422 FARM HORSES SHIRES 



eared, thick-lipped, ungainly breed " was made by an Earl of 

 Huntingdon, who imported several Dutch coach stallions, 

 " which with difficulty he got his tenants on the Trent to use." 

 Many years later " Bakewell went himself to Holland and 

 imported several mares to cross with native stallions." 



Walter Gilbey, enlarging on Youatt's statement, says : 



"During the reign of King John 1199 to 1216 there 

 exist distinct particulars of the importation into England, 

 from the low lands of Flanders, Holland, and the banks of the 

 Elbe, of a hundred stallions of large stature ; and it is from 

 the blending, nearly 700 years ago, of these animals with the 

 English breed, that some strains at least of our heavy draught 

 horses must be said to date their origin." 



Youatt records that : " One hundred years afterwards, 

 Edward II. purchased thirty Lombardy war horses, and 

 twelve heavy draught horses. Horses for agricultural 

 purposes were chiefly procured from Flanders." 



Gilbey points out that the so-called " Shire " horse, because 

 belonging to the Shire counties in the middle of England, 



" Has for centuries, beyond a doubt, been distributed in 

 numbers through the district between the Humber and the 

 Cam, occupying the rich fen lands of Lincoln and Cambridge- 

 shire, and extending westward through the counties " (shires] 

 " of Huntingdon, Northampton, Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, 

 Warwick, and Stafford, on to the Severn." 



The Shire Horse Society, and the Shire Horse Stud 

 Book, dating back to almost 1878, have done much for 

 the advancement of the breed. The foreign demand for 

 Shire horses to go to Germany, North America, and 

 Argentina has raised the prices of the best horses and 

 encouraged breeding. 



The following is a select list of the principal Shire studs : 

 His Majesty The King, Sandringham, Norfolk ; Earl 

 Bathurst, C.M.G., Cirencester, Gloucester ; Earl Beauchamp, 

 K.C.M.G., Madresfield Court, Malvern Link; H. H. Smith- 

 Carington, Ashby Folville, Melton Mowbray ; V. C. W. 

 Cavendish, M.P., Holker Hall, Carnforth ; A. C. Duncombe, 

 Calwich Abbey, Ashbourne, Derbyshire ; Capt. W. H. O. 

 Duncombe, Waresley Park, Sandy, Bedfordshire ; J. T. C. 

 Eadie, Barrow-on-Trent, Derby ; Earl Egerton of Tatton, 

 Tatton Park, Cheshire ; Earl of Ellesmere, Worsley Hall, 

 Manchester ; James Forshaw & Sons, Carlton-on-Trent, 



