JOHNA.SEAVERNS

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Webster Family Library of Veterinary Medicine

Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at

Tufts University

200 Westboro Road

North Grafton. MA 01536

THE

HISTORY OF NEWMARKET,

THE ANNALS OF THE TURF.

THE

History of Newmarket,

AND

THE ANNALS OF THE TURF

WITH MEMOIRS AND BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES

OF THE HABITUES OF NEWMARKET, AND THE NOTABLE

TURFITES FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE

END OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

BY

J. P. HORE.

IN THREE VOLUMES.

VOL. I.

FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE DEATH

OF JAMES I.

LONDON :

A. H. BAILY AND CO.,
15, NICHOLAS LANE, CANNON STREET, E.C.
1886.

\All rights reserved. '\

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PREFACE.

Rich, as many of our counties are, in topographical
and historical literature, Cambridgeshire has been so
neglected in this respect that she may be termed the
Cinderella of the Shires. Need we wonder, then,
when this important county — whose metropolis is the
seat of one of our most renowned and ancient Univer-
sities— has hitherto found no scribe to worthily
chronicle her rural records, that an obscure hamlet
within her confines should be unnoticed by writers
upon ancient topographical subjects ? Nevertheless,
this erst obscure hamlet (to use a racing phrase) is,
on " book form," four times as wicked as the infamous
towns mentioned in Genesis (which were only once
destroyed by fire), because after Newmarket became the
Metropolis of the Turf, on three several times, it was
almost reduced to ashes, and once nearly destroyed by
water, by way of a change. Surely a place enjoying such
a reputation to start with, does not deserve to languish
any longer in obscurity ; and being actuated with a
desire to lift the veil which so long hid her blushes,

viti PREFACE.

mainly accounts for the compilation of these volumes.
Whether the subject is worth the pains its production
incurred remains to be seen. It is a (very) plain un-
varnished tale, told by a sportsman, for sportsmen, who
has endeavoured throughout the work to faithfully
depict scenes of bygone days in Newmarket by re-
producing as closely as possible the characteristics and
incidents of those times as they were then portrayed.

The same course, but in a more marked degree,
has been observed in compiling the Annals of the
Turf " Veracity is their only ornament " — to quote
the words of a celebrated writer ; " but it is an orna-
ment beyond all others in historical anecdotes." The
Annals are often crude, and sometimes may be found
unpalatable — replete with bad spelling, shocking
grammar, and wretched diction. If we want elegant
orthography, etymology, syntax, and prosody, and all
the flowers of rhetoric, these will be found abounding
in the " Histories of the British Turf from the Earliest
Times to the Present Day," by James Christie Whyte
(2 vols., London, 1840), and by James Rice (2 vols.,
London, 1879) ; but, unfortunately, the rhetoric seems
to have crowded out the historical information given
in our Annals from the earliest times to the end of the
sixteenth century ; the seventeenth century is but little
better off; the eighteenth century is no more than a
poor and imperfect summary of the Racing Calendars ;
and from the beginning of the nineteenth century to

PREFACE. " ix

the present day, the works of those brilhant writers
abound in " historical " inaccuracies of the most flafrrant
description.

The memoirs and biographical notices of the
habitiu^s of Newmarket, and of the notable Turfites
who flourished long long ago, will probably be inte-
resting to the sportsman of our own times. " Memoirs
are the materials, and often the touchstone, of history ; "
— to quote our favourite author again — who very truly
adds, " And even where they descend to incidents
beneath her notice, they aid the studies of the antiquary
and moral philosopher."

In conclusion, I must, in gratitude, tender my
thanks to the Duke of Beaufort, the Earl of Pembroke,
Edmund Tattersall, Esq., and M. Leopold de Roths-
child, for contributing the cost of the illustrations.

J. P. HORE.

Newmarket,
May, 1885.

CONTENTS.

BOOK I.

Newmarket and the Turf in the Early and Middle

Ages ... ... ... ... ... i

BOOK II.

From the Accession of Henry VIII. to the Death of

Elizabeth ... ... ■ ... ... ... ... ... 58

BOOK III.

Royal Sojourns at Newmarket. James I. 1605-16 14 ... 129

BOOK IV.

Royal Sojourns at Newmarket. James I. 1615-1625

{Continued) ... ... ... ... ... ... 169

BOOK V.

Miscellaneous Occurrences at Newmarket. 1609-1625 275

BOOK VI.

The Annals of the Turf in the Reign of James I.

1605-1625 ... ... ... ... ... ... 326

THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET,

AND

THE ANNALS OF THE TURF.

BOOK I.

NEWMARKET AND THE TURF IN THE EARLY AND
MIDDLE AGES.

Ancient British settlements in the vicinity of Newmarket — The TumuH —
Cinerary and other Celtic remains found therein — The Iceni race
— Brief account of them by the Roman historians — Enter into an
alliance with the Romans — Revolt under Ostorius — The league
between Prasutagus and the Emperor — Tyranny of the Romans —
Revolt of the Iceni under Queen Boadicea — Obtain a temporary
victory — Their subsequent defeat by the Romans — Treatment of the
Iceni after the conquest — The Roman-British coins — Those stamped
with the figure of a horse — Peculiar to the Iceni race — Probable
celebrity of their horses — Taxed by the Romans — Exportation of
British horses to Rome — The DeviFs Ditch — Brief survey and
description of the structure — Probabilities as to its origin and objects
— Newmarket and its vicinity during the Anglo-Saxon era — Royal
residents at Exning — The East-Anglican sovereigns — Sf. Etheldreda
— The origin of horse-racing in England — Introduced by the Romans
— The primitive racehorse — Its Eastern descent — The Spanish
Legion — Their racehorses — Training difficulties during the Roman
occupation of England — How overcome — Dissemination of Eastern
blood — Prominent race-meetings in England under the Romans —
The Turf during the Anglo-Saxon era — Probability of horse-races at
Newmarket at this period — Progress of the Turf in England in the
reigns of Henry II., Richard I., and John — The thoroughbred horses
of the Middle Ages — Importation of Eastern blood — Examples —
The first authentic description of a horse-race in the Middle Ages
—Match between the Prince of Wales (Richard II.) and the Earl
of Arundel — Owners up — The Earl's horse wins — Is bought by
Richard II. for ^4000 — The Earl of Arundel — The Fathers of the
VOL. I. B

2 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book I.

Turf in the Dark Ages — Richard II. — Superiority of English horses
in the Middle Ages — Celebrated in song and elegy — Their fame at
home and abroad — English Turfites on the Continent — Racing at
Milan, Florence, Pisa — Disastrous effect of the Civil Wars on the
Turf in England in the fifteenth century — The sport abandoned —
Dispersion of racing studs — Foreign buyers — Purchases by the Dukes
of Ferrara and Mantua^Presents of English horses to the Duke of
Ferrara from the Royal Stud at Eltham — The Middle Park in the
Middle Ages — Legislation relating to horse breeding, etc. — New-
market in the Middle Ages — Famous for displays of equestrian
skill — Examples — The Earl of Pembroke — The Earl of Gloucester
and Hertford — The Earl of Surrey — Newmarket and the vicinity
in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries — The town nearly destroyed
by a deluge in 1393 — Royal visit in 1453 — Manorial history of New-
market— First mention of the town in 1227 — The Plague at Exning
— Alleged removal of the market at Exning to Newmarket — Grant of
Henry III. to Richard de Argentine to have an annual fair at New-
market— The Lords of the Manor — The Argentines — -The Alingtons
— The Butlers — Local events — Bishop Merkes.

Although the earliest mention of Newmarket* in the
counties of Cambridge and Suffolk does not occur
until the year a.d. 1227, there is evidence that the
vicinity of the Town and Heath was inhabited by the
ancient Britons in almost pre-historic times.

Two British tumuli on the borders of Newmarket
Heath were opened in May, 1845, and in the following
year an account of the examination of them appeared
in the " Archseological Journal" (vol. iii., p. 255), The
first one described is in the parish of Bottisham. It is
placed on an elevated range of hills, forming an escarp-
ment of the chalk, which makes it conspicuous for
miles over the flat country around. This position, and
the fact that an immense quantity of charcoal was
found throughout the composition of this tumulus,

* Newmarket in Yorkshire occurs in mediaeval documents, but its
precise position is unknown. There is a town of the same name in
Flintshire, North Wales ; two in Ireland, in Co. Cork and Co. Clare
and another in the United States of America.

Book I.] THE ANCIENT BRITONS. 3

which is of large size, measuring about ninety feet in
diameter, although the deposit was, in comparison,
very trifling, induces the supposition that it had been
used as a site for a beacon-fire, to guide the traveller
over the wild waste of fen-country which spreads in
all directions around, and hence, possibly, the name of
the " Beacon course." The excavation of this tumulus
in 1845 was made from east to west, commencing from
the eastern side, in the direction of its centre, in which,
at a depth of about three feet, there was found a
cinerary urn in an inverted position, slightly tilted on
one side, and surrounded by charcoal and burnt earth.
It was filled with charcoal, but contained only one
small fragment of bone. This vessel, which was of
the simplest manufacture, moulded by the hand, and
sun-baked, measured in height five inches, and its
diameter at the largest part was five inches and a half.
From the deep red colouring, and the general appear-
ance of the surrounding soil, it would seem that a
small hole had been first dug, charcoal and bones
burnt in it, the vase placed on the fire in an inverted
position, and the whole covered up. About ten feet
eastward of the central deposit, on the south side of
the line of excavation, and half a foot deeper, a deposit
of fragments of bone was found apparently calcined,
but with little charcoal or burnt earth, forming a layer
not more than three inches thick, and two feet in cir-
cumference. There were several pieces of the skull,
a portion of the alveolar process, inclosing a tooth,
apparently that of a young person, pieces of the femur
and clavicle, and other fragments. A little to the

4 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book I.

north of this spot there appeared a mass of charcoal
and burnt earth, containing nothing of interest. After
digging five or six feet deeper, operations were dis-
continued ; and on the next day shafts were excavated
from the centre, so as completely to examine every
part, without any further discovery, and in every
direction charcoal was found mingled with the heap,
not in patches, but in fragments.

The other barrow was raised in a less conspicuous
situation, about three hundred yards down the south
slope of Allington Hill, part of the same range situate
about a quarter of a mile to the south-west. Both are
marked in the Ordnance map. An entrance was
obtained from the east-north-east, passing south-south-
west through the centre of the mound. Here a thin
layer of charcoal appeared extending many feet in
every direction. Amongst the soil thrown out, portions
of two vases, broken, probably, at a previous opening,
were found, " sufficing to prove that this had been an
early Celtic, and not Roman deposit." One was the
lip of a vase of red ware, the other a portion of a jar
of the usual coarse, unbaked pottery, of black colour.
In this tumulus were found two small rounded pieces
of hard chalk, of the lower strata, called clunch. One
was a perfect ball, smooth, measuring an inch in
diameter ; the other was of the same size, ground
down in a regular manner, reducing it to a turbinated
shape. It had been probably intended to perforate
these as beads ; a specimen of the same material,
ground down in a similar manner and perforated, is in
the possession of Mr. Collings.

Book I.] THE ICENI RACE. 5

It is very uncertain for what purpose the objects
designated by Mr. ColHngs as beads were fabricated.
They are frequently found in tumuli or earthworks,
and remains of early occupation. They are mostly
formed of indurated clay, bone, or stone, sometimes
almost spherical, whilst other specimens are of
flattened form, perforated in all cases, in the direction
of the smaller diameter. They vary from about one
to two inches in diameter. The conjecture appears
probable that they may have been used in connection
with the distaff, and the occurrence of such an object
in a tumulus might thus serve to indicate the
interment of a female. Some northern antiquarians,
however, have regarded such perforated balls, or
beads, as weights used in fishing, either for line
or nets.*

The tribe of the Iceni, whose headquarters were
at Exning, on Newmarket Heath, is mentioned by
different ancient writers, though under a variety of
names. That of " Iceni " is the form under which
it appears in most copies of Tacitus, and that which
is generally adopted. By Ptolemy they are called the
Simeni (Stjuevoi, or, as some copies give it 'I//,€i/ot), and
their chief town is said to be Venta (Ovez^ra). The
ninth Iter of Antoninus is from Venta Icenorum
(or Iciorum) to Londinium, and the geographer of
Ravenna makes mention of the same town, but under
the form Venta Cenomum. We learn from Tacitus

* An urn somewhat similar to that described above was found by
some labourers employed to remove one of the Barrows on the Beacon
Hill in May, 1815. See " Archaeologia," vol. xviii., app. p. 436. London,
1817.

6 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book I.

that the territory of the Iceni cannot have been far
distant from Camulodunum. There is a class of
coins which are principally found in the counties of
Norfolk and Suffolk, possessing sufficient peculiarities
of type to distinguish them as the currency of an
independent tribe. On some of these coins the in-
scription ECEN occurs, which has been thought to
refer to the name of the tribe, and doubtless justifies
the reading iceni, in preference to simeni, or any of
the other forms. A tribe called Cenimagni is specified
among those who, after the surrender of the Trino-
bantes, sent ambassadors, and submitted themselves
to Julius ; and it has been suggested by Camden, and
accepted by some other writers, that in the first portion
of this name we are to rfccognize that of the Iceni.
The principal facts which are known in connection with
this tribe are those of Tacitus (" Annals," lib. xii. cap.
31, et seg.). In a.d. 50 the Iceni are spoken of as a
powerful nation, and unbroken by war, because they
had voluntarily entered into an alliance with the
Romans. At that time, however, they came into
collision with the invaders, and were defeated by
Ostorius, after which it would appear that they
retained a kingly form of government only by
sufferance of the Romans. This may be gathered
from the testamentary disposition of one of their
kings, who, in a.d, 61, when next the Iceni are
mentioned, it would seem was but recently dead.
This king, Prasutagus by name, renowned for his
immense wealth, made the Roman emperor and his
own two daughters his joint heirs, thinking by this

Book L] THE ICENI COINS. 7

expedient to place both his kingdom and family
beyond the reach of injury. How this arrangement
succeeded is well known ; the tyranny of the Romans
having brought about the sanguinary revolt under
Boadicea, the widow of Prasutagus, in which the
Iceni, in conjunction with the Trinobantes and other
tribes not accustomed as yet to the Roman yoke,
destroyed the Roman garrison town of Camulodunum
and some other Roman stations. No less than seventy
thousand of the Romans and their allies are said to
have been slaughtered before Suetonius Paulinus, the
Roman governor and general, was in a position to
engage with the insurgents. In the engagement,
however, which ensued, the defeat of the Britons was
complete, their army having been nearly annihilated,
and Boadicea driven to end her life by poison. From
this time forward there is no mention of the Iceni in
the pages of Roman history.

Nearly all the gold and silver coins of the Iceni
bear on the reverses the figure of a horse. Many of
these horses, however, show a peculiarity in the pellets
on the shoulder, and the hairy or branched character
of their tails, which is confined to the Roman- British
coins of this district. The inscriptions on these coins,
as far as at present known, are ecen, ece, saemv,
AESV, anted, and cav (?) dvro. The first person
who suofSfested the attribution of. coins of this class to
the Iceni, was Sir Thomas Browne, the author of
"Pseudodoxia Epidemica." In his " Hydriotaphia '
(p. 7, ed. 1669) he relates that at the two Caistors,
by Norwich and Yarmouth, " some British coynes of

8 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book I.

Gold have been dispersedly found ; and no small
number of Silver-pieces near Norwich, with a rude
Head upon the Obverse, and an ill-formed Horse on
the Reverse, with Inscriptions ic, duro, t., whether
implying Iceiii, Durotidges, Tascia, or Trinobantes, we
leave to higher conjecture." Gale, in his '* Itinerary
of Antonious " (4to ed. 1709, p. 109), seems to refer to
the same coins, and is, indeed, probably quoting Sir
Thomas Browne. White, in the description of his
Plate of British Coins (1773), also refers a coin of
the type Plate xv.. No. 3, to the Iceni ; and Akerman,
" Num. Chron.," vol. i., p. 83, expresses his opinion
that this class of coins is peculiar to Cambridgeshire.
To Mr. Beale Poste, however, belongs the credit of
having been the first to engrave a series of these coins
in one plate, as coins of the Iceni (" Archaeological
Associations Journal," vol. iv., p. 107), and this attribu-
tion was corroborated by Mr. C. Roach Smith, in
" Num. Chron.," vol. xv., p. 98.

Commercial intercourse between the Phoenician
inhabitants of Tyre and the ancient Britons is sup-
posed to have occurred some time between b.c. 1200
and B.C. 600, and chiefly consisted of minerals, cattle,
and the skins of wild animals. Later on we know
beyond doubt British horses —

" Practised alike to stop, to turn, to chase,
To dare the shock, or urge the rapid race " —

were so beautiful, so admirably trained, and so much
admired, that they were exported to Rome in con-
siderable numbers for the chariot and for mounting
cavalry. And after the Roman conquest of Britain

Book I.] THE ICENI HORSES. 9

had taken place, these horses, Hke other products of
this country, were heavily taxed by the conqueror.
Camden tells us that for the tribute payable by the
Britons coins were stamped for this purpose. As the
coins of the Iceni, above mentioned, bore on the re-
verses the figure of a horse, we may safely deduce
that, even in those early times, the vicinity of New-
market was celebrated for its horses. This inference
is apparently confirmed by the presence of the word
Tascio, or Tacia, or some abbreviation of it, on these
Brito-Romano coins — a word said to be derived from
task or tascu, which means, " in the original language
of Britain," any load, burthen, or tribute imposed by
the Tag, or prince, and that all the money so stamped
had been coined for no other purpose than to pay the
tribute or taxes imposed by the Romans, and levied
upon certain products of the Britons.*

The following survey of, and remarks upon, the
Devil's Ditch at Newmarket, are derived from a
paper contributed by A. J. K. to the " Gentleman's
Magazine," January, 1845 : —

In the month of August, 1842, I had the opportunity of
making some notes, founded on personal inspection, of the
structure of that very remarkable ancient military earthwork
on Newmarket Heath, in Cambridgeshire, popularly called
the Devil's Dyke. As I am not aware that any particular
survey of this strong and very extensive line of defence has
been made, the report of my examination of it may not be
unacceptable.

I surveyed it at a spot called The Links, where it remains

* Henry's " History of Briton," vol. i.

lo THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book I.

very bold and perfect, about a quarter of a mile south of the
turnpike gate, which stands where it is crossed by the high
road from Newmarket to London and Cambridge. I ob-
tained, in a rough way, the following measurements, which
cannot, however, greatly err from the truth.

This formidable vallum or rampart was commenced
probably at its southern extremity, where the Ordnance map
of Cambridgeshire marks the site of an ancient entrenched
camp at Wood Ditton ; there are also some tumuli northward
of that place in front of the dyke, called, traditionally, " The
Two Captains." Wood Ditton is evidently a name associated
with the dyke, implying the wood on the ditch. The work
is continued northward, across Newmarket Heath, in a
straight course of eight miles, to a stream near the village
of Reach, whose appellation, from the Saxon, poecan, indi-
cates the point to which the dyke reached or extended (see
the Plan), so that its right flank rested on streams and marsh
lands, and its left on a forest tract. The vallum being thrown
up on the eastern side, shows that the entrenchment was in-
tended to secure the plain of Newmarket against an enemy
approaching from the westward by a barrier, impregnable if
properly defended. Such, indeed, it must have been, for the
escarpment of the rampire from the bottom of the ditch in
the most perfect places measures not less than ninety feet,
and is inclined at an angle of seventy degrees. On the top
of the rampart is a cursus, or way, eighteen feet in breadth,
sufficiently wide for the passage of cavalry or chariots. I
have been told that, some years since, fragments of bronze
furniture of chariot wheels were dug up near the line of dyke,
but I cannot verify the information. On the top of the
rampart I thought I could distinguish faint traces of a
parapet of turf The whole was probably strengthened by a
line of palisades or stakes. It will be readily imagined how
strong a defence this steep and bristled wall of earth must
then have formed. Even now, to ascend its outward base
from the bottom of the ditch is a feat of no small difficulty
and labour. The excavation for the work was made in the solid
stratum of chalk, which lies on Newmarket Plain next under

Book L] THE DEVIL'S DITCH. n

the vegetable mould ; the rampire was doubtless faced with
green sods, and nature has continued the surface of sward to
this day.

About seven miles to the westward, crossing the high
road, and running nearly in a parallel line, is another ditch
and rampart, called the Fleam Dyke, which may be rendered,
from the Saxon, the dyke of flight or refuge (Fleam), as it
probably was for the inhabitants of East Anglia, being an
obstacle against the assaults of the Mercians. I have not
yet had the opportunity of comparing the construction of the
Fleam Dyke with that of the Devil's Dyke ; it varies very
little in extent from the latter ; it is called also, from the
length of its course, the Seven-Mile Dyke. On the inner or
eastern side of this work, near the high road, is a considerable
tumulus, called in the maps, Matlow Hill.

I am strongly disposed to think that the Devil's Dyke,
and perhaps other lines of entrenchment of a similar character
in the neighbourhood, were constructed by the Roman legions
at an early period in Britain. Camden enumerates three
military dykes in Cambridgeshire besides the Devil's Dyke,
the strongest of them all. The Roman forces, after obtaining
their first footing in Britain, occupied and colonized some
eligible positions in Kent, Middlesex, and Essex ; we find them
at the time of the revolt of Boadicea at Camulodunum (Col-
chester), Verulamium (St. Alban's), and Londinium (London).
The Trinobantes and Iceni were perhaps the first British
districts which received the Roman yoke. . . .

The first mention of the Devil's Dyke in history is found
in the Saxon Chronicle under the year 905, which tells us
that the land of the East Angles was laid waste between the
dyke and the Ouse, as far northward as the fens. The dyke
was termed in the Norman period St. Edmunds Dyke, because
the jurisdiction of the abbots of Bury St. Edmunds extended
so far westward. The description of the dyke by Abbo
Floxiacensis, a writer of the tenth century who had visited
Britain, as quoted by Camden (edited by Gibson), is remark-
able for its brief accuracy. Speaking of East Anglia, he says,
that on the west " this province joins to the rest of the island,

12 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book I.

and consequently there is a passage ; but to prevent the
enemies' frequent incursions it is defended by a bank like a
lofty wall, and a ditch." A reference to the sketch and
section accompanying these notes will at- a glance show the
appropriate character of Abbo's words. . . ,

I have hitherto omitted to mention that I observed some
fragments of Roman tile scattered near the dyke, and that it
appears to have been cut through in forming the present high
road from Newmarket to Cambridge. That is some evidence
for its very high antiquity. I recommend the explorator of
this interesting fortification not to fail to visit the dyke at the
Links, to descend into the fosse, and obtain the view I have
given of its course, ascending the rising grounds southward in
the direction of Wood Ditton. It will then be allowed I have
drawn no exaggerated picture of the work. On the race-
course at Newmarket its character is not so bold ; it has been
broken through in order to form apertures for the running
horses at places which the general name of gates {i.e. gaps)
has been given, and the rains of centuries have had more
effect in reducing its features. If opportunity should occur,
I shall be happy at some future period to survey the entrench-
ments marked in the Ordnance map at Wood Ditton, and to
trace the dyke to its termination at Reach.

The question in the meantime still lies open, whether the
Devil's Dyke is a Roman or a Saxon work, and any informa-
tion tending to settle that point, conveyed through the
medium of the " Gentleman's Magazine," will be received with
satisfaction. The generations of mankind rapidly pass away,
but the monuments which their labour has erected on the
surface of the earth remain. Tradition generally affords an
uncertain or exaggerated view of their origin, if remote, or, at
a loss for its traces, proclaims them the work of demons.
Written records are sometimes scanty, or altogether wanting.
Documents and relics are often worthless, if not submitted to
critical analysis. In many cases the aid of actual survey and
delineation, and of the mattock and spade, must be resorted
to. Coins, military weapons (observing whether these be of
brass or iron), relics of domestic utensils or sepulchral rites.

WW

PLAN OF devil's DYKE, NEWMARKET.

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Book I.] EXNING. 13

may then be sought for, and, as these are evidences generally
capable of comparative and chronological classification, they
become of importance, and in the hands of a judicious collector
are no longer rubbish unfit to occupy that most valuable of
commodities entrusted to our husbandry — time.

Accordingf to the best authorities the Devil's Ditch
was the boundary between the two Saxon kingdoms
of East Anglia and Mercia while the Heptarchy lasted,
and although we have no definite evidence of the town
of Newmarket, pe^^ se, having existed prior to the
Middle Aees, it seems that this unnamed hamlet formed
a part of Exning in the Anglo-Saxon era. Exning may
be said to have decayed in the same ratio as New-
market increased in importance and prominence.
Formerly the parish of Exning comprehended the
whole of what is now that of Newmarket, and its
church was the mother-church to which the flock of the
latter resorted. Consequently Newmarket may claim,
as a portion of Exning (in those days of geographical
ambiguity) the honour of being the birth-place of St.
Etheldreda, a daughter of Anna and Hereswitha,
king and queen of East Anglia, circa a.d. 630.
Exning was anciently called Ixning — a word evidently
derivable from that of Iceni, by which Coesar and
Tacitus described the inhabitants of Cambridgeshire,
Huntingdonshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk.* There is no
name in the calendar of female British saints more
fertile of strange incident and marvellous adventure
than that of our St. Etheldreda ; and one of the most

* See Baudrand's Geography, p. 503, edit. Paris, 1682 ; and Camden,
Mag. Brit., vol. v., p. 220, edit. orig.

14 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book I.

curious manuscripts extant in this country, forms the
precious repository of her achievements,*

Now, havinsf regard to the fact that in com-
paratively modern times royalty was so closely
associated with Newmarket, we are induced to give
a brief memoir of St. Etheldreda,^ as she was one of
the earliest sovereigns connected with the Town, some
six hundred years before it was even christened ; and
may she not without profanity be termed the Patron
Saint of the Metropolis of the Turf ?

1 Born at Exiling, about the year 630, Etheldreda, daughter
of Anna, king of the East- Angles, and Heresvvitha his queen,
was bred and educated there under the supervision of her
illustrious parents, from whom she received the first im-
pressions of religion and virtue. In her childhood, the mild-
ness of her temper, and innocence of behaviour, joined with
the beauty of her person, rendered her the delight of all that
were about her ; but that which was most observable in her
constitution at that time of her life, was a serious turn of
mind, and a bent to religious duties. It was very early that
she devoted herself to the service of God, and had formed in
her mind a design of preserving in a virgin state during life,
a species of piety in that age held in high esteem, and
requisite to Christian perfection, which this princess was
generally thought to have carried to a pitch of heroism.

The amiableness of her person, heightened by those excel-
lent endowments of mind she was possessed of, in a court
where the most exalted piety and the strictest virtue were
considered as the highest and noblest accomplishments, could
not fail of exciting the admiration of many, and made her
name celebrated in the other Saxon courts. There were
several persons of the highest rank who became suitors for

* The Liber Eliensis . See Wharton, vol. i., pp. 593 — 688 ; Gale, vol. i.
pp. 463-525-

Book I.] ST. ETHELDREDA. 15

her in marriage ; but as the princess had already formed in
her mind a different scheme of life, and was bent on a
religious retirement from the world, she declined every offer
that could be made of that kind. Many difficulties still lay
in her way that thwarted her inclinations, and seemed to
require an alteration of her purpose ; for Tonbert, a prominent
nobleman among the East-Angles, whom the Venerable Bede
calls Prince of the South-Gervii, then in high favour with the
king her father, asked her of him in marriage, and obtained
his consent ; so that, with much reluctance on her part, she
was at length prevailed upon by the authority of her parents,
to give up her will, and was accordingly married to that
prince in the year 652 ; and by this marriage had the Isle of
Ely settled on her in dower.

Etheldreda, who was now engaged in the bonds of marriage,
did not, however, despair of accomplishing her design, but
made use of all the arguments she was mistress of to persuade
her husband, who is said to have been a person of great virtue
and piety, to acquiesce in her opinion ; and by prayers and
entreaties gained his permission that she might enjoy her own
way, and at length prevailed on him to follow her example,
in a total and voluntary abstinence from the nuptial bed. In
this manner they lived together, by mutual consent, about
three years ; and after that Tonbert died ; and by his death
the Princess Etheldreda came into full possession of the Isle
of Ely, according to the settlement made before her marriage
with that prince.

The Princess Etheldreda being now at liberty to indulge
her natural disposition to solitude and devotion, retired from
Exning to her Isle of Ely, where she was attended only by
a i&v^ particular friends that she had made choice of on
account of their religious qualifications. When she thus with-
drew from the world it was her real intention to return no
more to it, but — whilst her temporal affairs were carried on
by her chief minister, Ovin, to whom she had committed the
administration of them — to give herself up wholly to the
exercise of devotion and all other religious duties. The place
she had chosen seemed very proper for her purpose ; for as an

i6 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book 1.

island it was separated, as it were, from the outside world, so
that nature seemed to have formed it for solitude and con-
templation.

After she had lived some time in this recluse state, Prince
Egfrid, " son of Oswy, King of Northumberland and Monarch
of the English nation," hearing of her extraordinary virtues
and piety, desired to obtain her in marriage. But he soon
found that worldly riches and honours had little or no effect
to induce her to change her condition, and therefore had
recourse to her uncle Ethelwold, then king of East-Anglia,
and to others who might be thought to have the greatest
influence over her, to persuade her to accept his offer. The
kingdom of East-Anglia was then in an unsettled state, from
which it had not quite recovered since the death of her father
Anna. Ethelwold, therefore, judging that the offer of an
alliance with so great a prince was not to be neglected, and
that it would prove highly beneficial to his kingdom, most
earnestly persuaded her to accept the prince's offer ; and at
his solicitation she at length gave her consent, and was
accordingly conducted to York, attended by Ovin, her prime
minister, with many other of the East-Anglian nobility of
both sexes, and there married to Prince Egfrid with great
pomp and solemnity. The Venerable Bede, who flourished in
those days, and was personally acquainted with this model
husband and wife, asserts that, although Etheldreda continued
Egfrid's consort for twelve years, " yet she remained glorious
in the perpetual integrity of virginity."

In the year 670, King Oswy died, and Egfrid, his son, who
had been his coadjutor in the latter part of his reign, succeeded
him both in the kingdom of Northumberland and the monarch
of the English nation ; in consequence of which Etheldreda
was raised to the highest degree of worldly honour, being now
queen to the greatest of the Saxon kings. Her exalted
station made no change in her estimation of secular honours,
as her sentiments continued invariably the same ; and indeed
her intention of quitting them seems rather to have been
hastened by that event ; for she soon after began to solicit
the king's leave to depart the court, and retire into some

Book I.] ST. ETHELDREDA. 17

monastery, where she might have more leisure to attend on
the duties of her religion. The king, who had always shown
the greatest regard and esteem for the queen, at first refused
to give her leave, but was at length prevailed upon to give
his consent ; accordingly, she soon after went and entered the
monastery of Coldingham, where St. Ebba, the king's aunt,
then presided as abbess, and received the sacred veil from the
hands of Wilfrid, bishop of York.

