360 



RACING, WAGERS AND GAMING. 



Reign of 

 William the 

 Third. 



Reign of 

 Queen Anne. 



Toid ; and the winner was to forfeit treble the sum above 

 100^. so won {h) ; and it was held that an agreement to run 

 a horse race for more than 100/. a-side was prohibited by 

 this statute (c). 



In the reign of "William the Third, a.d. 1699, it appears 

 that certain games called lotteries had been set up 

 throughout England and "Wales, by means of which great 

 sums of money had been fraudulently got from unwary 

 persons, and from the children and servants of several 

 gentlemen and merchants ; to remedy this, an Act was 

 passed " for suppressing lotteries," which declared them to 

 be public nuisances, and imposed a penalty of 500/. on 

 every keeper of a lottery, and 20/. on every plaj'er {d). 



In the reign of Queen Anne the Darley Arabian was 

 introduced by Mr. Darley, which tended very much to form 

 our present breed of horses. People began to pay more 

 attention to pedigree and breed, and we find it noticed as 

 remarkable, that a horse called Bay Bolton was got by a 

 farmer's horse without a pedigree (e). 



It was found in this reign that the Act of Charles the 

 Second was insufEcient to prevent the mischiefs arising 

 from the spirit of gambling then existing, and which it 

 appears had become so very prevalent that further legisla- 

 tion was required. Therefore, in a.d. 1710, 9 Anne, c. 14, 

 was passed, being " an Act for the better preventing of ex- 

 cessive and deceitful gaming." It recited that " the laws 

 now in force for preventing the mischiefs which may 

 happen by gaming have not been found sufficient for 

 that purpose : " and enacted, that all mortgages and 

 securities, where the consideration was for money won 

 by gaming or betting, or for repayment of money lent at 

 gaming or betting, weie to be void ; that all property so 

 encumbered was to devolve to such person as would have 

 been entitled to it in case the owner were dead ; and that 

 all grants or conveyances made to prevent this were to be 

 deemed fraudulent and void (/). 



The loser of 10/. or upwards by playing or betting at 

 any game might sue for the money so lost within three 

 months ; and if he did not sue within that lime any other 

 person might do so, and recover treble the value, 



one 



(i) 16 Car. 2, c. 7, now repealed 

 by 9 Anne, c. 19, and 5 & 6 WiU. 4, 

 c. 41. 



(c) Edgehimi r. Rositidale, 2 Lev 

 94; S. C, 1 Ventr. 253. 



(d) 10 & 11 AViU. 3, c. 17. 

 (<■) Lawrence on "The Horse," 

 vol. 1. p. 222. 



(/) 9 Anne, c. 14, s. 1. 



