A RACE MEETING ON THE ICE 211 



frequently the case, that one or other of them 

 had been compelled to part with a portion of his 

 estates in order to meet debts of honour. The 

 women of the court also aped the king at this 

 time, as indeed they appear to have done in 

 almost every age. Yet their losses were small 

 by comparison with the sums lost on the Turf 

 by their daughters and granddaughters in the 

 reign of Charles II., half-a-century or so later. 



Two years after James I. had ascended the 

 throne there set in one of the coldest winters 

 this country has ever known, with the result that 

 a long stretch of the River Ouse became frozen 

 over and so afforded the king an opportunity, of 

 which he was quick to avail himself, of organising 

 a race-meeting on the ice. 



Drake tells us that the course extended "from 

 the tower at the end of Marygate, under the 

 great arch of the bridge, to the crane at Skelder- 

 gate Postern." 



But even so early as this in the reign of King 

 James the opponents of horse racing began to 

 raise indignant protests against "the folly and 

 wickedness of betting on running horses," pro- 

 tests to which but scant attention was paid. 



Not until some years later did the extremely 

 zealous clergyman named Hinde set seriously to 

 work to denounce the practice of gambling in any 

 and every form, and he appears then to have 

 spoken and written so forcibly that many persons 



