ARRIVAL OF THE BYERLEY TURK 163 



in 1689 : William and Mary ascended the throne 

 of England, and the famous Byerley Turk, from 

 which so many of our thoroughbred horses are 

 descended, was brought over by his owner, 

 Captain Byerley, who later was to serve in King 

 William's army and fight for him in the battle of 

 the Boyne. 



Some say that Captain Byerley had the Turk 

 with him during that battle, but probably this was 

 not so. 



From the standpoint from which we are passing 

 the history of this country in review, the arrival 

 of the Byerley Turk was an event of almost as 

 great importance as William and Mary's acces- 

 sion, for as the popularity of the Turf was still 

 increasing year by year the importation of so 

 valuable a stallion as the Byerley Turk in a 

 sense served as a landmark. 



And certainly this horse proved to be one of the 

 greatest of all the sires that were brought over in 

 the seventeenth century. The king, a good judge 

 of a horse, was much attracted by " Byerley 's 

 Treasure," as some soon came to call it, and it is 

 known that the king himself owned at this time 

 some of the finest thoroughbreds, probably, that 

 had ever been foaled. That he ran horses of his 

 own at Newmarket is beyond dispute, and the 

 general impression amongst historical writers 

 appears to be that he ran horses also at several 

 other meetings. 



