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THE GREAT HORSE
OR
SHIRE HORSE
[Illustration:
_Engraved by J. B. Pratt._
ARMOUR CLAD GERMAN KNIGHT OF THE 15ᵗʰ OR 16ᵗʰ CENTURY
_after a Painting by Hans Burgkmair_.]
THE GREAT HORSE
OR
The WAR HORSE: from the time of the Roman Invasion
till its development into the
SHIRE HORSE
BY
SIR WALTER GILBEY BART.
SECOND EDITION
LONDON
VINTON & CO., LIMITED
9, NEW BRIDGE STREET, LUDGATE CIRCUS, E.C.
1899
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
Since the publication in 1889 of the first edition of this little book,
which I was privileged to dedicate to His Royal Highness the Duke of
Cambridge, great progress has been made in the improvement of the Shire
Horse. It therefore has seemed desirable to remodel and enlarge, by the
inclusion of more minute details, pages which had been compiled from
notes taken in course of an enquiry into the antecedents of the horse
now known as the Shire-bred. This research led to the conclusion that
the Shire Horse is the purest survival of the type described by mediæval
writers as the Great Horse; and this type being the native development
of that ancient British War Horse which evoked the admiration of Julius
Cæsar, it seemed appropriate to seek permission to dedicate the book to
the Prince who combined with his high position as Commander-in-Chief of
Her Majesty’s Forces, the keenest interest in those breeds of horses
which are most useful to the State.
It would be easy to multiply _ad infinitum_ such evidence as is here
quoted, but it is unnecessary to encumber the narrative with repetition
of details which throw no fresh light upon the history of the breed.
These pages have been written for the convenience of those who desire to
possess in concise form knowledge of the main facts concerning the
origin and development of this truly noble and most useful animal, and
to point out the true type of the “Shire Horse.” It is not claimed that
there is any information contained in this work which those who are
interested in the subject may not, with an equal amount of patient
reading obtain for themselves.
[Illustration: WG]
_Elsenham Hall, Essex,
January, 1899._
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Introduction 1
The Chariot Horse of the Ancient Britons 5
The Great Horse in the First Century 7
From the Seventh Century to the Conquest 11
From the Conquest to the Reign of King John 13
The Great Horse in the Thirteenth Century 16
From the Time of Edward III. to Edward IV. 18
The Laws of Henry VII. 20
The Laws of Henry VIII. 23
Queen Elizabeth’s Time 27
James I. 36
Charles I. 39
From the Commonwealth to William III.’s Time 42
Queen Anne’s Reign 48
The Shire Horse in the Nineteenth Century 58
How to Preserve its Character 61
The Foreign Market 62
The Shire Horse Society 65
ILLUSTRATIONS.
FACING
PAGE
German Knight of the Fifteenth or Sixteenth Century (Frontispiece)
British Coins of the First Century 7
Great Horse; after Albert Dürer 22
Equestrian Figure in Tilting Armour, Sixteenth Century 26
Sir Walter Hungerford, Knight of Heytesbury 30
The Duke of Arenburg; after Vandyke 38
Seals of Charles I. 41
The Protector on a Great Horse 42
Great Horse; after Paul Potter 46
Norfolk Cart Horse, Dodman (1780) 53
A Leicestershire Shire Horse; after Garrard (1720 to 1795) 54
Shire Horse, Elephant 56
A Shire Gelding of Messrs. Whitbread’s (1792) 57
Piebald Shire Horses, Pirate and Outlaw (1810) 58
Piebald Plough Teams (1844-1855) 58
Honest Tom (1865) 60
Blythwood Conqueror (1893) 64
A HISTORY TRACING
THE SHIRE HORSE
TO THE
OLD ENGLISH GREAT HORSE
(THE WAR HORSE).
INTRODUCTION.
The number of books about horses which have been printed is very large;
a good authority states that the total is upward of four thousand
volumes; and therefore another seems almost superfluous. Yet from that
early book of Wynkyn de Worde, printed in A.D. 1500, Thomas
Blundeville’s in 1566, the Duke of Newcastle’s in 1658, and the work by
Sir Wm. Hope, Kt., Deputy Lieutenant of Edinburgh Castle, published in
1717, to the host of books on horses which have appeared during the last
twenty years, there is not one which can be said to render full justice
to the peculiarly English breed whose history it is proposed to examine.
By the exercise of care and judgment Englishmen have achieved many
triumphs as breeders of domestic animals; and none of these, perhaps,
are more conspicuous than the establishment of the two types of
horse--the race horse and heavy draught horse; breeds differing as
widely one from the other as the greyhound differs from the mastiff.
Each horse is in its own way almost perfect; the former having been
brought to the highest state of development for speed, the latter to the
highest development of strength; and it would be difficult to maintain
that one is more beautiful than the other. Many volumes have been
written on the racehorse, and innumerable lives and fortunes have been
devoted to perfecting the breed; and if little has been written
concerning the draught horse, it will be possible to show that for
generations before our time no little attention has been bestowed also
upon his improvement.
