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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.


We now take leave of our Elizabethan instructors and come to records
relating to a generation later. In the Herbert MS., published as vol.
xx. of the Montgomeryshire collection, we find on page 148 an estimate
of the cost of horsing an expedition which was being fitted out to
enforce the claims of the Prince Palatine, son-in-law to James I., to
the Crown of Bohemia. This estimate was laid before the Privy Council on
January 13th, 1620. Ten thousand men were to be despatched from England;
it was calculated that the baggage of this army would weigh 1,150 tons,
to transport which as many carts each carrying one ton, would be needed,
and for each waggon eight cart horses. It was further estimated that
for the conveyance of the officers, the sick and the wounded, 380
waggons would be wanted, and that three horses must be provided for each
of these vehicles. The scheme laid before the Privy Council proposed
that part, at least, of the 10,412 cart horses thus required should be
taken up where they could be hired by the day “in the Low Countries or
where they may best be hadde. They with the carters to drive and keep
them.” The hire was estimated at 2s. per diem, while the cost of the
horses, if bought outright, “with harness and furniture,” would, it was
anticipated, be £9 apiece. The framers of this estimate appended thereto
a note or recommendation which reflects the comparative merits of
English and foreign cart horses at the time. “We think it necessary
that, besides, 200 strong cart horses _such as cannot be hired_ should
be bought or continually kept for the use of the ordnance and munition.”
The cost of these Strong or Great Horses was put down at £15 per
head--the modern equivalent of that seemingly modest sum being perhaps
£100--and the lieutenants and deputy-lieutenants of counties throughout
England were to be required to certify what proportion of horses fit for
this service “each sheire canne affourd upon all occasions on
enterprise.”

Among the leaders of this expedition was the Duke of Arenberg, whose
portrait, painted by Vandyke, is in the collection of the Earl of
Leicester, at Holkham Hall, and from which the accompanying engraving is
taken. In Smith’s _Catalogue of Painters_, vol. iii., p. 148, this is
described as one of the great artist’s most successful equestrian
portraits. Vandyke is believed to have visited this country in 1620 and
to have executed commissions for James I. who conferred upon him a
pension and a safe conduct which enabled him to travel without hindrance
through all continental countries whose sovereigns were friendly to
England. The picture affords interesting proof of the close resemblance
of the English war horse in the first quarter of the seventeenth century
to that portrayed by Albert Dürer more than one hundred years earlier.
The colour is different; but in all material points it is practically
identical with the white Great Horse of the German painter. The
similarity of character is not confined to the horse on which the Duke
is mounted; in the background a body of cavalry is represented, and an
engraving on large scale of this portion of

[Illustration: THE DUKE OF ARENBURG; after the Picture by Vandyke.]

the picture shows the stamp of animal to be the same.




CHARLES I.


Coming now to the reign of Charles I. (1625-1649) we find that the
popularity of racing and its results on the breed of strong horses were
disturbing the minds of thoughtful men. Sir Edward Harwood presented to
the King a memorial which represented that there was a great deficiency
of good and stout horses for the defence of the Kingdom, insomuch that
it was a question whether it could have furnished 2,000 that would have
been equal to 2,000 French. The cause being, the memorialist stated, the
strong proclivity of the nation for racing and hunting, which required
horses to be lighter and weaker for the sake of swiftness. Sir Edward
proposed as remedy that nobles and gentlemen should keep stronger horses
and train them and their riders in military exercises instead of making
races for Bells. This sound advice might have produced results but it
was offered at the time when troubles were gathering about the throne
and the King had no leisure to attend to it. Charles was fond of the
_manège_ and was a good horseman; his care for the art of riding the
Great Horse was shown by a proclamation issued in the third year of his
reign. In this he commanded that, as he had found by experience, such
horses as are employed in the service are “more apt and fit to be
managed by such as shall ride them, being accustomed to the Bitt, than
the Snaffle ... no person shall in riding use any snaffles but Bitts
only.” This was qualified by exception in favour of “times of Disport,”
which doubtless referred to racing, hunting, and hawking.

It is quite in accord with King Charles’ love of the _manège_ and
military horsemanship that the Great Horse should figure on the Great
Seals of the unfortunate King. By permission of Mr. Allan Wyon we
reproduce from his beautiful work, _The Great Seals of England_,
engravings of Charles’ Counter Seal and Second Counter Seal with the
descriptions therein given. The engraver has rendered the breed of his
horses unmistakeable; and nothing need be added to Mr. Wyon’s
descriptions:--


                             COUNTERSEAL.

                      PERIOD OF USE 1625 TO 1627.

