THE TURF UNDER JAMES I." THE MARKHAM ARABIAN" 57 



most excellent oyles that maybe for a Horse, especially the two last : then give him 

 this foode, take a good bigge penny white loaf and cut the same all out into toast, 

 and toast them against the fire, then steepe them in Muskadine and lay them 

 between hot cloathes and being layde before the fire dry them again, and so give 

 them to your Horse. These b~ so pleasant and comfortable that your Horses emptiess 

 (as he must be wonderfull empty when he goeth to his course) shall little agreeve 

 him. If you have not this ready to give him, if then you give him half a pecke of 

 fine oatmeal well dried, it shall be as good, for though it be not so pleasant, yet being 

 so light a food as it is, it will both comfort his stomacke and be soone digested. 

 When he hath eaten this put on his Mussell, give him great store of litter, and 

 unloose his sursingle, that his cloathes may hang loose about him, and so let him 

 stand to take his rest, till the houre in which he must be led forth to runnehis wager, 

 not suffering any man to come within your stable, for fear of disquieting your Horse. 

 When the houre is come in which you must leade him out, gyrd on his cloathes 

 handsomely, bridle him up, and then take your mouth ful of strong vinegar, and 

 spirt it into your Horse's nosethrils, whereof it will search and open his pypes, making 

 them apt for the receite of winde. This done leade him to the race, and when you 

 come at the end therefore where you must uncloath him, having the vinegar carried 

 after you, doe the like there, and so bequeath him and yourself to God and good 

 Fortune." 



Both, no doubt, would be sorely needed ; for the preceding instructions are the 

 close of a course of preliminary dieting and exercise which I refrain from quoting 

 more largely for fear of giving a fit of apoplexy to any modern trainer who may 

 observe these pages. It may be noted that this writer was by no means ignorant of 

 the value of an Arab stallion, for he owned one himself, and gives a glowing 

 description of its beauties. He was also fond of hunting, for it was when Sir 

 Gervase Clifton had asked him to Blith to meet Lord D'Arcy of the North that the 

 incident in the hunting-field took place which led to the famous quarrel between the 

 sporting author and the nobleman. Markham was sentenced to pay a fine of ,500 

 by the Star Chamber Court, and one of the judges present, with Lord Ellesmere, 

 was Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, who was as fond of racing as the rest of his 

 family (of whom I have much to say later), though his name does not often occur in 

 the few Turf Records of his time. Sir Philip Mainwaring was one of the correspon- 

 dents who kept him informed of such Newmarket occurrences as the birthday feast of 

 the Prince of Wales. Restored to his dignities as Earl of Surrey and Norfolk by 

 VOL. i. I 