The aim of the following pages is to set out in convenient form some
facts relating to the heavy horse as it existed during the early and
middle ages, long before it was brought into general use for farm work
and for drawing heavy loads. Exceptional historic interest attaches to
this breed; for its lot has been closely interwoven with that of the
people of Britain from the earliest times. It is not a little curious to
reflect that the animal which formed the very backbone of our ancestors’
independence--on which our forefathers depended for their strength and
prowess in the Art of War, is the animal on which we depend to carry on
the operations of Agriculture and Commerce--the arts of peace. It must
not be forgotten that the use of the horse in agriculture is
comparatively modern. In England until the middle ages the work of the
farm and almost all heavy draught work was performed by oxen. These
animals were in common use for farm work until the latter half of the
last century. Arthur Young in his _General View of the Agriculture of
Lincolnshire_, written in 1799, mentions a farm he visited where he saw
“two (oxen) and a horse draw home in a waggon as good loads of corn as
are common in Suffolk with three horses.” He says further, “about
Grantham many oxen have been worked, but all have left off; once they
were seen all the way from Grantham to Lincoln, now scarcely any; a pair
of mares and one man will do as much work as four oxen and two men....
On the Wolds most farmers have some oxen for working, leading manure,
corn and hay.” When horses began to be employed by ordinary occupiers of
land they were animals by no means remarkable for strength and
substance; “stots” and “affers,” as these were called, were of a stamp
distinct from the “Strong” or “Great” horses which in those days were
bred and reserved for purposes neither agricultural nor commercial.
The early foundation stock from which investigation proves that our
modern Shire horses are descended was brought to a high state of
perfection for its special purpose, not only by the judicious
introduction of foreign blood, but by wise enactments of the
Legislature. We find in the old Statute Books numerous Acts of
Parliament which supported private skill and enterprise in the endeavour
to improve an animal on which, it may fairly be said, the safety of the
nation in no small measure depended.
The facts which it is proposed to set before the reader are, for the
most part, the fruit of careful research among old records; and it must
be added that figures worked in tapestry, rude paintings of incidents
and illustrations which sometimes occur in these records, have
frequently been more helpful than the manuscripts themselves. The
artist perpetuates what the writer from sheer familiarity ignores; and
for this reason the works of old painters have been laid under
contribution in the present survey of the Great Horse breed.
THE CHARIOT HORSE OF THE ANCIENT BRITONS.
No very profound enquiry is needed to furnish us with a starting point
in the history of the Great Horse. We need go no farther than our old
school friend Cæsar, and examine his account of the forces which
resisted his descent upon England in the year 55 B.C.--nearly two
thousand years ago. The following familiar passage (from Camden’s
translation, _Britannia_, 4th edition) throws valuable light on the
stamp of horse which was employed in warfare by the early Britons:--
“Most of them use chariots in battle. They first scour up and down
on every side, throwing their darts; creating disorder among the
ranks by the terror of their horses and noise of their chariot
wheels. When they have got among the troops of [their enemies’]
horse, they leap out of the chariots and fight on foot. Meantime
the charioteers retire to a little distance from the field, and
place themselves in such a manner that if the others be overpowered
by the number of the enemy, they may be secure to make good their
retreat. Thus they act with the agility of cavalry; and the
steadiness of infantry in battle. They become so expert by constant
practice that in declivities and precipices they can stop their
horses at full speed; and, on a sudden, check and turn them. They
run along the pole, stand on the yoke, and then, as quickly, into
their chariots again. They frequently retreat on purpose, and after
they have drawn men from the main body, leap from their pole, and
wage an unequal war on foot.”
It is obvious from this that the horses used must have possessed
strength, substance, courage and docility. The war chariot of our
forefathers was not a model of elegance and lightness; it was required
to manœuvre over the roughest of ground, carrying several fighting men,
and the needful strength could only be obtained as the result of weight
and clumsiness. To draw such a vehicle at speed and force a way among
disciplined cavalry, horses of substance, power, and courage were
required; while the ability of the charioteers to “stop their horses at
full speed; and on a sudden, check and turn them,” points not only to
strength and weight, but to docility and handiness. Those who saw these
animals have recorded their admiration, holding them different from, and
superior to, any horses they had seen before; and these witnesses, we
must remember, were acquainted with most breeds
[Illustration: BRITISH COINS OF THE FIRST CENTURY.]
of horses employed by the nations of their time.
THE GREAT HORSE IN THE FIRST CENTURY.
Our next piece of evidence comes, not from the writer but from the
artist, if he may be called so; not from without the shores of Britain
but from within. For some historical purposes coins serve a purpose as
valuable as pictures, and the present is a case in point. The coins of
which illustrations are here given are among the very earliest known to
have been struck in this island. They date from the age of Cunobelin
(the First century), and are therefore the production of a period when
neither Art nor Agriculture had place in the country; they are relics of
a time when the conditions of life required only the herdsman and the
soldier. With these facts in mind we may examine these coins and see
what we can gather from them. The fact that the device on each is a
horse suggests at once that this animal played a most important part in
the social economy of the people who struck the coins. They were among
those found on the borders of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, and
are believed to have been circulated in the interest of the Iceni, a
tribe which distinguished itself above all others by its resolute
resistance to the Roman troops.
