
guilty of them; and it further called upon the hackneymen to help
themselves by placing a distinctive mark on their horses. Any animal
bearing such a mark might be seized by the hackneyman if he found it
in possession of another, and no compensation could be claimed by the
person from whose custody it was taken.
The earliest account of a race that we can trace (apart from the
sports at Smithfield) refers to the year 1377, the first of Richard's
reign. In that year the King and the Earl of Arundel rode a race[4]
(particulars of conditions, distance, weights, &c., are wanting!),
which it would seem was won by the Earl, since the King purchased
his horse afterwards for a sum equal to £20,000 in modern money.
[Illustration: A CART-HORSE OF THE XVth CENTURY.
From a Contemporary MS.]
For nearly a hundred years after the deposition of Richard II., the
available records throw little or no light upon our subject. The Wars
of the Roses (1450-1471) were productive of results injurious alike to
agriculture, stock breeding, and commerce. During a period when horses
for military service were in constant demand, and were liable, unless
the property of some powerful noble, to seizure by men of either of the
contending factions, it was not worth any man's while to breed horses,
still less to try to improve them. The fifteenth century, therefore, or
at least a considerable portion of it, saw retrogression rather than
progress in English horse-breeding.
HENRY VII. (1485-1509).
Henry VII., in 1495, found the horse supply of the country so
deficient, and the prices so high, that he passed an Act forbidding the
export of any horse without Royal permission, on pain of forfeiture,
and of any mare whose value exceeded six shillings and eightpence; no
mare under three years old might be sent out of the country, and on
all exported a duty of six shillings and eightpence was levied.
Under the old "Statutes of Arms" Henry VII. established a force known
as Yeomen of the Crown. There were fifty of these; each yeoman had a
spare horse and was attended by a mounted groom. In times of peace they
acted as Royal messengers carrying letters and orders. In disturbed
times they formed the backbone of the militia levies.
HENRY VIII. (1509-1547).
Henry VIII. went a good deal further in his efforts to foster and
promote the breeding of good horses. In 1514 he absolutely forbade the
export of horses abroad, and extended the prohibition to Scotland. He
obliged all prelates and nobles of a certain degree, to be ascertained
by the richness of their wives' dress, to maintain stallions of a
given stature. He made the theft of horse, mare, or gelding a capital
offence, and deprived persons convicted under this law (37 Henry VIII.,
c. 8) of the benefit of clergy. And by two Acts, the gist of which will
be found on page 5 _et seq._ of _Ponies Past and Present_, he made a
vigorous attempt to weed out the ponies whose small size rendered them
useless.
It is to be borne in mind that the King's legislation against the
animals that ran in the forests and wastes aimed definitely at the
greater development and perfection of the Great Horse. Armour during
Henry VIII.'s time had reached its maximum weight, and a horse might be
required to carry a load of from 25 to 30 stone;[5] hence very powerful
horses were indispensable.
Henry's interest in horseflesh was not confined to the breed on which
the efficiency of his cavalry depended. He was a keen sportsman, who
took a lively pleasure in all forms of sport, and he appears to have
been the first king who ran horses for his own amusement. It would
hardly be correct to date the beginnings of the English Turf from Henry
VIII.'s reign, as the "running geldings" kept in the Royal Stables at
Windsor seem to have been run only against one another in a field hired
by the king for the purpose.
The _Privy Purse Expenses_ contain very curious scraps of information
concerning the running geldings, their maintenance, and that of the
boys retained to ride them. There is mention of "rewardes" to the
keeper of the running geldings, to the "children of the stable," and
also to the "dyatter" of the running geldings. This last functionary's
existence is worth notice, as it indicates some method of training
or dieting the horses. Nearly seventy years later--in 1599--Gervaise
Markham produced his book, "How to Chuse, Ryde and Dyet both Hunting
and Running Horses."
