PRINCE OF WALES & LORD ARUNDEL 133 



Aligero Clavileno was the full name of the 

 winged horse with the wooden pin, the horse 

 which Don Quixote rode upon the memorable 

 occasion of his rescue of Dolorida and her com- 

 panions. 



But enough of fairy tales and nonsense. Com- 

 ing to the subject of horse races in early times 

 we find it gravely stated that "the earliest de- 

 scription of a horse race per se occurs in 1377," 

 though we know that race meetings of a sort 

 were held long before that date. The where- 

 abouts of the track where the races in 1377 took 

 place has not been ascertained, but it is known 

 that some of the horses which ran belonged to 

 Lord Arundel, and some to the Prince of Wales, 

 so soon to become Richard II. 



At this meeting it was that a match was 

 arranged to take place between the Prince and 

 Lord Arundel, each to ride his own animal. 

 The match was run, and as the name of the 

 winner has not, so far as I have been able to 

 ascertain, been handed down to us, we may con- 

 clude that the Prince's horse was beaten. Had 

 the winner been ridden by a Prince of Wales some 

 record of the victory would assuredly be extant. 



That Richard II. was a fine horseman, as 

 finished horsemanship was understood in those 

 days, there can be but little doubt. Yet it is re- 

 markable that the natural gift known as " hands " 

 — that is to say the power some men have of 



