Ill] AND HISTORIC TIMES 389 



lent horses of a very pure breed are produced termed Hobini 

 by the English, which have a most gentle pace, an'd on that 

 account are much sought by effeminate persons, and in France 

 and Italy are given as presents to noble ladies " ; and he states 

 that he had seen "twelve pure white horses of this breed, housed 

 with purple and with reins of silver, led in the Pope's pro- 

 cession, without any riders on their backs." It would thus 

 appear that the best ' English ' horses known on the Continent 

 in the loth century were really Irish (cf. p. 361). 



The method of fighting described by Blundeville was that 

 employed by the Irish at the time of the Norman invasion 

 (A.D. 1172) of their country, for Giraldus Cambrensis 1 , Secretary 



FIG. 109. Plinth of Cross, Kells, co. Meath. 



and Chaplain to Henry II, says that they went to battle 

 without armour which they despised, and with a short spear 

 and two darts " like Basclenses (Basques)," whilst " in riding 

 they neither use saddle nor boots nor spurs, but only carry a 

 rod in their hand, having a crook at the upper end with which 

 they both urge forward and guide their horses. They use 

 halters which serve the purpose of a bridle and a bit and do 

 not prevent the horses from feeding as they always live upon 

 grass." On the other hand the Normans " with their complex 

 armour and their deeply curved saddles found great difficulty 

 in getting on horseback and dismounting : still greater when 

 occasion demanded that they should march on foot." Though 



1 Topogr. in. 10. Conquest of Ireland, n. 36. 