In the year 1514, the Marquis of Mantua sent Henry VIII., from Italy,
a present of some thoroughbred horses; these in all probability formed
the foundation stock of our sixteenth-century racehorses. The _Privy
Purse Expenses_ quoted above refer to "the Barbaranto hors" and "the
Barbary hors," which are doubtless the same animal. A hint that it
was raced occurs in the mention of a payment to Polle (Paul, who as
previous entries show, was the keeper of this horse), "by way of
rewarde," 18s. 4d., and on the same day (March 17, 1532), "paid in
rewarde to the boy that ran the horse, 18s. 4d."
That curious record, _The Regulations of the Establishment of Algernon
Percy, Fifth Earl of Northumberland_, which was commenced in the year
1512, gives us a very valuable glimpse of the private stud maintained
by a great noble in Henry VIII.'s time. The list of the Earl's horses
"that are appointed to be in the charge of the house yearly, as to say,
gentell horseys, palfreys, hobys, naggis, cloth-sek hors, male hors,"
is as follows:--
"First, gentell horsys, to stand in my lordis stable, six. Item,
palfreys of my ladis, to wit, oone for my lady and two for her
gentell-women, and oone for her chamberer. Four hobys and nags for
my lordis oone ('own' in this connection) saddill, viz., oone for
my lord, and oone to stay at home for my lord.
"Item, chariot hors to stand in my lordis stable yerely.
"Seven great trottynge horsys to draw in the chariot and a nag
for the chariott man to ride--eight. Again, hors for Lord Lerey,
his lordship's son and heir. A gret doble trottynge hors called
a curtal, for his lordship to ride out on out of towns. Another
trottynge gambaldyn hors for his lordship to ride on when he comes
into towns. An amblynge hors for his lordship to journeye on daily.
A proper amblynge little nag for his lordship when he goeth on
hunting and hawking. A gret amblynge gelding, or trottynge gelding,
to carry his male."
In regard to these various horses, it may be added that the "gentell
hors" was one of superior breeding; the chariott horse and "gret
trotting horsys" were powerful cart horses; the "curtal" was a docked
great horse; the "trottynge gambaldyn" horse one with high and showy
action, and the "cloth sek" and "male hors" carried respectively
personal luggage and armour.
EDWARD VI. (1547-1553) AND QUEEN MARY (1553-1558).
The brief reign of Edward VI. was productive of little legislation
that had reference to horse-breeding. An Act was passed to sanction
the export of mares worth not more than ten shillings, and another
to remove some ambiguity in Henry VIII.'s law concerning the death
penalty, without benefit of clergy, for horse-stealers.
If nothing was done to promote the breeding industry during this
reign, the King's advisers took measures to raise the English
standard of horsemanship. The Duke of Newcastle informs us that he
"engaged Regnatelle to teach, and invited two Italians who had been
his scholars, into England. The King had an Italian farrier named
Hemnibale, who taught more than had been known before." The farrier
of old times was the veterinary surgeon--as the barber was the
surgeon--and the invitations so given show that the Royal advisers
were conscious of English shortcomings. Horsemanship and the principles
of stable management perhaps stood at a higher level in Italy than
in any other European country at this period; whence the choice of
Italians as riding-masters.
The crime of horse-theft was so rife at this period that one of the
first Acts of Queen Mary (2 & 3 Phil. & Mary, 7), passed in 1555, aimed
at its suppression. A place was to be appointed in every fair for the
sale of horses, and there the market toll-gatherer was to call the
seller and buyer before him and register their names and addresses,
with a description of the horse changing hands. Under this law the
property in a stolen horse was not diverted from the lawful owner
unless the horse had been publicly shown in the market for one hour; if
it had not been so exposed, the owner might seize and retain it if he
discovered the horse in possession of another afterwards.
Queen Mary, by the Statute known as 4 Phil. & Mary, considerably
extended the obligation to keep horses which Henry VIII. had laid upon
persons of the upper and middle class; but the object of this law was
to provide for the defences of the kingdom, and there is nothing in its
clauses that would indicate desire to promote horse-breeding; on the
contrary, geldings are frequently mentioned as alternative to horses.
ELIZABETH (1558-1603).