The queen's example influenced several other great persons
of both sexes in that kingdom to renounce the world about
the same time, and to retire into different monasteries ; of
which number was that Grand Old Man, Ovin, her prime
minister, who had attended her from the Isle of Ely on her
marriage, and had continued in her service ever since. " The
fervour of his faith now increasing," says Bede, " he deter-
mined to bid the world adieu ; and this he did effectually,
for divesting himself entirely of worldly concerns, and disposing
of his temporal possessions, he put on a mean habit, and zvith
only an ax for cutting wood in his hands, he came to the
monastery of the Reverend Father St. Chad, at Lastingham
in Yorkshire, to whom he signified his intention, not to live
in idleness, but to work and labour with his hands : and
renounced the world, with a pure intention of obtaining thereby
a reward in heaven." This Grand Old Man became so
eminent for his piety, that he acquired the reputation of a
saint, and his name is inserted in the Roman calendar
accordingly.

Queen Etheldreda had now dedicated herself wholly to
religion, and was engaged in the practice of the austerities
that attend the monastic state of life, while the king's affection
and esteem for her continued the same. He blamed himself
for having assented to the separation, and was observed to be
very much dissatisfied and uneasy. Those who were imme-
diately about his person, soon found out the real cause of his
disposition, and advised him to take the queen again by force
out of the monastery. And he was without much difficulty
persuaded to follow their counsel, for not long afterwards he
set forward with a few of his attendants in order to convey

VOL. I. c

1 8 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book I.

her thence. The abbess, however, had by some means or
other got intelligence of the king's design in coming, and took
care to inform the queen of it, and withal suggested to her
that the only means left to prevent the ill consequences that
might ensue, would be to leave the place without delay, and
retire as well as she could to Exning. To this course she
consented, and immediately set out on her way, and was but
just started when the king arrived.

Finding the queen was gone, the king resolved to pursue
her ; and in his way came up to the side of a rock where she
and her companions were, but was prevented from coming
near them by a sudden and unusual inundation of water from
the sea, which surrounded the rock where the queen and her
two attendants reposed ; and it having continued in that state
several days, without returning into its former channel, the
king interpreted it as the interposition of heaven in her
favour, and concluded that it was not the will of God that
he should have her again ; he abandoned the chase, returned to
York, and left his queen quietly to pursue her journey.

After the king returned to York, the queen and her two
companions left their temporary place of refuge, and travelled
as far as the river H umber, over which they were safely con-
veyed, and arrived at Wintringham ; thence, turning into a
village called Alftham, they were courteously entertained,
and stayed a few days, and " there she built a church." From
Alftham they continued their journey on foot, in the habit of
pilgrims, not by the direct road, but through by-ways and
lanes, to avoid the danger of pursuers. It happened that
one day, being tired with the length of the journey and heat
of the weather, and coming to a commodious spot of ground,
the queen found herself disposed to rest, and laid herself
down to sleep, whilst two faithful attendants watched by her.
On awaking she observed that the pilgrim's staff, which she
had fixed in the ground by her, had all the appearance of
vegetable life in it, and found that it had taken root in the
earth, and put forth leaves and shoots. Her staff, thus
miraculously planted, it is said, afterwards became one of the
tallest and most flourishing trees in the country, and the

Book L] ST. ETHELDREDA.

19

place was called Etheldrede's-Stow, and a church was there
built in honour of this holy queen.

After a difficult and hazardous journey, the queen and
her two attendants arrived safe at Ely, and was received by
her people with all the honours due to her character and high
station. On her arrival there her first design was to have
repaired the old church, then in ruins, and to have dedicated
it, as it had formerly been, to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and
to have built a monastery there ; but before this design had
proceeded too far a more commodious situation was made
choice of, as fitter for her purpose, and in this place the
foundations of her church were laid, and the monastery began
to be built in which both monks and nuns lived in society and
regular observance under the founder queen, St. Etheldreda.
For the maintenance and support of this monastery the
royal foundress settled the whole Isle of Ely, being a princi-
pality with temporal power and jurisdiction, and all the profits
arising from the government of it. And to secure this, her
royal foundation, the more firmly and securely to future ages,
she gave in charge and recommended it to the care of Bishop
Wilfrid, who in the year 678 was on his departure to Rome
to procure the Pope's confirmation of her grant, and of the
liberties and immunities of the place, that her congregation
there assembled might continue in the service of God and
in the regular observance of discipline, free from want and
from the disturbance or exaction of any officer of what
power, eminence, or authority whatsoever ; which confirma-
tion Wilfrid is said to have obtained from the Pope. But
before his return from Rome, the royal abbess died of an
epidemical disease that prevailed at that time in her monastery,
and had carried off several of the nuns and others of her
confraternity. She is said, by the spirit of prophecy, to
have foretold this contagious distemper, and the exact
number of her household that would be taken out of the
world by it, and herself among the rest. She died June 23,
A.D. 679, in the seventh year after she was made abbess,
in the reign of her brother Adulfus, king of East Anglia,
and of her nephew Lothair, king of Kent, her late husband,

20 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book I.

Egfrid, still reigning in Northumberland. It only remains
for us to add that in the year 1107 the monastery was con-
verted into a bishopric, and in the following year, by consent
of the Pope, the episcopal see of Ely was founded, and that
from that day to this the cathedral is a prominent landmark,
visible from most parts of Newmarket Heath.

As to the antiquity of the turf in England, Har-
grove, in his " History and Description of the Ancient
City of York" (vol. i., p. 514), says we may trace the
origin of horse-racing far beyond the days of Camden,
" even to the time of the Romans." Referring to the
races at York, he observes : " We know that the
Campos Martios was the place where the illustrious
Roman youths performed every kind of exercise
peculiar to the age, such as throwing the discus,
hurling the javelin, wrestling, etc. ; and where they
also practised the diversion of horse-racing and chariot-
racing ; hence, if Drake was correct in his idea, we may
figure to ourselves the gay scenes which were exhibited,
though they are not recorded in the page of history." '"

It does not come within the scope of this work to
minutely trace the nature and variety of all the foreign
strains of the equine race introduced and subsequently

* "'Just within the entrenchments,' says Morton, writing in 1712,
' the whole circuit of the Area, excepting only about a Quarter of a
Mile in the Northern part of it, has for several years been a celebrated
Course for Horse Races ; which, as it has been measured, and is now
usually computed, wants about 28 Yards of Two Miles.'" — "Natural
Hist. Northamptonshire." On the preceding Baker observes : — " The
Britons were much attached to this diversion. May not this have been
one of their Cursus ? Others have been traced on the Wiltshire downs.
In modern times the races here were held annually for two, and some-
times three days, till the year 1741, when they were practically discon-
tinued, though occasionally resumed till the hill was enclosed." — "Hist,
and Antq. of the Town and Co. of Northampton," vol. i., p. 347.

Book I.] ORIGIN OF THE TURF. 21

cultivated in the British Islands for racing and other
purposes. It must here suffice to mention that all the
horses which have been successful on the Turf, have
been, from the earliest times, of Eastern descent.
Thus, in the earliest mention of horse-races in England,
in the reign of the Emperor Severus Alexander
(a.d. 210), at Netherby in Yorkshire, the horses were
delicate Arabs of famous speed and stamina, but so
unsuitable to this climate that their owners were
obliged to construct an enclosed training ground in
order to prepare them for their engagements.* The
other stations in England identified with the Turf
during the Roman occupation were Rushborough,
Carleon, Silchester, and Dorchester. The superiority
of the English thoroughbred horse is attributable, if
not directly traceable, to the Eastern blood introduced
and maintained by the Romans at the period above
mentioned. Subsequently the best English mares
were covered by Arabian stallions which continued to
be imported during the early and middle ages, and in
a more marked degree and more closely allied with
the Turf, in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth
centuries.

Horse-racing is incidentally mentioned in the
Anglo-Saxon era. When the Saxon youth attained
the age of fifteen he had the right of choosing his path
in life. At this period we find them striving to excel
each other in horse-racing. A person in Bede describes
himself as one of a party who on their journey came
to a spacious plain adapted to a race-course. The

' Basilicam equestran exercitatoriam. Vide Brace's " Roman Wall."

22 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book I.

young- men were anxious to prove their horses in the
greater course, or, as the Saxon translator expresses it,
that " we might run and try which had the swiftest
horse. The individual spoken of at last joined them,
but his animated horse, attempting to clear a cavity in
the way, by a violent leap, the youth was thrown
senseless against a stone, and with difficulty brought
to life." This probably occurred at Newmarket,
within the dominion of East Anglia, in the reign of
Edmund King and Martyr ; but in those days New-
market Heath was unknown and unnamed, nor indeed
had Cambridgeshire any geographical identification.

"If we appeal to the poets," says Strutt, "we shall find
that swift-running horses were greatly esteemed by the heroes
who figure in their romances, and rated at prodigious prices ;
for instance, in an ancient poem, which celebrates the warlike
actions of Richard the First, it is said, that in the camp of the
Emperor, as he is called, of Cyprus,

Two stedes fownde kinge Richarde,

Thatt von Favell, thatt other Lyard ;

Yn this worlde, they hadde no pare [equal] ;

Dromedary, neither destrere,

Stede, rabyte, ne cammele, [steed, rabbit, or camel]

Goeth none so swyfte withoute fayle ;

For a thousand pownd of golde,

Ne sholde the one be solde.

And although the rhymist may be thought to have claimed
the poetical licence for exaggeration respecting the value of
these two famous steeds, the statement plainly indicates that
in his time there were horses very highly prized on account of
their swiftness. We do not find, indeed, that they were kept
for the purpose of racing only, as horses are in the present
day, but rather for hunting and other purposes of a similar
nature ; and also to be used by heralds and messengers in case
of urgency." *

* " Rural Sports," book i., chap, iii., sect. 7.

Book I.] PROGRESS OF THE TURF. 23

"Running-horses," observes Strutt, "are frequently men-
tioned in the registers of the royal expenditure. It is
notorious," he adds, " that King John was so fond of swift
horses and dogs for the chase, that he received many of his
fines in one or the other ; but at the same time, it does not
appear that he used the horses for any purpose of pleasure
beyond the pursuits of hunting, hawking, and such like sports
of the field." * King John was a large importer of horses
of Eastern breed, of which many are mentioned as having
been purchased by him, in the Misoe and other rolls of his
reign.

Fitz Stephen mentions horse-races as having occurred in
Smithfield in the reign of Henry II. But it is probable these
were more in the nature of tests, preparatory to sales, than
regular organized meetings, and do not apply to the Turf in
a modern sense. However, the earliest description of a
horse-race, /^-r se, that we have discovered, took place in 1377.
Unfortunately the locality where it took place is not men-
tioned. The horses in question belonged to the Prince of
Wales (afterwards Richard II.) and the Earl of Arundel —
owners up. It is described as follows by the Marquis de
Saluces (a contemporary writer) in a unique manuscript
formerly preserved in the Royal Library, Paris : —

" Un jour li Roy une feste faisoit

De son filz qui chevalier faire vouloit,

Lk, faisoit courer les destriers,

Et si y avoit joiaulz chiers,

Qui devoient estre cellui

Qui avoit meilleur cheval o lui,

Et qui mieulx seroit courant

Et aux joiaulz plus tost venant.

Lk furent assemblez

Tous les destriers de mains contriez.

Le filz le Roy y fu mesmement,

Qui bien cuidoit estre gangnant

Car cuidoit avoir meilleur destrier

Que on peut nulle part trouver ;

Mais au derrein ce fu pour ndant,

Que Bovez fut trestous passant

* " Rural Sports," book i., chap, iii., sect. 6.

24 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book I.

Par la force de son destrier,
Qui en mains lieux lui fu mestier,
Ce fu Arondel le courant ;
N'est meilleur ou firmament."

It seems that the Earl of Arundel's ^ horse subsequently-
passed into the possession of Sir Alured de Vere, from whom
it was purchased by Richard ^ soon after his accession to the
crown for a sum equal to about ^^4000 in our money, as
appears by a writ of Privy Seal dated April 5th, 1378.*

2 Richard Fitzalan, 14th Earl OF Arundel, is said to
have been the first issue of his father's second marriage with
Eleanor Beaumont, and was probably born about the year
1346. He was a Knight of the Garter, and held various
important offices of state, particularly that of Lord High
Admiral of England. In the spring of 1387, the earl put
to sea with a powerful force, and if a series of brilliant suc-
cesses could have atoned for the political crimes into which
he afterwards suffered himself to be betrayed, the splendour
of his present achievements might fairly have vindicated him
in the eyes of the world. His first exploit was to capture a
large convoy of French, Spanish, and Flemish merchantmen,
numbering over a hundred sail, which he intercepted in its
return from Rochelle. To disencumber himself of the im-
mense booty he had acquired, he returned to harbour with
upwards of a hundred sail, which he had taken, and a quantity
of wine, according to one historian of no less than nineteen
thousand tuns. Froissart informs us that, in consequence of
this capture, the best wine was for several months sold in
London at fourpence the gallon. After refitting his vessels,
he once more embarked for the French coast ; and, having
thrown provisions into the town of Brest, then besieged by
the Duke of Bretagne, sailed to Sluys, destroyed and captured
the vessels in the harbour, and laid waste to the country to
a distance of more than ten leagues. This terminated his
operations until the following spring, when they were renewed
with equal success on the western coast of France ; and

* Issue Roll, Michaelmas, i Rich. II., Manuscript P. R. O.

Book L] IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 25

Torigni, Marans, Rochelle, with the numerous ports in Sain-
tonge, Poictou, and Normandy, were successively compelled
to acknowledge the power of his arms.

It is not within our province to follow the political move-
ment of the earl from this date to 1389, when he was dismissed
from his offices by the king ; but in the course of the following
year he succeeded in effecting his reconciliation at court, and
in August, 1390, we find him engaged in a hunting party
with the sovereign, on the estate of the Duke of Lancaster,
at Leicester. In 1394 he obtained an especial pardon for
all his political offences ; and, having become disgusted with
public life, procured a particular exemption from all attend-
ance in Parliament for the future.

During five years Arundel continued to enjoy that privacy
which the tumultuous scenes of his past life must have rendered
more than usually delightful. But on July 12th, 1397, he
was suddenly seized, hurried to the Tower, and thence, for
greater security, conveyed to Carisbrook Castle, in the Isle
of Wight. His arraignment, trial, and execution, for an
alleged treason, for which he had already obtained a full
pardon, is a matter of history. When the sentence was pro-
nounced he turned to his guards, cheerfully resigned himself
to their charge, and was instantly hurried from Westminster
to Tower Hill, the place appointed for the scene of his last
conflict. When he had ascended the platform, he paused for
a moment to survey the assembled multitude, took up the
axe which lay upon the block before him, and, having felt its
edge, playfully remarked that it was sufficiently sharp, and
that he hoped the executioner would perform his office ex-
peditiously. He then knelt down, and at one stroke his head
was severed from his body. Thus was done to death Richard
Fitzalan, 14th Earl of Arundel, one of the fathers of the
British Turf in the Dark Ages.*

* "The Hist, and Antq. of the Castle and Town of Arundel," by the
Rev. M. A. Tierney (F.S.A. Lend., 1834), pp. 240-276. It is worth
noting that the earl bequeathed to his brother, the Archbishop of Canter-
bury, a gilt and enamelled cup, " with the stag on its cover," which may
have been a prize won at some horse-race. His effects amounted in the

26 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book I.

^ Richard of Bordeaux, son and heir of the Black Prince,
ascended the throne, on the death of his grandfather, Edward
III., June 21, 1377. The chief events of RiCHARD II.'s stormy-
reign — the expedition to Bretagne, the ensuing poll-tax, the
insurrection under Wat Tyler, the dawn of the Reformation
under Wycliffe, the translation of the Bible, the expedition
to Ireland, Bolingbroke's usurpation, Richard's return to
England, his deposition and imprisonment in Rhuddlan
Castle, the proceedings in Parliament, the loyalty of the
Man of Newmarket, and the accession of Bolingbroke — are
too prominent events in the history of England to require
any further allusion at our hands. None of our historians
refer to Richard as a Turfite ; many of them are contradictory
as to the cause of his death. Shakespeare, as a rule, is not
safe to follow on strictly historical subjects ; but as the
Immortal Bard of Avon gave the best tip on record for the
Derby of 1884,* we are induced to give the poet's version of
the last scenes of the earthly career of Richard II. After
Bolingbroke assumed the purple and occupied the throne, by
the title of Henry IV., he did not deem himself secure as
long as his deposed cousin lived. Deciding to have Richard
murdered, Bolingbroke employed Sir Pierce Exton to do the
deed. He proceeds to Pomfret, where Richard is confined
a prisoner in the dungeon of the castle. Here we find the
dethroned monarch in abject misery, almost longing for death,
when a visitor arrives : a poor groom, formerly employed in
the royal stable, who, travelling towards York, with much
ado, got leave to look upon his sometime royal master's face.
He mentions the joyous scenes in the streets as Bolingbroke
went to be crowned at Westminster, mounted on roan Bar-
bary, the horse that Richard often bestrode, the horse that
he (the groom) used to so carefully dress. The incident
revives old memories and pleasing incidents in the poor cap-
tive's breast, and thus the dialogue proceeds —

aggregate to 108,395 marks 12s. \d., which, according to a calculation
made by Peter le Neve in 1709, would have been equal, at that date, in
modern currency, to ^4,335,833 lis. %d.

* See King Richard II., Act II., Scene i, last line.

Book I.] RICHARD II. 27

King Richard. Rode he on Barbary ? Tell me, gentle friend,
How went he under him ?

Groom. So proudly as if he had disdain'd the ground.

King Richard. So proud that Bolingbroke was on his back !
That jade hath eat bread from my royal hand ;
This hand hath made him proud with clapping him.
Would he not stumble 'i Would he not fall down,
(Since pride must have a fall,) and break the neck
Of that proud man that did usurp his back ?
Forgiveness, horse ! why do I rail on thee,
Since thou, created to be awed by man,
Wast born to bear .' I was not made a horse ;
And yet I bear a burden like an ass,
Spur-gall'd, and tired, by jauncing Bolingbroke.

The groom takes his leave, and soon after Exton arrives
and assassinates Richard, who, after a futile effort to defend
himself, falls —

As full of valour, as of royal blood.

"In the Middle Ages," says Strutt, "there were certain
seasons of the year when the nobility indulged themselves in
running horses, and especially in the Easter and Whitsuntide
holidays. In the old metrical romance of ' Sir Bevis of
Southampton,' it is said —

In former at Whitsontyde,
Whan knightes most on horsebacke ride ;
A cours, let they make on a daye,
Steedes, and Palfraye, for to assaye ;
Whiche horse, that best may ren,
Three myles the cours was then,
Who that might ryde him shoulde
Have forty pounds of redy golde.

" A writer of the seventeenth century tells us that horse-
racing, which had formerly been practised at Eastertide, ' was
then put down as being contrary to the holiness of the season ; '
but for this prohibition I have no further authority." *

Strutt mentions that "in the reign of Edward III., run-
ning horses purchased for the king's service were generally
estimated at twenty marks, or ;^I3 6s. 8d. each; but some
few of them were prized as high as twenty-five marks. I

* " Sports and Pastimes," book i., chap, iii., p. 32.

28 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book T.

met with an entry," he adds, "dated the ninth year of this
king's reign, which states, that the King of Navarre sent
him as a present two running-horses, which, I presume, were
very valuable, because he gave the person who brought them
no less than one hundred shillings for his reward." *

The contemporary and unknown author of a French
Metrical History of the Deposition of Richard 11. (now pre-
served in the British Museum) says the king had " many a
good horse of foreign breed." Towards the close of his grand-
father's wars in France, coursers had become so scarce that
the Parliament of 1370 interfered to check the exorbitant
demands of the dealers. No serious drain from the same
cause could have taken place now for some years ; but it
appears that Richard drew the choicest of his stud from
abroad.

The king was seldom at a loss for ordinary horses when
any particular occasion called for them ; he had only to go to
the abbeys. They were all ransacked for this purpose when
he was about to attend at a conference with the King of
France at Calais ; and great demands were made upon them
for the campaign in Ireland. " Religion," says a contemporary
satirist, " is a rider, a pricker of a palfrey from manor to
manor," and Chaucer,t who has frequently noticed the subject,
observes of his monk :

" Full many a daintie horse had he in stable ; "

and mentions the high condition of that on which he rode ;
" his hors in great estate," or " of price."

The young gallant of the period likewise aspired, and

* " Sports and Pastimes," book i., chap, iii., sec. 6.

t Also referred to by other old writers :

Le Roman de Roncevaux MS. : Et sui montd el bon Cheval de pris.

Le Roman de Gay don MS. : Un Chevalier sor un D'estrier de pris.

Le Roman fl'i? Garin MS. : En Destre meinent les Auferrans de pris.

Infra : Girbert se sist sor le Cheval de pris.

Le Roman de Girard de Vientie MS. : S'or me donnez ce bon Destrer
de pris.

It is obvious these were thoroughbreds of the period, and known as
" horses of price," and doubtless were of Eastern descent —

Le Roman d' A this MS. : Chevaulx d'Espaigne et Arabis.

Book I.] STUDS. 29

stopped at no cost, to obtain swift coursers. The attendant
upon Richesse in the Romaunte of the Rose is a counterpart
of Richard II. in this particular —

" Hys luste was moche in housholdynge,
In clothyng he was full fetyse,
And loved well to have a horse of pryse.
He wende to have reproved be
Of thefte or murdre, yf that he
Had in hys stable an hackenay.

Much abuse occurred in the impressment of horses for the
king's service, for which remedy was provided by the statute
20 Rich. II., c. 5, against "people of evil condition, who of
their own authority take and cause to be taken royally horses,
saying and devising that they be to ride on hasty messages
and business, whereof truth they be no wise privy to any
business or message ; but only in deceipt and subtility by such
colour and device do take horses, and the said hastily do ride,
and evil thereat, having no manner of conscience or compassion
in this behalf ; so that the said horses become all spoiled and
foundered, paying no manner of thing nor penny for the same,
nor giving them any manner of sustenance ; " and to complete
this picture of cheating it further states that " some such
manner of people changing and altering their names, do take
and ride such horses, and carry them far from thence to
another place, so that they to whom they belong can never
after by any means see, have again, nor know their said horses
where they be." It was usual to feed coursers in training
with horse-bread {payn pour chivmiLx), and to set their coats
with cloths.*

Some of the nobility were great breeders, and kept large
studs ; and the wealthy regular clergy always encouraged a
race of good horses.

Horses of Eastern breed [cotircers, etc.), for racing,
etc., as we have already mentioned, were cultivated
in our country when it was ruled by the Romans,
the Anglo-Saxons, and the Normans. Great im-

* Cotton, MS. Vesp. F. XIII. 43.

30 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book I.

portance was attached to the royal studs, and to
those kept up by the great barons and ecclesiastics
throughout the country. These examples could
be largely multiplied if it were necessary to adduce
further proofs of the antiquity and the cultivation
of Eastern strains to temp. Richard II.* And there
is no doubt, at this particular epoch, the thoroughbred
English horse (" Eques Britannicus ") was characteristic
of the nation. They were recognized, and their praises
sung, abroad, where their owners invariably carried
off the Mantle f with them ; while at home they must
have been equally known to fame, although their
victories have found no recorder, or if recorded the
chronicles have perished.

* Cursor Equus, Coicrsier. Will. Malmesbury, lib. 2. de Gestis Ang.
cap. 6 : Equos Cursores plurimos, cum phaleris fulvum, ut Maro ait,
mandentes sub dentibus aurum (a.d. 926).

Guntherus, lib. 7. Ligurini :

Non tamen aut galea muniri tempera curat,
Aut Cursoris equi, quo prtelia semper agebat,
Officio fungi, etc.

See in Conseuetudine Andegavensi, art. 47, et Cenomanensi, art. 55.

Custodes Equicii Regis. — Abbr. Rotul., torn, i., p. 234, b. Suth., rot.
loetp. 273, b. Essex, rot. 12 et torn, ii., p. 53, b. 71, b. 97, b. etc. Equi
jumenta et Equita, p. 257, b. Ebor, rot. 5. Custodia equorum, jumen-
torum, pullanorum et Equicii, ibid., p. 211, b. Ebor., rot. 23. Equos,
equas, et pullanos de Equitio, Dom. Reg. Oxon., rot. 11, p. 131. —
Collection of expenses, etc., of the royal studs, etc. in P.R.O.

t The usual prize given on the Continent for horse-races, about this
period, was a mantle of silk, cloth, or rich stuff. See Petrarch's reference
to English horses. For description of the races at Milan, Florence,
Pisa, etc., etc., see " Memoirs of Sir John Hawkwood," Lond. 1780 — 1782,
No. IV. The horses brought by English pilgrims to the Holy Land in
the fourteenth century were much prized by potentates in "foreign" parts
" beyond the seas." Some interesting references to horse-racing in Spain
about this period, when the Peninsula was the home of the thoroughbred
barb, will be found in the Chevalier de Bourgoame's Travels, ch. iii.,
ed. Paris, 1803.

Book L] THE WARS OF THE ROSES. 31

Unhappily, the deposition of Richard II., and after-
wards the Wars of the Roses, effectually put a stop
to all rural sports in England, except at rare intervals,
until the accession of the House of Tudor. We have
seen the Land Leaguers in Ireland putting down
hunting and racing in that island. We can imagine
the impossibility of any sports in England during
the Civil Wars, at any rate there is no rural history
of that terrible period ; it is all fire, rapine, and the
sword. Those who had good horses were only too
glad to dispose of them at any price, and many a
noble thoroughbred was surreptitiously sent out of the
country. Foreign breeders made much of the oppor-
tunity, and secured the best strains, doubtless, on very
easy terms. This was a sad calamity — the results of
breeding for centuries being almost annihilated. Yet,
curiously enough, after several generations had elapsed,
some descendants of those English thoroughbreds
" worth their weight in silver," came back to England
in the reign of Henry VIII.*

The House of Este — both the German and Italian
branches respectively, Dukes of Ferrara and Mantua
— was closely connected by marriage, etc., with the
sovereigns of England from this period to temp.
Queen Mary. These dukes obtained, from time to
time, some of the best thoroughbreds at the royal studs
in England, which they cultivated with the greatest

* English thoroughbred horses were first imported to America about
1 50 years ago. We see their descendants, Foxhall and Iroquois, taking
the highest prizes on the turf, and probably the best horses of the day.
An analogous case is furnished in Henry VIII.'S Governatore and
Altobello.

32 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book I.

assiduity. At the commencement of the Wars of the
Roses, Borso of Este, created Duke of Ferrara by
Pope Pius II., obtained many of the best thoroughbreds
our country possessed, with which he augmented
his stud, and probably made it one of the best to
be found at that time in the world. His successor,
Duke Hercules, likewise obtained some of the best
strains it was possible to procure in England and
Ireland.* Many of these, especially the Eltham breed,
were at the Mantua paddocks highly prized and
carefully preserved, so much so, that the strain of
English blood {equi. Brit?) was carefully transmitted
and reintroduced into this country in 1515.

From the earliest times horses could be taken for the
service of the king without warrant (see Mag. Car, Statutes —
25 Edw. I., c. 21 ; -^^6 Edw. III., cc. 4, 5). In the reign of

* The four first Marquises of Este were brought into juxtaposition
with England from 1377 to 1450, and originally bore the title of "Vicar
of the See Apostolic in Ferrara." Marquis Leonello took for his second
wife Maria, natural daughter of Alfonso of Aragon, who expelled Rdn^ of
Anjo from Naples on the ist of June, 1442. On the 30th of May, 1445,
King Rand's daughter, Marguerite, was crowned Queen of England in
Westminster Hall. Early in her tempestuous reign we find the beautiful
young queen evincing her solicitude for the cultivation of letters and race-
horses. She founded Queen's College in Cambridge, and sent her Master
of the Horse, Reynold Chicheley, with a draft of horses from the Eltham ^
stud to the Marquis, who was so pleased with the present, and knowing
the queen's predilection for literature, that he appointed Chicheley to the
renowned office of rector of the "Alimental University" of Ferrara
{insigne officiwn rectoratiis alini studii hi iirbc I'estra Ferrarte/ise), for
which she returned most hearty thanks.

1 Eltham was recently celebrated for the stud of the late Mr.
Blenkiron. On his death, in 1872, it was sold by Messrs. Tattersall,
when the sale realized ^107,100. It was finally sold off in 1883. The
Middle Park Plate, founded in 1866, and still a great two-year-old prize at
Newmarket, unintentionally perpetuates associations of the Turf and
thoroughbred horses of an almost forgotten age !

Book L] THE TOWN AND THE HEATH. 33

Henry VII. the exportation of horses and mares beyond the seas
was prohibited, presumably because all the best, for which the
country was celebrated, had been sent abroad, and none but
inferior breeds left behind. Henry VIII. likewise prohibited
the exportation of horses to foreign parts beyond the seas
(Calais, of course, being excepted), as also to Scotland —
selling a horse to a Scotchman without the king's license
being felony to buyer and seller. A few years later, by
the statute of 27 Hen. VIII., c. 6 — which recites the case of
decay in English horses — owners and farmers of parks, etc.,
should keep brood mares not less than thirteen hands high,
on penalty of Aps. per month ; and four mares should be
kept on every park of four miles in extent, under like penalty.
By a somewhat later statute it was enacted that no stoned
horses under fifteen hands high shall be put to pasture in any
forest, etc., within certain counties specified ; nor under fourteen
hands high in other counties, on penalty of forfeiture thereof.
Next, by the 33 Henry VIII., c. 5, archbishops and dukes had
to maintain seven stoned trotting horses for the saddle ;
marquises, earls, and bishops, five ditto ; viscounts, barons,
etc., having incomes to the value of 1000 marks, three ditto ;
others with incomes of 500 marks, two ditto ; and those in
receipt of ^100 a year, " whose wife shall wear any gown of
silk, or any French hood or bonnet of velvet, with any habili-
ment, paste, or 0:%^ of gold, pearl, or stone, or any chain of
gold about their necks, or in their partlets, or in any apparel
of their body," one ditto, under penalty, etc., etc. Many of
these acts were renewed and extended under Edw. VI., Philip
and Mary, and Elizabeth.

Although there is no authority for the assumption,
it is nevertheless possible that the match between the
Earl of Arundel and Richard II. may have been
contested on Newmarket Heath. The locality had
long been famous for exhibitions of equestrian art.
Thus in 1309, Edward 11. interdicted a tournament
which was to be held there on the Feast of St. George.

VOL. I. D

34 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book I.

