RACING, WAGERS AND GAMING, THEIR HISTORY, RISE, ETC. 369 



The first mention of the British Horse is made by Julius The time of 

 Ceesar ; and when he invaded the Island, he was opposed J^^s Caesar. 

 by a host of war- Chariots, which must have been drawn 

 by active powerful Horses. They seem to have been 

 pretty numerous, as Cassivelaunus, on dismissing the 

 main body of his army, retained fom* thousand war- 

 Chariots (e). 



Athelstan, who was second in succession from Alfred Reign of 

 the Great, received from Hugh Capet of France, as an ^t^elstan. 

 acceptable present, several German Running Horses (/) ; 

 and in a.d. 930, he decreed that no Horses should be 

 sent abroad for sale, or on any account, except as Royal 

 presents {g). 



William the Conqueror was very much indebted to his Reign of 

 superiority in Cavalry for the Victory at Hastings ; he William the 

 introduced the Spanish Horse, and his favourite charger °'^1^®^'^^- 

 was a Spaniard. In his Reign there was a marked im- 

 provement in the breed of Horses, and about a.u. 1066, 

 we have on a piece of tapestry wove at Bayonne, the figure 

 of a man driving a Horse and harrow, being the earliest 

 notice of the use of Horses in Field labour {g). 



In the Reign of Henry the First, a.d. 1121, the first Eeign of 

 Arabian Horse on Record was introduced by Alexander ^^°f"y *^° 

 King of Scotland, who presented it and its furniture to a 

 Church [g). 



In the reign of Henry the Second, forty years after- Reign of 

 wards, Smithfield was celebrated as a Horse Market. Henry the 

 Fitz Stephen gives the following animated account of the 

 manner in which Hackneys and Charging Steeds were 

 tried there by racing against one another : " When a 

 Race is to be run by this sort of Horses, and perhaps by 

 others, which also in their kind are strong and fleet, a 

 shout is immediately raised and the common Horses are 

 ordered to withdraw out of the way. Three jockeys, or 

 sometimes only two, as the match is made, prepare them- 

 selves for the contest. The Horses on their part are not 

 without emulation ; they tremble and are impatient, and 

 are continually in motion. At last the signal once given, 

 they start, devour the coui'se, and hurry along with un- 

 remitting swiftness. The jockeys, inspired with the 

 thought of applause and the hope of victory, clap spurs 



(e) See Cses. Bell. G. 5, Szc, and Peece, 16th editiou. 

 Lib. U. K. "The Horse," 22. {(/) Lib. U. K. "The Horse," 



(/) See Markham's Maister- 23. 



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