Queen Elizabeth, herself an admirable horsewoman, was as fully imbued
with the necessity for encouraging the breeding of horses as her
father, Henry VIII., and she lost little time in dealing with the whole
subject after her accession. Energetic measures were evidently much
needed, if we may accept the statements made by Sir Thomas Chaloner,
in a Latin poem written when he was ambassador at Madrid, in 1579. He
observes that if Englishmen chose to devote attention to breeding, with
all the advantages their country offered, they could rear better horses
than they could import. England, he averred, had none but "vile and
ordinary horses," which were suffered to run at large with the mares.
In the first year of her reign Elizabeth renewed Henry VIII.'s Act
forbidding the export of horses to Scotland. Her next important step
was taken in the fourth year of her reign; she issued a Proclamation
in which she reminded her subjects that various laws had been made and
that the penalties for disobedience would be enforced. The Proclamation
announced the creation of machinery to see that her father's statute
requiring nobles of prescribed degree to keep a stallion was being
obeyed; that his laws[6] concerning the height of mares in parks
and enclosed lands, and requiring chases, forests and moors, to be
periodically driven, and worthless mares, fillies and geldings found
thereon destroyed, should be vigorously enforced. The law of Philip
and Mary which obliged people to keep horses or geldings in conformity
with the scheme for national defence, was recapitulated at length, and
obedience within three months enjoined on penalty of fine.
The Queen evidently considered the laws she found on the statute
book all that were necessary to ensure attention to the interests
of horse-breeding; for she refrained for many years from fresh
legislation, contenting herself with Royal Proclamations in which she
prescribed limits of time for her subjects to supply themselves with
horses according to their legal obligation, and appointed suitable
persons to see that her commands were carried out. One of these
documents, issued in 1580, announces that the number of horsemen in the
country shown by the returns is "much less than she looked for."
She made some changes in the existing laws, notably that passed
in the thirty-second year of Henry VIII.'s reign, concerning the
stature of horses in specified shires. That law applied among other
counties to Cambridgeshire, Huntingdon, Northampton, Lincolnshire,
Norfolk and Suffolk; 8 Eliz., c. 8, passed in 1566, exempted the Isle
of Ely and "other moors, marshes and fens of Cambridgeshire," and
the above-mentioned counties from operation of the Act because "the
said moors, of their unfirmness, moysture and wateryshnes" could not
bear such big horses without danger of their "mireyng, drowning and
peryshinge."
She also (31 Eliz. 12) passed another "Acte to avoyde horse stealinge,"
the chief feature of which was to forbid anyone unknown to the
toll-taker to sell a horse in the market unless the would-be seller
could produce "one sufficient and credible" witness to vouch for his
respectability. The evil had grown to the proportions of a national
scandal at this time: Holinshed's account, published eleven years
before this Act was passed, shows us that no horse in pasture or stable
was safe.
Queen Elizabeth's reign saw important changes. The application of
gunpowder to hand-firearms destroyed the protective value of heavy
armour, and with heavy armour gradually went the horse required to
carry it. The disappearance of the Great Horse as a charger was very
slow, however. In 1685 the Duke of Newcastle published his famous work,
_The Manner of Feeding, Dressing and Training of Horses for the Great
Saddle, and fitting them for the Service of the Field in time of War_.
The book was probably of little use to posterity, for by that time the
day of the Great Horse as a charger was very near its close, if not
quite at an end. The introduction of coaches was another mark of social
progress; and light horses, Arab, Barb and Spanish, were in demand to
improve our native breeds.
Until 1580, when carriages came into use in England, saddle horses
were used by all of whatever degree. Though the side saddle had been
introduced in Richard II.'s time, ladies still rode frequently on
a pillion behind a gentleman or man-servant. Queen Elizabeth rode
on a pillion behind her Master of the Horse when she went in state
to St. Paul's; but when hunting or hawking she seems to have ridden
her own palfrey. Coaches increased so rapidly towards the end of
Elizabeth's reign that a bill was brought into the House of Lords
(1601) to check their use. The measure was lost, the Lords directing
the Attorney-General to frame a new bill to secure more attention to
horse-breeding instead, but if this was done the bill never passed into
law.