The head and front of the power of resistance displayed by the Iceni lay
in their skilful employment of the war-chariot as a means of attack--in
other words, in the efficiency of their powerful and disciplined horses.
There was no agriculture among these people, and the importance of the
horse which led to the adoption of its figure as a numismatic device was
due to the part it played in war. Now these quaintly archaic designs
must not be compared with the works of art by which Greek and Roman
civilisation was made famous, and laughed aside as contemptible. The
true standard of comparison is found in the rude figures in rock
inscriptions, and in the ornamentation on the weapons and tools of what
we now call savage races. Measured by this standard these designs boast
merit, for the artist has succeeded in conveying an impression of the
character of his ideal horse. His ideal was clearly one of
deep-carcased, wide-buttocked breed, with profuse mane and tail; a
horse, in fact, which possessed some of the prominent characteristics
of the modern Shire horse. Thus we have pictorial evidence to confirm
the written testimony of Julius Cæsar, that twenty centuries ago there
existed in Britain a breed of horses having cardinal points in common
with those massive animals seen to-day, known as Shires, Clydesdales and
Suffolks, and held in the highest esteem.
Parenthetically, it is worth noticing that while a large proportion of
the few coins known to be British bear the effigy of a horse, not one of
the Roman coins figured in Camden’s _Britannia_ bear such a device; nor
do the coins of Saxon origin. To a horse-loving people this proof of the
esteem in which their forefathers held the animal is particularly
interesting. A large white horse is stated by Mr. Walker, Camden’s
collaborator, to have been the ensign of Hengist and Horsa, who landed
in Britain in A.D. 449, and this seems to be the only instance in which
the figure of a horse was employed as an emblem by others than the
Britons.
Mr. Walker, whom Camden introduces as the great expert of the day,
remarks, _apropos_ of the coins figured in the _Britannia_, that in
ancient times special value attached to white horses; in this respect,
however, horses were not singular, white animals of all domesticated
species being regarded with peculiar favour, and commonly selected as
gifts to Royalty, and as ceremonial tribute when state or tribe was
required to acknowledge suzerainty. Mr. Walker asserts also, that only
men of the highest rank were permitted to ride white horses on state
occasions. That the use of a white steed implied dignity is well shown
by the treatment accorded John of France by Edward the Black Prince when
he conducted the French King to London. Anxious that the captive should
appear not as a prisoner but as a royal guest, John “was clad in royal
robes, and was mounted on a white steed, distinguished by its beauty and
size; whilst the conqueror, in meaner attire, was carried by his side on
a black palfrey.” Richard Berenger, gentleman of the horse to George
III., who wrote _The History and Art of Horsemanship_, published 1771,
observes that “The King of Naples at this day pays an annual fief of a
white horse to the See of Rome as acknowledgment for the kingdom which
he holds from the Pope.” Thus we see that the ceremonial value of the
white horse was both ancient and lasting. We must not, however, allow
this point to detain us.
FROM THE SEVENTH CENTURY TO THE CONQUEST.
The Venerable Bede says that the English did not commonly use saddle
horses until about A.D. 631. At this period, which marks the dawn of the
Christian era in Britain, preaching monks travelled the country, and it
was considered a mark of humility for these early missionaries to travel
on foot. Prelates and churchmen of rank were allowed by law to ride, but
were counselled to use mares, in order to spare the horses for military
purposes. It is to be observed that, although cavalry as a fighting arm
was unknown in Britain for the first thousand years of the Christian
era, horses of a sturdy and enduring stamp were as essential to the
efficiency of troops, as they became at a later date when armoured
horsemen formed perhaps the most formidable part of an army. Until they
acquired the knowledge from their Norman conquerors, the inhabitants of
this country knew nothing of the art of fighting on horseback, but at
the same time the “theigns and hus-carles”--picked household troops,
generally consisting of big men--employed horses to carry them from
place to place, and as these wore chain mail, and had to accomplish
long arduous marches over roadless country, a big and powerful stamp of
horse was just as necessary to them as it would have been had actual
fighting in the saddle been the profession of the riders.
It is conjectured that this early “mounted infantry” system was copied
from the Danes, who used horses, acquired locally, in this fashion when
they made their descents upon the east coast of England; this, however
by the way. The first mention in history of a Master of the Horse occurs
in King Alfred’s reign (871-901) His _Hors-Theign_ was named Ecquef. The
bare fact that such an office existed is worth mention, as showing the
existence of a royal stud in those days. Richard Berenger gives
particulars of the curious and interesting laws framed in the tenth
century by Howel Dda, the “Good” Welsh Prince. Space considerations
forbid their inclusion here; it must suffice to say that these laws
prove how great was the importance attached to possession of horses. The
first piece of legislation that points to foreign appreciation of
English-bred horses occurs in the reign of Athelstan (925-940). That
monarch made a law forbidding the export of horses for sale, a
circumstance which indicates that the horse trade with the Continent was
even then considerable, and that ample use could be found at home for
animals of good stamp. King Athelstan had probably interested himself in
the improvement of the breed, for in his will, quoted by Berenger, he
bequeaths the horses given him by Thurbrand, together with the _white_
horses given him by Liefbrand. These donors were Saxons, so it is only
reasonable to suppose that the animals they gave were representative
samples of the Saxon breed, which was one of the Great Horse type.
