GROTESqUE NAMES 157 



horses after their breeder on their previous owner 

 would appear to have come into vogue rather 

 largely, and from that time onward, for some 

 three centuries and a half, to have remained in 

 vogue. After that it became customary to name 

 race horses in rather a grotesque manner. 



I have by me a list of names of race horses 

 almost all of which must have been animals well 

 known in their time. It would be interesting- to 

 hear what Messrs Weatherby would say if we 

 asked them to-day to enter a mare to run under 

 the name " Pretty Harlot" or, better still, 

 M Sweetest when Naked " ! 



Among Henry VIII.'s famous barbs we find 

 several mentioned by name, and we read in- 

 cidentally that " during four or six days the 

 king rode both Altobello and Governatore, but 

 preferred Governatore." 



The Marquis of Mantua had been renowned 

 for his skill in horsemanship, as well as for the 

 famous stud of horses that he possessed, for 

 some years before Henry VIII. came to the 

 throne, and this stud is said to have reached 

 the acme of its excellence about the year 

 151 7, when Gonzaga, as the Marquis was gener- 

 ally called, received many more requests for 

 the service of his stallions than he was able to 

 accede to. 



Many, if not actually the majority of the horses 

 that proved most successful upon the turf during 