The Queen was an ardent supporter of the Turf and kept racehorses at
Greenwich, Waltham, St. Albans, Eaton, Hampton Court, Richmond, Windsor
and Charing Cross. Racing had become a popular amusement in the earlier
years of Elizabeth's reign, and her participation in the sport was
probably due in great measure to her conviction that it must prove
beneficial to the breeding industry. The Roodee at Chester appears to
have been one of the first public racecourses; the townspeople gave a
silver bell to be run for. Racing was well established in Scotland at
an earlier date; in 1552, during Edward VI.'s reign, there were races
with bells as prizes.
There were races at Salisbury in 1585, when the Earl of Cumberland won
"the golden bell." In 1599, the Corporation of Carlisle took the sport
under its patronage and gave silver bells. According to Comminius, who
wrote about the year 1590, racing had grown out of fashion at that
period; the old sport of tilting at the quintain had been revived and
was apparently a more popular spectacle. It is probable that suspension
of public interest in racing was of a very temporary character, for
Bishop Hall, in one of his _Satires_, published in 1599, refers to the
esteem in which racehorses were then held.
Queen Elizabeth retained her love of sport and the physical ability to
indulge it to an advanced age. It is said that in April, 1602, being
then in her sixty-ninth year, she rode ten miles on horseback and
hunted the same day.
Following the example set in Edward VI.'s reign, Sir Philip Sydney
engaged two Italian experts named Prospero and Romano, to teach riding;
the Earl of Leicester, the Queen's Master of the Horse, also had among
his suite an Italian horseman, named Claudio Corte, who wrote a book
on the art of riding, which was published in London, in 1584. Thomas
Blundeville, of Newton Hotman, in Norfolk, ere this date, had published
a curious little black-letter volume, entitled "The Art of Ryding and
Breaking Great Horses" (1566), which was sold by William Seres, at "The
Sygne of the Hedgehogge," in St. Paul's Churchyard. Some extracts from
this very interesting little work have been given in a previous book.[7]
JAMES I. (1603-1625).
The feature of King James's reign was the formation of a racecourse
at Newmarket, which had previously been a favourite hunting-ground of
Royalty, and continued to be so, at least till James II.'s time.
Mr. J. P. Hore[8] says that the King probably resided at an inn known
as "The Griffin," and held court there during his early visits, and
that this inn subsequently became the King's own property. It is
quite certain that Newmarket as a Turf centre dates from the time of
James I.; he spent some days there in the year 1605, and appears to
have paid very frequent visits to the place to enjoy the sport he was
anxious to encourage. He kept racehorses, and in his purchase of the
Markham Arabian[9] we have evidence that he did not spare endeavour
to procure the best. It is true that this horse proved a failure on
the Turf; that his indifferent performance did something to discredit
the Arab in the eyes of Englishmen, and no doubt contributed to check
the importation of Eastern sires for racing; but his failure does not
affect the fact that his purchase goes for proof of King James's desire
to improve the breed of racehorses. Many foreign horses were imported
into England during this reign. The Spanish horse still held its high
reputation; in 1623, the Duke of Buckingham, then at Madrid, shipped
from St. Sebastian thirty-five horses, a present from the Court of
Spain to the Prince of Wales. Whether these were racehorses or not
records omit to tell us.
Under royal encouragement and patronage the Turf soon took its place
as a national institution. Races were held at Croydon, Theobalds on
Enfield Chase, and Garterly in Yorkshire, among other places, and
of each of the meetings named the King was the President. James's
most important studs were stabled at Newmarket, Middle Park, Eltham,
Malmesbury, Nutbury and Tetbury. During this reign a silver bell and
bowl were among the prizes offered at the Chester Races; the races for
these were now run on St. George's Day, and the trophies then came to
be known by the name of England's patron saint. Horses were regularly
trained and prepared for these "bell courses;" the usual weight carried
was 10 stone, and riders went to scale before starting.
[Illustration: GUY, EARL OF WARWICK. XVIth CENTURY.
_The fact that Guy of Warwick was a hero of legend does not affect the
utility of the picture as an example of the type of horse ridden by
knights in the XVIth century._]
In Scotland it would appear that betting on races was carried on to
an extent that called for legislative interference; for in 1621 the
Parliament at Edinburgh passed an Act which required any man who
might win over 100 marks in twenty-four hours "at cards, dice, or
wagering on horse races," to make over the surplus to the kirk for the
benefit of the poor.