FROM THE CONQUEST TO THE REIGN OF KING JOHN.
For six centuries after the Norman conquest the use of armour was
universal. True mail of interlinked rings was generally adopted about
the time of the Crusades (1190-94) and its use continued until the
fourteenth century; but from about 1300 the practice of protecting the
more exposed parts of the body with plates of iron instead of chain mail
began to extend, and the character of personal armour gradually changed
until it became a complete panoply of plates. The authorities give the
period of mixed chain and plate armour as from 1300 to 1410. By the
latter date this had disappeared in favour of complete armour of plate,
the use of which continued until the beginning of the seventeenth
century, growing heavier and stronger in ratio with the increasing
efficacy of offensive weapons. We need not follow the decadence of
armour through the age when buff coats and jerkins, under “demi-suits of
plate,” were in vogue, to its final disappearance far on in the
seventeenth century. Our concern lies with those ages during which heavy
armour was in use; for this was the long period when the development of
the Great Horse was continuously the anxious care of kings and
parliaments. The steady increase in the weight of armour is a factor of
the first importance in our present investigation; for therein we find
the sufficient motive which impelled our ancestors to develop to the
utmost the size and strength of the only breed of horse which could
carry a man-at-arms. When we find that the weight a horse might be
called upon to bear amounted to 4 cwt.--32 stone--at the period when
plate armour reached its maximum strength, no further stress need be
laid on the power of the animal required. We may find opportunity later
on to consider in minuter detail the weight of armour.
At an early date we find the chroniclers speaking of the horse used in
warfare as _Dextrarius_ or _Magnus Equus_; later on the English terms
“War Horse” or “Great Horse” are used indifferently as the equivalents
of the Latin. The history of the period between Henry II.’s accession
(1154) until the reign of Elizabeth (1538-1603) shows that it was the
constant aim of the Legislature to increase and improve the stock of
these horses in England. In Henry II.’s reign several foreign horses
were imported (A.D. 1160); but there is nothing to show to what breed
these belonged. Maddox’s _History of the Exchequer_ contains mention of
disbursements “for the subsistence of the King’s horses that were lately
brought from beyond the sea;” but unfortunately we are not informed for
what special purpose they were procured. It is more than probable that
they were Norman horses suitable for breeding stock to carry
men-at-arms; for the first years of Henry’s reign were spent in evolving
order from the anarchy which England had endured under his predecessor
Stephen--a task which implied forcible measures. The earliest mention
of “Cart Horses” that we have found is made by one William Stephanides,
a Canterbury monk born in London, who wrote in the year of Henry II.’s
accession:--
“Without one of the London City gates is a certain Smoothfield
[Smithfield]. Every Friday there is a brave sight of gallant horses
to be sold. Many come out of the city to buy or look on--to wit,
earls, barons, knights and citizens. There are to be found here
_maneged_, or War Horses (_Dextrarii_), of elegant shape, full of
fire and giving every proof of a generous and noble temper;
likewise Cart Horses, fit for the Dray, or the Plough or the
Chariot.”
At this time, therefore, it appears that horses were beginning to
replace oxen to some extent, and at all events for farm and draught
work; but it would not be safe to conclude that the animals “fit for the
Dray or the Plough or the Chariot” were of the Great Horse stamp;
probably they more nearly resembled the inferior animals which were used
for light cavalry purposes.
THE GREAT HORSE IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY.
Passing over the short reign of Richard, we come to the time of King
John (1199-1216), a period of special importance in our survey; for we
have definite particulars of the importation into England during John’s
reign of one hundred stallions of large stature from the low
countries--Flanders, Holland and the banks of the Elbe; and it is from
the blending of these sires with English mares in the lowland and shire
countries that some strains at least of our modern heavy horses must be
held to date their origin. Size and improvement were evidently not
developed with the steadiness or rapidity desired by those who had the
welfare of the country at heart; several Acts of Parliament were passed
with this object in view.
We obtain an interesting glimpse of the comparative value of the Great
and other horses at the end of the thirteenth century from records
preserved in Bain’s _Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland_. Among
the Documents is a “Roll of the horses of banerets, knights, esquires,
and vallets of the K.’s household [King Edward I.] valued in the
Scottish war, 26th yere” [of the King’s reign, _i.e._, 1298]. This
refers to a lengthy list of the horses which were killed at the battle
of Falkirk, and from the items we quote the following:--
“Sir Thomas de Morham a black horse, 24 marks killed in the battle
of Falkirk; Sir John Botetorte had a white pied charger value 60
marks killed there; Guy Botetorte his brother had a black hackney
value 8 marks killed there.... Sir Henry de Beaumont had a brown
bay charger worth 60 marks killed at Falkirk; Sir Eustace de la
Hecche had a bay charger with a white hind foot value 100 marks
killed.”
Numerous “hackneys” figure in the roll; and whereas the maximum value
claimed for a hackney, or hack as we should now call it, is 10 marks,
the smallest sum set upon a lost charger or Great Horse is 60 marks.
FROM THE TIME OF EDWARD III. TO EDWARD IV.
