THE TURF. 
j j 
time, against such a horde of determined depredators 
as have lately been seen on our race-courses ; the most 
princely fortune cannot sustain itself against the deep- 
laid stratagems of such villanous combinations. 
Perhaps it may not be necessary to enter into the 
very accidence of racing ; but, on the authority of Mr. 
Strutt, " On the Sports and Pastimes of England," 
something like it was set agoing in Athelstane's reign. 
" Several race-horses," says he, " were sent by Hugh 
Capet, in the ninth century, as a present to Athelstane, 
when he was soliciting the hand of Ethelswitha, his 
sister." A more distinct indication of a sport of this 
kind occurs in a description of London, written by 
William Fitz-Stephen, who lived in the reign of Henry 
II. He informs us that horses were usually exposed 
to sale in Smithfield, and, in order to prove the excel- 
lency of hackneys and charging-horses, they were 
usually matched against each other. Indeed, the monk 
gives a very animated description of the start and finish 
of a horse-race. In John's reign, running-horses are 
frequently mentioned in the register of royal expendi- 
ture. John was a renowned sportsmen he needed a 
redeeming quality but it does not appear that he made 
use of his running-horses otherwise than in the sports 
of the field. Edwards II., III., and IV., were likewise 
breeders of horses, as also Henry VIII., who imported 
some from the East ; but the running-horses of those 
days are not to be too closely associated with the turf; 
at least we have reason to believe the term generally 
120 
