1 62 THE HORSE IN HISTORY 



now. At that period the sport was, of course, 

 very different from our modern foxhunting, and 

 from the descriptions of it that have been handed 

 down to us there is reason to believe that plenty 

 of Henry's nobles hunted not because they were 

 fond of the sport, but because they deemed it 

 diplomatic to appear to be wholeheartedly as 

 devoted to the chase as the king himself most 

 certainly was. 



Yet the king apparently was not hoodwinked 

 as easily as he may have appeared to be, or 

 feigned to be, for upon more than one occasion 

 he availed himself of opportunities to make some 

 of his sycophants look remarkably ridiculous in 

 public. 



In this connection an interesting little story is 

 narrated of Sir Miles Partridge, a knight who 

 figured rather largely in Henry VIII.'s reign. 

 Apparently Sir Miles had more than once writhed 

 in silence beneath the king's gibes, though all the 

 while impatiently awaiting an opportunity to re- 

 taliate in a dignified way. 



The opportunity came at last, when the king, 

 in a merry mood, suggested to the knight that he 

 should dice with him. This happened at about 

 the time when the monasteries were being dis- 

 solved, and Henry's coffers were in consequence 

 unusually well replenished. At first the king 

 won persistently ; then suddenly his luck deserted 

 him, with the result that in the end he lost control 



