THE TURF 9 



other active pursuits, and in contradistinction 

 to the war-horse, then required to be most 

 powerful, to carry a man cased in armour, 

 and seldom weighing less than twenty stone. 

 In fact, the invention of gunpowder did 

 much towards refining the native breed of 

 the English horse; and we begin to re- 

 cognise the symptoms of a scientific turf 

 in many of the satirical writings of the days 

 of Elizabeth. Take, for instance, Bishop 

 Hall's lines, in 1597 : 



* Dost thou prize 



Thy brute-beasts' worth by their dams' qualities ? 

 Sayst thou thy colt shall prove a swift-paced steed, 

 Only because a jennet did him breed? 

 Or, sayst thou this same horse shall win the prize, 

 Because his dam was swiftest Tranchefice ? ' 



It is quite evident, indeed, that racing was 

 in considerable vogue during this reign, al- 

 though it does not appear to have been 

 much patronised by the Queen, otherwise it 

 would, we may be sure, have formed a part 

 of the pastimes at Kenilworth. The famous 

 George, Earl of Cumberland, was one of 

 the victims of the turf in those early days. 



In the reign of James i., private matches 

 between gentlemen, then their own jockeys. 



