INTRODUCTION. 



11 



of riding on horseback, declined ; during subsequent 

 reigns, it gradually revived; and the exercise may 

 now be regarded as firmly established, among our fair 

 countrywomen, by the august example of their illus- 

 trious Queen. 



The present graceful, secure, and appropriate style 

 of female equestrianism is, however, materially different 

 from that of the olden time. In by-gone days, the 

 dame or damosel rode precisely as the knight or page. 

 Of this, several illustrations occur in an illuminated 

 manuscript of the fourteenth century, preserved in 

 the Royal Library. In one of these, a lady of that 



period is depicted on horseback, enjoying the pas- 

 time of the chase. In another, are represented two 



