THE MARKHAM ARABIAN 203 



of the Markham Arabian — which in after genera- 

 tions was to become so greatly renowned — no Arab 

 of any sort had been brought into this country. 



The stories that have been told of this, the 

 first of the famous Eastern sires, are numerous, 

 and, as is usual in such cases, the majority of 

 them are apparently untrue. 



One of the most widely circulated of the mis- 

 statements was to the effect that the price paid 

 by King James to Mr Markham for this particular 

 Arab sire was not less than ^500, and in papers 

 and books almost innumerable, in which the 

 Markham Arabian is mentioned, this false state- 

 ment is repeated. 



That it is false beyond dispute is proved by 

 the actual entry of the purchase that may be 

 seen to this day in the Exchequer or Receipt 

 Order Books in the Public Record Office. The 

 entry runs as follows : — 



''Item the 20th of December, 1616, paid to 

 Master Markham for the Arabian Horse for His 

 Majesty's own use, ^154, o. o." 



It is almost inconceivable that anyone can 

 seriously have believed that ^500, or any sum 

 approaching it, could have been paid for this sire, 

 for at that period no sum approaching ^500 ever 

 was paid for any horse, the purchasing value of 

 money being until after the reign of James I. so 

 much in excess of its purchasing value some two 

 centuries later. 



