THE TURF UNDER JAMES /. " THE MARKHAM ARABIAN" 



53 



England "half a dozen Barb'ry horses "had reached Nawmarket under the care of 

 Sir Thomas Edmonds, and this success is significantly followed by his elevation to 

 the Treasurership of the Household within two months, a reward which had been 

 thoroughly earned by the services rendered to the Royal stud by the experience in 

 breeding and knowledge of various strains gained during a long official experience of 

 the Continent. Gifts of the same blood are continually recorded throughout this 

 period. One such present (though the exact breed is not mentioned) was brought 

 over from Henri Ouatre to the King in charge of the Lieut, cle St. Antoine, who 

 afterwards became rider to the Prince of Wales and equerry to Charles I. He was 

 painted by Van Dyck, holding the King's helmet, in the famous picture, and was a 

 friend of Bassom- 

 pierre, who says, by 

 the way, that the 

 name given in France 

 to horses imported 

 thither from England 

 was " Qiiintcrots, from 

 the name of the per- 

 son who had brought 

 them into France the 

 year before." The 

 name became a 

 courtly slang phrase 

 for the counters 

 which passed round with such rapidity at the royal gaming-tables of Fontainbleau ; 

 but I have been unable to trace it to its English origin. The kind of horse sent 

 over to this country in exchange is shown in Antoine Pluvinel's exquisite series of 

 engravings of his famous manege, and I have reproduced one of the drawings made 

 for him by De Passe. The Spanish horse of the same period has been carefully 

 drawn by Stradanus. 



One reason for a greater interchange of animals may be found in the more 

 convenient facilities offered by ships. Thirty-five horses, for instance, were proposed 

 by Buckingham to be sent over from St. Sebastian to the Prince of Wales in one 

 vessel. But it is also clear that the desire to breed with some approach to science 

 had already begun to take firm hold, even if, as we have noticed, the persistence and 



The First Grand Sl<ui,i ut 



