13 



this great stud before it was broken up. The prices realised were 

 considered to be very high at the time, but if such a stud was to be sold 

 now it would fetch at least five times the amount. 



There was a great row raised after the sale when it was found that 

 the largest buyer, a Mr. Hamilton, was a madman unaccountable for 

 his actions, so the several horses knocked down to him, including 

 Gemma de Vergi, had to be re-sold soon after. They, however, fetched 

 a total pretty nearly the same as at the Curraghmore sale. 



Among the brood mares were : The Deformed, bought by Mr. George 

 Bryan for 360gs. ; Juanita Perez, Mr. Weatherby, 350gs. ; Peri, Mr. 

 Bryan, 280gs. (this mare went subsequently to the Royal Stud, where 

 she produced Perinita and other good horses); Duchess de Guise, 

 210gs. ; Ariadne, 195gs. ; Queen Margaret, lOOgs. ; Ossifrage, lOOgs. ; 

 Kick up the Dust, lOogs. ; Sarah Ellis, lOOgs. ; Mag on the Wing, 

 Prism, Red Rose, Rosamond, Titania, Yesta, etc. 



Among the race and steeplechase horses was found Bumble Bee, sold 

 to Captain Pack Beresford for 550gs., one of the famous " Bee family " 

 so well known at Ballymanus. Also Ace of Hearts, by Great Heart, 

 bought by Mr. W. J. H. Powell of Measgwynn, in South Wales, for 

 315gs. Ace of Hearts was the last horse that carried the Marquis' blue 

 jacket and black cap, which he did in the Grand National of 1859, a 

 week before his owner was killed. This horse in February, 1862, for 

 Mr. Powell achieved a record in steeplechase annals, when, with The 

 Rug, owned by Captain McCraith, he ran two dead heats of four 

 miles for the Carmarthenshire Steeplechase. Night coming on, the 

 owners agreed to divide. 



Gemma de Vergi seemed an evil genius during the earlier part of 

 his career. He was bred by Cook at Rugeley. Cook was poisoned 

 in 1856 by Palmer, then owner of Gemma. Palmer was hanged. Lord 

 Waterford bought the horse at Palmer's sale ; he was killed. The 

 man who bought Gemma at the Curraghmore sale was a madman. 

 Sudden death or something untoward befell someone connected with 

 this horse at a subsequent sale, after which I lost sight of Gemma de 

 Vergi. 



I compiled the foregoing, as I did the remainder of the history, 

 several months ago, but there has recently taken place an event 

 which bears such interesting appropriateness to this portion that I 

 must refer to it. Moreover doing so will show what a marvellous 

 increase has taken place in the value of Irish thoroughbred horses 

 since 1859. 



At the Dublin Horse Show in August, 1892, which has just taken 

 place, the stud of the late Mr. William Brophy of Herbertstown, con- 

 sisting of thirteen lots, was sold by auction by Mr. Robert J. GofF. 

 This sale was, perhaps, the most extraordinary that ever took place in 

 Ireland. Apart from the prices realised, a record has been scored 

 which is not only without parallel, but it is likely to remain so. A 

 brood mare with foal at foot, her yearling, her two-year-old, and her 