A similar event was prohibited in 131 3, when the
king warned his nobles generally, and seven of them
by name, not to attend the tournament at " Novum
Mercatum," on the 17th of January of that year.
Among those " named " were the Earl of Pembroke,*
the Earl of Gloucester and Hertford,^ the Earl of
Surrey,^ Paganus de Tybotot, William de Latimer,
and Bartholomew de Badelesmere.*

Holinshed, in referring to the great floods and
inundations which happened in England in 1393,
says that at Newmarket the deluge knocked down
the walls of houses and brought men and women
in great danger of drowning.^

Margaret of Anjou, Queen of Henry VI., was at
Newmarket early in the year 1453, when she gave
two men, whose stable was burnt down, £1-^ 6^-. 8«f.J

In those days the road towards Newmarket was
well known to the pilgrims to the shrine of Our Lady
of Walsingham.§

The town of Newmarket is divided into two parishes,
All Saints' and St. Mary's, the former being in Chiveley
hundred, Cambridgeshire, and the latter in Lackford hundred,
Suffolk, the High street dividing the two counties. It is

* Reymer's " Foedera " and " Calendar of Patent Rolls."

t Mr. H. T. Riley, editor of Walsingham's "Ypodigma Neustris " (p.
365), with reference to the " great inundations at Bury and Newmarket "
in 1393, gives the following reading of the text : " Aquarum inundatio
apud Bury tanta ruit, ut aream adimpleret ecclesice, et apud Novum
Forum parietes domorum dirueret, et viris illic, ac mulieribus, pene
periculum dimersionis inferret, in Octobrio."

X Strickland, " Lives of the Queens of England," vol. ii., p. 209.

§ The stages between London and Walsingham used to be as
follows : — From London to Ware, 20 miles ; to Newmarket, 34 miles ; to
Brandon Ferry, 10 miles ; to Dickham, 10 miles ; and thence to
Walsingham, 12 miles. Total 86 miles.

Book I.] THE EARL OF PEMBROKE. 35

distant sixty miles from London, and thirteen east from
Cambridge, and is in the rural deanery of Fordham, arch-
deaconry of Sudbury, and diocese of Ely. Under the new
Redistribution of Seats Act, the Newmarket division of
Cambridgeshire is entitled to return one member of
Parliament.

*Adomarus de Valentia, Comes Pembrochiae, as he is called
in the royal mandamus, was Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl
OF Pembroke, third son and successor of William de
Luzignan, otherwise De Valence, Earl of Pembroke, killed
in battle in France, A.D. 1296. Aymer, the 2nd Earl, was in
the wars of Scotland, temp. Edward I., and obtained consider-
able grants from the crown in that kingdom. Being with the
king at Burgh-upon-the-Sands, immediately before the death
of Edward I., he was one of those to whom the king recom-
mended his son, and enjoined him not to suffer Piers de
Gaveston to come into England again, for which he was
ever after much hated by Piers, " being called by him
' Joseph the Jew,' in regard he was tall and pale of counte-
nance." He subsequently joined the coalition against the
power of Gaveston, and assisted at the siege of Scarborough
Castle, in which, upon its surrender, the favourite was made
prisoner, and was soon after beheaded, by order of the Earl
of Warwick, at Blackburn Hill, near Warwick. In the 8th
Edward H., the Earl of Pembroke was constituted general
of all the king's forces, from the river Trent, northwards, to
Roxborough, and he obtained license to make a castle of his
house at Bampton, in Oxfordshire. Two years later he was
again in the Scottish wars, but being made prisoner in his
journey towards the court of Rome, by John Moilley, a
Burgundian, and sent to the emperor, he was constrained to
give twenty thousand pounds of silver for his ransom ; by
reason, Moilley alleged, that he himself, having served the
king of England, had not been paid his wages. After
obtaining his liberty, his lordship returned to the wars in
Scotland, and for several subsequent years was engaged in
that kingdom. In the 15th Edward II. he was one of the

36 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book I.

lords who sat in judgment upon Thomas Plantagenet, Earl
of Lancaster, and condemned that Prince to death : " but
this mercenary and time-serving act of infamy," it is said, was
speedily atoned for by his own death, which occurred in two
years after in France, where, attending Queen Isabel, he was
murdered, June 27, 1323. He married ist, Beatrix, daughter
of Ralph de Claremont, Seigneur de Nele, Constable of France ;
2ndly, a daughter of Count de Barre ; and 3rdly, Mary (who
was great-granddaughter, maternally, of King Henry HI.
She founded, by grant from her cousin, Edward III., the
college of Mary de Valence, in Cambridge, now called
Pembroke Hall), daughter of Guy de Chastillion, Comte de
St. Paul, but had no issue. His remains were conveyed to
England, and buried in Westminster Abbey. On the earl's
decease, his estates passed to his sisters as co-heirs, and the
Earldom of Pembroke became extinct.

^ Gilbertus de Clare, Comes Gloucestriae et Hertfordiae —
eldest son of Gilbert de Clare, surnamed the Red, 7th Earl
OF Hertford and 3rd Earl of Gloucester, and Alice,
daughter of Guy, Earl of Angoulesme, and niece of the
King of France — succeeded his father in 1295. He married
Maud, daughter of Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster. Like
the celebrated Sir Giles Argentine, of Newmarket, he was
killed at the battle of Bannockburn, June 24, 13 14; and
leaving no issue, his large possessions devolved upon his three
sisters, his co-heiresses, and the Earldom of Gloucester and
Hertford became extinct.

^ Johannes de Warenna, Comes Surriai, posthumous son of
William de Warren (eldest son of John de Warren [Plan-
tagenet], Earl of Warren and Surrey) and Joane, daughter
of Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford. His father was killed
in a tournament at Croydon, December 12, 1285. On the
death of his grandfather, in 1304, this Earl of Surrey,
named in the royal mandamus prohibiting the tournament
at Newmarket, succeeded to the honours and estates of his
ancestors. He had the honour of knighthood conferred upon

Book 1.] THE EARL OF SURREY. 37

him, with two hundred other persons of distinction, in the 34th
Edward I., when Prince Edward was also knighted with great
solemnity. In the last year of Edward I. his lordship was
in the expedition made into Scotland, wherein that victorious
prince died. In the 4th of the next reign, he was again in
Scotland, and so much in favour with Edward II. that he
obtained a free grant of the castle and honour of Peke, in
Derbyshire, with the whole forest of High Peke, to hold
during his life, in as full and ample manner as William
Peverel anciently enjoyed the same, before it came to the
kings of England by escheat. In the ensuing year we find
the Earl of Surrey, along with the Earl of Pembroke,
besieging Piers Gaveston, in Scarborough Castle, and forcing
him to surrender. He was, some years afterwards, one of
those who invested the castle of Pontefract, at that time held
by Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, and his adherents ; and he
subsequently sat in judgment upon that eminent personage.
In the reign of Edward III. the earl appears constantly
engaged in the wars of Scotland. He married ist, Joane,
daughter of Count de Barre, by whom he had no issue. In
the lifetime of this lady he cohabited publicly with Maud de
Nereford, a person of good family in Norfolk, but was at
length obliged, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, to break
off the connection. He obtained a divorce, however, from his
countess, on the ground of a pre-contract with this Maud.
He married, subsequently, Johanna, eldest daughter and heir
of Malise, 7th Earl of Strathern, in Scotland, and had a
grant of that earldom from Edward Baliol. His wife was
forfeited by Robert Bruce, for marrying the Earl of Surrey.
He died June 30, 1347, aged sixty-one, when, as he left no
legitimate issue, his sister Alice, wife of Edmund Fitz-Alan,
8th Earl of Arundel, became his heir, and conveyed the great
estates of the Warrens (Plantagenets) to the Fitz-Alan family.
Her ladyship's son, Richard Fitz-Alan, 9th Earl of Arundel,
is considered to have succeeded to the Earldom of Surrey,
and so styled himself; but it is doubtful if he were ever
formally invested with that dignity. He died in 1375, and
was succeeded by his son and heir, Richard Fitz-Alan, Earl

38 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book T.

of Arundel and Surrey, who was beheaded in 1397, when all
his honours became forfeited.

We can find no reliable trace of the three other gentlemen
mentioned in the royal mandamus prohibiting the holding of
this Newmarket meeting.

As to the local and manorial history of the town
and the vicinity of Newmarket, the Rev. Dr. Dibden,
writing in 1832, says that in 1227, a contagion or
plague having broken out at Exning, its ma^'ket was
removed to the adjoining village, and hence the origin
of the appellation New-market. He, unfortunately,
gives no authority for that assertion (which we are
unable to substantiate) ; nevertheless, we are in duty-
bound to pay the highest respect to any statement
emanating from the erudite author of the Bibliograph-
ical Decameron. The earliest contemporary allusion
to Newmarket is in the grant of Henry III. to Richard
de Argentine, dated February 17, 1226-7, of which
the following is a literal translation : —

" For Richard de Argent.' Henry the King, etc.,
greeting. Know ye that we have granted and by this
our present charter have confirmed to our beloved and
faithful Richard de Argent' and his heirs that the
Sheriff of Suffolk every year for ever should come once
to his manor of Newmarket to make view of frank-
pledge in his court of the same town of his men in
that manor. We have granted also to the said Richard
and his heirs the amercements if there be any from the
aforesaid view of frank-pledge. So that the said Sheriff
of Suffolk should not take nor have anything from
those amercements. We have granted also to the said
Richard and his heirs for ever that they should have

Book I.] MANORIAL GRANTS. 39

every week a market on Tuesday at his manor of
Halesworth' and that they should have every year at
his aforesaid manor of Newmarket a fair to last for
three days namely on the vigil of the Apostles Simon
and Jude and on the day and on the morrow with all
liberties and free customs to such market and fair
belonging. So that the aforesaid market and fair be
not to the injury of the neighbouring markets and fairs.
Wherefore we will and firmly command that the afore-
said Sheriff of Suffolk every year for ever should come
once to the aforesaid manor of Newmarket to make
view of frank-pledge in the court of the said Richard
and of his heirs of the said town of his men remainingr
in that manor, that the amercements forthcoming from
that view of frank-pledge should belong to the said
Richard and his heirs. So that the said Sheriff should
not take nor have anything from those amercements
and that the said Richard and his heirs should have
every week a market at his Manor of Halesworth' on
Tuesday and every year a fair at his manor of New-
market to last for three days with all liberties and free
customs and acquittances to such market and fair
belonging as is aforesaid. These being witnesses E.
of London, J. of Bath, P. of Winchester, R. of Sarum,
Bishops, H. de Burg' Earl of Kent our Justiciar, W.
earl of Albemarle, W. de Eynef our steward, H. de
Capella and others. Given by our hand &c. at West-
minster the 1 7th day of February in the year &c. the
1 ith." — Charter Roll, 11 Henry HI., part i., mem. 26.,
No. 18. MS. Public Record Office.

In a Close Roll of 11 Henry HI., dated at Bur-

40 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book I.

well, April 21, 1227 (where the king was then
present), a slight difference will be observed —

f Rico de Argentoein. D'n's Rex concessit Rico de Argen-
toein q'd feria qua consuevit hire ap maneriu suu de Novo
M'cato vigil' 't die't 1 c'^stino Sci Egidii usq' ad etate diii R.
vigil' 't die'' 1 c"stino Aplo^" Simois 't Jude, nisi 'tg. Et mand'
est Vic Suff q'd feria ilia clamari 't ten'i faciat sic predcm est.
T.R.ap BurewelI,*xxj.dieAp'l. — Rot.Litt. Clans. ,No\.\\.,'^. io6a.

In 1293 Reginald de Argentine, ist Baron de
Argentine obtained the confirmation of the grant made
by Henry III. to his predecessor in the year 1227 : —

" For Reginald de Argentem. The King to the
Archbishops etc. greeting. Know ye that we have
granted and by this our charter have confirmed to our
beloved and faithful Reginald de Argentem that he
and his heirs for ever may have a fair at his manor of
Newmarket in the county of Suffolk every year to last
for eight days namely on the supervigil and on the
vigil and on the day and on the morrow of St. Bar-
nabas the apostle and during the four days following.
And a fair at his manor of Haleswarth' in the county

* Burwell lies about four miles north-west of Newmarket. Burwell
Castle, of which some vestiges remain, was besieged in the reign of King
Stephen by Gefifory de Mandeville, Earl of Essex, who lost his life by a
wound from an arrow before its walls. The manor of Tiptofts, in this
parish, takes its name from the baronial family of Tiptoft, who possessed
it in the year 1277, before which time it belonged to the family of Camois.
John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester, died seised of this and other manors in
the neighbourhood, in 1470. From the Earl of Worcester, these estates
passed by descent to Sir Thomas Lovell, ^emp. Queen Elizabeth. In
1632 the property was held by the Marche family ; and about the begin-
ning of the present century it belonged to the Earl of Aylesford, whose
father acquired it by marriage with the younger daughter of Charles, Duke
of Somerset. A memorable and most melancholy incident happened at
Burwell in the year 1727, when seventy-nine persons, being spectators at
a puppet-show, exhibited in a barn, lost their lives in consequence of a
fire which destroyed the building, when the audience were burnt to death.

Book I.]

THE FAIRS.

41

aforesaid every year to last for four days namely on
the vigil and on the day and on the morrow of St.
Luke the Evangelist and during one day following.
Unless those fairs be to the injury of the neighbouring
fairs. Wherefor we will and firmly command for us
and our heirs that the aforesaid Reginald and his heirs
for ever may have the aforesaid fairs at their manors
aforesaid with all liberties and free customs to such
fairs belonging. Unless those fairs be to the injury of
the neighbouring fairs as is aforesaid. These being
witnesses the venerable fathers J. Archbishop of Dublin,
J. of Winchester, A. of Durham and W. of Ely, Bishops,
Edmund our brother, Edmund Earl of Cornwall our
kinsman, John de Warren Earl of Surrey, Reginald de
Grey, John de St. John, Walter de Bello Campo,
Richard de Bosco and others. Given by the king's
hand at Westminster the 27th day of June. By the
King himself, Hugh de Veer informing him." — Charter
Roll, 21 Edward I., mem. 2, No. 10. MS. P.R.O.

Before proceeding further we will now give a brief
biographical account of the lords of the manor of
Newmarket.

The earliest documentary reference
to the Argentine family in the county
of Suffolk occurs in the 5th year of
Stephen, A.D. 1140, when Maud, widow
of Reginald de Argentine, obtained
licence from the king to marr>' again,
she having to pay that monarch a com-
position for her dowry.

This Reginald was succeeded by
another Reginald de Argentine,
sheriff of the counties of Cambridee

and Huntingdon,

42 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book I.

from the fifth to the eighth years of Richard I. (a.d. 1193 —
1 197), and in the next year for the counties of Hertford
and Essex, for one half-year only. Adhering to the patriotic
barons, he obtained, in 12 15, letters of safe-conduct during
his mission to King John, to treat of peace on behalf of
the barons, but nothing came of this negociation, although
it eventually resulted in the consummation of Magna Charta.
In consequence of the part Reginald de Argentine took in
this rebellion his lands were seized by the king, but soon
after Henry HI.'s accession (A.D. 12 16), compounding for his
estates, command was given to the sheriff of Cambridgeshire
to give him possession of all his lands in that county, which
had been sequestrated during the first of the baron's wars.
He died about the year 1223, and was succeeded by RICHARD
DE Argentine, who acquired the manor of Newmarket by
his marriage with Cassandra, daughter of Robert de L'Isle.
In the 8th Henry III. (a.d. 1223), he, being sheriff of the
counties of Essex and Hertford, was constituted governor of
the castle of Hertford. He was likewise sheriff of the coun-
ties of Cambridge and Huntingdon, and subsequently, in the
nth Henry III., one of the stewards of the king's household,
at which time he obtained the grant of the fair for his
manor of Newmarket. Three years after this, Richard, " being
a valliant knight and valliant in arms," went on a pilgrimage
to the Holy Land, and dying there in the year 1246, was
succeeded by his son and heir,

Giles de Argentine, a knight also of great valour, who
in the i6th Henry III. (a.d. 1231), being with the king in an
expedition made that year into Wales, fell into the hands of
the enemy in a sharp conflict near Montgomery. Ten years
afterwards he was summoned " with other great men of the
time," to attend the king with horse and arms into Gascony,
and the following year he was appointed governor of Windsor
Castle ; but soon after, being dissatisfied with the injurious
rule of the king's favourites, he joined the patriotic barons
under Simon de Montfort * (a patron saint of the chase in

* It is a popular error to call St. Hubert the patron saint of the chase,
at least so far as relates to our island. No doubt Hubert was considered

Book I.] THE LORDS OF THE MANOR. 43

England), at the battle of Lewes, May 14, 1264, and having
defeated the royalists and taken the king prisoner, he was
elected by them one of the nine counsellors to assume the
government of the kingdom. The barons being, however,
defeated at the subsequent battle of Evesham, August 4,

as such in his native country ; but St. Denis and some others were also
looked upon, and interceded to, by sportsmen in a Hke capacity. In
England, before the Norman Conquest, several Anglo-Saxon saints were
worshipped and supplicated by sportsmen in those days, when their
intercession was deemed necessary for the due success of any venatic
undertaking. But as these local patron saints of the chase in course of
time became unfashionable, or forgotten, or supplanted by others, as the
case may be, we will not further refer to them, but mention a few of their
successors in more recent times. Thomas a Becket (who was a mighty
hunter in his lifetime) was undoubtedly looked upon by our sporting pre-
decessors during the Plantagenet era as the patron saint of the chase /«r
excellence. If any one had a sick hawk or hound which did not recover
under ordinary human remedies, he forthwith made a wax model of the
animal, and despatched it to the shrine of the saint at Canterbury, where
it was solemnly offered, the result, of course, being a miraculous cure.
This procedure became so common and necessary, that we find an officer
attached to the royal hunting establishment in those days, whose principal
duty it was to attend to such matters. Sometimes the wax model was
sent to the shrine of St. Thomas of Hereford, who was also a patron saint
of the chase. Perhaps the most extraordinary- of all was Simon de Mont-
fort, the celebrated Earl of Leicester, who, although not canonized, was
looked upon as a saint from the time of Edward I. until about the accession
of Richard II., when, for some reason or other, he became unfashionable
with English sportsmen, and ceased to be supplicated. Nevertheless,
he was once in great favour with sportsmen, and a list of the miracles
accomplished by his intercession on hawks, hounds, horses, etc., is pre-
served in the Cottonian MS. in the British Museum — the cures effected
being vouched for by numerous witnesses of undoubted veracity. Apart
from the supernatural attributes of the patron saint of the chase, we may
mention, in conclusion, that Simon de Montfort was famous as a hunts-
man. So devoted was he to the pleasures of the chase, that his seal
depicts him mounted on his hunter in full gallop, winding his horn, cheer-
ing on his foxhounds, which are represented in full crj'. This seal of the
great patriotic baron is attached to a deed dated 1259, preserved in the
royal archives at Paris. The example we believe to be unique, as in
those days it was the custom of knights and nobles, kings and princes, to
be represented on their seals armed cap-a-pie. But " the founder of the
House of Commons," as he is sometimes termed, preferred to appear on his
seal in the costume of Diana rather than the uniform of Mars ; and, as
he was the M.F.H. of Warwickshire and Leicestershire over six hundred
years ago, the seal gives us, in miniature, the oldest picture of foxhunting
in England now extant.

44 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book I.

1265, Argentine's lands, and those of his son Reginald, " who
had the honour of assisting in that insurrection," were seques-
trated. This Sir Giles married Margaret, daughter and co-heir
of Sir Robert de Aiguillon, Knight, and died in 1283, pos-
sessed of the manor of Great Wymondeley, Cambridgeshire,
which he held by grand serjeantry, viz. "to serve the king
upon the day of his coronation with a silver cup."

His son and successor REGINALD DE Argentine, ist
Baron de Argentine, who, doing homage, had livery of all his
father's lands in the counties of Cambridge, Suffolk, Norfolk, and
Hertford. In 1293 he obtained the confirmation of the charter
granted to Sir Richard de Argentine in 1227 for a fair yearly
" on the eve, the day, and the morrow after the Feast of St.
Barnabas the apostle, and four days ensuing, at his manor of
Newmarket, in the county of Suffolk," etc. He was summoned
to Parliament in the 25th Edward I. (January 26, 1297). He
married Lora, daughter of Hugh de Vere, 4th Earl of Oxford,
and, dying in 1307, was succeeded by his son.

Sir John de Argentine, 2nd baron, who had livery of
his father's lands, but was never summoned to Parliament.
He married, ist, Joane, daughter and heir of Sir Roger Bryan,
and had issue, Joane, who married Sir John le Boteler,* and was

* The Butler family formerly held a moiety of this manor. Davy gives
the following list of those lords : — 33 Edward III., A.D. 1359 . . . Botiller :
Hawise, widow of Ralph Botiler, for life, ob. 35 Edward III., A.D. 1361 :
Sir Edward Boteler, Knt., ob. 14 Henry IV. In the Inquisition, taken at
the death of this knight, it is recorded that he was seised of the moiety of
the manor of Exning and Newmarket, called Botiler's Manor, and the
moiety of one market, held on Tuesday every week, extending into Suffolk
and Cambridgeshire, and the moiety of view of frank pledge held on the
Feast of St. Peter de Vincula ; the moiety of two general courts to be
held within a month of Easter and Michaelmas ; the moiety of the profits
of the fair held, on St. Barnabas' Day, and that Philip Botiler was his
cousin and next heir, i.e. son of Philip, son of Ralph, brother of John,
father of the said Edward, age 24. 14 Henry IV. A.D. 1412, Philip
Botelier (above): Anthony Botyller ... 11 Henry VIII., a.d. 15 19,
Emma, his widow, remarried to Christopher Sandford, Esq. : 22 Henry
VIII., A.D. 1530, Sir Philip Butler, Knt., and Elizabeth his wife: 11
Elizabeth, A.D. 1569, William Alington, Esq., who released all his right to
Sir Giles Alington, Knt., ob. 1586 : 28 Ehzabeth, 1586, Sir Giles Alington,
Knt., grandson and heir, ob. 1638.

Book L] THE ARGENTINES. 45

mother of Sir Edward Boteler ; Elizabeth, who married Sir
WilHam le Botiller, brother of Sir John ; and Dionysia, co-heir
of her mother. He married, 2ndly, Agnes, daughter and
co-heir of WilHam Hereford, of Burton, and, dying in 13 18,
was succeeded by his son, then but six months old.

Sir John de Argentine, 3rd baron, who was knighted
in 1 33 1, but was never summoned to Parliament. He married
Margaret, daughter and heir of Robert DArcy, of Stretton,
and by her had issue, Maud, married to Sir Eudo or Ivo
Fitz Warren ; Joane, married to Sir Bartholomew Naunton ;
Elizabeth, married to Sir Baldwin St. George, Knt, who was
ancestor of the St. Georges of Hatley St. George, Cam-
bridgeshire. This John Lord de Argentine died prior to
March 25th, in the year 1383, without legitimate male issue,
when the barony fell into abeyance amongst his daughters
and co-heirs.

Sir William Argentine (ob. 14 18), illegitimate son of
the last Lord Argentine, was given the manor of Wymondeley.
He married Isabel, daughter of Sir William Kerdeston, by
whom he left an only son,

John de Argentine, at whose decease, in 1423, the
manor of Wymondeley was carried by his daughter and
heiress, Elizabeth, upon her marriage with William Alington,
Esquire, ancestor of the Lords Alington, This manor of
Wimley, or Wymondeley, is said to have fallen to the Argen-
tines by marriage with the heiress of Fitz Tees, who derived
themselves from David DArgenton, a Norman, who came
over with William the Conqueror. We must not omit to
mention two other distinguished members of this family. In
the year 1237, REGINALD DE ARGENTINE, a knight-templar,
was standard-bearer of the Christian army in the great battle
against the Turks, near Antioch, in the Holy Land, and carried
it till, his hands and legs being broken, he was there slain.

Equally glorious was the end of SiR GiLES ARGENTINE,

" Of chivalry the flower and pride,"

at the battle of Bannockburn, June 24th, 13 14. Having per-
suaded Edward II, to retreat when the issue of the day was

46 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book I.

hopeless, and having seen the king out of danger, he bade
him farewell, and, turning his horse, rode back to the enemy,
shouting that he was not used to fly, charged into the thick
of the fight, and soon met that death which he sought.

Sir Walter Scott gives the following poetic picture of the
defeat of Edward II., and the fate of Argentine : —

Already scatter'd o'er the plain,
Reproof, command, and counsel vain,
The rearward squadrons fled amain,

Or made but doubtful stay ; —
But when they mark'd the seeming show
Of fresh and fierce and marshall'd foe,

The boldest broke array.

0 give their hapless prince his due !
In vain the royal Edward threw

His person 'mid the spears.
Cried, " Fight ! " to terror and despair,
Menaced, and wept, and tore his hair,

And cursed their caitiff fears ;
Till Pembroke turn'd his bridle rein.
And forced him from the fatal plain.
With them rode Argentine, until
They gain'd the summit of the hill,

But quitted there the train : —
" In yonder field a gage I left —

1 must not live of fame bereft ;

I needs must turn again.
Speeds hence, my Liege, for on your trace
The fiery Douglas takes the chase.

I know his banner well.
God send my Sovereign joy and bliss.
And many a happier field than this ! —

Once more, my Liege, farewell."

Again he faced the battle-field,—

Wildly they fly, are slain, or yield,

" Now then," he said, and couch'd his spear,

" My course is run, the goal is near :

One effort more, one brave career,

Must close this race of mine."
Then in his stirrups rising high,
He shouted loud his battle-cry,

" Saint James for Argentine ! "
And, of the bold pursuers, four
The gallant knight from saddle bore ;

Book I.] THE ARGENTINES. 47

But not unharm'd — a lance's point

Has found his breastplate's loosen'd joint,

An axe has razed his crest ;
Yet still on Colonsay's fierce lord,
Who press'd the chase with gory sword.

He rode with spear in rest,
And through his bloody tartans bored,

And through his gallant breast.
Nail'd to the earth, the mountaineer
Yet writhed him up against the spear,

And swung his broadsword round !
— Stirrup, steel-boot, and cuish gave way.
Beneath that blow's tremendous sway,

The blood gush'd from the wound ;
And the grim Lord of Colonsay

Hath turn'd him on the ground.
And laugh'd in death-pang, that his blade
The mortal thrust so well repaid.

Now toil'd the Bruce, the battle done.
To use his conquest boldly won ;
And gave command for horse and spear
To press the Southron's scatter'd rear.
Nor let his broken force combine,
— When the war-cry of Argentine

Fell faintly on his ear ;
" Save, save his life," he cried, " O save
The kind, the noble, and the brave ! "
The squadrons round free passage gave,

The wounded knight drew near ;
He raised his red cross * shield no more,
Helm, cuish, and breastplate stream'd with gore,
Yet, as he saw the king advance,
He strove e'en then to couch his lance —

The effort was in vain !
The spur-stroke fail'd to rouse the horse ;
Wounded and weary, in mid course
He stumbled on the plain.
Then foremost was the generous Bruce
To raise his head, his helm to loose ; —

" Lord Earl, the day is thine !

" My Sovereign's charge, and adverse fate,
Have made our meeting all too late ;
Yet this may Argentine,

* This is obviously wrong. The Argentine arms were Gu.^ three
covered cups. Arg.

48

THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET.

[Book T.

As boon from ancient comrade, crave —
A Christian's mass, a soldier's grave."
Bruce press'd his dying hand — its grasp
Kindly replied : but, in his clasp,

It stiffen'd and grew cold —
" And, O farewell ! " the victor cried,
" Of chivalry the flower and pride.

The arm in battle bold,
The courteous mien, the noble race,
The stainless faith, the manly face ! —
Bid Ninian's convent light their shrine,
For late-wake of De Argentine.
O'er better knight on death-bier laid,
Torch never gleam'd nor mass was said."

The Alington family were lords of the manor of New-
market, in Suffolk, after the Argentines,
from the time of Edward IV. until the
reign of George III., when the manor,
with Cheveley and other property, went
into the possession of the Manners,
Dukes of Rutland.

The Alington family, like that of
Argentine, also dates as far back as the
Conquest, when SiR HiLDEBRAND DE
Alington, Under Marshal of William I.
at the battle of Hastings, had Alington
Castle by gift of that king.

Sir Alan de Alington " was in great favour with
William Rufus and a great devisor of building, and was
thought to be the chief doer for the building of Westminster
Hall, which then was Palatium Regium, and by King
Henry I. converted to the use it now is, and much beautified
by Edward III." His son.

Sir Solomon de Alington, Knight, " was in great
authority in the reign of Henry I., and builded the Castle
of Alington, where he erected one notable tower after his
own name, called the ' Solomon's Tower.' " His descendant,
Sir William Alington, Knight, Privy Councillor to
King Henry VI., treasurer of Normandy in the time of

Book I.] THE ALINGTONS. 49

Henry V. and Henry VI., and also of Ireland, married Joane,
daughter and heir of Sir Wm. Burgh, Lord Chief Justice of
the Court of King's Bench (2 Richard II. A.D. 1378), and had
a son,

William Alington, of Horseheath,* in Cambridgeshire,
sheriff of Cambridge and Huntingdon in the year 1437, whose
eldest son, William Alington, Esq., married Elizabeth,
daughter and heiress of John de Argentine, and acquired
with her the manor of Wymondley, in the county of Hert-
ford, held in grand sergeanty, by service of presenting the
first cup at the coronation of the kings of England, which
service was claimed and allowed at the coronation of King
James II., and has, until recent times, been performed by the
lords of that manor. By this alliance he also obtained the
manor of Newmarket in Suffolk, which remained apparently
in the family until about the middle of the eighteenth
century, when the estate passed to the Dukes of Rutland by
the marriage of Frances, eldest daughter of Charles, 6th Duke
of Somerset, in 1750, with John, Marquis of Granby. She
died in 1760.! From William Alington and Elizabeth his
wife was derived SiR GiLES ALINGTON, who married Mary,
only daughter and heiress of Sir Richard Gardiner, Knight,
who had several children, of whom three of the younger sons,
George, John, and Richard, were the founders of families ;
George Alington, the second son, being the direct ancestor
of the Alingtons of Swinhope, county Lincoln, whose present

* Horseheath was held by petit-sergeanty under the Earls of Oxford
by the service of holding the earl's stirrup, whenever he should mount
his horse in the presence of the holder of the manor.

t In Davy's list of the lords of this manor he places : — William Aling-
ton, Esq., son and heir of John Ahngton, ob. 20 Edward IV., A.D. 1480. Sir
Giles Alington, Knt., son and heir. WiHiani Alyngton, Gent., released it
to Sir Giles Alington, Knt., son and heir of Sir Giles, ob. 1 1 Elizabeth, A.D.
1569. Sir Giles Alington, Knt., grandson and heir, ob. 28 Elizabeth, A.D.
1586. In 1717, Hildebrand Alington, Esq., presented to the living.
Charles, 6th Duke of Somerset, ob. 1750, and gave it to Frances, his
eldest daughter, who married John, Marquis of Granby. She died 1760.
Charles, Duke of Rutland, son and heir, ob. 1787. John Henry, Duke
of Rutland, son and heir.

VOL. I. E

so THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book I.

representative, George Marmaduke AHngton, Esq., of Swin-
hope, is also male representative of the old Lords Alington.
Sir Giles was succeeded by his eldest son,

Sir Giles Alington, of Horseheath, High Sheriff of
Cambridgeshire in 1530-31, and of Huntingdon in 1545-46.
He appears to have attended Henry VHI. as Master of the
Ordnance at the siege of Boulogne, by the inscription of a
clock which he brought from that siege, and affixed over the
offices at Horseheath Hall, in which was the alarm bell of
the garrison of Boulogne.

This Sir Giles sumptuously entertained Queen Elizabeth
at Horseheath, during her progress from London to Norwich,
in the year 1578. He died in 1586, outliving his son Robert
and grandson Giles.

