276 THE HORSE IN HISTORY 



be said that of all the great horses that have 

 figured prominently either directly or indirectly 

 in the history of this country, Flying Childers and 

 Eclipse take precedence. 



Much that has been written on the subject of 

 Queen Anne's alleged fondness for horses would 

 seem to be based on doubtful knowledge. The 

 more discriminating among our historians appear 

 to think that too much importance has been 

 attached to many of the statements. 



There are, I believe, letters extant from Queen 

 Anne in which she talks at length upon the subject 

 of the horses that belonged to her, but certain 

 documents of the same sort are attributed to her 

 which she probably did not write. 



The King of Denmark, upon one occasion 

 made her a present of twelve mares carefully 

 chosen by himself, but for the rest the majority 

 of the stories told of Queen Anne should be 

 accepted with reservation. 



Indeed from the middle of the eighteenth to 

 the middle of the nineteenth century the horse 

 again figured largely in romance, a fact that may 

 in a measure account for the stories that have 

 been put about of Queen Anne and her horses. 



Smollett is but one of the writers whose works 

 are prolific of narratives of the kind, and some of 



