THE EARLS OF DERBY. 33 



that his faithless spouse and her paramour should not be united 

 in the bonds of wedlock, and therefore, although he recovered 

 heavy damages, he never sued for a legal sentence of separation. 

 The countess died on the 14th of March, 1797, and on the 1st of May 

 following his lordship married the celebrated actress. Miss Farren, 

 who brought him a fortune of £20,000, and with whom he had a 

 happy life for upwards of thirty years. It is said that the Earl 

 was fascinated by the wit, vivacity, and beauty of Miss Farren on 

 seeing her play the character of Lady Teazle in the " School for 

 Scandal," at the Haymarket, and that he named his famous horse, 

 Sir Peter Teazle, in honour of his wife, and in commemoration of 

 the occasion on which he had first seen her and become enamoured 

 of her charms. Lord Derby became a conspicuous ornament of the 

 turf in early life. He was, as we have said, mainly instrumental in 

 originating two of the most important events in the annual racing- 

 list, namely, the Derby and the Oaks. The former, established in 

 1780 derives its name from himself, and the latter, instituted in 

 1779, from the valley of Lambert's Oaks, attached to his residence at 

 Banstead, Surrey. His lordship became a sort of peqjetual steward 

 of Epsom races, relinquishing the office only a few years before his 

 death. He owned several good horses, and always ran them, as the 

 phrase runs, " on the square," nor was he ever known to scratch a 

 horse merely because the public had so far backed it as to prevent 

 him from " standing in," as the racing slang hath it. The horse, 

 however, which will always be chiefly associated with the earl's 

 name was the famous Sir Peter Teazle, bred by the earl himself, 

 and not less renowned for his extraordinary speed than for the 

 superiority of his stock. Sir Peter Teazle was foaled in 1784, and 

 was by Highflyer, dam Papillon, by Snap, granddam by Regulus, 

 whose sire was the famous Grodolphin Arabian. It will thus be 

 seen that he came of the purest blood in England. At three and 

 four years old he was the best horse of his time, beating every 

 opponent and winning stakes to a very large amount, amongst other 

 feats securing for the earl his first and only Derby in 1787. 

 Weight, however, will tell, especially upon young horses, and so we 

 find that, carrying extra for his extraordinary performances, he 

 broke down at the first October Meeting at Newmarket, at four 

 years old, Avhen running, with the odds in his favour, against Card- 

 well, Driver, Schoolboy and Gunpowder. But it is only fair to say 

 that he had got pricked in shoeing three days before the race, and 

 had to be stopped in his work. Sir Peter Teazle was then withdrawn 

 by his noble owner from the turf, and retired to the stud at the modest 

 fee of 10 guineas. He stood at Knowsley, while Pot^8-os was at 

 Eaton, and his stock, like himself, were nearly all fine rich browns. 

 They had great constitutions, but required such strong work for the 

 post that comparatively few were brought there. Sir Solomon was 

 one of the stoutest of them, and with John Shepherd to " measure " 

 for him won against Cockfighter the best four-mile race that was 