Giles Alington, son of the last-mentioned Giles, suc-
ceeded his great-grandfather, and was knighted by James I.,
at the Charter-house, London, May 11, 1603. By Dorothy,
his wife, daughter of Thomas Cecil, Earl of Leicester, he had
issue Thomas, Giles, James, and William, and six daughters.

Sir Giles Alington, his second, and eldest surviving,
son, succeeded him in 1638. He married " a half-sister of one
of his nieces (the daughter of his sister, Mrs. Dalton)," for
which breach of the forbidden degrees of consanguinity he
was fined, in the Star Chamber, ;^ 12,000, his issue declared
illegitimate, and he was condemned to do penance at St.
Paul's Cross, London, and in St. Mary's church at Cambridge,
in 1 63 1 ; the same punishment being inflicted on the lady, who
died of the small-pox in 1644.* Sir Edward Peyton asserts

* The Rev. Joseph Mead, writing from Christ Church College,
Cambridge, to Sir Martin Stuteville, May 20, 1631, says: "Sir Giles
Alington being stripped of all protection of the Common Law, by eight
bishops and four of the other Commissioners [of the Court of High
Commission, anglice ' The Old Powdering Tub '] was fined to the King
^12,000; bound in a bond of ^20,000 never to cohabit or come in her
private company more ; to be committed to prison, or to put in sufficient
bail till both of them have undergone the censure of the court, which
enjoins them to do penance both at St. Paul's Cross and at Great St.
Mary's, in Cambridge. Besides his father-in-law and brother-in-law,
Mr. Dalton was fined ^2000 for having procured the licence, and hardly

Book I.] THE ALINGTONS. 51

that the fine imposed upon Sir Giles in the Star Chamber was
shared between Queen Henrietta Maria and the Earl of
Holland. In consequence of the issue of this marriage having
been bastardized, the estates came to Sir Giles's only surviving
brother,

William Alington, Esq., who was elevated to the
peerage of Ireland, as Baron Alington of Killard, July 28,
1642.* His lordship married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir
Natheniel ToUemache, Bart, of Helingham, by whom he had
five sons and three daughters, of whom Elizabeth, the eldest,
married Charles Seymour, 2nd Lord Tronbridge, and had
surviving issue Francis and Charles, successively Dukes of
Somerset. It was partly through this alliance, and partly
by purchase, that the manor of Newmarket eventually passed
to the Seymours, and again, from that family, by marriage, to
the Manners, Dukes of Rutland.

Lord Alington was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,
William Alington, 2nd Baron, who was created a peer of

escaped the point of perjury. The eight Bishops were — my Lord's Grace
of Canterbury [Dr. Abbot] ; the Bishops of London [Dr. Laud] ; of
Winchester [Dr. Neile] ; of Norwich [Dr. White] ; of Coventry and
Lichfield [Dr. Morton] ; of Bangor [Dr. David Dolben] ; of Rochester
[Dr. John Bowie] ; and of Gloucester [Dr. Goodman]. It was the
solemnest, the gravest, and severest censure that ever, they say, was
miade in that Court. All the bishops made speeches, and all very good
ones, many excellent and learned, wherin the Bishop of London bore
the bell from them all, demonstrating the foulness and heinousness of the
crime."

* This Lord Alington, who was appointed Constable of the Tower,
during pleasure, with a salary of ^looo a year, payable quarterly, by
patent dated Westminster, April 24, 1672, built a magnificent mansion at
Horseheath, after the design of Webb, in 1665, at an expense of ^70,000.
This estate was sold with the house, about the year 1687, for only ^42,000,
to John Bromley, Esq., who expended ;^3o,ooo more in building, and
died in 1707. His grandson was, in 1741, created Lord Montfort of Horse-
heath. Thomas, the second Lord Montfort, having involved himself in
embarrassments, was obliged to sell this estate in 1776, when the splendid
mansion, on which such large sums of money had been expended, was
sold for the materials : it had been stripped of its furniture the preceding
year, and several valuable portraits by Walker, Lely, Sir Godfrey Kncllcr,
and other masters of the early English school, were removed.

52 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book I.

England, December 5, 1682, by the title of Baron Alington
of Wymondley, in the county of Herts. By his third wife,
Diana, daughter of William Russell, ist Duke of Bedford, he
had one surviving son, Giles, and two daughters, Diana and
Catherine ; the former married Sir George Warburton, Bart, of
Arley, Cheshire, and died in 1705, leaving an only daughter,
Diana, who married Sir Richard Grosvenor, Bart., of Eaton,
Cheshire, but had no issue. Sir Richard, who had acquired a
third part of the Alington estates in Hertfordshire with his
wife, purchased the remainder, and thus became possessed of
the entire manor of Wymondley, which entitled him to present
the first cup of silver filled with wine at the coronations of
George H. and George HI.* the said cups being retained by
him as his fee. His lordship died in 1684, and was succeeded
by his son,

Giles Alington, 3rd Baron of the Irish creation and
2nd of the English ; but, dying in 1691, the English peerage
expired, while that of Ireland reverted to his uncle, the Hon.
Hildebrand Alington, son of the ist Lord, as 4th Baron, who
died, s. />., in 1722, when the Irish barony of Alington of
Killard became extinct.

The Hon. Catherine Alington, sister and co-heiress of Giles,
3rd Lord Alington, married Sir Nathaniel Napier, Bart, of
More Crichel, M.P. for Dorsetshire, temp. William HI. and
Anne, and after her death, her daughter Diana became
eventually sole heiress of the Napiers and Alingtons. She
married Humphrey Sturt, Esq., of Horton, county Dorset,
whose descendant, Henry Gerard Sturt, Esq., M.P., was
raised to the peerage as Baron Alington of Crichel, county
Dorset, January 15, 1876.

An inquisition took place in New^market in the

* " At the coronation of George IV., the late William Wiltshire, Esq.,
uncle to the present lord of the manor, claimed and was allowed the right
of presenting the first cup, and afterwards retaining it for his fee. At the
coronation of William IV., and of her present Majesty, the ancient
ceremonies of the State Banquet were dispensed with ; hence the lord of
the manor has been deprived of two handsome silver-gilt cups." — Cussans,
Hist. Herts, vol. ii., p. 51, note.

Book I.] THE MANORS. 53

reign of Edward I., from which we learn that the
prior of Fordham had view of frank- pledge, assise
of bread and ale, and five tenants in the town, whereby
the king lost 3^/. war-penny. The jury also found
that a robber came into Newmarket and stole a horse
worth 146-., whereupon Nicholas le Rees, the king's
bailiff, came and took the man and the horse, both of
which he detained in custody. It seems that during
his captivity the thief stole the bailiff's purse and
belt and escaped with the plunder. Subsequently the
prior of Fordham claimed the horse as his property,
and recovered the animal, while the thief escaped the
clutches of the law. This trivial incident proves that
horse-stealing (which flourished at Newmarket in
later times) was an ancient calling.

In the reign of Edward III., by a similar inqui-
sition, it transpired that certain persons held lands by
the service of bringing footmen to serve the king in
the Welsh wars, belonging to Norfolk and Suffolk,
from the Ditch of St. Edmund [fossatode St. Edmiindi)
without Newmarket, which is the only contempo-
raneous instance we have met where the Devil's
Ditch is so called.

Ancient records make mention of a manor here,
which belonged to the priory of Fordham, in Cam-
bridgeshire ; also the manor of Botelers, which be-
longed to the family of that name.

In the 35th of King Edward III., Hawise, relict of
Ralph Boteler, held for the term of her life the moiety
of a messuage, forty acres of land, two of meadow, and
30^'. rent, with the appurtenances, in Newmarket and

54 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book I.

Exning, of the king in capite, by service of one espear
per annum.*

The manor of Wyke's Place belonged to the Slades ;
and a manor which lay in this town was in possession
of the prior and monks of Thetford. In 1406, William
Knight sold to Edmund Eldehall, of Wood Ditton,
Esq., and others, all his lands in Newmarket, laying
in the manor of the prior of Thetford, called Monks
Wyke, which lands, in 1412, were settled by the said
Edmund, on the above prior.f

The alien priory of Neron and Newmarket leased out to
farm during the war. 4 Henry VI., A.D. c. 1425. — Rot. Pari.,
vol. iv., 313 b.

The alien priory of Newmarket, late belonging to the
abbey of St. Ebrolphis in Normandy, granted to the priory
of Jesus of Bethlehem, Shene. 38 Henry VI., A.D. c. 1459. —
lb., vol. v., p. 365 b.

Matthew Paris (who was a native of Cambridge-
shire) mentions, that when Henry III. besieged and
took Northampton, on Passion Sunday, 1264, among
the distinguished knight bannerets taken prisoners was
Adam de Newmarket, whom the king kept in strict
custody. But whether this Adam belonged to our
Eden is by no means certain.:]:

* Page, " Sussex Traveller." t Ibid.

X Close R. 13 H. 3, m. 13^/. Adam de Novo Mercato, Walter de
Soureby, and William de Barton, appointed justices to hear the appeals
of Jordan de Riton, John Fatuus, Godfrey de Pickering, and William de
Savage, approvers in York jail.

18 Hen. 3. Close R., m. 27. John de Novo Mercato, official of the
Archdeacon of Canterbury, commanded to cause to be restored to him
the jewels which a certain chaplain stole from him in his pilgrimage to
St. James, which chaplain the said official kept in prison.

19 Hen. 3. Close R., m. ^d. Adam de Newmarket and five others
appointed to receive the aid granted to the king in the co. York.

Book I.] BISHOP MERKS. 55

Newmarket gave birth to Thomas Merks/ or
Markes, who became Bishop of Carhsle. This notable
native of Newmarket, in the dark ages, was famous
for his steady adherence to Richard II. when that
unfortunate royal turfite was bereft of friends and
followers. Shakespeare introduces this distinguished
ecclesiastic in his drama of Richard II., in Act III.
scenes 2 and 3, and Act V. scenes i and 4, to which
we beg to refer the reader, while we must confine our
brief memoir and the "high sparks of honour" which
proud Bolingbroke was constrained to admire in his
" enemy," to more authentic historical authorities,

■^ Thomas Merks, fifteenth Bishop of Carlisle, was a monk
of Westminster, and Master of Divinity. He had restitution of
the temporalities of this see from King Richard II., and a provi-
sion made to him by the Pope in the year 1397. In 1399, in
the will of Richard II., Thomas, Bishop of Carlisle, is named
as one of the five prelates whom that racing monarch joined
with his nephew, the Duke of Surrey, and others of his
royal relations, in the executorship, to each of whom he
bequeathed a gold ring of the value of ^20. And he
was the only bishop who took letters of protection from
that king, subjecting himself thereby to personally attend
his Majesty to Ireland in May, 1399: an unfortunate ex-
pedition, as during his absence Bolingbroke arrived in
England and usurped the throne. The latter having been
crowned in the month of September, Henry IV. assembled
his first Parliament at Westminster in the ensuing month
(October), in which this distinguished and faithful native
of Newmarket was the only one bold enough to say publicly
what others silently thought, concerning the treatment which

Joan de Novo Mercato, widow of Adam de N. M., claims dowery of
certain land, etc., in Venteleney. 18 Edward I., A.D. 1290. — Rot. Pari.
V. I, 62a.

56 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book I.

Richard II. had met with. To the astonishment of the
Lancastrians, the bishop rose and demanded for Ricliard what
ought not to be refused to tlie meanest criminal, the right of
being confronted with liis accusers ; and for ParHament what
it might justly claim, the opportunity of learning from the
king's own mouth whether the resignation of the crown,
which had been attributed to him, were his own spontaneous
act. He urged everything that could with propriety be said
in behalf of the deposed king and against the usurping
Bolingbroke. But he stood alone ; no one was found to
second his motion ; the House voted the deposition of Richard ;
and eight commissioners ascending a tribunal erected before
the throne, pronounced him degraded from the state and
authority of king, on the ground that he notoriously deserved
such punishment, and acknowledged it under his hand and
seal on the preceding day. Sir William Thirnyng, Chief
Justice, was appointed to notify the sentence to the royal
captive, who meekly replied that he looked not after the
royal authority, but hoped his cousin, Bolingbroke, would be
a good lord to him. On the loth of January, 1 399-1400
following. Bishop Merks was committed for high treason
and the new king (Henry IV.) gave particular direction to
his judges with respect to their proceedings against bishops on
such trials. He was soon after deprived of his bishopric.
After having some time continued a prisoner in the Tower,
Henry IV. consented to his removal, June 23, 1400, to
Westminster Abbey. In the following years the king was
still more compassionate towards him, and by his letters
patent granted him licence to obtain from the Pope benefices
(episcopal excepted) to the yearly amount of lOO marks. On
the 13th of August, 1404, he was instituted to the rectory of
Todenham, Gloucestershire; and we find that on January 13,
1409, Robert Ely was admitted to the said rectory, upon the
death of Thomas Merks. Thus ended the career of the good
prelate, with whom the town of Newmarket was more or less
associated four hundred years ago.

Althoug-h there is no actual authority for the

Book I.] PROBABLE VISIT OF HENRY VII. 57

assumption, it may, however, be just within the bounds
of probability, that Henry VII. paid a fleeting visit to
Newmarket when he and his son, Prince Henry, were
at Wilberton, where they were entertained by Arch-
deacon Alcock, for several days, during the progress
of the royal pilgrims to Ely, whither the king was then
journeying, for the purpose of offering his devotions
at the shrine of St. Etheldreda.

58 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book II.

BOOK II.

FROM THE ACCESSION OF HENRY VIII. TO THE DEATH
OF ELIZABETH.

Henry VIII. and the Turf— His race-meetings at Eltham, Windsor, etc.
— Other notable Turfites of the period — 'J'he King's trainer — Train-
ing secrets — The jockeys — Their traveUing expenses — Wages and
emoluments — Apparel : cap, jacket, hosen — The King's racing
colours — More training secrets — Sir Thomas Cheyney — Lord Dacre
of th( South — The Earl of Kildare — The Abbot of Glasto7ibiiry —
Charles Brandon — Thoinas Brando7i^ Duke of Suffolk — Sir George
Lawson — Sir Hejtry Morris, and other Turfites of the period —
Chester — Rules and regulations for the races — The silver bell — Other
sports during the meeting — The Rodee — Derivation of the name —
The legend relating to it — Horse-racing in Yorkshire — Doncaster,
Gaterly, Acomb Moor, Hambleton, York — Racing at Metz — Curious
matches between Richard de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, and Seigneur
Dex — A novel training secret — Incidents and results — Richard de
la Pole, Duke of Suffolk — Presents of race-horses of the Mantua
breed sent to Henry VIII. — Altabello and Governatore — Worth
their weight in silver — Fame of the Mantua stud — Other foreign
horses imported — The Royal stud at Eltham — Importation of Barbs
in the reign of Edward VI. — Superiority and abundance of English
horses at this period — Exportation of horses prohibited — Progress
of the Turf in England and Scotland during the reign of Elizabeth
— The Annals : — Croydon— Projected Royal visit to the races in
1574 — Does not take place — List of the Queen's guests— How
accommodated at Croydon — Difficulty of obtaining lodgings there
during the races — Royal visits in 1585, 1587, and 1588 — The royal
stand — Its cost — Other expenses incident to the Queen's visits —
Salisbury — The races instituted — The gold bell — Its value — Won by
the Earl of Cumberland — Conditions of the race — The patrons of
the meeting— Further particulars — The golden snaffle given by the

Book II.] HENRY VIII. 59

Earl of Essex — The gold bell given by the Earl of Pembroke —
Memoirs of the Earls of Pembroke, Cumberland., Essex, Warwick,
Lords Chandos, Thomas and Williain Howard j Sir Walter
Hungerford, John Danvers, Thomas Wroughton, William Courte-
nay, Mathew Artttidel, and other supporters of the meeting —
Doncaster — The meeting established — The stand — Is ordered to be
pulled down — The course on Wheatlay Moor — Huntingdon — The
races " invented " — The first meeting — The silver bell — Won by Sir
Oliver Cromwell — The race — Incidents — Sir Oliver Cromwell —
Richmond (Yorkshire) — The first meeting in 1576 — The cup —
CarHsle — The silver-gilt bell — Won by Sir William Dacre — De-
scription of the prize — The Turf in Scotland — The Border meetings
— Haddington — Peebles — Dumfries — Solway Sands — The fathers of
the Turf in Scotland — Lord Hamilton — David Home — Teviotdale —
Disturbance at the meeting— Racing in London — The metropolitan
courses — Conjectures concerning other race-meetings — Popularity of
rural sports in the Elizabethan era — Bishop Hall's comments on
the Turf — Thoroughbred stallions fed on eggs and oysters — Lord
Herbert's animadversions on racing — Allusions to the popularity and
the iniquities of the Turf — Shakespeare's allusions to horse-racing —
Markham's book on horses — His references to race-horses — Describes
the Arabian — His rules for training race-horses — Food and exercising
— How to finally prepare a horse for his race — Stable secrets — Going
to the post — The last injunction — Che sara sara — Gervase Mark-
ham — Horse-bread — How made — Statutes relating thereto — Queen
Elizabeth's racing establishment — Her Barbary steeds — Number of
race-horses in training — Her jockeys — Their wages and emoluments
— The royal studs and stables — John Selwyn's equestrian feat —
Holinshed's description of horses and horse-breeding in England at
this period — Sir Nicholas Arnold's celebrated stud — Statutes relating
to horse-breeding — How enforced — Newmarket : The town and
its vicinity in the sixteenth century — Value of land and houses during
this period — The popular inns— The last will and testament of
Simon Folkes, junior — Malting — The taxes— Amounts paid by the
inhabitants temps. Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Elizabeth— The
names of the residents and the business pursued by them about this
period — Value of church property in the town in the reign of
Henry VIII. — Imprisonment of Queen Elizabeth, when Princess
Royal, at Kirtling — Probability that she was a frequent visitor to
Newmarket in those days.

In the Privy Purse expenses of Henry VIII. we
find mention of various sums of money given in
reward to servants or grooms by whom horses were
brought to Eltham, Windsor, and elsewhere to com-

6o THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book II.

pete on the race-course with those belonging to the
king. From these trivial entries we incidentally ascer-
tain that among the patrons of the turf at this date
were Sir Thomas Cheyney,^ Lord Dacre of the SoutlV
the Earl of Kildare,^° the Abbot of Glastonbury/^ the
Duke of Suffolk/"' Sir George Lawson/^ Mr. Blount,
Mr, Norrys/* etc. Powle, the king's trainer, is
usually dubbed " keeper of the Barra or Barbary
Horses ; " the term Barb being applied to race-horses
in general, and euphonistically embracing all sorts of
Eastern and native blood-stock employed at the stud
and on the course.

Some curious items are mentioned in connection
with the royal stud. Thus in April, 1532, Powle
received 7^, 2d. for making a bath for one of the
Arabian racers then in training at Windsor ; and
several charges occur for medicine provided for those
horses from time to time. In the spring of 1530, the
king's watermen received 2\s. A^d. "for waiting" on
the day the horses ran. The jockey, if he won,
received 24^'. Zd., while Thomas Ogle, the " Gentleman
Rider of the Stables," got a gratuity of 20^. by the
king's special grace and favour,* Considerable trouble
occurred in procuring boys for the purpose of riding
the king's race-horses ; and the expenses of sending
one from the borders of Scotland appear to have
amounted to £^ 65. %d. In the spring of 1523, Lord
Dacre of the North sent one of his jockeys to the
king and received for his pains from the Privy Purse

* The annual wages of this functionary was ;^20, with free allowance
of one hackney. The jockeys had is. a week and ^d a day board wages.

Book II.] THE KINGS RACING EXPENSES. 6i

^3 6s. %d., which appears to have been the usual
allowance in such cases. In the race the jockeys wore
distinguishing colours — caps, jackets and hosen, as at
the present time.* In March, 1532, "the boye that
Ranne the Barbary horse" received a reward of 185-. 4^.,
and the trainer obtained a similar gratuity from the
kincr.

In a bundle of documents relating to the royal
stud, at this date, a payment of 2d. is charged, on
account of a black courser, " for all [oil] for ys legges
when rened [for his legs when he ran] agaynst Mr.
Karey's geldyng for a wager." f

^ Governor of Rochester Castle, and afterwards a Knight of
the Garter, Warden of the Cinque Ports, and Treasurer of
the Household to Edward VI. In the 12th Henry VI 1 1, he
was one of the challengers against all gentlemen in feats of
arms for thirty days at the "joyous and gentle " Field of Cloth
of Gold. He was an expert horseman, and stood high in favour
of the king, who visited his stud in Kent when on his road to
Calais in 1532. Sir Thomas Cheyney died in 1559.

^ In contradistinction to Lord Dacre of the North. The
above was Thomas Fines, who succeeded his grandfather

* " Item the vij daye in February [1530] paide to John Scot for iij
doublets of Burges satin and for iij doublets of fustian with the making
and the lynyng for the iij boys that runnes the gueldings . . . xxxviij s.
vj d. Item the xxj daye paide to John Scot for making coats and
doublets for the running boys of the stabul . . . xlix s. Item payde to
X'pofer the mylanner for ij Ryding cappes of blac satin and lyned \vt
blac vellute for the king's grace . . . xx sP Mr. H. Nicholas, F.S.A., by
whom these Privy Purse expenses were edited, says : " Horses or
geldings, particularly racing horses, and horses ' that did run,' as well as
' riding boys,' clothes bought for the boys ' that ride the running horses,'
and riding caps for them, are constantly spoken of ; and dogs for the
chase were a frequent, and doubtlessly acceptable present." — Introd. xxix.

t Equi. Regis., MS., P.R.O.

62 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book II.

in 1484 and died in 1534. A strange fate befell his son
George, the last male heir of this family, whose premature
death was caused at Thetford " in the house of Sir Richard
Fulmerstone, Knight, by meane of a vaunting horse, upon
which horses as he meant to have vaunted, and the pins at
the feet being not made sure, the horse fell upon him, and
bruised the brains out of his head." — Stow's Chron., p. 662.

1° Gerald Fitz-Gerald, 9th Earl of Kildare, who was at
this time in England. He had a celebrated stud of, so-called,
Hobbies in Ireland, and a fragment of his stud book is still
preserved in the MSS. of the British Museum. He. died
December 12, 1534.

" Richard Whiting, the last Lord Abbot of Glastonbury
monastery, was preferred to this vast religious house by
Cardinal Wolsey in 1524. He governed his monastery with
great prudence and judgment ; but, unwilling to surrender his
abbey to the king, or to lend an ear to any of the solicitations
which were offered him, he continued a firm opposer of the Re-
formation ; whereupon he was soon after seized at his manor-
house of Sharpham, in 1539, upon the pretence of embezzling
the plate belonging to the convent, and without much formal
process of law or equity, was drawn from Wells, where he
had been condemned at the assizes, to Glastonbury on a
hurdle, and hanged with two of his monks, on the hill called
the Torr (where St. Michael's church now stands), being
hurried out of the world without the least regard had to his
age, and not so much as suffered to take leave of his convent.
After his execution his head was set upon the abbey gate, and
his quarters sent to Wells, Bath, Ilchester, and Bridgwater.
He was head of the most ancient abbey in England, the governor
of which had precedence of all the abbots in England, till the
year 1154, when Pope Adrian IV. (the only Englishman that
ever sat in the papal chair) gave that honour to the abbot of
St. Albans, in Hertfordshire, in consideration of his having
received his education in that monastery, and because the
proto-martyr suffered there. He was always a member of

Book II.] TURFITES OF THE PERIOD. 63

the Upper House of Convocation, and a Parliamentary baron,
being summoned by a particular writ to sit " inter pares, pro-
ceres et barones regni," His apartment in the abbey was a
kind of well-disciplined court, where the sons of noblemen and
gentlemen were sent for education, and returned thence excel-
lently accomplished. Abbot Whiting had bred up nearly
three hundred after this manner, besides others of a meaner
rank, whom he fitted for the universities. At home his table,
attendance, and officers were an honour to the nation ; some-
times he even entertained five hundred persons of fashion at
a time, and every week, on Wednesdays and Fridays, all the
poor of the neighbourhood were relieved by his particular
charity, and when he went abroad he was attended by upwards
of one hundred persons. His stud was kept at Sharpham ;
and attached to the abbey, which must have been a paradise
for sportsmen, was a lake five miles in circumference, and one
and a half miles broad, wherein were "greate abundance of
pykes, tenches, roches, and yeles, and dyvers other kyndes of
fysshes." There was also a swanery of " xl couple," a heronry
" to the nombre of iiii," while pheasants and ground game
abounded.

^2 Charles Brandon, DuKE OF SUFFOLK, the king's brother-
in-law.

^^ Sir George Lawson (son of Sir Thomas Lawson by
a daughter of Sir — Dorrell, Knt.), of Little Usworth, in the
county of Durham. He married Mabella, daughter and heir
of Sir Reginald Carnaby, Knt., by whom he had four sons
and three daughters.

" " Master Norrys." Afterwards Sir Henry Norris, Gen-
tleman of the Privy Chamber (who had the exclusive privilege
of accompanying the king to his bedroom), and Esquire of
the body. His career is so well known that it is only neces-
sary to remind the reader that he was convicted of a criminal
intercourse with Anne Boleyn, and was consequently con-
demned and beheaded, to justify the king's divorce.

64 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book II.

The following orders were issued by the municipal

authorities at Chester, in the 31st year of Henry VIII.,

for the encouragement of archery and the
Chester.

regulation of the sports on Shrove Tuesday,
which took place in the presence of the mayor and
aldermen, and owed their success in a great degree to
the drapers', saddlers', and shoemakers' companies.
It is recorded in the memorandum, "That the said
occupaciouns of shoumacres, which alwayez time out
of mannez remembraunce haue geuen and deliuered
yearely upon teusday comonly cauled Shrofe teuesday,
otherwyse Gowddesday, at afternone of the same,
vnto the drapers afore the mayre of the citie, at the
Cros vpon the Rode-hee, one bale of lether cauled a
fout baule, of the value of iii.6-. iiii.^., or aboue, to
pley at from thens the comon baule of the said citie.
And further at pleasure of euille disposed persons,
wherefore hath ryssen grete inconuenynce &c. — From-
hensforth shall yerelye vpon the said Tuesday geue
and delyuer vnto the said drapers afore the mayre of
the said citie for the tyme being at the said playes and
tyme, six gleaues of siluer, to the value of euery of
them v\d., or aboue at the discretion of the drapers,
and the mayre of the said citie for the tyme being.
To whome shall run the best and furthest upon foot
befor them upon the said Rode-hee that day or anye
other daye after at the Drapers pleasure with the over-
syght of the Mayer for the tyme beyng ; and allso that
the said occupacion of saddlers within the said citie
which be all the same tyme of no man's remembraunce
haue geuin and delyuered yerelye the said place and

Book II.] CHESTER. 65

tymeeurye master of them vnto the said drapers, afore
the mayre for the tyme being, a paynted baule of wood
with floures and amies upon the poynte of a spere,
being goodly arayd upon horsebacke acordingly, —
from hensforth shall the said tuesday houre and place
gyue and delyuer vnto the said drapers afor the
mayre for the tyme beyng vpon horsbak a bell of
syluer to the value of ms. \\\\d., or above, to be ordered
as is aforesaid by the drapers and the mayre of the
said citie for the tyme being to whome shall runne
best and furthest vpon horsback before them the said
daye and tyme and place ; and that allsoe euery man
that hayth bene maryed within the said citie sithens
Shraffs teuesday last past, shall vpon the said Shraffs
tuesday next to come, at the said tyme and place, geue
and delyuer vnto the said drapers afore the mayre
being an arrow of siluer, to the value of fyve pence or
aboue, in value and recompence of such baule of silk
or veluet."

On every Easter Monday the Sheriffs of Chester
used formerly to shoot, on the race-course, for a calfs-
head and bacon breakfast, which, at a subsequent
period, was changed by them : a piece of plate, to be
run for by horses on Easter Tuesday, being substituted.

" The maner being thus : — The day before, the drum
sowndeth through the cittie, with a proclamation for all gen-
tlemen, yeomen, and good fellowes, that will come with their
bowes and arrowes to take parte with one sheriff or the
other, and upon Monday morning, on the Rode-dee, the
mayor, shreeves, aldermen, and any other gentlemen, that wol
be there, the one sherife chosing one, and the other sherife
chosing another, and soe of the archers ; then one sherife
VOL. I. F

66 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book II.

shoteth, and the other sherife he shoteth to sJiode him, being
at lencfth twelve score : soe all the archers on one side to
shote till it be shode, and soe till three shutes be wonne, and
then all the winner's side goe up together, firste with arrowes
in their handes, and all the loosers with bowes in their hands
together, to the common hall of the citie, wher the maior,
aldermen, and gentlemen, and the reste, take parte together of
the saide breakfaste in loveing manner ; this is yearly done, it
beinge a commendable exercise, a good recreation, and a
lovinge assemblye," *

Tradition says that in the year 946 an image of the

Blessed Virgin and a large cross were buried here. The

story is curious : — This image belonged to the

The Koodee.

church of Hawarden, and during the invoca-
tions of the inhabitants for relief from a season of drought
by which they were greatly suffering, being not securely
fixed in its place, or not possessing that share of
infallibility which has frequently been ascribed to the
Virgin, It somewhat unexpectedly fell upon the head
of Lady Trawst, the governor's wife, the effect of
which was fatal. In consequence of this catastrophe,
the Inhabitants of the place held a consultation as to
the most proper mode of disposing of the Image ;
and after due deliberation Its sentence was : — " To be
banished from that place by being laid on the sands
of the river ; the tide might convey It to whatever
other quarter the Virgin whom It represented should
think proper." As It was low water when the Image
was taken to the sands, the flood tide carried It, of
course, up the river ; and on the day following it was
found near the Roodee, where It was Immediately In-

* Hemingway, " Hist, of Chester," vol. i., p. 210.

Book II.] YORKSHIRE AND LORRAINE. 67

terred by the inhabitants of Chester with all pomp
and solemnity, and a large stone was placed over the
grave with this inscription :

The Jewes theire God dide crucifie,

The Harderners theires dide drowne,
'Cause with theire wantes she'd not complye ;

And lyes under thys colde stone. *

Referring to Doncaster races temp. Queen Anne, the
Rev. Joseph Hunter tells us that " there had been
public races on the same ground loner before „ , ,.

^ & & Yorkshire :

this time. Ralph Rokeby, in his memoir Doncaster.

r -i • r '^ • 1 1 • Gaterly.

01 his own lamily, mentions that his ^^^^^^ Moor.
uncle, Thomas Rokeby, of Morton, was as- Hambieton.

, ., York.

saulted and wounded by Christopher Nevil,
brother to the Earl of Westmoreland, at the races
at Gaterly. This was in the middle of the sixteenth
century. Acombe Moor, near York, was another
scene of these amusements in the reign of Charles L
The Black Hamilton Hills were long celebrated for
such meetings, and the Knavesmire, near York, is only
nozv (1828) giving place to the course at Doncaster." —
" South Yorkshire," p. 29.

As a curious commentary on the age, we must not
omit to refer to the predilection for the Turf manifested
by an English nobleman during his exile at

T-\ 1 Metz.

