286 THE ENGLISH TURF 



bred, thus there are two blanks in the second top remove 

 of Ech"pse's pedigree. Hautboy was by the D'Arcy White 

 Turk out of a " Royal " mare ; and here I may mention that 

 the names of two " Royal " mares occur also in the top 

 remove, and that there is considerable doubt as to what these 

 " Royal " mares really were. 



That some of them were originally imported in the reign 

 of Charles II. by order of the King, who sent abroad for the 

 purpose Sir John Fenwick, Master of the Horse, is a well- 

 known fact, but I have never been able to find an exact 

 record of what mares Sir John brought back or what produce 

 they bred. There was no stud book in those days, and it is 

 quite possible that all the brood mares in the King's stud 

 were spoken of as " Royal " mares, and that their female 

 produce were likewise so called. Where an Eastern stallion 

 or the son of an Eastern stallion was used the old pedigrees 

 are clear enough, but with the mares a good deal has to be 

 taken on trust. As a consequence, if we were to follow out 

 the pedigree of Eclipse in all its branches, we should find it 

 impossible to get beyond the sixth or seventh generation 

 with any degree of certainty, and half a dozen times at least 

 we should be stopped by the words " Royal mare." 



What seems tolerably clear about these " Royal " mares 

 is that soon after their arrival in this country the King 

 possessed the best breed of running horses in the kingdom, 

 and that at his death, when the stud was dispersed, their 

 possession was eagerly sought by the principal breeders of 

 the day. They went into various hands, and afterwards 

 became known in many cases by the names of their pur- 

 chasers. Thus, after the fashion of those times, we have 

 the Sedbury Royal mare, the Why Not Royal mare, D'Arcy's 

 Royal mare (dam of Hautboy), and many others in the 

 pedigree of Eclipse ; e7^go in the pedigrees of nearly all our 

 modern racehorses, were it customary to carry them back so 

 far. In order that my readers may see for themselves that 

 the modern thoroughbred can be traced, roughly speaking, 

 to the beginning of the eighteenth century, and no further, 

 I give as an example — and it is the best example that can be 

 given — the pedigree of Eclipse, with (by permission) the 

 remarks of Mr. Joseph Osborne thereon. 



