JAMES I. FOUNDS NEWMARKET 205 



make up this work is dedicated to some dis- 

 tinguished personage, of whom James I. is one, 

 and Henry, Prince of Wales, another. 



To James I. we are probably indebted for the 

 existence of the town of Newmarket, for it is 

 certain that he not only inaugurated the construc- 

 tion of the village, but in addition brought his 

 influence to bear upon its development, and that 

 he greatly helped to stimulate the interest which 

 the people of Newmarket and the neighbourhood 

 already took in the breeding and training of run- 

 ning horses. It may be partly for this reason 

 that Newmarket is still so often spoken of as 

 "the royal village." 



Notwithstanding the disappointment the Mark- 

 ham Arabian must have afforded James I., we 

 read that the king offered a silver bell of consider- 

 able value to be run for at Newmarket, that the 

 entries for the race were numerous, and that 

 "the event gave rise to much speculation, wager- 

 ing and public interest." 



It was, indeed, in this connection that Ben 

 Jonson wrote so caustically, or rather satirically, 

 in his famous " Alchemist," and alluded incident- 

 ally to "the rules to cheat at horse races." 



Elsewhere Jonson describes, and mentions by 

 name, some of the race horses that probably were 

 well known on the Turf at about that period. 



Seeing how keen the interest was that James I. 

 took almost from boyhood in all that related to 