Metz, in Lorraine, at this period. The Duke
of Suffolk,^^ although banished, and far from the scene of
his national sports and pastimes, nevertheless attempted
to participate in the pleasures of racing ; and the two
matches in question are novel events in their way.
The surroundings will raise a smile, particularly the

* Bingley, " Executions in North Wales," p. 241.

68 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book II.

extraordinary method observed in training the winner,
which must have been one of those faint-hearted
animals of the same kidney as those in our own
enhghtened times, that cannot achieve victory without
first partaking of a bottle of whiskey. But to train
a horse on stimulating beverages alone is, indeed,
unique.

^^ Richard de la Pole, or Blanche Rose, as he was
familiarly called by his contemporaries, 3rd Duke of Suffolk,
was the third son of John de la Pole, who, having married
the Lady Elizabeth Plantagenet, sister to King Edward IV.
and King Richard III., was confirmed as Duke of Suffolk
by letters patent, dated March 23, 1463. Through this
alliance Richard de la Pole, the 3rd Duke of Suffolk, aspired
to the throne of England, although his predecessors, little
more than a century prior to this date, were only merchants
at Kingston-upon-HuU. Edmund de la Pole, 2nd Duke
of Suffolk, the elder brother of the notable Turfite who is the
subject of this memoir, was one of the last persons of rank
attached to the fortunes of the House of York, who entered
the service of Henry VII. ; but his successor, becoming
alarmed at the duke's claims to the crown, had him beheaded
on Tower Hill, April 30, 15 13, when all his honours and
estates were declared forfeited. Notwithstanding the attain-
der, execution, and the consequent forfeiture of this duke, his
brother Richard, then living an exile in France, assumed the
honours of his family, and boldly asserted his claims to the
throne of England. His pretensions were recognized at
the court of France, and Louis XII., besides promising to
assist him with men and arms, gave him an annual pension
of 36,000 crowns. But when the fortunes of Blanche Rose
looked most promising, they were blighted by the peace made
between Louis and Henry, in July, 15 14, when the latter
gave his sister Mary in marriage to Louis. Both the Emperor
of Germany and the Dauphin were displeased at this, for
Louis wished thereby to keep the Dauphin from the crown of

Book II.] BLANCHE ROSE. 69

France. Among other conditions of this treaty there was
one whereby it was tacitly understood that Louis was to
give up the Duke of Suftblk to Henry. This baseness, how-
ever fell through, owing to the duke's escape to Metz, in
Lorraine, when his pension was reduced to 6000 crowns. In
the meantime Paris was en fete, on account of the celebration
of the peace and the royal wedding festivities. The story of
this marriage is told by all our historians, and it would not
require notice at our hands, but that a French contemporary
reference to it has lately come to light, in which the writer
said, " that the king had got a white hackney from England
which would soon take him post to Paradise " — a true con-
clusion, as within three months from the time of his marriage
he sank, after a short illness, into the grave, while the widow
soon after married Charles Brandon, "the other" Duke of
Suffolk. When Blanche Rose heard of the death of Louis,
he left Metz secretly for Paris, to wait on Francis I., riding so
fast, " that he made forty leagues between day and night."
His negotiations with the new king, and his proceedings until
his return to Metz in the spring of 15 17, we need not stop
to consider, as these events do not concern our subject. How-
ever, shortly after his return to Metz we find him indulging
in the pleasures of the Turf " He possessed a horse which
he valued highly, and he often said that there was not his
equal within a hundred leagues of Metz, and finally backed
him to run against a horse belonging to Seigneur Nicolle
Dex, from the elm at Avegney to within St. Clement's Gate,
for eighty crowns ; and the money was paid into neutral
hands. On St. Clement's Day, Saturday, May 2nd, ' et a ce
jour meisme, que Ton courre I'awaine et le baicon au dit lieu
St. Clement,' the two gentlemen, with several others, rose
early, and had St. Thiebault's gate opened before the usual
time, and so passed into the fields for the race. For
two or three days before Dex had treated his horse as a
friend, and given him no hay, and had nothing to drink
but white wine (' le dit seigneur Nicolle n'avoit point donne
de foin a son chevaulx, ne n'avoit beu aultre chose que
du vin blanc '). He had also very light steel shoes made

^o THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IT.

for him, and came into the field Hke a groom, in his
doublet and without shoes, and with no saddle, but a cloth
tied round the horse's belly. Blanche Rose, who rode
with a saddle, passed Nicolle for some time ; but when they
were near St. Laidre, his horse lagged behind, so that the
duke urged him on wuth spurs until the blood streamed down
on both sides ; but it was in vain. Nicolle gained the race
and the hundred and sixty crowns of the sum." Such was
the termination of the duke's first horse-race at Metz. Two
years afterwards a somewhat similar match was run. " On
St. Clement's Day, 1518, Blanche Rose again undertook to
run his horse against Nicolle Dex, by a page, for twenty-one
crowns ; but the page fell, and Nicolle was again victorious.
Soon after, on May 8th, he (the duke) left Metz for France."
During this time the quondam Duke of Suffolk was solicit-
ing foreign powers to lend him troops to invade England.
Both Francis I. and the King of Denmark promised to help
him, and BlufT King Hal, though not really alarmed for the
safety of his crown, was very anxious to get him out of the
way. As we learn from the State Papers, plots were on foot
for his assassination ; and although some of his servants were
betraying him, he was destined to fall fairly in the field of
battle. To make a long story short, these plots and counter-
plots led to hostilities in Scotland and in France. The
Scotch, under the Duke of Albany, were soon rendered harm-
less ; De la Pole's projected descent upon the English shores
was consequently abandoned, and the course was clear for
Henry's expedition to France. At the head of the English
forces was Charles Brandon, created Duke of Suffolk by
Henry VH I. in 15 14, and it is a somewhat singular coincidence,
that, like De la Pole, he too should be one of the finest horse-
men of the age. Thus we find the two Dukes of Suffolk in
the field, at Terouenne and Tournay — De la Pole at the
head of six thousand French troops, Brandon in command
of a division of the English forces. Neither of these com-
manders fell in that campaign (which was fatal to the Cheva-
lier Bayard and several other distinguished officers), but on
February 24, 1524-5, Richard de la Pole was killed at the

Book II.] THE ANGLO-MANTUA HORSES. 71

battle of Pavia, when the French were defeated by the aUies,
Francis I. having been taken prisoner and carried to IMadrid.
The valour De la Pole displayed in this engagement extorted
the praise even of his foes ; and the Duke of Bourbon, honour-
ing his remains with splendid obsequies, assisted in person as
one of the chief mourners. Thus terminated the male line
of this gallant and highly gifted race ; and the dukedom of
Suffolk passed without challenge by the new creation to King
Henry VIII.'s brother-in-law, the celebrated Charles Brandon
above mentioned.*

In the spring of the year 15 14 Giovanni Ratto was
sent by the Marquis of Mantua with a present of
thoroughbred horses to Henry VIII. From these and
some subsequent drafts were descended, in all proba-
bility, many of the English race-horses of the sixteenth
century. Ratto wrote to the marquis, his master, from
London, March 20, 15 14, describing the fulfilment of
his mission.

On the 20th March, " at a place called Hampton,
four miles from London," he presented the horses
to the king, who was so much pleased that, " had the
marquis given him a kingdom, he could not have been
more delighted ; and went from one nobleman to
another saying, ' What think you of these mares ?
They were sent to me by my cousin the Marquis of
Mantua.' The king was quite astonished at seeing
the mares in action, and said to the noblemen on
the spot that he had never beheld better animals.
The French Duke of Longueville, who was captured
at Terouenne, was present at the time, and told the

* For some interesting details of the career of Richard de la Pole,
3rd Duke of Suffolk, see " Gedenkbuch des metzer Burgers Philippe von
Vigneulles," aus den Jahren 147 1 bis 1522. " Nach Der Handschrift Des
Verfassers Herausgegeben," von Dr. Heinrich IMichelant. Stuttgart, 1852.

72 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book II.

king that there were no such valuable mares at the
court of the Kine of France." Ratto assured the
king that if the mares were less good than the king
deserved, yet he besought him to accept the loving
service of the marquis, who had shown all the mares
to Master Thomas Sieno {sic), (whom Henry sent to
Mantua to obtain thoroughbred horses for him),
requesting he would take such as he pleased to gratify
the king's taste, but that Master Thomas declined
doing anything of the sort. Ratto added that the
marquis had a stud of Barbary mares, of " miche "
and of jennets, and of great mares, which he offered
to the king, " together with his territories and children,
and his own person." Thereupon the king desired
Ratto to return many thanks to the marquis in his
name, inquiring what he could do to please him.
Ratto replied that the marquis was the king's good
servant. The queen was present during this conver-
sation, which induced Ratto to put " the bright bay "
through his paces in the Spanish fashion, exhibiting
the horse to the admiration of everybody. The king
said to him, "Is not this the best horse?" He
answered in the affirmative, to the gratification of the
king, who approaching the horse patted him, saying,
"So ho, my minion."'" After this the king caused
Ratto to be asked secretly what present would please
the marquis, " and he replied nothing but the king's
love ; though his intention was evinced of purchasing

* Mr. Rawdon Brown says : " Mention is made of this horse in the
'' Fioretto delle CronicJie di Mantova,' p. 72. He was a Mantuan 'barb'
or race-horse, and the marquis had been offered for him his weight
in silver, but preferred making a present of the animal to Henry VIII."
— S. P. Venetian, vol. ii., p. 162.

Book II.] RE-IMPORTED BY HENRY VIII. 73

some hobbies, and three couples of staunch hounds."
Having put " the bright bay " through his paces again,
he presented a scimitar to the king, who was much
pleased with that " specimen of oriental workmanship."

Henry was delighted with these animals, "saying
that he had never ridden better trained horses, and
that for years he had not received a more agreeable
present."'" These celebrated barbs were not name-
less, as we learn that " during four or six days the
king rode both Altobello and Governatore, and liked
them much, but preferred Governatore." f His
Majesty assured Ratto that in all his days he had
never ridden a horse that pleased him more than
Governatore, and directed his Italian secretary to
inform the marquis of his gratification with the noble
present, " as the horses were not only very beautiful,
but of surpassing excellence."

As to what the " Italian secretary " wrote we have
not been able to discover, but soon after the king
himself sent the following interesting letter to the
marquis relative to those racers, which he terms,
" pulcherimis, parterq' genecosissimus, acprestantissimis
uris equis." |

Henry, by the grace of God King of England and France,
and Lord of Ireland, etc., to the excellent Lord Prince,
Francis, Marquis of Mantua, standard-bearer of the Holy
Roman Empire, our very dear friend, greeting.

We have learnt from our intimate friend, Thomas Cene,
with what affection, magnificence, and expression of singular

* Ratto to the Marquis of Mantua. Lend., June 27, 15 14.
t Ratto to Mantua. Lond., June 30, 15 14.

% Harl. MS., 3462, fo. 147 (123). Translated from the Latin of
the MS.

74 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book II.

favour and regard towards us he has been entertained by
your excellency ; and that your very noble stables were
thrown open to him, and that he was earnestly requested to
choose for us what horses he most approved of When he
refused to avail himself of this generosity, he says your
excellency's self selected the four most beautiful of them all
for us, which we have received with your letters by your
messenger, John Ratto, a man most circumspect and careful,
and very well versed not only in horsemanship, but also in
courteous behaviour, with which I have been marvellously
pleased ; and we have read, to our very great delight, what
you write touching your ardent affection towards ourself, and
we have heard most gladly what the same gentleman, your
messenger, has reported to us with so much discreetness in
your name. And so many kind offices of yours towards
ourself have at once presented themselves to us, that it is
not very easy to determine for what we should first return
thanks. But, foremost, we thank you most heartily for that
your supreme good will towards ourself, which we cannot
mistake ; and for your exceeding desire of deserving well at
our hands, as well as for those most beaiitifiil, high-bred, and
surpassing horses just sent to us. These we hold highly
welcome and acceptable, as well because they are most
excellent, as that they have been sent from the very best
feeling and intention. Moreover, most grateful to us has
proved that enlarged bounty which you have exercised
towards the aforesaid, our intimate friend. And although we
have long ago honoured you, in no small degree, for your
well-proved nobleness of mind, your skill in war, and virtues ;
now, however, when we discern your excellency to be so
singularly affected towards us, we receive and number your
excellency, with your most noble children, among our dearest
friends, and we hold all belonging to you in the very highest
esteem. And we intreat you that, in whatever matter (how-
ever great it may be) you suppose it to be possible for us to be
serviceable to your own dignity and interest, and that of any
of yours, you will signify it confidently to us, and we will do
our endeavour, that you may be convinced of our reciprocal

Book IL] WORTH THEIR WEIGHT IN SILVER. 75

good will towards you. And farewell, with prosperity and
happiness !

From our Palace of Eltham, i6th day of July, 15 14,

Henry.*

Another draft of four horses and two jennets
appear to have been received by the king from the
marquis in the autumn of this year ; more were
promised, as soon as they were trained (? broken),
for which " innumerable thanks " were tendered in
advance, as they could not fail to be excellent " coming
from such a stud," — the regard in which those already
received were held by Henry is exemplified, — they
were probably at the stud, and only ridden by him " on
state occasions.

On the 1 8th of August, the king wrote from
Greenwich, again thanking the marquis for " his very
noble present," announcing the departure of " our
intimate friend and knight Griffith," with some English
horses " saddled and harnessed in their full trappings,"
partly for his Excellency, and partly for " his illustrious
consort." f

There are many historical references to the
thoroughbred horses Henry VIII. obtained from the
Marquis of Mantua. Sebastian Giustinian, Venetian

* The friendship between the king and the Duke of Mantua was
curiously illustrated at a later period. He had been cited by the Pope
to appear before a general council, to be held at Mantua, to answer
certain accusations to be there laid against him. It is supposed Mantua
was selected as the most likely place to entrap the king, who, it was
presumed, might be attracted thither by the duke's stud, which Henry
was anxious to visit. The duke, however, defied the Pope, and would not
allow the council to assemble there, and so the plot fell through.

t Harl. MS., 3462 (Latin).

76 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book II.

Ambassador in England, in a despatch to the Signory,
describes the Mayday gaieties of the Court in 1 5 1 5 ;
and records that he saw the king on a bay horse,
which had been sent to him as a present by the
marquis, upon which his Majesty performed such feats
that he fancied himself looking at Mars !

Francesco Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua,* then in
his forty-ninth year, was renowned for his stud of
horses, of which the preceding and the following
drafts are mentioned as being received in this country
by the king. In 15 17, and most likely in the interval,
further additions from Mantua's stud arrived in Eng-
land for the King and the Duke of Suffolk, the recipro-
cation being usually English hounds and hobbies.f

Amongf other strains of Eastern blood in Eno^land at
this time, we find a stallion given to the king by the
late Duke of Urbino,J at the paddock at Hampton
Court, whose services were appropriated by Cardinal
Wolsey. His Eminence was a famous horseman, and
was always energetic in improving the breed of horses
in this country. In 1515, Ferdinand of Arragon, King
of Spain, sent Henry two "excellent horses," and in

* In March, 1530, the Emperor Charles V. paid a visit to Gonzaga's
stud, when he raised the Margravate of Mantua to a Duchy. During this
visit the Emperor's master of the horse, Count de Montford, suddenly
died there.

t Francesco Chieregato to Mantua. Lond., May 28, 15 17.

X One day the king mounted Ratto on this horse, to see how he would
manage him. He put the horse through his paces, to the astonishment
of the king, who said he thought Ratto must have ridden the horse
before. The king then asked him whether, without displeasing the
Marquis of Mantua, he could enter his service, promising good pay. He
replied that he would never wrong the marquis, whose servant he was,
and that he would never act thus were he in the service of his Majesty,
whom he preferred serving at Mantua rather than in "England.

Book II.] THE ROYAL STUD.

77

15 18 the latter sent " a Bolognese gentleman " and an
Englishman to bring him horses from Italy,*

Frizzi, in his " History of Ferrara," mentions the
fact of the Duke Alfonso's havino- sent one of his
courtiers, named Girolamo Sestola, to Henry VHI.
with a present of a most superb horse with gold trap-
pings, and three trained falcons and a leopard, which
last kind of prey was used in Italy in those times to
course hares. f In October, 1515, Ferdinand, King of
Arragon, sent Henry VIII. a present of two famous
horses, caparisoned regio ornatu, said to have been
worth upwards of one hundred thousand ducats. J

In April, 15 19, Sir Gregory de Cassalis, then at
Bologna, was commissioned by Henry VIII. to pur-
chase for him the best horses procurable at the time
in Spain and Italy. For this purpose he went to the
Duke of Ferrara, announced his business, was shown
the duke's stud and allowed to choose what he pleased.
None were up to the ideal standard, nevertheless two
were selected which were "of the breed of Isabella,
duchess of Milan." Ferrara, in a letter to Henry,

* Cardinal Campeggio to the Marquis of Mantua. Lond., Nov. lo,
1518.

t Sanuto mentions having seen a leopard take a hare at Vigevano in
1496 ; and in an Adoration of the Magi, attributed to Titian, in the
Manfrini gallery, two leopards are seen in a leash like dogs. Frizzi says,
the mission and present had for object to induce Henry VIII. to persuade
Leo. X. to restore Modena and Roggio to the Duke of Ferrara.

X Ferdinand the Catholic was at this time considered insane because
he gave those horses to his son-in-law. He is said to have never
recovered the effects of the aphrodisiac dish which his new queen, Ger-
maine de Fois, set before him in the month of March, 15 13, as recorded
in one of the letters of Peter Martyr, who in a subsequent epistle says
King Ferdinand died of "hunting and matrimony, either of which are
fatal to most men at the age of si.\ty-three."

78 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book II.

apologizes for being unable to render him more as-
sistance in the selection, and would gladly have sent
him better animals, " but that the breed of horses in
his country is very much degenerated."* The follow-
ing year Sir Gregory obtained for the king another
horse " which had no fellow in Italy." f

The king wrote from Greenwich on the 8th of
January, 1533, to Frederick, Duke of Mantua, thanking
him for a present of mares which he had just received
by Ippolito Pagano, "a gift most aggreeable, not
merely because he delights greatly in horses of that
breed {illo equorum gcnere), but also because " they
were sent by his Excellency." \ In reciprocation
Henry sent the duke two English horses § {gradmnos
equos), probably descendants of the celebrated barbs
imported in 1514. In 1537 the duke wrote to Mattheo
Deir Agnella, surnamed " El Barba," who was then
in London, requesting him to send him " an English-
bred hobby." II

In June, 1530, 248 crowns = ^57 ijs. \d., was
charged to the Privy Purse for bringing three horses,
two men, and one boy from " Mantwaye." About this
time we read of drafts of this strain having been sent to
Spain, which proves the reputation of the Mantua stud.^

* Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII., MSS., P.R.O.

IMS. Vit. bk. iv. 37, B.M. Cf. Shakespeare's King Henry the Eighth
— " The league between his Highness and Ferrara . . . To Gregory de
Cassalis to conclude."

X Ferdinand Charles, last Duke of Mantua, died in 1706, when the
Emperor of Austria took possession of his dominions. The duke's stud
was continued, and strains of the Anglo-Arabian breed are probably still
to be found at the now Imperial harras.

§ S. P. Venetian, vol. iv., 840, p. 374. || Ibid., vol. v., 135, p. 54.

IF S.P. England and Spain, vol. iii., p. 2, p. 609.

Book II.] AGAIN BECOMES FAMOUS. 79

The improvement already effected in horse breed-
ing at the royal paddocks must have been considerable,
as Henry VIII. was enabled to send (November, 1526)
Francis the First a present of eighteen horses.* In
1539 he received twenty-five "beautiful Spanish
horses " from the Emperor Charles V.|

Sebastian Giustinian, Venetian ambassador in Eng-
land, in a despatch dated September 10, 15 19, in a
description of the king, says, " he was extremely fond of
hunting, and never took that divertion without tiring
eight or ten horses, which he caused to be stationed
beforehand along the line of country he meant to take.
He was also fond of tennis, at which game it was the
prettiest thing in the world to see him play, his fair
skin glowing through a shirt of the finest texture. He
gambled with the French hostages to the amount,
occasionally, it was said, of from 6000 to 8000 ducats
in a day." \

In certain articles " devised by his royal highness,§
with the advice of his council, for the establishment of
good order and reformation of sundry errors and mis-
uses in his household and chambers," dated " apud
Eltham, mense January [an°] 22 Henry VIII." it
appears that at this date, coursers, young horses,
hunting geldings, hobbies, Barbary horses, stallions,
geldings, mail, bottle, pack, Besage, and two stalking

* S.P. Venetian, vol. iii., 1436, 1437.

t Itinerary, sub. ann.

X Venetian State Papers, No. 1286, vol. ii., p. 557.

§ The title Majesty was not given to our kings till a reign or two
after. Twenty-four loaves of bread a day were allowed for the royal
greyhounds.

8o THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book II.

horses, numbering- in all eighty-six, were at the royal
stud at Eltham.* An interesting account of the
number and description of the horses, officers of the
stable, etc., necessary for a royal progress is given in
the Loseley MS., edited by E. J. Kempe, F.S.A.
Lond. 1836, pp. 98, 100.

The career of Henry VIII. is too well known to require
any memoir at our hands ; suffice it to mention that he never
spared man in his wrath or woman in his lust.

About the time of the dissolution of the monasteries,
Henry VIII. is said to have staked the great bells of St. Paul's
against ij'ioo with Sir Miles Partridge upon a cast of dice.
The latter won, " and then causing the bells to be broken as
they hung, the rest (in the belfry) was pulled down and broken
also." t This peal was " the greatest in England," % and
deserved a better fate. Partridge was executed on Tower
Hill, "for some criminal offences," in the year 1551.

As we have already seen, Bluff King Hal patronized the
Turf, kept a racing establishment, was an importer of Arab
blood and of other approved strains of the equine race. He
was second son of Henry VII. and Elizabeth, eldest daughter
and heir of Edward IV.; succeeded to the throne on the death
of his father, April 22, 1509; married and murdered (or
divorced) his six wives ; died January 28, 1546-7.

The Emperor Charles V. sent Edward VI. a pre-
sent of '' two most beautiful Spanish horses," which
were received in London on March 26, 1550, as
mentioned by Bishop Hooper in a letter to Henry
Bullinger.§

* Archae., vol. iii., pp. I57, I59-

t Stow's " Survey of the Cities of Lond. and Westminster," by Strype.
Lond. 1720, vol. i., book iii., 148 b.
X Harl. Miscellany, vol. ii., p. no.
§ Zurich Letters, iii., 81.

EooK 11] EDWARD VI. Sr

Respecting" this present of horses several documents
are preserved in the Pubhc Record Office, from which
it appears that certain instructions were drawn up
and furnished to Sir Jaques Granado, Knight, one of
the esquires of the stable, who was entrusted to con-
vey the racers to " the French king and the dolphin
of Fraunce and the constable of Fraunce, as tokens and
presentes from his Ma''^ to every of them." Formal
despatches were drafted by the council, minutes passed,
and warrants issued in connection with this business,
which assumed the aspect of some momentous affair
of state. At Paris there was also much ado. Sir
William Pickering writes from the British Embassy
there, to the council here, describing the reception of
the horses by the French king. Sir Jaques was duly
presented, delivered his credentials and the horses,
which Henry II. willingly accepted, and said, "that his
good brother had somewhat prevented him, for he
hadde longe agoo appointed a lyke present and of the
same commodities his country bare, which he wolde
also shortly sende unto his highness."

In another despatch Sir William wrote as follows :
" Mr. Granado hath taken his leave, and hath in reward
three cheynes,* one of the king, the queue, and dol-
phin, in valeue by estimacion viij. C. f crownes. The
Kinges ma''^ shalle have sent him from hence vj. cor-
talles, iij. Spanishe horses, one torke,J a barbery, one
cowerser, and ij. lyttel mewles." § The " cowerser "
seems to have been the same which King Edward in

* Chains. f 800 crowns. % Turk.

§ Sir W. Pickering to the Council, from Melun, December 8, 1551.

VOL. I. G

82 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book 11.

his Journal* terms "a sturring-horse." It seems pro-
bable that these horses were selected from the royal
stud at Fontainebleau.'l'

Sir Jaques Granado, the equerry, met his death
in his vocation in the year 1552, being accidentally
thrown from his horse in the privy garden at White-
hall, in the presence of Queen Mary and King Philip,
and killed on the spot.J

Notwithstanding Holinshed's aspersions, it is very
likely the encouragement given by Henry VI I L was
conducive to, and actually produced very salutary re-
sults in, the cultivation of the English horse. The
royal studs may have deteriorated as he asserts, but
there can be no doubt that many of the most approved
and valued strains continued to be bred from by
noblemen and gentlemen throughout the country, such
as Sir Nicholas Arnold, otherwise Edward VI. would
not be able to eulogize the number and superiority of
the horses he saw at the musters in 1551. Writing
on the 20th of December in that year to his friend
Barnaby Fitzpatrick, he tells him the musters were
well armed, " and so horsed as was never seen, and, I
dare say, so many good horses, and so well armed
men. ^

* In the king's journal or diary (now preserved in the British Museum

MS. Cotton Nero C. x.) the following entry occurs under date January

27, 1 55 1-2 ; "Paris arrived with horses, and shewed how the French king

, had sent me [a present of] six cortalles, tow Turkes, a barbary, tow

genettes, a sturring horse, and tow litle muyles, and shewd them to me."

t Henry II. to Edward VI. from Fontainebleau, December 4, 1551.

X Machyn's Diary, p. 135. Ibid., p. 356.

§ Barnaby Fitzpatrick was the elder son of an Irish chieftain, who,
after the suppression of the rebellion of the Geraldines in 1537, made his

Book II.] QUEEN ELIZABETH. 83

In 1552, by sec. 15 of the council ordinances, " for
the strength and wealth of the realm," commissioners
were appointed to view the state of the realm for
keeping of great horses, and to see whether the
statute made concerning the same was duly observed.
This referred to the Act passed i Edw. VI., cap. 5,
prohibiting the exportation of horses out of the realm
without the king's licence under his great or privy
seal ; and in consequence of the wars on the continent,
which created a demand for horses there, a proclama-
tion was issued on the 5th of October, 1552, to enforce
the observance of that Act. The same prohibition
had been enacted by the Act of 11 Henry VII., and
by several statutes of Henry VIII.

During the reign of Queen Elizabeth ^'^ the Turf
made considerable progress in England and Scotland.
Good Queen Bess became its great patroness, kept up
the royal studs, probably entered and ran her own
horses, and frequently honoured race-meetings with
her presence. Race-meetings are specifically men-
tioned, and in some cases minutely described, at Salis-
bury, Doncaster, Huntingdon, Croydon (the Ascot of
that era), Richmond (Yorkshire), and Carlisle ; and in
Scotland there were probably several fixtures besides

submission to the English monarch, was created a peer of Ireland, by the
title of Baron of Upper Ossory, in 1 541, and was knighted in 1543. Young
Fitzpatrick being retained at the English court as a hostage for his
father's good behaviour, as well as for his own education, he became the
favourite companion of the prince. When at an age to travel, Barnaby
went to the French court, furnished at King Edward's cost, and during
this period an interesting correspondence passed between them. In 1577
he slew the great rebel Rory O'More. He died at Dublin, September
1 1, 1 581. He had a rare stud of hobbies at one time, and was probably a
patron of the turf in the days of the Virgin Queen.

84 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book II.

those at Haddington, Peebles, Dumfries, and Teviot-
dale, of which we have no records. The sport, doubt-
less, continued as of yore at Chester and many other
localities identified with racing, including the environs
of the metropolis, where there appears to have been
several courses which subsequently became " a wilder-
ness of houses."

^^ Queen Elizabeth — daughter of Henry VIII. and his
second wife, Anne Boleyn — born September 7, 1533 ; ascended
the throne November 17, 1558 ; died March 24, 1603. In her
youth, Elizabeth was a good horsewoman ; and indeed, after
she ascended the throne, her Majesty frequently rode on
horseback during her progresses through the country. As
we have already seen, the Virgin Queen was a notable patroness
of the Turf, kept a racing establishment, and probably had
the pleasure of seeing some of her own horses go first past
the winning-post. More than any other English sovereign,
Elizabeth lived among her subjects, and even long after her
death, her birthday was kept in " memory green " throughout
the realm.

Turning to the Annals we ascertain the following
details :

In the month of May, 1574, preparations were
made by Archbishop Parker for a visit of the queen
Croydon. at his palace of Croydon during the races ;
0.1574. ^^^ ]yjj.^ 5^ Bowyer, the queen's usher of
the black rod, was sent down to prepare lodgings for
her Majesty and her officers of state, attendants, etc. ;
but, after all these preparations, the visit was deferred.

Among the distinguished persons who were to
accompany the queen, lodgings were provided at the
palace for the Lord Chamberlain, the Lord Treasurer

C. 1574.] CROYDON. 85

and his Lady, the Lady Warwick, the Earl of
Leicester, the Lord Admiral, the Lady Howard, the
Lord Hunsdon, Mr. Secretary Walsingham, the Lady
Stafford, Mr. Hennage, Mrs. Drewrey, the Ladies
and Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber, Mrs. Abbing-
ton, the Maids of Honour, Sir George Howard,
the Captain of the Guard, the Grooms of the
Privy Chamber, the Esquires of the Body, the
Gentlemen Ushers, the Royal Physicians, the Keeper
of the Queen's Robes, the Groom Porter, the Clerk of
the Kitchen, and "the Wardrobe of the Bedes."
Bowyer s difficulties now commenced : " For the Queen's
Wayghters, I cannot as yet fynde anye convenyent
romes to place them in, but I will doo the best y' I can
to place them elsewher but yf y' please you S"", y' I doo
remove them. The Gromes of the Privye Chamber
nor Mr. Drewrye have no other waye to their Cham-
bers but to pass throwe that waye agayne that my
Lady of Oxford should come. I cannot then tell
wher to place Mr. Hatton, and for my Lady Carewe
here is no place with a chimney for her but that must
ley abrode by Mrs. Aparry and the rest of the
Privye Chambers. For Mrs. Shelton here is no romes
with chymeneys ; I shall staye [keep] one chamber
without for her. Here is as mutche as I have any
wayes able to doo in this house." * The description
reads like the festivities at Windsor Castle durinof an
Ascot week in the reign of George IV.

In April, 1585, the queen, accompanied by a
brilliant retinue, attended the races at Croydon, when

* Nichols, " Progress of Queen Elizabeth," vol. i., pp. 385, 386.

86 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book II.

34^-. was expended on a stand (which can hardly be
termed " grand ") for the use of her Majesty during
the meeting.'" She was also present in 1587,! and
again in 1588, when similar accommodation was pro-
vided on the course for her to see the races.J

" These two years, in March, there was a race run
with horses, at the furthest three miles from Sarum, at
Salisbury, which were divers noble personages, whose
c. 1585. names are underwritten, and the Earl of
Cumberland won the golden bell, which was valued at
^50 and better, the which Earl is to bring the same
again next year, which he promised to do, upon his
honour, to the mayor of this city.