     “The King on horseback, galloping to the left, holding in the right
     hand a sword which passes behind the King’s head, the left hand
     holding the

[Illustration: COUNTER SEAL AND SECOND COUNTER SEAL OF CHARLES I.]

     reins. The helmet is ensigned with the Royal Crown. Three very long
     and three short feathers fly backwards from the King’s helmet. The
     horse’s neck is protected at the back by plates, and on its head is
     a plume of feathers. The horse wears a stiff caparison as in the
     seal of James I., but more limited in dimensions. On the caparison
     covering the hind quarter are the Royal arms encircled with an
     inscribed Garter, and ensigned with a Crown. In the lower border of
     the caparison thistles and roses are placed alternately at a small
     distance apart, above a short fringe. The reins are very wide and
     much ornamented; the part which is seen in front is escalloped,
     having four pendants, each pendant being made to represent a rose
     with a tassel hanging from it. The tail is in three distinct waves.
     In base is a greyhound collared and current to the left. The field
     is diapered with interlacing ovals, in which appear roses and
     thistles alternately. The legend begins with a rose, which is
     repeated between the words and is also placed after the last word.
     Between the first and last rose is a fleur-de-lis.” Legend:--

             CAROLUS . DEI . GRATIA . MAGNÆ . BRITANNIÆ .
            FRANCIÆ ET HIBERNIÆ . REX FIDEI . DEFENSOR, &c.


                          SECOND COUNTERSEAL.

                      PERIOD OF USE 1627 TO 1640.

     “The King on horseback, galloping to the left, in complete armour,
     the helmet open showing the features very characteristically
     rendered, holding in the right hand a sword which passes above the
     helmet, and the point of which touches the outer border; the left
     hand holds the reins; on the left is a small shield covering the
     elbow and the lower part of the body. Two very large feathers sweep
     backwards from the helmet and two smaller ones rise to the outer
     border above. The right hand, the sword, and part of the helmet,
     break across the inner border and divide the commencement from the
     end of the legend. The horse is entirely devoid of armour. The
     saddle cloth is very small, and square. In base is a greyhound
     collared and current to the left, and underneath the horse is a
     view of London from the South, showing the river Thames and London
     Bridge. Shipping on the river below London Bridge is seen between
     the hind legs of the horse. The hills to the North of London are
     represented as of mountainous height. The hind hoof breaks into the
     legend.”

              CAROLUS . DEI . GRATIA . ANGLIÆ . SCOTIÆ .
           FRANCIÆ . ET . HIBERNIÆ . REX . FIDEI . DEFENSOR.

     “The style of the King, which in the First Seal of his reign was
     ‘Rex Magna Brittanniæ’ is now ‘Rex Angliæ Scotiæ,’ &c.”

From the year 1200 downwards very many seals have borne the device of a
horse, and invariably one of the Great Horse type.




FROM THE COMMONWEALTH TO WILLIAM III.’s TIME.


During the Commonwealth (1649-1659) three seals were in use, each of
which shows on the reverse side a Great Horse of well defined character.
To prove the use of the breed at this period we may, however, take
evidence from Vandyke, whose equestrian portrait of Oliver Cromwell, in
the heroic attitude orthodox for so many generations, is here
reproduced. The charger upon which the Protector, partially clad in
armour, is

[Illustration: THE PROTECTOR ON A GREAT HORSE; after the Picture by
Vandyke.]

represented, has all the Great Horse character. Stress must be laid on
the fact that from about this period the term Black Horse is used as
synonymous with Great Horse. The following brief note from Cromwell to
Auditor Squire, which we take from Carlyle’s _Letters and Speeches of
Oliver Cromwell_, has value in this connection, as also in showing the
cost of troop horses at the time:

                                             “_Stilton, Jan. 31, 1643._

        “DEAR SIR,--

     “Buy those horses, but do not give more than 18 or 20 pieces each
     for them, that is enough for Dragooners. I will give you 60 pieces
     for that Black you won [in battle] at Horncastle, for my son has a
     mind to him.

                                                          “Your friend,
                                                     “OLIVER CROMWELL.”



It is altogether improbable that the “dragooners” referred to were
animals boasting the power and substance of the charger on which Vandyke
has painted the Protector. Cromwell’s “Ironsides” were not clad in plate
armour but in leathern jerkins, and for men so accoutred a much lighter
stamp of horse would suffice.

In another letter written six months after, appears the following
phrase:--“I will give you all that you ask for that black you won last
fight.” Use of this term still survives in a negative form among the
breeders of Cleveland Bays; whose favourite boast of their strain is
that it contains “neither blood nor black.”

