84- THE HORSE. 



safely arrived at the royal stud, it was computed that they liad 

 cost the monarch no less than thirteen pounds six shilliii<<;s and 

 eiglit pence per horse, equal in value to one hundred and sixty 

 pounds of our money," 



" This monarch had many r mining- Jiorses. Tlie precise 

 meaning of the term is not, however, clear. It might be light 

 and speedy horses in opposition to the war-horses, or those tliat 

 were literally used for the purposes of racing." 



Of course nothing like regular systematic racing, with 

 courses, distances, weiglits and colors were as yet in existence ; 

 but that testing the speed of their favorite coursers was, even 

 before this time, an amusement of the English nobility, is made 

 evident by the following historical anecdote. This fact is in- 

 troduced, with much effect, by Mr. James, into one of his 

 admirable romances, not the least of the merits of which is their 

 close adherence to the letter as well as the spirit of the history 

 of the times. Tlie horse, which was lent for the purpose to 

 which he was successfully applied, is described by the novelist 

 as being a tall, gaunt, raw-boned gray, not remarkable for show, 

 but of immense speed and endurance — but whether this minute 

 description be taken from some ancient chronicle, or be merely 

 an ornamental amplification to aid verisimilitude, I know not. 



Edward I., while prince of Wales, was taken prisoner with 

 his father Henry III., at the battle of Lewes, by Simon de Mont- 

 fort, Earl of Leicester, at the head of the confederated barons. 

 Being confined in a sort of free custody under the guardianship 

 of certain knights and noblemen, who were enjoined at all 

 times to have hira in view, though treating him with all 

 consideration due to his rank, he was permitted to take horse 

 exercise in company with his gentle jailers. On one occasion, 

 being furnished with a charger of surpassing speed by a secret 

 partisan, and instructed how to profit by its powers, he set his 

 guards to matching their horses one against the other, offering 

 small prizes of honor to the winners ; until perceiving that the 

 horses were all more or less worried, he proposed to enter him- 

 self for a match with the last victor, when he easily rode away 

 from the whole party, and won his liberty by the speed of his 

 courser, and his own jockeyship. 



In the reign of Kichard II., horse-jockeyship and the tricks 