" The Earl of Cumberland," the Earl of Warwick,^^
the Earl of Pembroke,^^ the Earl of Essex,'"^*^
the Lord Chandos,-^ the Lord Thomas Howard,
the Lord William Howard,^- Sir Walter
Hungerford,-^ Sir John Danvers,'* Sir Thomas
Wroughton,-^ Sir William Courtenay,"^ Sir
Matthew Arundell,^^ Mr. Thomas George,^^
of Her Majesty's Privy Council, with divers
others." §
" During the stay of the Earl of Essex, he gave

* "To Frauncs Coote for thallowance of him selfe for makinge
readye a standinge for her ma"° at the horse race at Croydon, by the
space of ij days mens. Aprilis 1585 . . . xxxiv'." — Wardrobe Accounts,
Treasurer of the Chamber, box F, bundle 2, m. 64, 65. The " Bishoppes
house at Croydon" was made ready at a cost to her Majesty of ^8 i^s. \d.

t Similar expenses occurred during this visit. — Ibid., m. 91.

+ The Apparelers were engaged six days making ready the Archie-
piscopal Palace : also a standing " against the runninge of the horses
there xxxixs."— /^^/V/., m. 105, MS. P.R.O.

§ Records of the Corporation of Salisbury, quoted by Sir Richard
Colt Hoare, Bart., in " Hist. Wilts," vol. vi., p. 294.

1589

1^3' SALISBURY. 87

a golden snaffle for the encouragement of the races
recently established. Soon after the change of mayors
in 1602, we find this memorandum : —

"'March 11, 1603. At this assembly, Mr. Henry
Boyle, late mayor, hath brought in and delivered to
Mr. James Haviland, now mayor of the City, the
golden bell appointed for the races, and given to this
City by the Right Honourable Henry, late Earl of
Pembroke, and also one golden snaffle, lately given to
this City by the Earl of Essex.' "—" The History of
Wiltshire," vol. vi., p. 306 (Extracts zn'de Municipal
Records of Salisbury, ledger C, fol. 172), by Sir R. C.
Hoare, Bart.

^'' George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, was a
conspicuous patron, and one of the victims, of the Turf at this
period. Educated at the university of Cambridge and at-
taching himself to the study of mathematics, imbibing thereby
a passion for navigation, that he soon afterwards became
eminent as a naval commander, having undertaken at his own
expense several voyages for the public service. That, and a
passion for horse-racing, tournaments, and similar pursuits,
made such inroads upon his fortune, that he was said to have
wasted more of his estate than any one of his ancestors. His
lordship was elected a Knight of the Garter in 1592.- His
character is thus depicted in the manuscript memoirs of his
celebrated daughter, Anne, Countess of Dorset and Pembroke :
— " He was endowed with many perfections of nature so be-
fitting so noble a personage, as an excellent quickness of wit
and apprehension, an active and strong body, and an affable
disposition and behaviour. But as good natures, through
human frailty, are often misled, so he fell in love with a lady
of quality, which did by degrees, draw and aliene his love
and affections from his so virtuous and well-deserving wife ;
it being the cause of many discontents between them for many

88 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IL

years together, so that at length, for two or three years before
his death, they parted houses, to her extreme grief and sorrow,
and also to his extreme sorrow at the time of his death ; for
he died a very penitent man, in the duchy-house, called the
Savoy, 30 October, 1605, aged 47 years, 2 months, and 22 days,
being born at Brougham Castle, 8 Augt. 1558." *

* Burke's "Dormant and Extinct Peerages," ed. 1866, p. 123. For
accounts of his voyages "vide " Purchas Plis Pilgrimes," part iv. Lond.
1625, fo. — On one occasion he missed, by three or four days, the Spanish
fleet at the Island of Fayael, where they discharged " fortie millions of
gold and silver " which he might have captured, " as the Spaniards them-
selves confessed," instead of the small galleon which he took which was
valued at only ;^i 50,000. Politically he was Ultramontain, and at one
time in league with the Northern Lords (who, like himself, were addicted
to the chase and the Turf) concerning the plot to depose Elizabeth and
to place Maiy Queen of Scots on the throne (see Froude, chaps, xvii.,
xviii.). " Malgre les richesses immenses conquises par Clifford, la con-
struction et I'armement de ses vaisseaux, son gout pour les joutes et les
courses de chevaux lui firent dissiper une partie de son patrimonie. II
mourut en 1605." — Biegi'aphie Universelli., Paris, 181 3. " He sold much
land at Rotherham and Malton to the Earl of Shrewsbury and others, and
to Sir Michael Stanupp, so that he consumed more of his Estate than
[ever] any of his Ancestors did by much, to which his continual building
of ships, and his many sea voyages, gave great occasion to these Vast
cxpences of his, and that which did contribute the more to the consuming
of his estate, was his extream love to Horse-races, Tiltings, Bowling
matches. Shooting, and all such expensive sports . . . Queen Elizabeth
made him Knight of the most noble Order of the Garter, and made him her
Champion at all the Tiltings from the 35th year of her reigne till her Death,
for in those exercises of Tilting, Turnings and Courses of the field, he did
excell all the nobility of his time . . . Also K. James, her Successor,
made this George Earl of Cumberland, one of his Privy Counsell and
Conferred some gifts of profit upon him in part of recompence for the
great Service he had done in England in his many Sea Voyages — A
Summary of the Vetriponts, Cliffords and Earls of Cu/nberland and of
the Lady An?ie^ Countess Dowager of Petnbroke, Dorsett, and Moittgomery^
&=€. Daughter and Heir to George Clifford, Earl of Cund)erland, iti whom
ye Name of the said Cliffords Determi}ied ! " — Harleian MS., 6177, fo. 98.

After the death of the second Earl of Cumberland, in 1572, in an
inventory of his effects, etc., at Skipton Castle, the following horses and
geldings are mentioned, with a valuation attached to each : Young Marc-
antony, stoned, ^16; Grey Clyfiford, ^11 ; Whyte Dacre, ^10; Sorrell
Tempest, ^4 ; Whit Tempest, ^5 ; Baye Tempest, ^^5 ; Baye Myddleton,
£\ ; Mayres and ther followers, 11 ; Carthorses, 10.

Mr. Morant remarks — " With respect to the earl's stud of horses, there

Book II.] THE EARL OF WARWICK. 89

^^ Through the especial favour of the Queen, in the 3rd and
4th of PhiHp and Mary, Lord Ambrose Dudley, then eldest
surviving son of the attainted John Dudley, Duke of Northum-
berland, was restored in blood ; and in the first year of
Elizabeth he obtained a grant of the manor of Bibworth
Beauchamp, county Leicester, to be held by service of pantler
to the kings and queens of England at their coronations, which
manor and office his father and other of his ancestors. Earls
of Warwick, formerly enjoyed. In the next year he was
made master of ordinance for life, and two years afterwards,
December 25, 1561, advanced to the peerage as Baron LTsle
preparatory to his being created next day Earl OF WARWICK,
when he obtained a grant of Warwick Castle, and divers other
lordships in the same county, which had come to the crown
upon the attainder of his father. His lordship was afterwards
created a Knight of the Garter. In the 12th Elizabeth, upon
the insurrection in the North of the Earls of Westmoreland
and Northumberland, the Earl of Sussex being first despatched
against the rebels with 700 men, the Earl of Warwick, with
the Lord Admiral Clinton, followed with 13,000 more, the earl
being nominated lieutenant-general of the army. The next
year he was constituted Chief Butler of England, and soon
afterwards sworn of her j\Iajesty's Privy Council. During this
year he was one of the peers who sat in Westminster Hall on
the trial and judgment of Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, as he
did fourteen years after at Fotheringay, on the trial of Mary,
Queen of Scotland. The Earl of Warwick married, ist, Anne,
daughter and co-heir of William Whorwood, Esq., attorney-
general to Henry VIII. ; 2ndly, Elizabeth, daughter and heir of
Gilbert Talboys ; and 3rdly, Anne, daughter of Francis, Earl
of Bedford; but died without heirs, in 1589, when all his
honours became extinct ; the lordship and lands, which he
had obtained by grant (part of the inheritance of the old Earls
of Warwick), reverted to the crown. Of these the ancient

was something much more noble in naming these fine animals from his
own family, or that of friends from whom he had purchased them, than
the contemptible and nonsensical manner of denominating race-horses
at present." — " Hist. Craven," ed. 1878.

go THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Cook IT.

park of Wedgenock was granted, in 1601, by Queen Elizabeth
to Sir Fluke Greville, to whom, in four years afterwards,
James I. likewise granted the Castle of Warwick with the
gardens and dependencies. This Sir Fluke Greville was
descended through his grandmother, Elizabeth, one of the
daughters and co-heirs of Lord Beau champ, of Powyk, from
the old Beauchamps, Earls of Warwick ; and from him have
sprung the existing Earls of Brooke and Warwick.

^9 Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, K.G.,
succeeded his father, William Herbert, the ist Earl, on March
17, 1569-70. He married, 1st, Catherine, daughter of Henry
Grey, Duke of Suffolk, from whom he was divorced ; 2ndly,
Catherine, daughter of George, Earl of Shrewsbury, but by
that lady had no issue ; and Srdly, Mary, daughter of Sir
Henry Sydney, K.G., by whom he had two sons and a
daughter. He died January 19, 1600-1, and w^as succeeded
by his eldest son, Wilham, 3rd Earl, K.G., chancellor of the
university of Oxford, and lord-chamberlain of the household,
who married Mary, daughter of Gilbert, Earl of Shrewsbury,
and co-heir to the Baronies of Talbot, Strange, Blackmere,
and Furnival, but died without surviving issue, April 10, 1630,
when the honours of his family devolved upon his brother
Philip, 4th Earl of Pembroke and ist Earl of Montgomery.

2" Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, who was a
prominent patron of the Turf and staunch supporter of the
old Sarum meetings, was born on the loth of November, 1567,
at Netherwood, his father's seat in Herefordshire. He was
educated at Cambridge, where he took the degree of M.A. in
1583, but soon after retired to his villa venatica, Lampsie, in
South Wales, where he spent some time, and became so
enamoured with his rural retreat that he was with difficulty
prevailed on to quit it. The earl was an expert horseman,
saw service abroad, distinguished himself at the battle of
Sutphen, fought in 1586, and soon after his return to England
was made Master of the Horse. Two years later we find

Book II.] THE EARL OF ESSEX. 91

him general in command of the horse, for the defence of the
kingdom against the Spanish invasion. When the Armada
was dispersed, and the camp at Tilbury broken up, the Earl
of Essex was created K.G., and was henceforth considered the
queen's favourite. He subsequently filled many important
positions, including that of Earl Marshal of England, Lord
Deputy of Ireland, and Chancellor of the University of Cam-
bridge. His ultimate fate is so notorious an event in history
that it is unnecessary to dwell at any length upon it here.
By his marriage with Frances, the widow of his friend Sir
Philip Sidney, he first excited the jealousy and resentment
of Queen Elizabeth, against whom he subsequently conspired
and made a fruitless effort at insurrection, was taken prisoner,
committed to the Tower, and thence, after having been con-
victed by his peers of high treason, was, under romantic cir-
cumstances, beheaded on the 25th of February, 1600. The
legend of the ring, in connection with the execution of the
Earl of Essex, which recent investigation has confirmed, was
to the following purport : — Elizabeth, in the height of her
passion for the Earl of Essex, gave him a ring, which he was
enjoined to cherish ; and that whatever offence he should
commit, she would pardon him when he should return that
pledge. When he was condemned, she expected to receive
from him the ring, and would have granted him his pardon
according to her promise. The earl, finding himself in the
last extremity, applied to Admiral Howard's lady, who was
his relation, and desired her, by a person she could trust, to
deliver the ring into the queen's own hands. But her husband,
who was one of the earl's greatest enemies, and to whom she
told this imprudently, would not suffer her to acquit herself
of the commission ; so that the queen consented to the earl's
death, being full of indignation against so proud and haughty
a spirit, who chose rather to die than to implore her mercy.
She, however, ordered a magnificent scaffold to be erected
for the execution ; the cost and particulars of which are still
extant.* Some time after the admiral's lady fell ill, and

* L.T.R. Works and Buildings, M.S., P.R.O.

92 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IL

being given over by her physicians, she sent word to the
queen that she had a secret of great consequence to divulge
before she died. The queen came to her bedside ; and having
ordered all her attendants to withdraw, Lady Howard re-
turned her Majesty, but too late, that ring from the Earl of
Essex, praying to be excused for not having returned it
sooner, since her husband had prevented her. The queen
retired immediately, overwhelmed with the utmost grief; she
sighed continually for a fortnight, without taking any nourish-
ment, lying in bed entirely dressed, and getting up a hundred
times a night. At last she died with hunger and with grief,
because she had consented to the death of a lover who had
applied to her, under such untoward circumstances, for mercy.
Such was the end of this most remarkable Turfite of the age.

^^ Giles Burges (or Brydges), 3rd Baron Chandos — son of
Edmund the 2nd Baron and Dorothy, fifth daughter and
eventually co-heir of Edmund, Lord Bray — succeeded to the
family honours and estates in Gloucestershire, on the death
of his father, September 11, 1573. He married Lady Frances
Clinton, daughter of Edward, ist Earl of Lincoln, by whom
he had two daughters, Elizabeth, who married Sir John
Kennedy, and Catherine, who married Francis, Lord Russell,
of Thornhaugh, afterwards Earl of Bedford. Those ladies
were his heirs. He died February 21, 1593-4, and was suc-
ceeded in the peerage by his brother William, the 4th baron,
who died in 1602.

22 The Lords Thomas and William Howard above
mentioned were, respectively, the elder and the second sons of
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, K.G., by his second
marriage with Margaret, daughter and heir of Thomas, Lord
Audlcy of Walden, of whom TllOMAS succeeded to the
Barony of Walden, in the right of his mother, and was after-
wards created Earl of Suffolk ; William (" Belted Will ") was
restored in blood, by Act of Parliament, in 1603. He married
Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas, and sister and co-heir of
George, Lord Dacre of Gillesland, and became in her right,

Book II.] S/R WALTER HUNGERFORD. 93

proprietor of Naworth Castle, in Cumberland, the ancient
seat of the Dacre family. He also acquired by this alliance
Hinderskelle, the site of Castle Howard. Their father,
Thomas, 4th Duke of Norfolk, shared the fate of their dis-
tinguished grandfather, for, being attainted of high treason
for his communication with Mary, Queen of Scots, he was
beheaded in 1572, when all his honours became forfeited.*

'^ Sir Walter Hungerford, Knight, of Farley Castle,
— eldest son of Walter Hungerford, Baron Hungerford, of
Heytesbury, and Jane, daughter of Lord Zouche, of Harring-
worth, which nobleman was beheaded on Tower Hill with
Cromwell, Earl of Essex, July 28, 1541, when this barony
expired — obtained from Queen Mary a reversal of the at-
tainder imposed upon his father in the reign of Henry VHL,
save as to the enjoyment of the peerage. Sir Walter married,
1st, Anne Basset, and 2ndly, Anne, daughter of Sir William
Dormer, Knight, and had issue one son (who died without
heirs) and three daughters. Sir Walter Hungerford, unlike
many of his ancestors, eschewed political strife and court in-
trigue, and devoted his life principally to rural affairs and field
sports. The motto affixed to his portrait, with its append-
ages, demonstrates the man and his habits. He proclaims
himself Amicis Amicissimus — a most endearing expression !
The motto alludes most forcibly to the fatal and ambitious
pursuits of his ancestors ; and the hooded hawk perched on
his glove in one picture, and the other curious portraiture
of the same personage on horseback, points him out as a
lover of the country and the champion of rural amusements.
The latter picture bears the following inscription : — " S'' W^alter
Hungerforde knight had in quene Elizabeths tyme the seconde
of her raine for fouer yere to gether a baye horse a blacke
greyhounde a leveratt his offer was for fouer yeare to gether
to all Eynglande not a boue his betters he that shoulde showe
the best horse for a man of armes a greyhounde for a hare a
haucke for the ryver to wine HI hundred poundes that was

* See Book vi., sub.-tit. Langwathby, 1612.

94 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book II.

a hunclciy the poundcs a pcsc also he had a gerfalcon for the
heme in her majcstys tyme which he kept XVIII yere and
offered the lyke to flye for a hundred pounde and were refused
for all."

On the branch of the family settled at Black Bourton,
county Oxford, Farley Castle eventually devolved, and was one
of the great possessions of Sir Edward Hungerford, Knight
of the Bath, surnamed "the Spendthrift," by whose boundless
extravagance the family property, immense though it was,
was utterly destroyed. He died in 171 1, having had a son,
Edward, who predeceased his father, without surviving issue.
Thus terminated this remarkable family, notable for its great
fortune and bad luck — if the paradox be admissible. Two
branches of the Hungerford family, however, are still settled
in Ireland.*

-^ Sir John Danvers, Knight, of Dauntscy, Wiltshire,
acquired by his marriage with the Hon. Elizabeth Nevil,
fourth daughter of John Nevil, last Lord Latimer of that
surname, the ancient castle of Danby, in the North Riding
of Yorkshire. By this lady he had three sons and two
daughters. His second son and heir. Sir Henry Danvers,
Knight, was elevated to the peerage July 27, 1603, as Baron
Danvers, of Dauntsey, county Wilts, and on the accession of
Charles I., created Earl of Danby, and soon after chosen a
Knight of the Garter. Dying January 20, 1643, a bachelor
and without heirs, all these honours became extinct.

^^ Sir Thomas Wroughton died In June, 1597. His eldest
daughter, Dorothy, married, ist. Sir Henry Unton, Queen
Elizabeth's ambassador at the court of France, temp. July 24,

* Some short time since a most interesting manuscript collection of
memoirs of the Hungerford family was sold by auction in London. It.
realized a high price, and, we believe, was purchased for the Astor Library,
in New York City. Recently, all our good rural manuscripts have been
bought up by enterprising American and Colonial collectors . The absence
of such uniciue documents render the elucidation of domestic history all
the more difficult, in many cases a hopeless task !

1600.] DONCASTER.

95

1591— jLine 7, 1592; and 2ndly, Sir George Shcrly, Bart.,
ancestor of the Earls Ferrers.

'^^ Sir William Courtenay, Knight, only son and heir
of Sir William Courtenay and Elizabeth, daughter of John
Powlet, Marquis of Winchester, succeeded his father, who was
killed at the storming of St. Quintin, in 1557. This notable
Turfite was High Sheriff of Devonshire in 1581, and four
years later became one of the undertakers to send over
settlers for the better planting of Ireland, and thus laid the
foundation of the prodigious estates in that kingdom which
his descendants until recently enjoyed. Sir William married
Elizabeth, daughter of Henry, Earl of Rutland, and, dying
in 1630, was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Francis
Courtenay, Esq., of Powderham Castle, county Devon.

-^ Sir Matiiew Arundell, of Wardour — son of Sir
Thomas Arundell and Margaret, daughter and co-heir of
Lord Edmund Howard, third son of Thomas, Duke of Nor-
folk, and sister of Catherine, fifth wife of Henry VHI. —
married Margaret, daughter of Sir Henry Willoughby, Knight,
of Wollaton, county Nottingham. Sir Matthew died in 1598,
and was succeeded by his elder son, created Baron Arundell
of Wardour, May 4, 1605.

'■^^ Of this gentleman we know nothing beyond the fact
of his being a member of the Privy Council and a patron
of the Turf in those days.

" The commencement of horse-racing at Doncaster
may be ascribed to the sixteenth century ; there cer-
tainly was a race-course In 1600, for on the Doncaster.
2ncl of May of that year an order v^^as made ^^^'
by the Corporation, ' That whereas Hugh Wyrrall,
gentleman, had caused a stoope to be sett on Doncaster
More at the west end of the horse race, yt Mr. Maior,

96 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book II.

Mr. Huscroft, and Mr. Levett maye lykewise sett a
workman to cutt down or digg upp the sayd stoope.' "

" A race course on ' Wheatlay More ' is noticed
in old deeds [dated] a.d. 1600." — Doncaster Races.
Hist. Notices, etc., by William Sheardown, Esq., J. P.

"April 6, 1602. This day there was a race at
Sapley neere huntingdon : invented by the gents of
Huntingdon, that Country : At this Mr. Oliuer Cromwell's
1602. horse won the syluer bell : And Mr. Crom-
well had the glory of the day. Mr. Hynd came be-
hinde." — Diary, anonymous, Had. MS. 5353, fo. 36^/.

This diary was printed by the Camden Society in 1868.
It is edited by Mr. John Bruce, by whom it is attributed
to "John Manningham, of the Middle Temple, and of
Bradbourne, Kent, Barrister-at-law, 1602, 1603." ^'^^- Bruce,
in his notes on the above extract, says, " This ' Mr. OHver
Cromwell ' was in truth, according to other writers who hive
mentioned him. Sir Oliver Cromwell, stated to have been
knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1598, created K.B. at the
coronation of King James, and uncle to his namesake the
future Protector. An ancestor of his in the reign of Henry
VIII. is described by Mr. Carlyle as ' a vehement, swift-riding
man" (Cromwell's Letters and Speeches, i. 42, ed. 1846). Sir
Oliver seems to have inherited some of the ancestral quali-
ties."— p. 49.

Huntingdonshire, says Leland {temp. Henry viii.), "in old
time, was much more woody than it is now, and the dere
rcsortid to the fcnnes : it is ful long sins it was deforested."
Camden corroborates this, and states, that " the inhabitants
say it was once covered with woods, and it appears to have
been a forest till Henry II., in the beginning of his reign,
disafforested the whole, as set forth by an old perambulation,
' except Waybridge, Sapple \(]ua; Sapley above], and Herthei/
which were the lords' woods and remain forest."

Book II.] S/J^ OLIVER CROMWELL. 97

" Below the high ground to the south-westward of the
entrenchments, is an extensive and fertile meadow, called
Portsholm, which Camden describes as ' the most fresh and
beautiful that the sun ever shone upon.' This meadow is
partly surrounded by the Ouse river ; and here the Hun-
tingdon Races are held ; a small part of it, which belonged
to the Protector Cromwell, and now to the Earl of Sandwich,
still bears the appellation of Cromwell's Acres." — " The
Beauties of England and Wales," by Edward Wedlake
Brayley. London, 1808, vol. vii., p. 348,

Sir Oliver Cromwell " had the felicity to entertain one,
if not two, of the English monarchs. King James I. he cer-
tainly did several times, and probably King Charles I., but
the most memorable visit was paid to him by the former
during his progress from Edinburgh to London, on the 27th
April, 1603. Whilst the king was at Hinchinbrook, he
received the heads of the University of Cambridge in their
robes, to congratulate him upon his succession to the English
throne, which they did in a long Latin oration. His Majesty
continued with Sir Oliver until he had breakfasted on the
29th, and on his leaving Hinchinbrook, expressed his sense
of the obligations he had received from him, and from his
lady. To the former, he said, at parting, as they passed
through the court, in his broad Scotch manner, ' Morry,
mon, thou hast treated me better than any one since I left
Edinboro.' Among the presents given by Sir Oliver to the
king on this occasion were, 'a large elegant wrought cup
of gold, goodly horses, deep-mouthed hounds, divers hawks
of excellent wing, and, at the remove, he gave fifty pounds
among the principal officers." During the civil war, Sir
Oliver adhered to the royal cause, when all his property was
sequestrated, but owing to his close relationship to the
Protector, the total wreck of his fortune was averted. He
died in August, 1655, at the great age of ninety-three." —
Noble's " Cromwells," vol. i., p. 43.

It appears a hunting match or steeplechase, made at New-
market between Lord Haddington and Lord Sheffield, took
place at Huntingdon in November, 1607.

VOL. I. H

98 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book II.

" In the reign of Queen Elizabeth," says Mr.

Clarkson, " racing was carried on to such an excess as

to injure the fortunes of many individuals,

Richmond -' _ ^

(Yorkshire), private matches being then made between

gentlemen, who were generally their own

jockeys and tryers." * He adds that the earliest account

of races at Richmond " may be gathered from an entry

in 1576, in the Corporation Coucher, of a Cup for the

Horse- Race being in the possession of the Aldermen,"

Horse-racing undoubtedly flourished at Carlisle in

the reign of Elizabeth, where the Corporation gave

Carlisle. silver bells to be run for. Some of these

c. 1599. interesting trophies are still preserved by the

Corporation in their town hall. One measures two and

a quarter inches in diameter, is of silver gilt, and has

on it —

The sweetest hers this bell to tak,
For mi Ladi Dakers sake.

This Lady Dacre was probably Elizabeth, wife of Sir
William Dacre, Governor of Carlisle, temp. Elizabeth,

Another bell, which is smaller than the one above
mentioned, is of silver and has on it —

H, B., 1599, M.C.,

the initials probably meaning, " Henry Baines, Mayor
of Carlisle." f

Owing to the following curious incident we learn that

* "The History and Antiquities of Richmond, in the County of York,"
by Christopher Clarkson, F.S.A.

t The privileges or liberties of the Corporation of Carlisle (the
Court of Record) extended, temp. Elizabeth, to and included jurisdiction
to the full extent of the river Eden, including the lands and the whole of
the race-course, except that part of it which is in the parish of Stanwix.

Book II.] THE TURF IN SCOTLAND. 99

injune, I599,the Turf engaged the attention of James VI.
and other persons of distinction across the Scotland,
border at this time. George Fenner, writing ^^^^•
from the court at London to a friend at Venice, tells
him, " There is much private talk in court and city about
a Scottish accident, which seems to trouble the State.
An Englishman, called Ashton, having been employed
by that l^ing (as it is thought) secretly in Spain, Rome,
and other places, some here in authority, wishing to
understand the particulars, and not finding other
means, plotted with the governor of Berwick and Sir
William Bowes, our ambassador there, to bring him
unto England, which was lately thus performed. The
king, with many of his nobles, was going to a horse-
race, and this Ashton preparing to go also, was invited
by our ambassador's secretary to go with him in the
coach. He accepted, and they soon turned the coach
another way, and came to a place where some light
horsemen from Berwick met them, and conducted
them to Berwick, where the man was committed to
prison. When the king heard of it, he took it so ill
that he commanded our ambassador to keep his house,
and has placed a guard about him, vowing he shall
have the same treatment there, as the other has here.
It is thought we shall pacify the king by money, or else
by fair means win the man to reveal what he knows,
and then dismiss him, as though nothing had been
done.*

In 1585 Queen Elizabeth sent Mr. Edw. Wotton
to the young king with a present of some " noble

* State Papers, Dom., Eliz., vol. 271, ZZ, MS., P.R.O.

loo THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book II.

horses and hounds." The venatic ambassador himself
" was gay, well-bred, and entertaining ; he excelled in
all the exercises for which James had a passion, and
amused the king by relating the adventures which he
had met with, and the observations he had made
during- a lonsf residence in foreio;n countries ; but under
the veil of these superficial qualities, he concealed a
dangerous and intriguing spirit." *

" Horse-racing was early practised as a popular

amusement in Scotland. In 1552, there was an

c. Elizabeth, arrangement for an annual horse-race at

efseg. Haddinotou, the prize beino-, as usual, a

Scotland. . . .

1522-1608. silver bell. Early in the reign of James VI.,
Peebles there were races at both Peebles and Dum-
Dumfries. f^ies. The Peebles race accustomed to take
place on Beltane-day, the ist of May ; it was the
chief surviving part of the festivities which had from
an early period distinguished the day and place, and
which were celebrated in the old poem of Peebles to
the Play.

The great difficulty attending such popular festivities
arose from the tendency of the people to mark them
with bloodshed. Men assembled there from different
parts of the country, each having, of course, his peculiar
enmities, and the object of similar enmities in his
turn ; and when they met, and had somewhat inflamed
themselves with liquor, it was scarcely avoidable that
mutual provocations should be given, leading to con-
flicts with deadly weapons. So great reason was there
now (1608) for fearing a sanguinary scene at Peebles,

* Robertson, sub anno.

Book IL] THE BORDER MEETINGS. loi

that the lords of council thought proper to issue a
proclamation forbidding the race to take place." — ■
" Domestic Annals of Scotland," vol. i., p. 410.

" Towards the end of this year the Regent Morton
was at Dumfries, holding justice-courts for the punish-
ment of the Borderers. ' Many were pun- Scotland
ished by their purses rather than their lives. 1575.

■R /r 1 r T- 1 1 1-1 ^^^ Border

Many gentlemen 01 bngland came thither Meetings:
to behold the Regent's court, where there ^"^"^^^ ^^^•^'•
was great provocation made for the running of horses.
By chance my Lord Hamilton had there a horse sae
weel bridled and sae speedy, that although he was of a
meaner stature than other horses that essayit their
speed, he overran them all a great way upon Solway
Sands, whereby he obtained great praise both of
England and Scotland at that time' (Historie of King
James the Sext)." — " Domestic Annals of Scotland,"
by Robert Chambers, vol. i., p. 103.

Among the early fathers of the Turf in Scotland,
it seems that David Home of Wedderburn, who
died in 1574, was conspicuous among his sporting
contemporaries. He was a gentleman of good status
in Berwickshire, and father of the David Home of
Godscroft, to whom Scottish literature owes the
" History of the House of Douglas." The son has
left us a portraiture of the father, which, even
when we make a good allowance for filial partiality,
must be held as showing that such society in the
seventeenth century was not without estimable mem-
bers. "He died in the fiftieth year of his age, of a
consumption, being the first (as is said) of his family

I02 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book II.

who had died a natural death — all the rest having lost
their lives in defence of their country."

It is further stated that David Home was a man
remarkable for piety, probity, candour, and integrity ;
but if the assertion be correct, it is difficult to reconcile
some of the remarkable coups effected by him on the
Turf, with the qualifications attributed to him above.
Had the Jockey Club existed in those days he would
probably be " warned off," even though he had the
Psalms " always in his mouth."

David is described as being swift of foot, and fond
of foot-races, while he excelled in the mysteries of the
Turf. " He collected a number of the swiftest horses
both from the north of Scotland and from England, by
the assistance of one Graeme, recommended to him by
his brother-in-law, Lochinvar. He generally had eight
or more of that kind, so that the prize was seldom won
by any but those of his family. ... He was so great
a master of the art of riding, that he would often be
beat to-day, and within eight days lay a double wager
on the same horses, and come off conqueror." All this
to the contrary, " He was strictly just, utterly detesting
all manner of fraud." . . . "He went frequently from
home to his diversion, sometimes to Haddington, and
sometimes to Peebles, the one of which is eighteen,
and the other twenty-four miles distant, and sometimes
stayed there for several days with numerous atten-
dants, regardless of expense, as being too mean and
sordid a care, and below the dignity of one of his
rank. Being educated in affluence, he delighted in
fencing, hunting, riding, throwing the javelin, manag-

Book IL] TEVIOTDALE. 103

ing horses, and likewise in cards and dice. Yet he
was sufficiendy careful of his affairs without doors.
Those of a more domestic nature he committed to
the care of his wife, and when he had none to his
servants, so that he neither increased nor diminished
his patrimony." *

A disturbance at the horse-races of Teviotdale in
May, 1 60 1, is mentioned in despatches from George

Nicholson, dated, Edinburgh, —^^^j 1601, teviotdale.

