HORSE-RACING IN ENGLAND 



'Stud Book,' Old Merlin was at the stud in 1703, 

 that there took place the legendary match be- 

 tween the North, represented by the Yorkshire 

 horse Old Merlin, and the South, represented by 

 the Newmarket horse, name unknown or unre- 

 corded, belonging to Mr. Tregonwell Frampton. 

 But as it is said to have been this match (which 

 inspired the late Sir Francis Doyle, Professor of 

 Poetry at Oxford, to sing a very spirited lay) that 

 ruined so many gentlemen of the South, who 

 betted both gold and land against Merlin, as to 

 call for a statute (9 Anne, c. 14) restrictive of 

 heavy wagering, it more probably took place in 

 the Queen's reign, but necessarily at the very 

 commencement. Even then, a long time elapsed 

 between the enactment of the statute and the 

 ruinous race which is said to have been the cause 

 of the enactment. However, we know from ex- 

 tant records that Mr. Bethell's Castaway, son of 

 Old Merlin, was at least five years old (for he is 

 written down 'horse,' and, indeed, 'colts' seldom 

 or never ran in those days) when he ran at York 

 in August, 171 1, so that he must have been 

 foaled in May, 1706, at the latest, and may very 

 well have been foaled, as stated in the ' Stud 



