328 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book VI. 



family in the eighteenth century. At Croydon the 

 races invariably attracted an immense assembly of 

 noble, gentle, plebeian, and occasionally royal person- 

 ages. Disputes and disturbance were rather frequent, 

 and partisan feeling ran high. So also at Doncaster, 

 where the races frequently caused bloodshed, and these 

 disturbances at one time induced the corporation to 

 abolish the meeting. The races at Durham were held 

 in Passion Week, and here also we observe, from the 

 articles for the gold cup, that that prize was worth ^50 — 

 a large sum in those days. The national sport appears 

 to have been firmly planted in Yorkshire ; Gatherly 

 Moor, near Richmond, being celebrated for its races. 

 Other events are mentioned there from time to time, 

 notably a race for a ^12 cup which was run for on the 

 6th of May, 1622, and won by a horse belonging to 

 Sir George Bowes, to which Mr. Humphrey Wyvell 

 officiated as the tryer. In all six horses competed ; 

 the place they held at the finish, and the names 

 of their tryers, are recorded, although the names 

 of the jockeys are not mentioned. This is one of the 

 most circumstantial reports of any race found in the 

 annals of the turf in the seventeenth century. Lang- 

 wathby, in Cumberland, comes next in rotation. At 

 Lincoln the course was railed and corded with ropes 

 and hoops on both sides, for a quarter of a mile from 

 the stand and winning-post. There a cup and a gold 

 snaffle were the chief prizes, James I. attended the 

 races at Lincoln in the spring of 161 7. Similar prizes 

 were given and run for at Salisbury. All that is 

 known of the races at Thetford is that in 1620 the 