The actual value of the “piece” mentioned is not quite certain. Mr.
Warwick Wroth of the British Museum (Department of Coins) to whom I
referred the point writes: “I think that ‘piece’ must mean ‘broad
piece,’ _i.e._, the gold sovereign (20s.) of the time called ‘Unite,’
‘Broad’ or ‘Carolus’ (or if of James I. the ‘Laurel,’ ‘Jacobus,’ &c.).
The only other coin that could be meant would be the silver crown piece
(5s.) of Charles I., or possibly the ‘piece of eight,’ _i.e._, the
Spanish dollar current in England about 1643, for rather more than 4s.”
My informant kindly sends me a quotation from _Rogers’ History of
Agriculture and Prices_, which confirms his cautious opinion that the
“piece” was the gold piece, _i.e._, the sovereign. The quotation
referred to possesses an interest germane to the subject under
consideration apart from this special point; it runs:--

     “There is very little change in the price of horses ... during the
     first thirty years of my period [1582-1702]. Then the price begins
     to rise for the next thirty years and, though the dear decade
     1643-1652 does not represent the highest average of the whole, the
     exaltation over the thirty years that precede it is very marked.
     For the period 1673-1682 horses are decidedly dear. Thus in 1673 a
     horse is bought by All Souls College at £30 5s., and two others at
     Cambridge at £20 each. In 1674 Winchester gives £15 8s. 6d. for a
     saddle horse.”

Cromwell’s letter was written at the beginning of the “dear decade;” and
as the prices quoted for individual purchases thirty years later appear
“decidedly dear” in a general review of the period, it is highly
probable that £18 or £20 was the amount Cromwell thought “quite enough
for dragooners.” His offer of three times as much, £60, for “that Black
you won” shows the superiority of the Great Horse.

Despite the prowess of Cromwell’s lighter cavalry, the day of the true
Great Horse was not yet at an end. In the year 1658 the Duke of
Newcastle published his classic volume--_The Manner of Feeding, Dressing
and Training of Horses for the Great Saddle and Fitting them for the
Service of the Field in the Time of War_. This very curious and
instructive volume, which was originally published in French at Antwerp
contains numerous elaborate copper-plate engravings, most of which
represent horses of the one massive type with large limbs, heavy crest,
silky haired fetlocks and flowing mane and tail. The Duke writes of the
Northern Horses, using the term to distinguish the North German,
Flanders and similar breeds from the lighter Oriental and Spanish
horses:--“I have seen some, beautiful in their kind, genteel in all
sorts of paces, and which have excelled all others in leaping. Moreover
they have a peculiar excellence in the motion of their forelegs which is
the principal grace in the action of a horse.” Thomas Blundeville in his
book gives instructions for improving the action of a horse; he was to
be taken into a ploughed field or soft ground and encouraged with voice
and spur to trot; by which exercise he would learn to lift his feet.

The engraving of a dappled grey horse here given is from one of the
latest works of Paul Potter; the original picture bears date 1652, and
was therefore painted only six years before the Duke of Newcastle’s book
appeared. Potter, who died at Amsterdam in 1654, made his great
reputation by the infinite pains he bestowed on the study of cattle and
sheep, and the success with which he gave the result of his observations
on canvas; and it is only reasonable to suppose that he exercised equal

[Illustration: A GREAT HORSE OF ABOUT 1652; after the Picture by Paul
Potter.]

care in painting horses. The strain of North German and Flanders blood
was at this period so strongly represented in our English Great Horses
of the best stamp that we need not enquire whether this horse was of
German, Flemish or English origin; the character of all being
practically the same. The abundance of the plaited mane will be remarked
in this picture.

The reflection that the Duke of Newcastle’s careful work came somewhat
late to fulfil its direct purpose crosses the mind of the student.
During the latter half of the seventeenth century armour fell into
disuse, and the interests of Great Horse breeding appear to have been
neglected. Charles II. was a racing monarch, and James II. during his
brief reign seems to have done nothing. William III. established a
riding academy and brought over a French riding master, one Major
Foubert, to direct it. The Great Horse, no longer required for military
service, was no longer a saddle horse, and took its place as a beast of
draught. From this time forward, therefore, we shall give it the name
which associates it with agriculture and commerce, and speak of the
SHIRE HORSE.




QUEEN ANNE’S REIGN.


In the reign of Queen Anne (1702-1713), the roads throughout England
were still of the worst description, and the ponderous carriages of the
nobility demanded great strength and weight in the animals which drew
them; and thus we now find the Shire Horse in demand as a carriage
horse. The Queen’s state coach was drawn by long-tailed Shire mares; and
the stage coaches which since 1670 had opened regular communication
between London and the most important towns in the kingdom were we need
not doubt, drawn by horses of a heavy, massive type; for until the end
of the century, when McAdam introduced the system of road making known
by his name, no team of lighter horses would have been equal to the
work. The value and importance of the Shire horse therefore in no wise
decreased when the abolition of armour enabled our ancestors to employ a
lighter stamp of cavalry trooper.