Apart from the fostering care James I. bestowed upon the Turf, the
only proceedings that require mention are: his Proclamation issued in
1608, which notified that the laws against the export of horses were
not being obeyed, and would thenceforward be enforced; and his repeal
in 1624 of Henry VIII.'s law obliging every person whose wife wore "any
French hood or bonnet of velvet" to keep a stallion. He also repealed
32 Henry VIII., so far as it applied to Cornwall (21 Jac. I., c. 28),
even as Queen Elizabeth had relieved some Eastern and Midland counties
from operation of that law, in view of their unsuitability to breed
heavy horses.
CHARLES I. (1625, Behd. 1649).
Charles I. inherited, to some extent, his father's taste for the
Turf, and combined therewith a love of the _manége_, due to his own
accomplished horsemanship. The interest in racing was now so general,
and the inducement to breed light and swift horses for the purpose
so great, that other classes of horse were neglected, to the alarm of
the more far-seeing among the King's subjects. So seriously was the
tendency to breed only light horses regarded, that Sir Edward Harwood
presented a memorial to Charles, in which it was pointed out that there
was a great deficiency in the kingdom of horses of a useful type,
and praying that steps should be taken to encourage the breeding of
horses for service, and racing discouraged. Charles would seem to have
been conscious that excessive attention to breeding light horses was
a national question; at all events, that animals of a more generally
useful stamp were scarce; for in 1641 he granted licenses for the
importation of horses, enjoining the licensees to import coach horses,
mares, and geldings not under 14 hands, and between the ages of three
and seven years.
In November, 1627, Charles issued his Proclamation forbidding the use
of snaffles, except for hunting and hawking ("in times of Disport"),
and requiring all riders to use bits. His motive was, no doubt, a
desire to encourage the _manége_, which was then considered the
highest form of horsemanship. The King and the Queen had separate
establishments, and each kept a large number of horses, including
racehorses. The English system of stable management had made such
advances at this time that Marshal Bassompierre, the French Ambassador
in London, refers to it in his memoirs, and recommends that English
methods be followed in France. The same writer speaks, too, of the
superiority of English horses.
The hackney-coach question came up again in this reign, and Charles
issued a Proclamation dealing with the subject in January, 1636. He
forbade the use of coaches in London and Westminster unless they were
about to make a journey of at least three miles; and he required every
owner of a coach to keep four horses for the King's service. We may
conjecture that his prohibition of hackney coaches was not the outcome
of a desire to encourage horsemanship; for about eighteen months later
he granted to his Master of the Horse, James, Marquis of Hamilton,
power to license fifty hackney coachmen in London and the suburbs and
convenient places in other parts of the realm. This license, granted
by Proclamation in July, 1637, suggests favouritism, as according to a
contemporary publication[10] there were in 1636 over 6,000 coaches,
private and public, in London and the suburbs: surely more than were
needed, as some 10,000 odd hansoms and four-wheelers meet London's
normal requirements to-day.
Thomas D'Urfey's song,[11] "Newmarket," which is thought to have been
written in the reign of Charles I., shows that Newmarket was then, as
now, regarded as the headquarters of the Turf.
THE COMMONWEALTH (1649-1659).
Mr. Christie Whyte, in his _History of the English Turf_, says:--
"Oliver Cromwell, with his accustomed sagacity, perceiving the
vast benefit derived to the nation by the improvement of its breed of
horses, the natural consequence of racing, patronised this peculiarly
national amusement, and we find accordingly that he kept a racing
stud." If Cromwell kept a racing stable it was before he took the
style of "Lord Protector," in December, 1653; for in February, 1654,
he issued his first Proclamation against racing, in the shape of a
prohibition for six months, which prohibition was repeated in July.
In subsequent years, by the same means, he made racing, cock-fighting,
bear-baiting, and gambling, illegal.