Edward III. (1327-1377) added measures dealing with the matter to the
Statute Book. This King also, as history records, spent very large sums
on horses. We find him indebted to the Count of Hainault to the extent
of 25,000 florins for horses; and Mr. Edward Burrows in his Introduction
to Lord Ribblesdale’s _The Queen’s Buckhounds_, says:--
“In the long lists which occur in the Exchequer accounts of the
wardrobe of numerous classes of horses belonging to the
King--coursers, palfreys, trotters, hobbies, genets, hengests and
somers--the ‘dextrarii’ or great horses received most attention.
Provision was made for 102 of their housings out of 441 ells of
canvas and 360 ells of cloth. The boundary between the great
cavalry establishments was formed by the Trent, the division to
the north of that river having its separate ‘custos’ under the
Master of the Horse. The studs were distributed among the King’s
manors, such as Windsor, Guildford, Odiham, Woodstock and Waltham.
The due proportion of expense necessary was borne by the sheriffs
of the various counties. Special provision was made for a tunic of
blue and a cape of white Brussels cloth as the attire of ‘John
Brocaz,’ styled in these records ‘Custos equorum regis,’ or
‘Gardein de nos _grands chevaux_.’”
The great cavalry department of Edward III., Mr. Burrows adds, appears
to have been kept at its full war complement for about twenty years,
until the power of France was supposed to have been finally broken at
Poitiers. Sir John de Brocaz and his son Oliver were employed by the
King to buy horses in Gascony before the campaign of Crecy.
Richard II. also gave proof of his anxiety to improve the breed of
horses by passing laws on the subject.
The troublous times of the Wars of the Roses (1450-1471) were productive
of injurious results. Horses of power and substance were, of course,
required for all military purposes, and “Strong Horses” were seized
whenever found and pressed into service by the contending parties. The
owners of many of the best horses seem to have sent them out of the
country to be sold beyond seas lest they should be thus confiscated. The
fame of the _Equus Britannicus_ had ere this period spread to the
continent, where a ready market awaited it; Sir John Hawkewood in his
_Travels_ states that in the States of Northern Italy English horses
were cherished and sought for breeding purposes. For the twenty-one
years during which England was the scene of civil war it was worth no
man’s while to breed, much less attempt to improve, the Great Horse;
thus much of the good which had been done was nullified.
THE LAWS OF HENRY VII.
Henry VII. was fully alive to the desirability of fostering the breed,
and during his reign (1485-1509) more Acts were passed to this end. At
this time, says Polydore Virgil, the English were wont to keep large
herds of horses in pastures and common fields; and when the harvest was
gathered in the cattle of different owners fed promiscuously together;
for which reason the practice of cutting horses was introduced. The
preference accorded horses for military use was not due entirely to
their superiority in strength over mares; for centuries only entire
horses were used by men-at-arms; this being the case the interests of
discipline and good order in the ranks and at the horse pickets in camp
practically compelled the exclusion of mares. In the eleventh year of
his reign (1496) Henry VII. passed a law forbidding the export of
horses. In the preamble it was set forth that whereas “not only a
smaller number of good horses were left within the realm for the defence
thereof, but also that great and good plenty of the same were in parts
beyond the sea which in times past were wont to be within this land;
whereby the price of horses is greatly increased here to the loss and
annoyance of all the King’s subjects;” therefore it was enacted that no
horse at all was to be transported out of the kingdom, and no mare of
the value of six shilling and eightpence or upwards. This law, it may be
added, remained on the Statute Book until the reign of Charles II. when
it was repealed. There were sundry weak points in the wording of this
Act--in which respect legal draughtsmen will remind us it does not stand
alone--and from the measures dealing with exportation which were passed
by his successor it would seem that Henry VII.’s attempt to keep horses
at home proved something of a failure.
To show what stage of development the Great Horse had reached in the
time of Henry VII., art comes to our aid in the shape of a picture by
Albert Dürer, dated 1505. This is the earliest work we have found, and
though the animal portrayed is not of necessity an English bred Great
Horse, it represents the stamp of animal then in use for similar
purposes in Germany; and from the banks of the Elbe, as we have already
seen, stallions were imported into England for the Royal Studs. It is
quite possible that the horse whose portrait Dürer’s brush has left us
was one of English raising. A white horse of size, weight and power,
such as this, was just the gift one ruling prince might have sent to
another at a time when animals of that colour possessed the peculiar
ceremonial value to which reference has been made, and it is far from
unlikely that this particular animal was a royal gift from Henry VII. to
Maximilian I. or to some other German prince. However that may be, two
things are certain; it was a war horse, as the dress of the soldier
attendant indicates; and the height, bulk, sloping quarters, abundant
mane and tail, and well
[Illustration:
_Engraved by J B Bratt_
THE GREAT HORSE
_after the Picture by Albert Dürer_.]
feathered legs, prove it an example of a breed intimately allied to, if
not identical with, the English Great Horse.
Our Frontispiece is reproduced from an engraving of a picture by Hans
Burgkmair, a German artist, who lived 1473-1529. It not only affords an
excellent idea of the stamp of horse ridden by armour-clad knights of
the period, but also of the armour borne by the horse.