The _London Evening Post_, of September 24th to 27th, 1737, contains
notice of a race which shows that endeavours were made to encourage the
breeding of active cart horses. It runs as follows:--

     “To be run for on Finchley Common, in the county of Middlesex, on
     Tuesday the 4th of October next, a Set of Lating Bells and Whip,
     for five Horses, by Carthorses that constantly go in a Team, and to
     be rid by the Carter that did constantly drive the Team; to ride
     bareback’d, with the Bit-Halter and his own Cart-Whip; to run two
     miles at a Heat, the best of three Heats, and to pay three
     shillings entrance, and no less than five to start, and enter the
     day of running between the Hours of Eight and Two, at the place
     above-mentioned; the first Horse to have the Bells, and the second
     the Whip.”

Here is the advertisement of another race of somewhat similar character
which, in spite of the element of jocularity in the conditions, would
help to stimulate the interest taken by carters in their charges. This
is taken from the _London Evening Post_, of September 4th to 6th,
1739:--

     “On the Wash, near Newbury, in Berkshire, on Friday, the 22nd of
     September, 1739, will be run for, a set of Cart Harness with Bells,
     for five Horses (given by the Most Honourable the Marquess of
     Carnarvon), by any Horse, Mare, or Gelding that shall be 15 hands
     high at the least, and has been train’d to the Cart only, and in
     that way continued to be used. None but Carters to ride, and to
     ride with Bell Halters, long Cart Whips, in Straw Boots and
     Carter’s Frocks, and without saddles; and all Riders to change
     their Horses, &c. (mares or geldings), before starting at the
     Starting-Post, and no Man to ride his own Horse (mare or gelding),
     &c., the Horse (mare or gelding) &c., that comes in last to win the
     Prize. And if any Dispute shall arise about the Change of Horses,
     starting, running, &c., the same to be determined by the said
     Marquis, his deputy, or deputies, and 2s. 6d. will be given by the
     said Marquiss to each Rider.”

Marshall in his _Rural Economy of Norfolk_, published 1795, describes
the road races in which “the lead was the goal contended for:” in his
time this dangerous amusement, as he justly considered it, had been “a
good deal laid aside though not entirely left off.” The gist of
Marshall’s account has been given in a former little work.[B]

From _Heavy Horses_ (No. 3 of Messrs. Vinton’s Live Stock Handbooks
Series), we take the following interesting passage which shows the value
set upon good Shires, by their owners in the middle of the eighteenth
century:

     “Only within the last year or so there went over to the great
     majority ... an old stud groom, whose grandfather in his day was at
     the head of a famous stud owned by people of the name of Gallemore,
     who for generations had a celebrated Shire stud within two miles of
     Calwich Abbey. At the time when Prince Charlie marched on Derby in
     the famous ’45 this old retainer was forced to take refuge from the
     invaders and place the stallions of this stud in a place of safety.
     This he successfully did.”

The fear lest these animals should be appropriated by the invader
reminds us of the similar state of affairs three hundred years
previously, when the Wars of the Roses created a demand for horses which
private owners took extreme measures to avoid satisfying at their own
expense (pages 19-20).

This excerpt also furnishes us with a link between past and present; for
volume i. of the Shire Horse Stud Book contains mention of several of
the original Derbyshire stallions named Gallemore, which were no doubt
called after their owners. The stud referred to was stabled at Croxden
Abbey--“and from its courtyard the horses went forth into hiding. Though
it cannot be stated as an absolute fact, all the evidence points to the
famous Packington Blind Horse having been begotten at this same place”
(_Ibid._, p. 16).

The direct descendants of the Packington Blind Horse (believed to have
been in his full vigour from 1755 to 1770) are traced down to the year
1832.

It is certain that this breed, for which WAR HORSE, GREAT HORSE, OLD
ENGLISH BLACK HORSE or SHIRE HORSE are terms used at different periods
has been distributed for centuries through the district between the
Humber and the Cam, occupying the rich fen lands of Lincolnshire and
Cambridgeshire, and extending westward through the counties of
Huntingdon, Northampton, Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Norwich and
Stafford, on to the Severn. It has also been extensively bred in the
low-lying pasture lands of England, in the counties both north and south
of those named, everywhere retaining its typical character subject to
slight variations produced by differences of climate, soil and food.

When Arthur Young, in the latter part of the last century, was
describing his tours through the counties of England and Scotland, he
mentions only two varieties of Cart Horse as deserving attention,
namely, the Large Black Old English Horse, “the produce principally of
the Shire counties in the heart of England and the Sorrel-coloured
Suffolk Punch for which the sandy tract of country near Woodbridge is
famous.”

