154 THE HORSE IN HISTORY 



land would not have become famous above all 

 other countries for its horses, as it is to-day. 



It was in the reign of Henry VIII. that riding 

 matches first began to acquire popularity, and to 

 attract the attention of the " bloods " of about that 

 period. Several descriptions of the way in which 

 such matches were arranged and carried out are 

 in existence, and perhaps a brief account of rather 

 a famous match that was ridden by Richard de la 

 Pole, the third Duke of Suffolk, against Seigneur 

 Nicolle Dex, will here prove of interest. 



The Duke of Suffolk — " Blanche Rose" as his 

 intimate friends called him — was the third son 

 of John de la Pole, his mother being the Lady 

 Elizabeth Plantagenet, Edward IV.'s and Richard 

 III.'s sister. 



In the year 15 17, soon after the Duke had 

 returned to Metz, the popularity of the turf began 

 suddenly to increase, and thus it happened that 

 the Duke presently became the possessor of a 

 horse said to be ' ' very swift and of extreme value, " 

 of which he boasted that it could beat all comers. 

 It was while talking thus in Metz one day that 

 Blanche Rose was taken at his word by the 

 Seigneur Nicolle Dex, who declared without 

 hesitation that he could and would himself pro- 

 duce and ride a horse against the Duke's "from 

 the Elm at Avegney to within St Clement's Gate," 

 for the sum of eighty crowns "and win easily." 



At once Blanche Rose accepted the challenge, 



