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•descended tliroiigh Tartar, Partner, and Jigg, from the famous Byerley 

 Turk ; and from his dam Cypron, he had in him twice the Darley 

 Arabian, through Blaze and Ahnanzor, Partner, the grandsire of 

 Ilerod, was one of the finest and best bred Horses upon our national 

 list; his dam was the dam, sister, and grand-dam of high-formed racers. 



She had two crosses of the Barb in her pedigree. A famous stream 

 of the Darley Arabian blood, has also flowed through Childers, to Snip 

 and Snap. Marske, Herod, and Snap, were all of the highest old 

 blood, prior to that of the Godolphin Arabian, which was blended iii 

 their descendants. The partiality of our breeders to the above racing 

 branches, is most justly founded. 



I will, in this place, speak a few words on the pedigree of the re- 

 nowned Eclipse. It has always been taken for granted, that he was a 

 son of Marske, a fact, beyond the power of man to ascertain. Eclipse's 

 dam was covered both by Shakespeare and jNIarske, and she came to 

 INIarske's time, so the honour was awarded to him. If I recollect 

 aright, she had missed by him the previous year. But the circumstance 

 of a mare coming regularly to her time, determines nothing, since 

 they are so uncertain in that respect, in which I have repeatedly 

 known variations from a week or ten days, to two or three weeks. 

 Great stress was laid upon the supposed likeness of Basilius, one of the 

 earliest sons of Eclipse, to old Marske, and indeed the resemblance 

 appeared to me strong; but I could discover no common family-re- 

 semblance between Eclipse and his presumed full-brother Garrick. On 

 the other hand, I think Eclipse strongly resembled the ftimijy of Shake- 

 speare, in colour, in certain particulars of form, and in temper. No- 

 thing can be more unimportant than these speculations, and Eclipse's 

 pedigree would suffer no loss of honour or credit, should Shakespeare be 

 jilaced at the head of it; which Horse had more of the Darley Arabian 

 in him, than INIarske, and in all respects, was equally well-bred, and 

 full as good a runner. Shakespeare, like Marske, was a great-grandson 

 of the Darley Arabian, through Hobgoblin and Aleppo, and his dam 

 the little Harteley mare; the dam also of Blank, was a grand-daughter 

 of the same Arabian, and out of the famous Flying Whig. One or 



two 