June 2,' ' ^«^i-

to Sir Robert Cecil, t when it seems Lord Roxbourghe
and his followers caused the strife.

There was a " grand " race-course on Spafields,
Clerkenwell, from this period till about the accession
of the House of Hanover, when it was built Elizabeth.
upon, and its site may still be indicated by ^°'^^°^-
Exmouth Street and Cobham Row, N.

Racing, or tilting, appears to have taken place in
St. James's Park in November, 1590: —

" To Richard Brackenburye one of the ordenarye yeu'
vshers of her ma** Chamber for thallowaunce of him selfe
one yeoman vsher iij*^ yeomen and twoe gromes of the
Chamber twoe gromes of the wardrobe and one grome porter
for makinge readye a dyninge house at Whitehall for her
ma"*^, & for makynge twyce readye to see the Runnynge,
& for twice makinge readye the standinge for the Judges
in all by the space of viij dayes mense Novembris 1590 . . .
vij" xvij-\" X

* " Domestic Annals of Scotland," by Robert Chambers, vol. i.,
p. 98.

t State Papers, Scotland, Eliz., vol. Ixvii., Nos. 53, 58.

X MSS. Wardrobe Ace. Treas. Chamb. Eliz., bundle 2, m. 152.

I04 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book II.

" The progress of building in London, which was extremely
great under Elizabeth, filled up many of the old tilt-yards,
shooting-grounds, and race-courses around the city,
and curtailed many of the old facilities for manly
sports and exercises. The sedentary life thus enforced, joined
with a more luxurious mode of living, soon began to produce
some novel ailments, and the gout (then emphatically named
the Enemy') showed itself pretty plainly amongst the higher
classes of society. The active games of their forefathers were
now, indeed, exchanged for the cock-pit, the theatre, the bear-
garden, the eating-houses and taverns, dicing-houses, and
smoking ordinaries, which sprang up rapidly in every street.
To these places the buffoon and the juggler, with the masters
of motions (puppet-shows), now forbidden the stately palace
and the castle, naturally resorted, along with the poor crest-
fallen minstrel, sadly sunken into a common street-singer or
tap-room fiddler. These helpless classes, once the life of the
highest circles, were now ranked with rogues and vagabonds,
thieves and ruffians, or, still worse, with heretics and pagans,
liable to the severest and most merciless penalties. ... In
the country, hunting, hawking, and fowling were still followed,
and various devices were still used to allure the game of all
kinds. Hawking, indeed, was at its height during this period,
and fell gradually into disuse, partly from the great expense
of keeping falcons, and partly from the novel charms of the
fowling-piece. After the reign of Elizabeth the sport will
require in consequence no further mention." — "An Intro-
duction to English Antiquity, intended as a companion to
the History of England," by J. Eccleston, M.A., p. 314
(London, 1847).*

" Horse-racing now commenced as a regular amusement,
and was favoured even by the puritans, who bitterly opposed
almost every other sport. Early in the reign of Elizabeth
the saddlers of Chester gave races, at which a silver bell,

* For allusions to gambling, card-sharping, etc., in London at this
period, see Robert Greene's " Coosnage" and " Couny Catching '' (Lond.
4to., 1592, Black letter), intro., etc.

Book II.] THE PROGRESS OF THE TURF. 105

value 3J-. 6d., was bestowed on the winner, and this example
was soon followed in other parts of the country. By this
means our breed of horses, which had hitherto been re-
markably poor, was greatly improved. The less innocent
and praiseworthy amusements of bear and bull baiting con-
tinued to delight all classes ; and even the queen herself
rejoiced greatly in this cruel sport. Cock-fighting, and
throwing at cocks, which were regularly introduced in public
schools, served to increase the ferocity of the people ; to
which also the number of executions, the ghastly exhibition
of traitors' heads over the city gates, and the brutal punish-
ments of whipping and branding lent no small aid." — Ibid.,
P- 314.

In the third satire of Bishop Hall,* w^ritten towards
the end of the sixteenth century, the right Elizabeth,
reverend satirist adverts to the Turf in those ^- •^^^'^•
days : — -

Tell me, thou gentle Trojan, dost thou prise
Thy brute beasts' worth by their dams' qualities 1
Say'st thou, This Colt shall prove a svvift-pac'd steed.
Only because a Jennet did him breed?
Or say'st thou, This same horse shall win the prize.
Because his dame was swiftest Trunchefice,
Or Runcevall his syre 1 himself a Gallawaye ?
Whiles, like a tireling jade, he lags halfe-waye ;
Or whiles thou seest some of thy Stallion-Race,
Their eyes boar'd out, masking the miller's-maze,t
Like to a Scythian slave sworne to the payle.
Or dragging froathy barrels at his tayle 1

He also incidentally mentions that what we would now
call fashionable stallions, when serving, were fed with
eggs and oysters.

* Born July i, 1574; died Sept. 8, 1656. Successively Bishop of
Exeter and Norwich. See his works, by Pratt, in ten vols. London,
1808, 8vo.

t /.<?., Fallen greatness : pacing round a mill blindfolded.

io6 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book II.

In the Life of the eccentric Edward Lord Herbert of
Cherbury, written by himself, he refers to the evil in-
fluences of the turf in Enp;land at this period.

Elizabeth. ^

"The exercises, he says, " 1 do not approve
of are riding of running horses, there being much
cheating in that kind ; neither do I see why a brave
man shou'd delieht in a creature whose chief use is to
help him to run away. I do not much like hunting
horses, that exercise taking up more time than can be
spared for a man studious to get knowledge : it is
enough therefore to know the sport if there be any
in it, without making it an ordinary practise : and
indeed of the two, hawking is the better, because less
time is spent in it : and upon these terms also I can
allow a little bowling, so that the company be choise
and good." He advocates the manege, swimming, and
duelling as necessary acccomplishments ; while the
" exercises " he wholly condemned " are dicing and
carding, especially if you play for any great sum of
money, or spend, or use or come to meetings or dicing
houses, where cheaters meet and cozen young gentle-
men of all their money."

" A rural diversion \i.e. horse-racing] of a kind very oppo-
site to that of angling, may be considered, during the reigns
of Elizabeth and James, if we compare it with the state to
which the rage for gambling has since carried it, as still in
its infancy. It was classed, indeed, with hawking and hunting,
as a liberal pastime, and almost generally pursued for the
mere purpose of exercise or pleasure ; hence the moral satirists
of the age, the Puritans of the sixteenth century, have recom-
mended it as a substitute for cards and dice. That it was,
however, even at this period, occasionally practised in the

Book II.] SHAKESPEARE ON THE TURF. 107

spirit of the modern turf, will be evident from the authority of
Shakspeare, who says —

I have heard of riding wagers,
Where horses have been nimbler than the sands
That run i' the clock's behalf.

Cynibeline, Act iii., sc. 2.

And Burton, who wrote at the close of the Shakspearean era,
mentions the ruinous consequences of this innovation : 'Horse-
races,' he observes, ' are desports of great men, and good in
themselves, though many gentlemen by such means gallop
quite out of their fortunes.' " — " Shakspeare and His Times,"
by Nathan Drake, M.D., pp. 288, 289.

Denham, in his " Art of Riding," published in
London in 1584, incidentally alludes to the "prosperous
and peaceable " reign of Elizabeth, which afforded
so many unusual opportunities to the noblemen and
gentlemen of this land to keep horses " more for
pleasure than service." John Astley, " Maister of
hir Majesties Jev^ell house, and Gentleman of hir
priuie chamber," who also published a treatise on
horsemanship at this date, occasionally refers to the
progress of the manege in England in those peaceful
days.

Jervis Markham,^^ in his quaint work on " How to
chuse, ride, traine, and diet, both Hunting-horses and
running Horses," etc. (London : " Printed by James
Roberts, Anno Dom. 1599"), after adverting to the
advice given by his predecessor in equine lore,
Maister Blundauill, boldly recommends the " Courser
of Arabia " as the beati iddal stallion to breed from
for the Turf. This animal, he tells us, is of reason-
able stature, neither too hif^h nor too low, " but

io8 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IL

Upright and clean fashioned ; " his head is small, lean,
and slender ; his nostril (if he be angered) wonderfully
wide ; his eyes like fire, ready to leap out of his head ;
his ears sharp, small, and somewhat long ; his crest
high, thin, and firm ; his back short, " his chyn a hand-
full broad and more ; " his buttock long, upright, and
clean ; the stern of his tail " well nie so small as a
mans finger, but in strength beyond any other Horse."
His legs are small and clean, having no hair on the
fetlock ; his body slender and round ; " in brief, his
cote in general is so fine, that it is not possible
almost in any part of him but his mane and tail, to
catch hold to pull off one hair." This Arabian, which
was at this time under our author's charge, was a most
delicate bay, " whom if you view in the Sunne," you
would judge him either like changeable satin or cloth of
gold. This stallion is peerless, " for he hath in him the
purity and vertue of all other Horses." " They be so
excellent for trauaile," he continues, " that this Arabian
(of which I haue the ryding) being trauaild from a
parte of Arabia called Angelica to Constantinople,
and from thence to the highermost partes of Germanic
by lande, and so by Sea to England, yet was he so
couragious and lively (hauing no fflesh on his backe)
that by no meanes hee coulde bee ruled." Pass-
ing from this somewhat ambiguous sentence to the
following one, touching the proper time to cover
the mares with this peerless stallion, he recommends
the period most desirable to be that between mid-
March and mid-May, " when the moon had newly
changed."

Book II.] MARKHAM'S BOOK ON HORSES. 109

In Chapter IV. our author divulges "The secrets
and Art of trayning, and dietting the Horse, for a
course : which we commonly call running Horses."
After contrasting the steeple-chaser with the racer, and
pointing out the difference between the former and
a horse whose shape, countenance, and demeanour
" promiseth assurance of great swiftness," with its
owner addicted only to the " pleasure and exercise "
of the Turf, it is necessary, in the first place, to see
that being fair and fat, when taken from grass, he is
in all points of diet, dress, and order alluded to under
the rules and regulations set down and observed in
training the chaser. For the space of three weeks or
a month he should be fed on wheat-straw and oats.
Then hay was substituted for the straw, and bread
had to be provided, " which bread shall be made thus :
Take a strike of beans, two pecks of wheat, and one
peck of rye, grind these together, sift them and knead
them with water and bran, and so bake them thoroughly
in great loaves, as a peck in a loaf : and after they are
a day old at the least your horse may feed on them,
but not before." The orthodox sheeting, exercises,
etc., are then set forth in detail. These we need
not recapitulate here ; suffice it to say that when
within a fortnight of the date of the race many quaint
and exacting duties have to be promptly done and
performed.

" Now, lastly," observes our author, in conclusion
of this remarkable chapter, " as touching the day in
which your Horse must runne for your wager, thus
shall you use him : First, the night before, you shall

no THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book II.

giue him but a verie little supper, so that hee may be
passing empty in the morning, on which morowe haue
him out, and ayre him an howre or two before day,
taking great care that hee empty himselfe thorowly
while he is abroade, then bring him in, and after you
haue well rubd all his foure legges, and annoynted
them thoroulie, either with Neates-foote oyle, Treane
oyle, Sheepes-foote oyle, or Linceede-oyle, all which
be the most excellent oyles that may be for a Horse
especiallie the two last : Then give him this foode,
take a good bigge penny white loafe and cut the same
all out into toasts, and toast them ao-ainst the fire, then
steepe them in Muskadine, and lay them betweene
bote cloathes, and being layde before the fire dry
them agayne, and so giue them to your Horse. These
be so pleasant and comfortable, that your Horses
empties (as he must be wonderfuU empty when he goeth
to his course), shall little agreeue him. If you haue
not this ready to giue him, if then you giue him halfe
a peck of fine Oatemeal well dried, it shal be as good,
for though it be not so pleasant, yet being so light a
foode as it is, it wil both comfort his stomack, and be
soone digested. When he hath eaten this, put on his
Mussell, giue him great store of lytter, and unloose
his sursingle, that his cloathes may hang loose about
him, and so let him stande to take his rest, till the
howre in which he must be led forth to runne his
wager, not suffering any man to come within your
stable, for fear of disquieting your Horse. When the
howre is come in which you must leade him out, gyrd
on his cloathes handsomely, bridle him up, and then

Book II.] TRAINING SECRETS. in

take your mouth ful of strong Vinegar, and spirt it
into your Horses nosethrils, whereof it will search
and open his pypes, making them apt for the receite
of wind. This done, leade him to the race, and when
you come at the end therefore where you must un-
cloath him, having the Vinegar carried after you, doo
the like there, and so bequeath him and your self to
God, and good fortune. Che sera sera''

29 Gervase, Gervas, Jarvise, or Jervis, Markham, son
of Robert Markham, Esq., of Gotham, county Nottingham,
became an author and poet in the reign of Queen Eliza-
beth. He appears, says Harte, "to be the first English
writer who deserves to be called a hackney writer. All
subjects seem to have been alike easy to him : yet as
his thefts were innumerable, he has now and then stolen
some very good things, and in a great measure preserved
their memory from perishing." Sir S. E. Brydges says : —
" He seems to have become a general compiler for the book-
sellers, and his various works had as numerous impressions
as those of Burn and Buchan in our days." " No subject,"
says Drake, " appears to have been rejected by Markham :
husbandry, housewifery, farriery, horsemanship, and mili-
taiy tactics, hunting, hawking, fowling, fishing, and archery,
heraldry, poetry, romances, and the drama, all shared his
attention and exercised his genius and industry." The first
of his works, entitled " A Discovrce of Horsmanshippe," was
published at London by J[ohn] C[harlewood] for Richard
Smith, in 1593. His other writings relating to horses and
equine subjects were very numerous, and all the editions of
these need not be enumerated here. In 161 6 Markham was
tried in the Star Chamber for publishing a libel on Lord
Darcy of the North, and was adjudged to pay a heavy fine, " im-
prisonment and good behaviour." The quarrel, which took
place in the hunting-field at Blith, in June, 1616, arose thus : —
Markham had been invited by Sir Gervase Clifton to meet

112 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book II.

Lord Darcy at a hunting party. After enjoying the chase for
two days, Markham was about to leave, when he was entreated
by Lord Darcy to stay another day. Having accepted the
invitation, Markham, in the course of the chase upon this
occasion, was requested by Beckwith, one of Lord Darcy's
followers, not to ride "too neere one of the hounds called
Bowser, whereupon he said to him, that if that hound's tail
were cut off, it were but a curtailed cur. Beckwith replied :
It were better his horse's head were off; and so riding on in
the chase, Beckwith again said that though he loved hunting
well he had more mind to fight with him than to hunt ;
whereupon he (Markham) said Beckwith was a base fellow,"
— a remark the latter resented by " switching of him, and in
the switching Markham's saddle winding off his horse, and
his foot hitching in his stirrup, Beckwith still switching him,
my Lord Darcy came in [up], and took [up] Markham thus
hanging from his horse." It seems that Markham was very
indignant with the horse-whipping he received from Beckwith,
and complained to Lord Darcy for allowing his follower to
have acted as he did. " My lord replied : What would you
have me to do ; had not I been [to your assistance] he would
have beaten you to rags ; and that Beckwith was as good a
gentleman as he." The next day Markham sent two of his
kinsmen to Lord Darcy to desire his lordship to explain
himself concerning those words; "whereunto my lord answered
that he would not give such a fellow as he any other satisfaction
than this, that he did not say his man Beckwith was as good
a gent as he, but that he was a gent as well as he ; and that
his meaning of beating to rags was this, that he had ever held,
that a child of five years old having a sword in his hand might
be revenged of his enemy." This " respectless answer "
provoked Markham to write a letter saying that, " he knew
my lord was a peer of the realm, but that he had no privilege
to abuse any gentleman ; and that my Lord Darcy, in saying
that his man Beckwith would have beaten him to rags, had
lied, and should lie as often as he should say so, and that if
he listed to send his boy unto him he would meet him where-
sever he would and make good what he said with his life ;

Book II.] FRACAS TN THE HUNTING FIELD. 113

and there was a Rowland for his Oliver, and a lie for his
indignity." If this letter had been sent to Lord Darcy in the
ordinary way, it would have been an ordinary challenge, as
justifiable as most challenges ; but it seems that, though
ready to maintain with his life that Lord Darcy was a liar, he
was not prepared to call him a liar to his face : so he con-
tented himself with writing " divers copies " of the letter, and
scattering them about the fields — addressed, and signed, but
not sealed. Markham appears to have laboured under the
impression that Lord Darcy would shelter himself under the
privileges of the peerage, and the offices he held under the
crown, by virtue of which he was not amenable to meet a
commoner, or other person of less rank than himself, in a duel.
Many curious points as to status relating to the laws of duels
are incidentally mentioned in the pleadings and judgments,
the outcome of this incident, which we need not revert to here.
The case was heard in the Star Chamber, November 27, 16 16,
before Lord Chancellor Ellesmere, Dr. George Abbot, Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, Viscount Wallingford, the Earl of
Arundel, Dr. Andrews, Bishop of Ely, Sir John Digby, the
Bishop of London, Sir Ralph Winwood, Secretary of State,
Chief Justice Montagu, and Chief Justice Hubbert (King's
Bench). Sir Fluke Grenville, and Sir Francis Bacon conducted
the prosecution, Avhile Serjeant Crew was counsel for Lord
Darcy and Serjeant More defended Markham. As before
mentioned, the case went against Markham, who was sentenced
to pay a fine of ;^500, and to be committed to prison until
he gave a security for his future good behaviour. This
excessive fine would have been increased tenfold had it not
been for the provocation and summary chastisement Mark-
ham received under Beckwith's switch. As to our author's
subsequent career, we have only to add that, being bred to
arms, he served under the royal forces with some distinction
during the civil wars in the ensuing reign. Unfortunately,
the times being out of joint precludes any trace of his closing
years, and we have been unable to ascertain how, or when, his
eventful life came to an end.

VOL. I. I

114 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book 11.

The queen's racing establishment was located at
her favourite palace, Greenwich — where "the Barbary
horse stables " were " well replenished " with those
noble animals.* Shakespeare (whom nothing appears
to have escaped) refers to this breed of horses as
follows :

Look, when a painter would surpass the life,

In limning out a well-proportion'd steed.
His art with nature's workmanship at strife,

As if the dead the living should exceed ;
So did this horse excel a common one,
In shape, in courage, colour, pace, and bone.

Round-hoofd, short-jointed, fetlocks shag and long,
Broad breast, full eye, small head, and nostril wide.

High crest, short ears, straight legs, and passing strong.
Thin mane, thick tail, broad buttock, tender hide :

Look what a horse should have, he did not lack,

Save a proud rider on so proud a back.

Sometime he scuds far off, and there he stares ;

Anon he starts at stirring of a feather :
To bid the wind a base he now prepares.

And whe'r he run, or fly, they know not whether ;
For through his mane and tail the high wind sings,
Fanning the hairs, who wave like feather'd wings.

Besides the Barbary horse stable, Elizabeth had
stables at Waltham, St. Albans, Oaklands, Eaton,
Hampton Court, Richmond, Windsor, and Charing
Cross.

At Greenwich the queen usually kept forty coursers,
or race-horses, two jockeys — namely, Andrew Alley and
Romano Marchafdinge, a " surveyor of the race," who
had £21 a year — two keepers of the coursers, who had
each ^d. a day ; seven hackneys were annually allowed
and kept to attend upon "the coursers at the races."

* Wardrobe Ace. T.C., Bag F, Series i., Bundle ii., 428, m. i. MS.,
P.R.O. L.T.R. Works and Buildings, Ibid.

Book IL] QUEEN ELIZABETH'S STUD. 115

There were also two " yeomen of the races," with
an annual salary of ^22 3^. 4^.,* whose names were
Thomas Bascavild and Thomas Alsop.f

A curious account of the queen's horses (about 1589),
rendered by Thomas Underwood, may be seen in the Public .
Record Office, in which the names, colour, and description
of the principal animals are recorded. Thus Grey Bingham
was given to Sir Philip Sidney, Pide Markham to the French
ambassador, Gray Dosby to Archibald Douglas, Bay Har-
rington to Doctor Baylie, Grey Stanhope to Sir Roger
Williams, Bay Roseberry to " the Prince of Orange his son,"
and so on — the colour of the horse, after the custom of the
time, usually preceding the name commonly synonymous
with the breeder or owner. :|:

Amone the venatic officers attached to the court
of Queen Elizabeth, John Selwyn was remarkable for
his skill in horsemanship. He was under- keeper of
the park at Oaklands, in Surrey, where a small stud
of hunters was kept at one time. On one occasion,
when in attendance on the queen, at a grand stag-
hunt in that park, he, in the heat of the chase,
suddenly leaped from his horse upon the back of the
stag (both running at that time with their utmost
speed), and not only kept his seat gracefully in spite of
every effort of the affrighted beast, but drawing his
couteau de chasse, with it he guided him towards the
queen, and coming near to her presence, plunged it in
his throat, so that the animal fell dead at her feet. This
was thought sufficiently wonderful to be chronicled on

* State Papers, Dom., Eliz., vol. 233, No. 69, fo. 139-140.

t Docquet Book, sub dato. P.R.O.

X State Papers, Dom., Eliz., vol. 224, No. 80, fo. 160-163.

ii6 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book II.

his monument in the church of Walton-on-Thames,
and he is accordingly there portrayed in the act of
stabbing the beast. He died March 27, 1587.*

Hohnshed gives the following contemporaneous
description of horse-breeding in England at this
period : — "j"

" Our horsses moreouer are high, and although not com-
monlie of such huge grcatnesse as in other places of the
maine : yet if you respect the easinesse of their pase, it is
hard to saie where there like are to be had. Our land dooth
yeeld no asses, and therefore we want the generation also
of mules and somers ; and therefore the most part of our
cariage is made by these, which remaining stoned, are either
reserued for the cart, or appointed to beare such burdens as
are conuenient for them. Our cart or plough horsses (for we
vse them indifferentlie) are commonlie so strong that fiue or
six of them (at the most) will draw three thousand weight of
the greatest tale with ease for a long iourneie, although it be
not a load of common vsage, which consisteth onelie of two
thousand, or fiftie foot of timber, fortie bushels of white salt,
or six and thirtie of bale, or four quarters of wheat, experience
dailie teacheth, and I have elsewhere remembered. Such as
are kept for burden, will caric foure hundred weight com-
monlie, without any hurt or hindrance. This furthermore is
to be noted, that our princes and the nobilitie haue their
cariage commonlie made by carts, whereby it commeth to
passe, that when the queenes maiestie dooth remooue from
anie one place to another, there are vsuallie 400 carewares,
which amount to the summe of 2400 horsses, appointed out of
the counties adioining, whereby hir cariage is conueied safelie
vnto the appointed place. Hereby also the ancient vse of
somers and sumpter horsses is in a maner vtterlie relinquished,
which causes the traines of our princes in their progresses to

* "Antiquarian Repository," vol. i., p. 2, London, 1807.
t Holinshed, Chron. Eng., edit. Lond., 1807, vi., p. 370.

Book II.] HO UNSHED ON HORSES. 117

shew far lesse than those of the kings of other nations.
Geldings. Such as serue for the saddle are commonhe gelded,
and now growne to be verie deere among vs, especiallie if they
be well coloured iustlie limmed, and haue thereto an easie
ambling pase. For our countriemen, seeking their ease euerie
corner where it is to be had, delight verie much in these
qualities, but chieflie in their excellent pases, which beside
that it is in a maner peculiar vnto horsses of our soile, and
not hurtfull to the rider or owner sitting on their backes : it
is moreouer veries pleasant and delectable in his eares, in that
the noise of their well proportioned pase dooth yeeld comfort-
able sound as he trauelleth by the waie. Yet is there no
greater deceipt vsed anie wher than among our horsse-keepers,
horsse-corsers, and hostlers : for such is the subtill knauerie of
a great sort of them (without exception of anie of them be it
spoken which deale for priuat gainc) that an honest meaning
man shall haue verie good lucke among them, if he be not
deceiued by some false tricke or other. There are certaine
notable markets, wherein great plentie of horses and colts is
bought and sold and whereunto such as haue need resort
yearelie to buie and make their necessarie provision of them,
as Rippon, Newport pond, Wolfpit, Harborow, and diuers
other. But as most drouers are verie diligent to bring great
store of these vnto those places ; so manie of them are too too
{sic) lewd in abusing such as buie them. For they haue a
custome to make them looke faire to the eie, when they come
within two dales iourney of the market, to driue them till they
sweat, and for the space of eight or twelue houres, which being
doone they turne them all ouer the backs into some water,
where they stand for a season, and then go forward with
them to the place appointed, where they make sale of their
infected ware, and such as by this means doo fall into manie
diseases and maladies. Of such outlandish horsses as are
dailie brought ouer vnto us I speake not, as the genet of
Spaine, the courser of Naples, the hobbie of Ireland, the
Flemish roile, the Scotish nag, bicause that further speech of
them commeth not within the compasse of this treatise, and
for whose breed and maintenance (especiallie of the greatest

ii8 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IL

sort) King Henrie the eight erected a noble studderie and for
a time had very good successe with them, till the officers
waxing wearie, procured a mixed brood of bastard races,
whereby his good purpose came to little effect. Sir Nicholas
Arnold of late had bred the best horsses in England, and
written of the maner of their production : would to God his
compasse of ground were like that of Pella in Syria, wherin
the king of that nation had vsuallie a studderie of 30,000
mares and 300 stallions as Strabo dooth remember, Lib, 16."

That due attention, in some counties, was paid to the pro-
visions of the Act to keep up the breed of horses, is apparent
from the following presentment at quarter-sessions, at Salford,
Lancashire, at this period : —

" Hundred de Salford :. The Presentm'" of the Jurates
theire whoe saye that concerninge the Carryinge or convey-
ing of horses and mares out of this Realme theye fynde
nothinge. And as towchinge thincrease & breedinge of
horses, geldinges and mares the said Jurates saye that the
Right ho. Edward Therle of Derby hath ij parkes w''>in the
said hundreth. The one Contayinge in Quantity 3 myles
Compas, and the other one myle, and hath mares for breede
accordinge to the statute. Edmunde Trafford esq*" hath ij
parkes w' in the said hundrethe, either of them contayningc
in Quantitie twooe myles Compas, and hath mares for breed
accordinge to the Statute. Robert Worsley knight hath one
parke in the said hundreth, contayning in ij myles in Com-
passe, and hath mares for breede accordinge to the Statute.
John Byron esq"" hath one parke in the saidde hundrethe con-
tayningc in Quantitie ij myles in Compas & hath mares for
breede according to the statute. John Bothe esq"" hath one
parke in the said hundrethe contayninge in Quantity ij myles
Compas and hath mares for breede accordinge to the statute."
— Harl. MSS., 1926, fol. 38^.

Considerable attention was given to the due observance of
the statute for improving the breed of horses. The perform-
ance of these duties now devolved on the Earl of Surrey,
in whose hands they were effectually carried out ; and the
commissioners for increasing and improving the breed of

Book II.] EQUINE STATUTES. 119

horses of every description in the country, performed their
duties with commendable zeal. Instructions under various
heads were issued to the deputy-commissioners in every
county for the better carrying- into effect the purposes of
their commission, and the Earl of Surrey took upon himself
to see that it was duly executed in Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk,
Cambridge, and Kent,* and by sub-commissioners in other
parts of the kingdom.!

In March, 1584, the Queen nominated Lord Burghley
Lord High Treasurer ; Edward, Earl of Lincoln, Lord High
Admiral ; George, Earl of Shrewsbury, Earl Marshal ; Henry,
Earl of Huntingdon, Lord President of the Council in the
North ; Ambrose, Earl of Warwick, Master of the Ordinance ;
Francis, Earl of Bedford, Robert, Earl of Leicester, Masters of
the Horse ; Charles, Lord Howard, Lord Chamberlain ;
Henry, Lord Hunsdon, Lord Warden of the East Marshes ;
Sir Henry Sidney, Lord President of Walls ; and Sir
Christopher Hatton, Vice-Chamberlain, Commissioners for
putting into execution the statute for the increase and breed
of horses, and for keeping horses and geldings for public
service.

By the statute 13 Richard II. (a.d. 1390), St. i., c. 8, it was
enacted "that no Hosteller make horsebread in his hostry or

* State Papers, Domestic, Eliz. P.R.O., vol. cxliv.

t William Brereton says in his report to the Earl of Leicester, dated
October 3 : "As for our mares, we have certified the number the lavs-
requires at our hands ; but we find none are chargeable but such as have
parks, chases, or inclosed grounds for deer, and many of these daily de-
cay. If some law should be made that every gentleman charged with the
keeping of a demi-lance or light horseman might also be charged with the
keeping of as many mares for breeding, then our number of mares in
Cheshire would be well increased, and consequently the like increase
throughout all England, which would raise the breed of horses, now
declined" (Ibid. 27, 47). In the North of England great disinclination
prevailed among the owners of horses to furnish a true report to the com-
missioners. " I find by proof," writes the Earl of Huntingdon to Secretary
Walsingham, " that he who has six good horses is scarcely willing at a
muster to show one ; unless compelled by law ; for all men here have no
liking to be enrolled in a muster-book, but if called in this sort, will will-
ingly charge themselves to the uttermost" {Ibid., Add. vol. 30, A.D, 1588).

I20 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IL

without, but bakers shall make it ; and the assise thereof shall

be kept, and that the weight be reasonable after the price of

the corn in the market ; and also that the same
Horsebread. , ,, i ,, n i , r

hostellers shall sell hay and oats alter a reasonable

price, so that they take not for the bushel but one halfpenny

over the common price in the market."

In 1402 the preceding statute was confirmed by the Act
4 Henry IV. c. 25 : "And if any hostler do to the contrary,
and that duly proved, the same hostler shall from time to time
incur the penalty of treble value of the bread made by him
in his house or elsewhere, contrary to the said statute ; and
also the said hostler shall incur the quatreble value of that
which he hath taken over a halfpenny of every bushel of oats
above the common price in the market, and that as well at
the suit of the king as of the party."

In 1540 the Statute 32 Henry VIII. c. 41 was passed, by
which the making of horsebread according to the assise, etc.,
was further legislated upon. After reciting the statutes of
Richard II. and Henry IV. against inn-holders making horse-
bread, it was now enacted that from henceforth " it may and
shall be lawful for every hosteler or inholder dwelling in any
town or village being a thoroughfare or common passage
within this realm, and being no city town or market town
wherein any common baker exercising the occupation of
baking, and had been a prentice at the said occupation, by
the space of seven yeares may make within his house horse-
bread sufficient lawful and of due assise, according to the
price of the grains of corn that now is and hereafter shall
be from time to time ; any thing or things mentioned in
the said acts or statutes of Richard II. and Henry IV. to
the contrary nowithstanding."

" And be it also enacted etc. that if the horsebread which
any of the said hostelers and inholders hereafter shall make
be not of sufficient lawful and of due assise according to the
price of grains of corne as is abovesaid, Then the Justices of
the Peace etc. shall have full power to enquire here and
determine the said defaults and offences of the said hostlers
and inholders hereafter to be committed against the form of

Book IL] HORSE-BREAD. 121

this present statute, and to cess such fines and make like
process thereon as they commonly do upon presentments of
trespass against the peace etc."

