Ill] AND HISTORIC TIMES 371 



says that little heed was paid in Suffolk to horse-breeding, he 

 commends a few who did take care to preserve and maintain 

 the breed of horses, amongst which he had seen "not some 

 but many horses here bred of good shape, quick spirit, which 

 have for readiness in all points of service not a mean recom- 

 mendation," but he considered that they were not so good as 

 some of the imported foreign horses which he had seen. The 

 best Suffolk horses were bred in parts of the county "where 

 there were knowls or the heights of hills, where good ground 

 is with plenty of pasture," and where " the air above is always 

 fresh, pure, and transparent, and the soil beneath is firm and 

 almost stony." "The colt here bred is most puissant and 

 strong of service, of quick life, and spirited, of high pride, 

 and most comely shape." The district round Woodbridge 

 tallies well with Reyce's description of the kind of country 

 which produced the best horses in Suffolk. From what we 

 have seen there can be no doubt that an English breed of great 

 horses had been largely obtained from Flanders, where, to this 

 day, fine cart-horses of light dun, sorrel, and chestnut colour 

 are not uncommon. Nor is there wanting actual proof that 

 sorrel was a recognised colour of certain great horses in 

 England at the time when Reyce lived and wrote. 



Thomas Blundeville 1 devoted a chapter of his work to the 

 colours of horses, and though his theory of the diversity of 

 colours will hardly convince the modern reader, his evidence 

 touching the colours of the great horses of his own time is 

 none the less valuable. " The colours depend on the pre- 

 ponderance of the elements. If earth preponderates, then is 

 he dull and black and russet. For if he hath more of the earth 

 then of the rest, he is melancholly, heavy and faint-hearted, 

 and of colour a blacke, a Russet, bright or dark donne. But if 

 he hath more of the water, then is he phlegmatic, slow, dull, 

 and apt to lose fleashe, and of coulor most commonly milk 

 white. If of the air, then is he sanguine and therefore 

 pleasant, nymble, and of temperate moving, and of coulor is 

 most commonly a bay. And if of the fier, then is he cholorique 



1 Op. cit. chap. 9 (1st edition, in Cambridge University Library). 



242 