THE LAWS OF HENRY VIII.
In Henry VIII.’s reign (1509-1547) special attention was directed to the
breeding of strong horses; new laws were made which sought to secure
strength and stature by requiring sires and dams of a certain size and
mould. Breeding was allowed only under restrictions, and a distinct
element of compulsion is the enactment that all prelates and nobles
(“whose wives wore French hoods or velvet bonnets”) should maintain
stallions of the required standard. The law passed in 1535 (26 Hy.
VIII.) runs:--
“For that in many and most places of this Realm, commonly little
Horses and Nags of small stature and value be suffered to
depasture, and also to cover Mares and Felys of very small stature,
by reason whereof the Breed of good and strong Horses of this
Realm is now lately diminished, altered, and decayed, and further
is like to decay if speedy Remedy be not sooner provided in that
Behalf.”
“It is provided that all Owners or Fermers of parks and enclosed
grounds of the extent of one mile in compass, shall keep two Mares,
being not spayed, apt and able to bear foals of the altitude or
height of thirteen handfuls at least, upon pain of 40/.”
“A penalty of 40/ is imposed on the Lords, Owners, and Fermers of
all parks and grounds enclosed as is above rehearsed, who shall
willingly suffer any of the said Mares to be covered or kept with
any Stoned Horse under the stature of fourteen handfuls.”
The year 1541 saw another statute (32 Hy. VIII.) This enacted that--
“No person shall put in any forest, chase, moor, heath, common, or
waste (where mares and fillies are used to be kept), any Stoned
Horse above the age of two years, not being 15 hands high, within
the SHIRES and territories of Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge,
Buckingham, Huntingdon, Essex, Kent, South Hampshire, North
Wiltshire, Oxford, Berkshire, Worcester, Gloucester, Somerset,
South Wales, Bedford, Warwick, Northampton, Yorkshire, Cheshire,
Staffordshire, Lancashire, Salop, Leicester, Hereford, and
Lincoln.”
“And furthermore be it enacted, that if in any of the said drifts,
there shall be found, any mare, filly foal or gelding that then
shall be thought not to be able nor like to grow to be able to bear
foals of reasonable stature, or not able nor like to grow to be
able to do profitable labours, by the discretions of the drivers
aforesaid or of the more number of them, then the same driver or
drivers shall cause the same unprofitable beasts, and every of them
to be killed, and the bodies of them to be buried in the ground or
otherwise bestowed, as no annoyance thereby shall come or grow to
the people, there near inhabiting or thither resorting.”
By another Act the exportation of horses beyond the seas is strictly
forbidden; and this Act is extended to Scotland; selling a horse in
England to a Scotchman without a Royal permission, is declared to be
felony in both buyer and seller (32 of Henry VIII. cap. 6). This statute
is entitled, “An acte for the tryall of felonies upon conveiynge of
horses into Scotland.”
The use of the word “Shire” will be noted in the foregoing extract. It
is of interest in view of the diversity of opinion expressed when the
Shire Horse Society was formed, concerning the propriety of using this
term. In this statute of Henry VIII. for the first time we find the word
“Shire” used in connection with horses.
Ralph Holinshed, in his Chronicles (Ed. London, 1807, vol. vi., p. 3),
has an entry which indicates that this monarch set his subjects a good
example in this particular respect:--
King Henry VIII. erected a noble studderie for breeding horses,
especially the greatest sorte, and for a time had verie good
success with them. The officers however seemed wearie: and procured
a mixed breed of baser races, whereby his good purpose came to
little effect.”
That horses of “the greatest sorte” were absolutely essential at this
time the immense weight of iron worn by both rider and horse proves to
us. The engraving represents a knight clad in a suit of tilting armour,
which is now to be seen in the Tower of London. This armour was
described in 1660 as having belonged to Charles Brandon, Duke of
Suffolk, Henry VIII.’s brother-in-law. The Tower officials give the
weight as follows:--Man’s armour, 99lbs. 9oz.; horse’s armour, 80lbs.
15oz. The mail would fit only a big and powerful man (none other could
profitably wear it) whose weight must have been at least 16 stone. Thus
we have:--
Lbs. oz.
Weight of rider 224 0
Rider’s armour 99 9
” spear 20 0
Horse’s armour 80 15
--- --
Total 424 8
or 30 stone 4lbs. 8oz. As we must allow for the knight’s clothing and
the horse’s gear, bridle, &c., the total weight would not fall short of
the four hundredweight mentioned by the old chronicler quoted on the
next pages as the burden the Great Horse will “carrie commonlie.”
[Illustration: EQUESTRIAN FIGURE IN TILTING ARMOUR; Sixteenth
Century.]
QUEEN ELIZABETH’S TIME.