The writer’s use of the word “Shire” will be remarked; we cannot doubt
but that a breed of horses whose home was in these counties would have
been known in other localities as “Shire Horses,” like the “Norfolk
Trotter” and “Suffolk Punch,” and at a later date the “Clydesdale;” the
only difference being that the Shire was

[Illustration: NORFOLK CART HORSE, DODMAN. Foaled 1780. After the
Picture by Woodward.]

distributed over a larger breeding area, which therefore furnished him
with a less strictly local name. Arthur Young, it will also be observed,
describes the breed as the “Large Black Old English Horse,” a name
which, as we have seen, had been in current use since at least the time
of Oliver Cromwell. The Eastern counties breed was known and described
as the Black Lincolnshire Horse. Black and grey, as Mr. Reynolds points
out, were held to indicate purity of breeding.

We have now reached a period when painters of animal pictures were
sometimes commissioned to execute portraits of fine examples of horses,
cattle and sheep. The engraving which faces this page is from a picture
by Mr. Woodward of a Norfolk Cart Horse called DODMAN (East Anglian for
“Snail”), of whose pedigree unfortunately no particulars exist, but
which was foaled in the year 1780. This horse was the property of an
ancestor of Anthony Hamond, Esq., and the portrait is preserved at his
family seat in the parish of Westacre near Brandon. The long hair-lock
hanging from the knee arrests the eye; this appendage, like a moustache
on the upper lip and a hair lock projecting from the back of the hock,
is regarded as the distinguishing mark of a strain or variety of the
Shire. DODMAN seems to have been used as a stallion in the district
whence was obtained, nearly a century later, HONEST TOM (1105), whose
portrait faces page 60.

Our next engraving is from a picture by George Morland, which was
probably painted at about the same date as that of DODMAN. That artist,
between 1790 and 1795, went into hiding in Leicestershire to escape from
his creditors; he took up his abode in the neighbourhood of Mr.
Bakewell’s famous Dishley Farm; and the horse portrayed resembles in no
small degree pictures of some of Mr. Bakewell’s stud, which at that
period had attained its highest repute. It is therefore exceedingly
likely that this represents a typical Leicestershire Cart Horse of the
time. It belongs to a type differing in some respects from DODMAN, being
longer in the body, finer about the head and lacking the hair-lock in
front of the knee, while the mane, tail, and feathering on the legs are
less profuse. These two portraits afford opportunity of comparing two
varieties of the Shire, the Fenland and the Leicestershire.

The _Sporting Magazine_ of 1796 contains an article headed “Operations
on British

[Illustration: A LEICESTER SHIRE HORSE (1790-1795); after the Picture by
George Morland.]

Horses,” in which the following passage occurs:--

     “We have a large and strong breed in the more fertile and luxuriant
     parts of the island; and there is no country can bring a parallel
     to the strength and size of our horses destined for the draught, as
     there are instances of single horses that are able to draw the
     weight of three tons.”

The roads in England had been vastly improved since Holinshed described
the drawing powers of a team of horses in the latter half of the
sixteenth century; but we cannot doubt that the horse itself had also
improved, more especially during the eighteenth century when the Great
Horse was gradually becoming the servant of the farmer rather than that
of the soldier. The Statutes to which reference has been made
unquestionably did much to promote the building up of the Great Horse
breed and establish it as national; the counties and districts
enumerated in 32 of Henry VIII. quoted on p. 24 show very clearly how
wide was the area over which the breed was distributed three and a half
centuries ago; and it would be superfluous to lay stress upon the
increase of the area over which the Shire horse has been bred since that
remote day.

It would seem that the action which our forefathers sought to develop in
the Great Horse was still characteristic, in some degree at least, of
the Shire at the end of the last century; this engraving, published at
the time, shows a horse named ELEPHANT, whose portrait was painted in
1792 by an artist whose name is unknown. An inscription on the frame
tells us that this horse was “supposed to be one of the most boney
horses ever seen;” at four years old he “is said to have stood 16’2” and
to have girthed 8 feet, while he measured round the knee-joint 16½
inches. He was plainly a horse of great muscular development and big
bone, while his attitude suggests the activity and spirit that
distinguished the War Horse from which he was descended.

From one of Garrard’s pictures now hanging in the Council Room of the
Shire Horse Society, we take our engraving of this gelding which was in
use at Whitehead’s Brewery in 1792, and was therefore a contemporary of
the horse painted by George Morland, and of ELEPHANT. This picture
served as an illustration in Garrard’s series of engravings of British
Farm Stock. It is the likeness of an excellent horse--“type perfect,
flat bone, with good hocks, pasterns and feet.” Apparently this is a
fen-bred horse; a chestnut with the white face and

[Illustration: SHIRE HORSE, ELEPHANT (about 1792).]