Owing what he did to his cavalry, it was only to be expected that he
should devote attention to the matter of remounts. He imported many
Arabs, Barbs, and other horses suitable for the lightly armoured troops
which had now replaced the knighthood of former days; he also took
measures to encourage the breeding of horses for hunting and hawking,
sports in which he himself indulged.
At what date stage-coaches began to supersede the old waggons, which
(apart from saddle and pack horses) were the only means of journeying
in England in Queen Elizabeth's time, is not known. In the year 1610, a
Pomeranian speculator was granted a royal patent for fifteen years to
run coaches and waggons between Edinburgh and Leith;[12] but not until
the end of the Commonwealth (May, 1659) do we find definite mention of
a stage coach in England in the diary of a Yorkshire clergyman.[13]
This diary shows that stage coaches and waggons were then plying
between London and Coventry, London and Aylesbury, London and Bedford,
and on other roads.
It is highly improbable that there existed any horses of the coaching
stamp at this period; on the contrary, the wretched condition of the
roads until late in the eighteenth century,[14] and the time occupied
on a journey, indicates that animals of the Great Horse breed were used
to drag the ponderous vehicles through the mud.
CHARLES II. (1660-1685).
After the gloom of the Commonwealth the nation was ripe for such
changes in its social life as came in with the Restoration. Newmarket,
which had been deserted during the civil war and the rule of Cromwell,
recovered its former position as the headquarters of racing under
the patronage of Charles II. The King entered his horses in his own
name, and came to see them run, residing at the King's House when he
visited Newmarket. He did away with the bell as a prize, substituting
a bowl or cup of the value of a hundred guineas, upon which the name
and pedigree of the winner was engraved. He also devoted considerable
attention to improving the English racehorse; he sent his Master
of Horse abroad to purchase stallions and brood mares, principally
Arabs, Barbs and Turkish horses. To these "King's mares," as they were
entitled, our modern racehorse traces his descent on the dam's side.
Charles II.'s love of racing was not satisfied by the meetings at
Newmarket, which was not readily accessible from Windsor, and he
instituted races on Datchet Mead, within sight of the castle, across
the Thames. Here, as at Newmarket, he encouraged the sport by the
presentation of cups and bowls. Burford Races owed the prestige they
long enjoyed to the encouragement of Charles II. in 1681. Political
considerations required that public attention should be diverted for
the time, if possible, and to secure this end Charles had all his best
horses brought from Newmarket for the occasion.
The only piece of legislation that demands notice is the repeal of the
laws against export, which had been on the Statute Book since Henry
VII.'s reign. The prohibition was cancelled and a duty of 5s. per head
imposed on every horse sent over sea.
As proving the wide interest now taken in racing, the publication in
1680 of a curious little book called _The Compleat Gamester_, may
be mentioned. This gives very full and minute instructions for the
preparation and training of racehorses.
Stage coaches and waggons increased in number during Charles II.'s
reign. There is among the _Harleian Miscellany_ (vol. viii.) a tract
dated 1673, in which the writer adduces several reasons for the
suppression of coaches, "especially those within 40, 50, or 60 miles
off London." His first reason for objecting to the coach is that it
works harm to the nation "by destroying the breed of good horses,
the strength of the nation, and making men careless of attaining to
good horsemanship, a thing so useful and commendable in a gentleman."
Charles apparently did not share this opinion; at all events, he gave
countenance to the coach-building industry by founding, in 1677, the
Company of Coach and Coach Harness Makers.[15]
We may pass over the brief reign of James II. (1685-1688), as it was
marked by nothing of importance bearing on our subject.
WILLIAM III. (1689-1702).
The first year of this reign saw the importation of the first of
the Eastern sires which contributed to found the modern breed of
racehorses--the Byerley Turk. The Oglethorpe Arabian arrived about the
same time. The Turf was growing in importance and popularity; and we
find that a gold bowl was one of the prizes offered at the Newmarket
meeting of 1689. King William took personal interest in racing, and
kept a stud under the charge of the famous Tregonwell Frampton,
who filled the office of Keeper of the Running Horses under Queen
Anne, George I. and George II. The King seems often to have visited
Newmarket, and he encouraged other meetings--Burford, for example--by
his presence.