CHAPTER IV. 



THE TURF TO THE RESTORATION. 



" Lusty Gorge and gentlemen, hark yet 

 To winning Mackerel, nnemouthed Treake, 

 Bay Tarrel that won the cup at Newmarket, 

 Thundering Tempest, black Dragon eake. 

 Precious Sweetlips I do not lose 

 Nor Toby with his golden shoes, 

 But if I be just, all honour must 

 Be given to well-breath'd Jilian Thrust." 



From " Hide Park," 

 A Comedy by James Shirley, 1637. 



A S has been already suggested, if a playwright included jockeys, riders, gamesters, 

 * * owners, trainers, and the whole paraphernalia of a racecourse into his play, 

 there is not the least doubt that his audience could understand every allusion. But 

 unfortunately there are none alive now to explain the names which were so many 

 household words when they were first spoken by the Queen's players .across the 

 footlights of Drury Lane so long ago. Mackerel, Tempest, and Dragon have galloped 

 across Acheron and Styx these many years, and there is no sound from the pastures 

 where they take their well-earned rest. It is the same with many of the characters 

 in Shirley's play. But they are all typical of the state of things existing at the time, 

 and they serve as an admirable preliminary to the hard facts with which I shall soon 

 follow them. 



Several scenes in Shirley's comedy are actually laid in the Hyde Park, which 

 gave its name to the play. Wagers, both on horseback and a-foot, are known to 

 have been decided there both previous to this date and for many years afterwards, 

 and it was of course a favourite resort for duellists, even before Lincoln's Inn Fields 

 became too public. In this case, an Irish footman is the favourite in a race which 

 he wins easily, but it is in Lord Bonvile's horse that we are most interested. A bet 