[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF A SHIRE GELDING IN USE AT MESSRS. WHITBREAD’S
BREWERY IN 1792; after the Picture by Geo. Garrard, A.R.A.]

markings which we have, of late years, learned to associate with the
stock of the Rutlandshire Champions. High prices were paid for Shires in
the last quarter of the eighteenth century. Mr. Hambleton of Callon Moor
sold to Mr. Summerland in 1778 a brown stallion for 350 guineas; and in
1791 a two-year-old stallion named Marston was sold by Mr. Handley for
500 guineas; these would be good prices for pedigree stock at the
present day.

It is worth adding to the portraits of Shire Horses foaled during the
last decades of the eighteenth century one more showing a pair whose
colour betrays them as belonging to a variety closely allied to that
last noticed. The picture facing page 58 shows two horses named PIRATE
and OUTLAW, and was painted in 1810 by an artist named J. C. Zeitter;
the owner of the work was Mr. Andrew McCullum, and it was engraved by J.
Egan.

These particulars we obtain from an inscription on the frame of the
work, which is our only source of information. Having an eye to the
accessories in the background, we infer that Pirate and Outlaw were,
like Garrard’s horse, the property of a brewer; both before and after
this period views of well-known breweries were favourite subjects with
some of our best animal painters, who found excellent reason for their
preference in the magnificent teams of dray horses of which private
firms were so proud. The ownership of, and work performed by, these
horses, are however of no special importance; the interest of the
picture, apart from the substance and strength of the animals, lies in
the colour. This curious parti-colour is by no means uncommon in the
Shires reared in the Fen country; in the middle of the present century
Mr. Colvin, of Pishobury, Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, had a breed of
Shire piebalds on his Home Farm. Mr. Charles Marsters, of Saddlebow,
King’s Lynn, Norfolk, possessed a celebrated stallion, “England’s
Wonder,” foaled in 1871; this horse was the sire of good animals, but
many of them horses of odd colours. To this day there is a tendency to
breed animals with white legs, white markings and odd colours.




THE SHIRE HORSE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.


It may be of interest to see how the east country Shire appeared in the
eyes of a very competent judge of horseflesh about the time

[Illustration: PIRATE AND OUTLAW (1810).]

[Illustration: PLOUGH TEAMS OF SHIRE HORSES. Bred by B. B. Colvin, Esq.,
of Pishiobury Park, Harlow, Essex, about 1844-1855.

(Drawn by P. Palfrey, from a Photograph.)]

of Waterloo. Thus the traveller George Borrow, in his sketch of Tombland
Fair, Norwich, where from time immemorial a show of stallions has been
held at Easter:--

     “There was shouting and whooping; weighing and braying; there was
     galloping and trotting; fellows with high-lows and white
     stockings--and with many a string dangling from the knees of their
     tight-breeches--were running desperately; holding horses by the
     halter, and in some cases dragging them along. There were
     long-tailed steeds and dock-tailed steeds of every degree and
     breed. There were droves of wild ponies, and long rows of sober
     Cart Horses. There were donkeys and even mules; the last a rare
     thing to be seen in damp misty England; for the mule pines in mud
     and rain, and never thrives so well as when there is a hot sun
     above and a burning sand below. There were--oh, the gallant
     creatures! I hear their neigh upon the winds; there were--goodliest
     sight of all--certain enormous quadrupeds, only seen to perfection
     in our native isle; led about by dapper grooms; their manes
     ribbanded and their tails curiously clubbed and balled. Ha! ha! How
     distinctly do they say, Ha! ha!”

When Borrow wrote this he had seen specimens of pretty nearly all the
draught horses in Europe: including all the grandfathers of all the
Percherons and Normandy carriage-horses.

The old paintings and engravings, examples of which we have introduced
as far as possible in chronological order, possess practical value to
breeders as showing the stamp and character of the Shire Horse at
various periods of the history of the breed. We have traced its progress
down to a date when the Stud Books relieve us of the necessity of
further pursuit, and can only hope that success has attended this
endeavour to show that our modern Shire Horse is descended from the
animal which has filled so important a part at all times in the history
of our country. It is also certain that during this century the Shire
Horse has played no mean part in building up size and massiveness in all
the other Draught breeds in the Kingdom. That he has undergone great
changes is certain; but the characteristics of the breed, size,
strength, substance, courage and docility, have been perpetuated and
developed by careful selection till we have now in our Shire horse the
ideal beast of draught.

BLYTHWOOD CONQUEROR, whose portrait faces page 64, stands as an
excellent representative of the modern Shire stallion. This horse is by
Hitchin Conqueror (4458) out of Blythwood Bountiful (11607), and was
bred at Wood House Farm, Stansted, by Sir James Blyth. He was foaled in
1893, and is a bay, with white blaze and white feet.