Holinshed gives a valuable account of the heavy horses of Queen
Elizabeth’s time (1558-1603). From his record we gather that at this
period the Great Horse was no longer reserved exclusively for military
purposes, but was in general use for farm and draught work. Holinshed’s
reference to the transport required by the Queen’s retinue when she made
her frequent progresses through the kingdom is testimony to her
inordinate love of pageantry and display. Coaches, according to Stowe,
had been introduced into England by FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel, 1580
(though Queen Mary had had one built for herself in 1556), but this mode
of conveyance does not appear to have commended itself to Queen
Elizabeth. She was, as history tells us, an admirable horsewoman, and we
know that she rode behind her Master of Horse when she went in state to
St. Paul’s. The following passage from Ralph Holinshed’s Chronicle will
be found in book ii., chapter i. of the folio edition printed in London,
1587:--
“Our horses, moreover, are high, and, although not commonlie of
such huge greatnesse as in other places of the maine, yet, if you
respect the easinesse of their pase, it is hard to saie where their
like are to be had. Our cart or plough horses (for we use them
indifferently), are commonlie so strong that five or six of them
(at most), will draw three thousand weight of the greatest tale
with ease for a long journeie--although it be not a load of common
usage--which consisted onlie of two thousand, or fiftie foot of
timber, fortie bushels of white salt, or six and thirtie of baie,
or five quarters of wheat--experience dailie teacheth, and [as] I
have elsewhere remembered. Such as are kept for burden, will carie
four hundred weight commonlie, without any hurt or hinderance. This
furthermore is to be noted, that our princes and nobilitie have
their carriage commonlie made by carts; whereby it commeth to
passe, that when the queenes majestie dooth remove from anie one
place to another, there are vsuallie 400 carewares, which amount to
the summe of 2,400 horses, appointed out of the countries
adioining, whereby her cariage is conveied vnto the appointed
place. Hereby, also, the ancient vse of somers and sumpter horsses
is in a maner vtterlie relinquished; which causes the traines of
our princes in their progresses to shew far lesse than those of the
kings of other nations.”
The loads so respectfully described by Holinshed do not at first sight
appear to indicate any very remarkable draught power on the part of a
team of five or six horses; rather the contrary. In regard to this,
however, we must bear in mind that three hundred years ago the roads
were so bad and rutty that an empty waggon would be harder to draw in
those days than a heavily loaded wain on a modern road.
The accompanying portrait of Sir Walter Hungerford, Knight, of Farley
Castle, Heytesbury, is engraved from a picture in the possession of Sir
R. Hungerford Pollen, Bart., at Rodbourne, Malmesbury. Sir Walter was
the eldest son of Baron Hungerford, who was beheaded July 28th, 1541.
Upon the accession of Queen Mary, Walter Hungerford obtained a reversal
of the attainder imposed on his father, and recovered the family
estates; but the peerage was not revived. Sir Walter retired from
political life and court intrigue, and, choosing for his motto, _Amicis
Amicissimus_, devoted himself entirely to country pursuits. He became
widely known for the excellence of his stud; and the picture here
engraved bears the following inscription, “Sir Walter Hungerford,
Knight, had in Queene Elizabeth’s tyme, the Second of her Raine, for
foure yere together, a baye horse, a blacke greyhounde, a lanerett.[A]
This offer was for foure yere together, to all Eynglande, not above his
betters, he that shoulde showe the best horse for a man of armes, a
greyhounde for a hare, a haucke for the reyver, to wine III hundred
poundes, that was a hundery the poundes apese. Also he had a gerfalcon
for the herne in Her Majesty’s tyme, that he kept XVIII. yere; and
offered the lyke to flye for a hundred pounde, and were refused for
all.”
This offer of Sir Walter’s gives us the right to assume that the type
here represented was the one acknowledged at the date to be that most
approved in the English Great Horse; whilst the special function of that
horse was, still, to carry “a man of armes.” It can be seen that--though
the hair, both of the mane and legs, has been manipulated to suit the
fashion--the tail still shows the characteristic abundance. Sir Walter
Hungerford’s horse is certainly of the type of Albert Dürer’s Great
White Horse, though it shows more evidence of spirit and high action.
Instructive particulars concerning the horses of this period are to be
found in a curious little black letter volume, entitled, _The Art of
Ryding and Breaking Greate Horses_, written by Thomas Blundeville of
Newton Flotman in Norfolk, and published in 1566; a second edition of
which, “newlie corrected and amended of manie faults escaped in the
first printing” was issued in 1580; the latter including chapters on
breeding
[Illustration: SIR WALTER HUNGERFORD, KNIGHT, OF FARLEY CASTLE,
HEYTESBURY.]
horses. We may quote from Blundeville’s pages a few passages which throw
light upon our subject:--
“Some men have a breed of Great Horses, meete for warre and to
serve in the field. Others have ambling horses of a meane stature
for to journey and travel by the waie. Some again have a race of
swift runners to run for wagers or to gallop the bucke. But plane
country men have a breed only for draftes or burden.”
From the foregoing it would appear that the lesser breed of agricultural
horses (stots and affers) was still in existence, though the extract on
page 34 appears to show that mares of the Great Horse breed were used
for draught purposes. It will be remembered that at an earlier age
churchmen were enjoined to use mares that the horses might be at the
service of soldiers. Thomas Blundeville mentions as the “most worthy”
breeds:--
“The Turke, the Barbarian, the Sardinian, Napolitan [commonly
called the courser of Naples], the Jennet of Spain, the Hungarian,
the high Almaine, the Frizeland horse, the Flanders horse, and the
Irish hobbie.”
