8 RACING. 



estate in Powisland. From these a breed was cultivated whose 

 perfections have been celebrated by Giraldus Cambrensis and 

 Drayton. This race was calculated for the purposes of war 

 and for pageantry or grand solemnities. 



In the reign of Henry II. tournaments and horse-races 

 began to be frequent exhibitions; and Smithfield, which was 

 the first market in England for every denomination of horses, 

 was the theatre of these sports and exercises. 



FitzStephen, the chronicler of this time, says : * When a race 

 is to be run by this sort of horses and perhaps by others which 

 in their kind are also 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 themselves for the contest. . . . The horses, 

 on their part, are not without emulation ; they tremble and are 

 impatient, are continually in motion. At last, the signal ones 

 given, they start down the course, and hurry along with un- 

 remitting swiftness. The jockeys, inspired by the thought of 

 applause and the hope of victory, clap spurs to their willing 

 horses, brandish their whips, and cheer them with their cries.' 

 by no means, we may add, the modern idea of an artistic finish. 



Again in Richard I.'s reign the popularity of racing was 

 no doubt very great, and Sir Bevys of Southampton, in his 

 ' Metrical Romance,' thus describes the sports in the Easter 

 and Whitsuntide holidays : 



In somer time at Whitsontyde, 

 When knights most on horsebacke ryde ; 

 A course let they make on a daye, 

 Steedes and palfreye, for to assaye ; 

 Which horse, that best may run, 

 Three myles the cours was then, 

 W 7 ho ttiat might ryde him shoulde 

 Have forty pounds of redy gold. 



In a romance written to celebrate the deeds of Richard I. 

 we find that swift running-horses were much esteemed by the 

 heroes who figure in it. Speaking of races in the camp ; 