[Illustration: HONEST TOM 1105.

17½ Hands. Foaled 1865. By Thumper 2123, out of Beauty. Bred by Mr. W.
Welcher, Watton, Norfolk.]




HOW TO PRESERVE ITS CHARACTER.


To maintain the standard of excellence which has been attained at the
cost of so much care, it is essential that only the best types should be
used for breeding: such horses as are truly framed, are free from
imperfections, and above all are free from hereditary unsoundness. The
numerous statutes mentioned in the foregoing pages assisted our
ancestors in building up the breed which has long been established as
permanent. The longer a type has been _fixed_ the greater the certainty
that the law “like produces like” will be justified; and to secure the
best results it is of the first importance that we should study the
pedigrees of the animals from which we propose to breed.

The sight of the magnificent teams which may be seen in the streets of
our great cities, and under particularly favourable circumstances on
Whit Mondays at the Cart Horse Parade in Regent’s Park, proves what
careful and _continued_ attention to the science of breeding can produce
in the way of attaining desired results in size and form. For many years
past there has been a regular and extensive demand for massive horses
of great muscular strength; bad roads made such animals indispensable
up to a hundred years ago; and the heavy loads which our level streets
and highways permit render the same qualities not less necessary now. To
drag heavily laden waggons and drays, to shunt railway carriages and
trucks, we need horses of the Shire stamp and character at their highest
development; for it must be borne in mind that a compact, truly framed
draught horse will move a given weight with far greater despatch and
less chance of injury to himself than one whose shoulders are defective,
whose loins are weak, legs ill formed, pasterns too long and feet
defective.




THE FOREIGN MARKET.


It is noteworthy as proof of our dependence on this class of horse that,
even when commerce and agriculture have been passing through a period of
depression, at times when customers at any price even for the best
classes of other live stock have been difficult to find, heavy draught
horses suitable for town work have always remained in brisk demand at
remunerative prices. Within the last few decades, too, new and important
markets have been opened in all parts of the world. The United States
of America took many of our best Shire horses every year until the
introduction of prohibitive import tariffs; these naturally administered
a severe check to the trade; but there is good reason to believe that
the present year (1898) has witnessed a revival. Our best European
customers now are the Germans; and of more remote buyers, the breeders
of the Argentine Republic. It must be stated, in connection with what
has been said on a previous page concerning the importance of studying
pedigrees, that foreign buyers, though ready to pay large sums for our
best, will possess themselves of the best only. Their object is to
perpetuate the Shire breed pure, and also to improve the bone, size and
substance of native breeds; and with this purpose in view they are
invariably most exacting on the points of pedigree and soundness. They
know that good pedigree and soundness are essential, and require that
their purchases shall not only be registered in the Stud Book, but shall
be able to show the clearest record of descent; such record shows that
the qualities of the individual horse are hereditary, and may be relied
on as transmissible to its progeny.

Important testimony to the value of the Shire Horse will be found in a
report issued some few years ago by the Canadian Government. It includes
portion of a letter from Mr. R. S. Reynolds, M.R.C.V.S., Veterinary
Inspector to the Corporation of Liverpool, and a well-known judge of and
writer on Draught Horses. Mr. Reynolds, after writing fully on draught
horses generally, concludes his remarks as follows:--“My judgment is
entirely in favour of the Shire, as the one best calculated to procreate
a breed--suited for the purposes of heavy draught--from smaller and
lighter mares.” He assigns as his reason the fact that the size and bone
of the average Shire are superior to those of any other description of
horse; and further because there is presumptive evidence that the
increased frame and bone of the other draught breeds are due to the
infusion of Shire horse blood. Mr. Reynolds also strongly asserts his
belief that, the original type of every other draught breed being of
much lighter build than the existing race, there will be marked tendency
in the progeny of such breeds to revert to the original form. Not only
when these interbreed will this tendency appear, but when crossed with
mares of other blood deficient in bone, degeneration will be still more
rapid.

[Illustration: BLYTHWOOD CONQUEROR.]

Many old paintings and mezzotint engravings exist to show us the type of
Great or Shire Horse as it was bred at various epochs of our history,
more or less remote. Some of these have been deposited at the offices of
the Shire Horse Society; and these likenesses, often the work of the
first painters and engravers of their day, suffice to show that in
massiveness and general character the heavy horses of England were much
like those of to-day. We have now many horses whose pedigrees are traced
in the first volume of the Shire Horse Stud Book for at least a century
and a half; back to a date which was within a lifetime of the last days
of armoured knights carried by Great Horses. It is this long line of
descent which guarantees the continued transmission of valuable
qualities.

The paintings and engravings, as also the written accounts of the breeds
of draught horses in the United Kingdom up to the middle of this
century, depict them as of medium size, and it is only by the blending
of the “Shire” with the blood of such stock, that they rival the latter
in massiveness.




