70 A HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH TURF. 



at Antwerp; but his greatest prize was "a grey leaping-horse, the most 

 beautiful that ever I saw ... he was above price." This horse's fame as a 

 hunter was well-known in the Court ; and if the Duke was right, the " running- 

 horses " of the period were more indebted to Spanish blood, which was of course 

 Eastern, than to any other, which would be one of the natural consequences of 

 Buckingham's importations to which I have already referred. The names of some of 

 these invincible stock on the English Turf he gives as follows : Conqueror, Shutten 

 Herring, Butler, and the mare Peacock. He infinitely preferred these to the Barb 

 whose wind, he thinks, " serveth to no purpose, when his strength is not able to carry 

 his weight : and thus the Barb will want his little light jockey on him, with a couple of 

 trenchers for a saddle, and a lutestring in his mouth for a bit." He speaks highly of 

 the Scotch galloways, in a somewhat too general panegyric of English horses, which 

 are "as beautiful as can be anywhere, for they are bred out of all the horses of all 

 Nations." His advice as to brood mares fora racing stable only betrays his ignorance 

 of the subject, but in stallions he is more to be believed, for " a barb," he writes, 

 " that is a jade will get a better running horse than the best running-horse in 

 England," valuable advice for that particular period. He was made Lord Warden of 

 Sherwood Forest, and Groom of the Bed-chamber by Charles I., and of his success in 

 teaching Charles II. the art of horsemanship he often speaks. He fought gallantly 

 in the Royal cause, and lost nearly the whole of his large estates by his devotion. 

 As might have been expected, this seventeenth century Angelo was a famous fencer 

 as well, and his accomplishments earned the commendation of Shadwell and of Ben 

 Jonson. 



His Grace refers several times to that Sir John Fenwick, whose stud is mentioned 

 in the Tutbury catalogue, and is responsible for the Fen-wick Barb given in the Stud 

 Book as the sire of Old Why Not, whose doings in October, 1682, I have recorded in 

 their right place. This famous Northumberland family was celebrated on each 

 side of the border for their lavish hospitality at Wallington Hall, and the 

 sporting proclivities of the race are immortalised in the North of England nursery 

 rhyme : 



" Fenwick of Bywell's away to Newmarket 

 And he'll be there before we get started." 



With so fine a type of a good sportsman and breeder to encourage them, it is no 

 wonder that the north country traditions already noted were gradually strengthened 

 under each succeeding reign. The Astleys were another family which were well 



