8 



of these horses was retained in England 

 and the other was sent to King Alexander 

 I. of Scotland, who presented it to the 

 Church of St. Andrews. 



HENRY II. (1154-1189). 



Henry II. took a keen interest in horses, 

 and the records of his reign show us the 

 system then in vogue for the maintaining 

 the royal studs. The horses, in greater or 

 smaller numbers, with their grooms, were 

 placed under the charge of the Sheriffs of 

 counties, whose duty it was to provide them 

 with pasture, stabling, and all necessaries, 

 recovering the cost from the Exchequer. 

 The Tournament was introduced into Eng- 

 land in this reign ; but these knightly 

 exercises received little encouragement from 

 the king, who forbade them under ecclesias- 

 tical pressure. 



William Stephanides, a monk of Canter- 

 bury, has left us a Latin tract or pamphlet 

 descriptive of the mounted sports of Lon- 

 doners in the latter half of the twelfth century, 

 which possesses both interest and value. 

 From this it is evident that races of a primi- 

 tive character, and sham fights of a rough 

 and ready kind had place among the re- 