THE SHIRE HORSE SOCIETY.


It is impossible to close this slight review of the history of the breed
without reference to the very important services which have been
rendered by the Shire Horse Society. This Society originated in the work
of a few men who desired to make an organised endeavour to improve and
promote the breeding of the English cart horse by distributing sound and
healthy sires throughout the country. Public attention was first drawn
to the matter in the year 1877, when Mr. Frederic Street read his paper
on “The Shire Horse” at the Farmers’ Club.

The Society was founded in 1878 as the “English Cart Horse Society,” it
became in 1884 the “Shire Horse Society”: and under the latter name has
continued to confer on tenant farmers the benefits which accrued from
the date of its establishment. The work of the Society and the eagerness
with which breeders have availed themselves of its labours may be seen
from the nineteen volumes of its Stud Book. The first volume is a
monument of painstaking research; it contains the pedigrees of upwards
of 2,380 stallions, many of which were foaled in the last century. These
invaluable records were supplied by members from almost every county in
England; and their compilation was a task to which Mr. R. S. Reynolds
devoted years. The second volume was published the year after the
first, and the Stud Book has since been published annually. The
nineteenth volume issued at the beginning of the present year shows the
total number of animals registered to be 42,304, viz., 17,101 stallions
and 25,203 mares.

The entries during the current year are, I am informed, not far behind
the large total of 1897; this is the more gratifying in view of the fact
that more stringent conditions of registration have been imposed. It is
not desired to overload these pages with statistics; but the following
few figures quoted from the Report of the Council in March last will
serve to show the progress made in the last fourteen years.

                                 1884   1898
  Number of Members               903   2237
  Entries in Stud Book for year  1423   3581
  Value of Prizes given          £524  £1200

The last eleven volumes of the Stud Book have contained in each year
tabulated lists of prizes won; thus displaying fully a very important
appendage to a pedigree. The illustrations, some from paintings, others
from photographs of stallions and mares which have taken the
Championship at the Society’s Annual Show, which are to be found in each
volume, possess not only an instructive value for the breeders of the
day, but as time goes on will form a series of the utmost interest and
importance as the pictorial record of the progress of the breed. The
essays on breeding and management which are to be found in these
volumes, coming from experts who are not only masters of their
respective subjects, but who possess the gift of lucidly conveying their
knowledge, enhance the value of the Stud Books in no small degree.

The Show held each spring serves a double purpose in promoting the
interests of the breed and keeping breeders in personal touch with one
another to the advantage of all. It may be worth giving here, in
condensed form, the number of entries received for the Shows of the last
ten years since the first edition of this little book was published.

             1889  1890  1891  1892  1893
  Stallions   276   480   332   337   294
  Mares       171   166   165   224   213
  Geldings    --    --    --    --    --
             ----  ----  ----  ----  ----
              447   646   497   561   507
             ----  ----  ----  ----  ----

             1894  1895  1896  1897  1898
  Stallions   268   241   263   319   300
  Mares       207   226   223   217   210
  Geldings    --     22    17    17    16
             ----  ----  ----  ----  ----
              475   489   503   553   526
             ----  ----  ----  ----  ----

Many causes operate to produce fluctuation in the numbers of entries;
but the general average is well maintained, and the quality of
exhibits, as the auctioneers’ returns prove, continues steadily to
advance.

The Society has numbered among its Presidents His Royal Highness the
Prince of Wales, who takes a keen personal interest in the breed above
all others associated with agriculture, and has owned a stud for many
years; the Earl of Ellesmere; Earl Spencer, K.G.; the Hon. Edward Coke;
the Earl of Powis; the Duke of Westminster, K.G.; Mr. William Wells of
Holme Wood, Peterborough; Lord Egerton of Tatton; Mr. Anthony Hammond of
Westacre, Norfolk; Lord Wantage; Mr. Chandos-Pole-Gell; Lord Hothfield;
Mr. R. W. Sutton Nelthorpe; Lord Belper; Mr. A. C. Duncombe; Lord
Tredegar; and Mr. A. B. Freeman Mitford.

For myself I may say in all sincerity that the year 1883, when I had the
honour of holding office as President of the Society, and the year 1897
when again I was paid the compliment of being asked to fill the
Presidential chair will always remain in memory as among the pleasantest
in a tolerably active life.

                 *       *       *       *       *

                  Works by SIR WALTER GILBEY, Bart.,

     Published by Vinton & Co., 9 New Bridge Street, London, E.C.


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FOOTNOTES:

[A] The falconer’s term for the male Lanner--a small hawk.

[B] _Harness Horses._ By Sir Walter Gilbey, Bart. Published by Vinton &
Co., London.