He describes these in turn: those that come within our purview are the
Napolitan, high Almaine and Flanders: the first of these is:--
“a trim horse being both comelie and stronglie made and of so much
goodness, of so gentle a nature and so high a courage as anie horse
is. Known from other horses by his no lesse cleane than stronge
makinge.”
The high Almaine (modern Allemagne, German: King John’s importations
from the banks of the Elbe at once recur to mind) is:
“commonlie a great horse, and though not finelie yet verie
stronglie made and therefore more meete for the shocke [of battle]
than to passe a cariere or to make a swift manege because they be
verie grosse and heavie, yet by industrie they are made lighter
behind than before, for their rider do use in their maneging to
make them to turne alwaies with their hinder parts and not with
their fore parts like jackanapes on a chaine, whereby they keep
their horses heads alwaies upon the enimie.”
The Flanders horse differed little from the “high Almaine” or North
German breed save that it was for the most part of greater stature; the
disposition of these two heavy horses was “not evill;” on the contrary
the animals are stated to be “verie tractable.”
Thomas Blundeville’s suggestions for breeding, based as they undoubtedly
were on experience, throw light upon the ancestry of our heavy horses:--
“I would wish him that seeketh to have a race of good horses, meet
to serve in the field to get a Napolitan stallion if it be
possible, if not let him take the high Almaine, the Hungarian, the
Flanders, or the Frizeland Horse, so that he be of convenient
stature well proportioned and meete for the purpose. The mares
should be of an high stature, stronglie made, large and fair, and
have a trotting pace as the mares of Flanders and some of our own
mares be. For it is not meete for divers respects that horses of
service should amble.”
The “Napolitan stallion,” coming from a greater distance and being more
costly, was comparatively seldom imported; whence the author’s
reservation “if it be possible.” There is no doubt but that the English
Great Horse owed far more to importations from more northern countries
than to those from Italy.
A “horse of service,” we are informed, should be able to
“trot cleane and loftilie, to stop lightlie, to turn on both hands
readilie, to gallop stronglie, to manege with single turne surelie
and last of all to passe a cariere [_i.e._, “do a smart spin”]
swiftlie; and in all his doings from the beginning to the ending to
reine well and to bear his head steddilie.”
The “cariere” was to be of specified length; for a “mightie puissant
horse great of stature” a shorter one was recommended.
In the chapter headed “How to ride a Horse to the best shewe before a
Prince”--how to show him off to the best advantage, as we should
say--there is a very suggestive remark which proves how necessary were
the endeavours of horse-loving sovereigns to improve the breed:--
“Maneging and doubling after a cariere belongeth to a horse of
greate force, which indeed should represent in his doings the verie
order of fight observed in the field _which is but little used now
a daies because of the general weaknes of our horses_.”
In the earlier edition the writer speaks with admiration of the Great
Horse,
“not finelie yet stronglie made he is of great stature. The mares
also be of a great stature; strong, long, large, fayre and
fruitful; and besides that, will endure great labour in their
wagons, in which I have seene two or three mares to go lightly away
with such a burthen as is almost uncredible.”
“But now to content the countryman his desire, which seeketh to
breede horses for draught or burthen, where should I wysh him to
provyde hymselfe of Mares and Stallions better than here in
Englande.”
“I have knowne some carriars that go with carts, to be so exquisit
in their choyse of horses, as onlesse been as commely to the eye as
good in their worke they would not buye them; insomuch as I have
seen somtyme drawing in their carts better proportioned horses than
I have knowne to be fynely kept in stables, as jewels for the
saddle. The horse that is meete for the cart, may serve also for
the burthen, bycause he is strong and able to beare much.”
In the second edition, however, we find the recommendation to the
countryman to provide himself with stock of English raising qualified by
a remark which confirms the author’s reference to the general weakness
of the war horses of the time, and indicates that the “misfits” of the
Great Horse breed, as we might suppose, were relegated to the waggon and
the plough. The passage “But now to content ... better than here in
Englande,” continues:--
“whereas he maie easilie find a number of strong jades more meet
for that purpose than for the saddle, and all for lack of good
order of breeding which if it might be once observed in this realme
I believe there would be so good and so faire horses bred here as
in anie place in Christendome.”
The need of more legislation on the subject, or better administration of
the existing laws, is here very plainly indicated.
When discussing the advantages of gelding horses for use on the road,
Blundeville incidentally bears out what we already know, viz., that the
animals used by heavily armoured cavalry were entires. “Our light
horsemen here in England,” he says, “do in like manner serve upon
geldings in the warres ... partly for servants to ride on and to carie
their males [mail] and cloke bagges.”
The invention of gunpowder and its application to hand firearms produced
the inevitable effect upon heavy armour in the last quarter of the
sixteenth century. Sir John Smythe writing in 1589, the year after the
famous Spanish Armada fiasco, says contemptuously of the cavalry of
Spain: “Their horsemen also serving on horseback with launces or any
other weapon they think very well armed with some kind of headpiece, a
collar, and a deformed light bellied beast.” The introduction of coaches
at this time, and the encouragement of racing at a somewhat later period
also tended to encourage the breeding of lighter horses in England.
JAMES I.