In 1624, by the Act 21 James I. the preceding laws were
repealed ; but it was enacted that innholders should not make
horsebread except in villages where there was no baker ; they
were also to sell their provender at market price, without
taking anything for litter.

" Colonel Kowatch, who in the American service com-
manded the infantry of Pulaski's legion, had been an old
partisan officer in the north of Europe, and had commanded
a large corps of irregular horse, either Cossacks, Croats, or
Pandours. He fled to America after the troubles of Poland.
' He told me,' says Mr. Peters, ' that they often baked the
chopped or ground grain for their horses, having previously
formed it into portable cakes.' The saccharine quality was,
no doubt, produced by this process, and its alimentary pro-
perties increased. General Parlaski had a favourite charger,
to whom he often gave bread, which the animal seemed
to enjoy far beyond any other food. In Holland it is a
common practice to give horses rye-bread, or baked pro-
vender. The late Sheriff Penrose, who had a fine team of
working horses, was in the habit of buying condemned ship
bread, as the most nutritious and cheapest horse-feed. He
said others knew and profited by its advantages." — " Memoirs
of the Philadelphia Agricultural Society," vol. i.

Landed and house property in and about New-
market does not appear to have been of much value
in the sixteenth century. In the 1 1 of Henry VIII.
Christopher Sandford, gentleman, and Emma, his wife,
let to Sir Ralph Chamberleyn all that part of the manor
of Newmarket in the counties of Cambridge and Suffolk,
belonging to the said Emma, with all the lands, re-
visions, services, leets, fairs, tolls, etc., in Exning and
Newmarket, for the term of the life of the said Emma,

122 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IL

at a yearly rent oi £6. In the 24 Henry VIII. Sir Giles
Alington, Knight, granted a lease to Henry Funston,
of Wood-Peyton, yeoman, of all those lands, meadows,
and pastures in Newmarket and Exning, with the
" Folde Course " belonging to the same, then in the
occupation of Joan Whithall, of Newmarket, widow,
for twenty years, at ^4 6s. per annum. In 16 Elizabeth,
John Markant, of Burwell, for fourteen score pounds,
sold, to John Apleyard, of Newmarket, the Saracen's
Head Inn, in Newmarket, with the appurtenances,
and 15 acres of land in Newmarket, Dyton, Saxton,
Cheveley, and Exning, which were bequeathed to him
by his uncle, John Markant. These high contracting
parties are denominated husbandmen. Newmarket
boasted of another large inn— the Angel — in those
days of Good Queen Bess ; * and probably many less
notable hostels for the accommodation of " man and
beast " flourished in other parts of the town about this
period.

The following copy of the will of Symon Folkys,
junior, of Newmarket, dated January 4, 1526-7, con-
tains an allusion to an old custom in the construction
of the houses in the Market Place : —

" In Dei Noie'. Amen. The iiij daye of Jan. in
the yer of our Lord God M^V^XXVI. I Symond
Folkys the younger of Newmarket in the Dioc. of
Norwich beinge in hool mynde, make my last Wyll
& Testament. Furst I bequeth my Soul to Al-
mightie God & our Layde St. Marie & to all the
Seyntes in Heven, & my Body to be buried within

* MS. Additional 5823, fo. 240, 243. Brit. Mus.

Book II.] LOCAL AFFAIRS,

123

the Churchyard of our Ladye in Newmarket. Item I
bequeth to the High Altar ther 2,^. 4^. Item to Anne
my wife my hous, & the Scoppis from this tyme to
the term of 24 yeares, & then to go to Rob*, my son :
and my son WilHam to have the ground & the Shops
from the Parlor to the Turner's shops. Item to
Elizabeth my daughter the Tenement that my Mother
holds, after her decease, & then after her decease
to my sister Johan Clarke till the sum of 40^'. be
paid her children to be heirs one to the other in
case of decease without heirs, & in case they all die
without heirs, That Richard my brother have the
whole paying out of the said goodes yerly for the
health of my father, my own, & my friends souls for
20 years, 20 shillings. Item I will that my brother
doe make, yf he possesse y' a dore throwe the
Schoppis into the Market after the old custums. Item
I do appoint W™. Buttel my Ex^ These witnesses,
Sir Albert Harris Parson &c.

" Endorsed. ' Probat fiul coram nobis Diu Archi
Sudbm. 7. Maij. 1527.'"

In the year 1589 a suit was instituted in the High
Court of Chancery by Henry Greene, Robert Greene,
Thomas Greene, and Haggas Greene, sons of Richard
Greene, deceased, against Theodor Goodwyn, to re-
deem the Swan Inn, situated in the Cambridgeshire
part of the town, and ten acres of land " in the fields
of Ditton," which had been mortgaged by Richard
Greene, father of the plaintiffs, to Thomas Frankes,
for the delivery of a certain quantity of malt, from
which we may deduce that malting was a somewhat

124

THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET.

[Book II.

important industry in Newmarket in those days as it
was in later times.*

The earhest return of the taxation of Newmarket
preserved in the Record Office, belongs to the time of
Henry VIII. It relates to the lay subsidy granted
to the English Blue Beard in the twenty-second and
twenty-third years of his reign. The roll is very
much torn and faded ; the sums levied and collected
are obliterated, and only a few names are decipherable,
viz. : Thomas Borowdale, Thomas Dove, Thomas
Markent, Johane Whytall, and John Archer.

By a similar document for the thirty-seventh year
of his reign, it transpires that the valuation of the
property in Newmarket (Suffolk) was assessed at
^163 i2)S. /\.d., upon which the amount of taxes col-
lected was £"] I Si-. ; and in the division in Cambridge-
shire the sum collected came to ^12 6^. /\.d.^

By comparing the subjoined transcriptions it will
be seen that very little change had taken place down
to the reien of Edward VI. : —

37 Henry VIII. Newmarket, Suffolk.

ASSESSMENT.

for his goods ;^I5

Of Edward Norton

Of John Rowse . . „

Of John Byers . . „

Of John Kyrley for his lands and tent^

Of William Cook . for his goods

Of Ric. Berdall

Of John Scallworthy . „

Of Margaret Fonston

^10

£1^ 6s. 8d.

£6 .
£iT) 6s. 8d.

£S .
£8

TAXES.
15^.
10^-.

1 3^. 4d.

12s.

13s. 4(/.

3s. 4d

Ss. 4d.
\^s.

* Chancery Proceedings, Elizabeth, G. g. No. 44. MS., P.R.O.
t Lay Subsidies, sxJa 8. MS., P.R.O.

EooK II.] THE INHABITANTS TEMP. HENRY VIII.

Of Elizabeth Turnor
Of Robert Ray .
Of Thomas Tumor .
Of Edmn'de Chapman
Of John Papworth
Of Thomas Aldrich .
Of Jone King .
Of Roger Carton
Of John Whyght
Of John Corde .
Of Harry Dey his

Of Jonn Aldrich
Of John Ray .
Of John Cakebred
Of Richard Regmell
Of Lenard Bell
Of John Mortlak

ASSESSMENT.

TAXES.

>)

£i6

16s.

»>

£6

4s.

)>

£6

4s.

)>

£s .

Ss. 4d.

))

£s .

3s. 4d.

))

£s ■

Zs. 4d.

»>

£s .

IS. 4d.

j>

£s .

3s. 4d.

»

£s .

IS. 4d.

)>

£S .

3J-. 4d.

land and tent^

£2

4s.

M

£2

4s.

»

£1 . .

2S.

»

£2 . .

4s.

V

£1 . .

2S.

)>

£2

4s.

for his goods

£s

Zs. 4d

;7 Henry VHI. Newmarket, Cambs.

Thomas Borowdayle
Thomas Dove
John Markant
Johan Whittall (widdovv)
William
Robert Smythe
Robert Mausant
Thomas Jaxson
Lawrence Marten
William Hamonde
William Headeley
Nycholas Sepewell
Anthony Rosyngton

for his lands 40s.

for goods ^os. 4d.

,, 20s.

40s.

„ 2\jS.

„ los.

ss. 4d.

SS. 4d.

10s.

2S.

2S.

lOS.

26s. 4d.

for his land

»>
for groods

I Edward VI. Cambs.

Thomas Borowdale
Thomas Dove .

. 40-S-.
53^. 4d

126

THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET.

[Book II.

John Markant .
Antony Rosyngton
J hone Whitall .
William Chapman
Robert Smythe
Robert Markant
Thomas Jacson
William Hamonde

2 & 3 Edward VI.

Of John Berde . . .for his e^

Of Edward Norton

Of John Kyrby

Of John Eyers

Of John Rowsse

Of Elizabeth Turner

Of John Papworthy

Of William Coke

Of Robert Turnor

Of Nicholas Callow (an alien)

The following extracts from the returns of the
collectors of Taxes levied upon the inhabitants of
Newmarket show the names of the principal residents
in the town in Queen Elizabeth's reign. Occasionally
the occupations followed by those residing in that
part of Newmarket situated in Cambridgeshire are
given : —

ASSESSMENT.

TAXES.

. ;^IO . •

20s.

. ^20 .

26s

M.

. i;2o .

26s

M.

• £^S ■

\os.

. £io .

\os.

£s .

3-y

4d.

. £s .

3-f

. 4.d.

. £i .

2S.

Suffolk.

goods £io.

io.r.

£iy

iSs.

£io

' I OS.

;^IO

los.

£io

los.

£l2

12S.

;^IO

\os.

^10

lOS.

;^IO

. 10s.

£2

2S.

I Elizabeth.

Richarde Burdall, yeoman
Richarde Bradley, gentleman
John Markeham, grocer
Nicholas Fan, fisher
George Payne, h[ouseholder]

Newmarket, Cambs
in land

;^io
i^io
;^io

£7 ■

£1 6s. 8d

26s. 8d.
26s. Sd.
26s. M.
i8s. 8d.
Zs. yd.

Book II.]

ELIZABETH.

127

ASSESSMENT.

John Bullerd, fisher . . in goods
William Hamaute, h[ouseholder] in land
Leonarde Beale, inholder . „

John Smyth, yeoman . . „

John Phillipp, wheelewright . „

£1

£10

£6

£1

TAXES.

2s. 8d.

26s. 8d.

1 6s.

2s. 8d.

Total, £y igs. yd.

5 Elizabeth, Newmarket

Suffolk.

Thomas Richardson

in land

^i .

2s. 8d.

Adam Paske

in money

£3 . .

Ss. od.

Amya, Stalworthe, vviddow

))

£6 . .

I OS. od.

Robert Raye

))

^10 .

i6s. 8d.

John Berde .

)!

£10 .

i6s. 8d.

Elizabeth Archer, widdovv

. in land

£4 . .

los. 8d.

Richard Acton

. in money

£S . .

8s. 4d.

Thomas Redgwell

)»

£S . .

8s. 4d.

Elizabeth Turner, widdow

in land

£2 . .

Ss. 4d.

Richard Grene

)>

£2 .

5-y- 4^.

John Golden

))

£4 . .

\0s. 8d.

Nicholas Calowe, an alien

in money

£S . .

I is. 8d.

Richard Pyckard

,,

£3 . .

Ss. od.

John Hudson

j>

£7 . .

I IS. 8d.

Thomas Daune .

M

^5 . .

8s. 4d.

William Channdelor .

in land

£5 . .

8s. od.

Richard Dredgeman

»

£1 los.

2S. 8d

John Kyrbie

in money

i^20 .

3ZS. 4d.

Robert Turnor

»

£is . .

2 5 J. od.

David Eyre

' >>

i^IO .

\6s. 8d.

X'pofer Funston .

. in land

£4 . •

los. 8d.

Total, £1 1

17s. 8d.

5 Elizabeth.

Newmarket, Cambs.

John Markham, mercer

. in land

£12 .

32s. od.

Richard Fanne, singleman

M

£8 .

2 IS. 4d.

Richard Bradley, yeoman

• >>

£2 . .

Ss. 4d.

John King, fishmonger

>»

£1 .

2s. 8d.

I2S

THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET.

[Book IL

William Hamand, labourer . ,,

John Phippes, wheelwright in goods

John Appleyard, h[ouseholder] „
John Morden, draper . . „

Thomas Archer, baker . . „

Robte. Bungey, pedler . . „

James Newce, " alien for his poole " .
John Ballard, fishmonger . in goods
John Smythe, yeoman . . in land
Richard Bardall . . . „
Leonard Beale, inkeeper . „

ASSESSMENT

£3

£3

£3
£3

£3

£s

£6 I ^s. 4(1
£\2 .

£\o .

TAXES.

2s. 8d.

Ss. od.

^s. od.

5J-. od.

^s. od.

^s. od.
\d.

8^-. A^d.

I 'js. ghd.

2,2s. od.

26s. 8d.

Total amount of taxation, £8 i6s. g\d.

We have no actual evidence of Queen Elizabeth
ever having been at Newmarket, but it may not be
improbable that during the time when, as Princess,
she was a state prisoner at Kirtling Hall, under the
charge of Edward, first Lord North, that she paid
an occasional visit to the town and its famous Heath.

Kirtling is five miles south-east from Newmarket. Kirt-
ling Tower, the seat of the Hon. W. H. J. North, J. P., is all
that now remains of the whilom prison of the Princess Eliza-
beth. After her accession, she was at Cambridge in August,
1564, and during the royal progress through Norfolk and
Suffolk in July and August, 1578, her Majesty visited Audley
End, Hengrave, Barrow, Bury, and Euston.

Church Property -. " William Bolton, Rector of New-
market, is worth yearly in glebe lands 20s. Tithes, oblations,
and other casual profits in average years, 107^-. lod. Total,
£6 Js. lod. Thereof, for pension paid to the Abbot of Battle,
26s. Sd. P^or procurations to the Archdeacon of Sudbury, 4^'.
For sinodel to the Lord Bishop, 2s. Total, 32^-. 8d. And
remains ^4 15^. 2d. Thereof for the tenth, 9^-. G^d." — "Valor
Ecclesiasticus," vol. iii., p. 495 l^.

BOOK III.

ROYAL SOJOURNS AT NEWMARKET, JAMES I.
1605 1614.

Introduction : The King's first visit— Proceedings of the Royal party
in the town — The Newmarket knights — A royal hunt — Field sports
— Departure of the King and court — The Earl of Worcester — The
Earl of Salisbury — Dr. Gilbert Primrose— Sir Alan Percy — Sir
Dudley Carleton — 1607. Royal sojourn in the autumn — The King
in the dumps — Foul weather spoils sport — Hunting and hawking
under difficulties — Great concourse of courtiers at Newmarket — One
of the royal jerfalcons lost — The King inconsolable — Exodus from
Newmarket^to Huntingdon — Horse-match between Lord Haddington
and Lord Sheffield— Court gossip— Lord Rutland and the forest
laws — The Griffin Inn purchased by the King— Probable site of the
palace — Other conjectures— i?/x/^6'/ Andrezus—Sir George Chaworth
— Viscount Haddington— Lord Sheffield — 1608. More about the
Griffin — The freehold purchased by the King — Copy of the con-
veyance— Royal visit in the Spring — The Secretary of State for the
sporting journeys — Sir Thomas Lake — Royal visit in the Autumn
— Prolonged sojourn of the King and court — The royal sports —
Affairs of State — 1609. Brief visit of the King in February — Pass-
ing events at the court during the royal sojourn — Honours and
emoluments showered on the Scotch — The cold shoulder given to
the English courtiers — Edmtatd Lacells — The October meeting —
Arrival of the King and court — Protracted sojourn of the King —
Inclement weather — The sports suspended in consequence of the
frost — The King's indignation— Vents his spleen in verse — Favour-
able change in the weather — The matches take place— Hard riding
— Hunting and hawking — Illness of Henry, Prince of Wales — The
King wins his matches — More bad weather— Another change for the
better — More matches— The King defeated by the Earl of Dunbar
— Sir Alexander Hay — Passing events at Newmarket — Life in the

VOL. I. K

I30 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book III.

palace — Political incidents — Bishop Racket's justification of the
King's conduct — -Business and recreation at Newmarket — The King
makes a book — Theology — State of the roads between London and
Newmarket — " Essex miles "—Royal injunctions to repair the New-
market road — And the cost — 1610. Visit of the King in May —
Arrival of the Prince of Wirtemberg — And French dancing and
fencing masters to instruct the Prince of Wales in those arts — 161 1.
Sojourns of the King in the Spring and Autumn — Sir Roger Aston
— Arrival of a present of falcons from the King of Denmark — Visit
of the Swedish ambassador — Paucity of sporting intelligence —
Plethora of routine affairs — The roads again — £. s. d. — Royal order
to increase the value of the currency — The standard weight of the
coins of the realm — Passing events — Sir Dudley Diggs' hobby —
The royal mint — Anecdote of the Spanish ambassador and the
King — Mode of furnishing the lodgings of the Corps Diplomatique
at Newmarket — The Earl of Suffolk — 161 2. Brief visit of the King
in the Spring — 1613. Royal sojourns in January, February, March,
and November — Marriage of the Princess Elizabeth — Arrival of
the bride, bridegroom, the royal family, and the court — The royal
disports — Departure of the Queen of Bohemia — Her hounds and
horses — Alleged collapse of the palace — Narrow escape of the King
— Lord Chancellor Egcrton — The preachers in ordinary for the
sporting journeys — Their expenses at Newmarket — ^The royal
farriers and their expenses — " Comparisons are odious " — 1614.
Arrival of the King in January — The cares of state — Royal visit in
July— Arrival of the King of Denmark — The royal sports — The
Autumn meetings — Serious accident to the King — Quarrel between
the Earl of Montgomery and Lord IValden about their matches — ■
Incidental expenses at the palace during the royal visits.

" Newmarket has long been celebrated in the annals
of horsemanship for its extensive heath, which, in
the neighbourhood of this town, has been formed
into one of the finest race-courses in the kingdom.
The diversion of horse-racing, though undoubtedly
practised in this country in the time of the Romans,
does not appear to have made any considerable pro-
gress, but rather became extinct, till the accession of
James the First, who again introduced it from Scotland,
where it came into vogue from the spirit and swiftness
of the Spanish horses which had been wrecked in the

C. 1605.] FIRST VISIT OF JAMES I. 131

vessels of the Armada and thrown ashore on the coast
of Galloway. * From this period it became more
fashionable, and Newmarket had probably some kind
of a racing establishment as early as the reign of this
monarch, who erected a house here, which was de-
stroyed in the Civil Wars, but was rebuilt by Charles

ii-"t

The earliest intimation we have met with relating
to the first visit of James I. to Newmarket occurs in
a letter from the Earl of Worcester to Lord Febmary.
Cranborne, dated Royston, February 25, ^^°^-
1604-5, in which he mentions {intej^ alia) that " His
Majesty meanethe tomorowe to take his journey to-
wards Newmarket whe he myndeth to bestow 3 or 4
days, and so to Thetford yf he lyke the country." |
The next day the king, accompanied by his Master of
theHorse,^"his Principal Minister,^^ his Chief Physician,^^
his Gentleman of the Bedchamber,^^ a portion of his

* It would be interesting to find some contemporaiy authority for this
statement. There is no reference to horses having been cast ashore on
the Scotch coast from the wreck of the Spanish Armada to be found in the
Registers of the Privy Council of Scotland. James Melville, in his
Autobiography, alludes to the panic created in Edinburgh in August,
1588, when the descent of the "Spaniards and Barbars" on the Scotch
coast was deemed imminent. " Terrible was the feir," he says, " press-
ing was the pretchings, ernest, zealus, and fervent was the prayers,
sounding was the siches and sobbes, and abounding was the teares, at
that Fast and Generall Assemblie keepit at Edinburche, when the newes
was crediblie tauld, sum tymes of launding at Dunbar, sum tymes at
St. Androis and in Tay, and now and then at Aberdin and Cromertie
first. And in verie deid, as we knew certinlie soone after, the Lord of
Armies, wha rydes upon the wings of the winds, the keipar of his awin
Israeli, was in the mean tyme convoying that monstrous navie about our
costes, and directing thair hulkes and galiates to the ylands, rokkes, and
sandes, wharupon he haid destinat thair wrak and destruction " (p. 306).

t Nichols' "Progress of James the First," Lond. 1828, vol. i., p. 496.

X Lodge, " Illustrations of British History," vol. iii., pp. 264-266.

133 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book III.

hunting- establishment, and a numerous stiite of court
officials, arrived in Newmarket, when his Majesty
knighted two gentlemen.'" The following day four
more knights were duly dubbed, and then the royal
party sallied forth to enjoy the pleasures of the chase.
The result is thus described in the parish register at
Fordham : "1604-5. Upon Wednesday, the 27 of
February, the high and mighty Prince James, by the
grace of God, King of Great Britain, Defender of the
Faith, &c., did hunt the hare, with his own hounds, in
the fields of Fordham, and did kill six near a place
called Buckland ; and did afterwards take his repast
in the field at a bush near the King's Park." Sir
Alan Percy,^^ writing from Newmarket, about this
date, to Sir Dudley Carleton,''^ mentions that the
court was " extremely occupied with field-sports." \
Beyond these few facts no further particulars are
traceable touching the first sojourn of James I. to our
"little village."

^° Edward Somerset, 4th Earl of Worcester, son and
heir of William Somerset, the 3rd Earl, K.G., and Christian,
daughter of Edward North, Lord North of Kirtling, near
Newmarket, succeeded to the family honours and estates on
the death of his father, February 21, 1589. His lordship
married Elizabeth, daughter of Frances, Earl of Huntingdon,
by whom he had several children. In 1604 he was invested
with the order of the Garter, and on resigning his office of
Master of the Horse to James I., on January i, 1616, having

* James I. made ninety-nine knights at Newmarket during his reign.
Their names are chronologically given at the end of Book IV. The
barons, earls, knights of the garter, etc., created at Newmarket, are
recorded [inter alia) in the text.

t State Papers, Domestic, vol. 12, No. 93.

1605.] THE EARL OF WORCESTER. 133

retained it for fifteen years (the longest unbroken period on
record), he was, on the 2nd of the same month, made Keeper of
the Privy Seal. Mr. Henry Dircks records that this nobleman
" was remarkable for athletic acquirements, distinguishing him-
self by the manly exercises of riding and tilting, in which he
was perhaps superior to any of his contemporaries ; his horse-
manship having been greatly extolled by all writers, in alluding
to his character." Sir Robert Maunton says that, in the days
of good Queen Bess, the Earl of Worcester " was a very fine
gentleman, and the best horseman and tilter of the time, which
[accomplishments] were then the manlike and noble recrea-
tions of the court, and such as took up the applause of men,
as well as the praise and commendation of ladies." Towards
the close of his life the noble earl was usually apostrophized
by his contemporaries as " the last of the queen's (Elizabeth)
old courtiers." That the earl's post of Master of the Horse
was no sinecure may be gathered from the following passage
of a familiar letter which his lordship wrote from Royston,
December 4, 1604, to the Earl of Shrewsbury : " Had not this
journey to Huntingdon drawn me from the place of all
advertesments youe showld have herd from mee beefore this,
and since my departure from London I thinke I have not had
2 howers of 24 of rest but Sundays, for in the morning wee
ar on horsbacke by 8, & so continew in full carryer from the
deathe of one hare to another, untyll 4 at n'yght ; then for the
most part, wee are 5 myles from home ; by that tyme I find
at my lodging some tymes one, most comonly 2 packets of
letters, all w*^*^ must bee awnswered beefore I sleep, for heare
is none of the Cownsell but my self no not a clarke of the
Cownsell nor privey signet, so that an ordinary warrant for
post horse must pass my own hand, my own secretary being
syke at London : And, I thank God, never better in healthe ;
but wishe hartely to be backe at London, as youe thinke I
have cawse, being far from my humor to turn pen man at
theas yeares." Writing from Thetford, March 3, 1604-5, to
Lord Cranborne, the earl refers to the king's illness : " The
reason yt hathe so long continued hathe been the sharpness
of the ayr and wynd ; for every day that he huntethe he takes

134 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book III.

a covvld ; for being hote vv''^ ryding a long chace, he sittethe
in the open ayr and drinketh, w*"'^ cannot but continew, yf
not increase, a new cowld." His lordship adds that the king
" lykethe exceeding well the contrey, and ys resolved for
certayn to stay thes 5 dayes in this town. He hathe been
but once abrode a huntyng since his coming hether, and that
day he was driven owt of the feeld w"^ presse of company,
w*^" came to see him ; but therein he tooke no great delyght,
therefore came home, and playd at cards. S"" Wyliam
Woodhowse, that is sole director of theas parts, hath devised
a proclamation that none shall presume to come to him on
hunting days ; but those that come to see him, or prefer
petitions, shall doe yt going forthe, or coming home."
Probably the most arduous duty that ever fell to the Earl of
Worcester's lot was in connection with the Queen Consort's
progress to Bath in April, 161 3 ; but as usual he performed
his devoir without a hitch, and frequently did the honours of
the royal tour, through what may be termed his own country,
with such profuse hospitality and liberality, that it must
have cost him a small fortune. Her Majesty only stayed
ten days at Bath, yet the little excursion is said to have cost
the royal exchequer the enormous sum of ^30,000. The earl
died at his town residence, Worcester House, in the Savoy,
March 3, 1627-8, in the seventy-ninth year of his age, and
his remains were conveyed with great solemnity to his family
seat, Raglan Castle, in Monmouthshire, where they were
interred in the family vault. The present Duke of Beaufort
is a real chip of the old block.

^^ Robert Cecil, Earl OF Salisbury — youngest son of
William Cecil, Lord Burleigh, Queen Elizabeth's celebrated
High Treasurer, by his second wife, Mildred, daughter of Sir
Anthony Cook — was born, probably, about the year 1550, and,
being of a weak constitution, was tenderly brought up by his
mother, and educated under a careful and excellent tutor till
he was sent to St. John's College, Cambridge, where he
obtained the degree of M.A. He represented the city of
Westminster in the Parliaments of 1585 and 1586, and in some

1605.] THE EARL OF SALISBURY. 135

subsequent sessions sat for the county of Hertford. In 1588
he was one of the young nobility who volunteered to serve
on board the English fleet sent against the Spanish Armada.
He was a courtier from his cradle, having the advantage of
the instructions and experience of his illustrious father ; and,
living in those times when Queen Elizabeth had most need
of the ablest persons, was employed in affairs of the highest
importance, and received the honour of knighthood in June,
1 59 1, and in August following was sworn of the Privy Council.
In 1596 he was appointed Secretary of State, to the great
displeasure of the Earl of Essex, who was then absent in the
expedition against Cadiz. Whilst he was in that post he
showed an indefatigable address in procuring foreign intelli-
gence from all parts of the world, holding, at his own charge,
a correspondence with all ambassadors and neighbouring
states. By this means he discovered Queen Elizabeth's
enemies abroad and private conspiracies at home, and was on
this account as highly valued by the queen as he was hated
by the Ultramontane party, who vented their malice against
him in several libels, and threatened to murder him. In 1579
he was constituted Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. In
February, 1597-8, he went to France, to endeavour to divert
Henry IV. from the treaty at Vervins ; and in May, 1599,
succeeded his father in the office of the Court of Wards, for
which he resigned a better place, that of Chancellor of the
Duchy, being so restrained in the Court of Wards, by new
orders, that he was, as he expressed it, a ward himself He
succeeded his father likewise in the post of principal minister
of State, and from that time public affairs seem to have
been entirely under his direction. Though he was faithful to
Queen Elizabeth, yet he kept a secret correspondence with her
successor. King James, in which he was once in great danger
of being discovered by the queen. This happened on one
occasion when her Majesty was witnessing (to use a modern
phrase) the work done by her Barbary horses upon Blackheath,
between Greenwich and the Middle Park. A post riding by
en route to the palace, she inquired whence it came ; and
being told from Scotland, she stopped to receive it. Sir

136 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book III.

Robert Cecil, who attended her, knowing there were in it some
letters from his correspondents, with great presence of mind
called immediately for a knife to cut open the packet, that
a delay might not create suspicion. When he came to cut
it open, he told the queen it looked and smelt Edinboro'ish,
and therefore was proper to be opened and aired before she
saw what it contained ; to which her Majesty consented,
having an extreme aversion to bad smells. Upon the queen's
decease, Cecil was the first who publicly read her will, and
proclaimed James VI. of Scotland King of England ; and his
former services to that monarch, or the interest of Sir George
Hume, afterwards Earl of Dunbar, so effectually recommended
him to his Majesty, that he took him into the highest degree
of favour, and continued him in his office of principal minister ;
and though in that reign public affairs were not carried on
with the same spirit as in the last, the fault cannot justly be
charged on this minister, but on the king, whose timid temper
induced him to have peace with all the world, and especially
with Spain, at any price. But though Sir Robert Cecil was
far from approving, in his heart, the corrupt measures taken
for obtaining that inglorious peace, yet he so far ingratiated
himself with the British Solomon that he was raised to greater
honours : being on May 13, 1603, created Baron of Essenden,
county Rutland ; on August 20, 1604, Viscount Cranbourne,
county Dorset (the first nobleman of that degree who bore a
coronet) ; and on May 4, 1605, Earl of Salisbury. Upon
the death of Sir Thomas Sackville, Earl of Dorset, Lord High
Treasurer, in April, 1608, the Earl of Salisbury succeeded him
in that post ; and his advancement to it was universally
applauded, a great reformation being expected from him in
the Exchequer, which he accordingly effected. Finding it
almost exhausted, he devised several means for replenishing
it with money, particularly by causing the royal manors to be
surveyed, which before were but imperfectly known ; by
reviving the custody of Crown lands ; b}^ commissions of
assets ; by improving the customs from iJ^86,ooo to ^120,000
and afterwards to ;^ 135,000 per annum, and similar measures,
including the surrender of his patent of Master of the Wards

1605.] THE EARL OF SALISBURY. 137

to the king, for his benefit and advantage. His indefatigable
application to business having ruined his constitution, he died
at Marlborough on his return from Bath, May 24, 16 12, and
was buried at Hatfield. The Earl of Salisbury married
Elizabeth, sister to the unhappy Henry Brooke, Lord Cobham,
by whom he had a daughter, Frances, married to Henry
Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, and an only son, William,
second Earl of Salisbury. His descendant, James, 7th
Earl of Salisbury, was advanced to the title of Marquis by
George HI., in 1789.

Sir Anthony Weldon (and some other contemporary
writers have) asserted that the Earl of Salisbury " persuaded
the King to leave the State Affairs, and to betake himselfe
to some Country recreations, which they found him addicted
unto, for the City, and businesse, did not agree with him ; and,
to that end purchased, built, and repaired at New-market, and
Roystou, and this pleased the Kings humour well, rather that
he might enjoy his Favorite with more privacy, than that he
loved the sport," etc. ; but we have been unable to find any
confirmation of the allegation, so far as it relates to New-
market ; and there can be little, if any, doubt that our account
of the palace there is substantially correct. We have only to
add, in conclusion of this memoir, that this Earl of Salisbury
(who was addicted to falconry, and " stuck not to give gold "
for a good hawk) was a frequent visitor to Newmarket during
this period. He also imported, and bred from, Arab horses.
" Beagle " was the soubriquet by which the king usually
addressed the earl when his Majesty was hilarious.

Salisbury was constantly surrounded with difficulties in the
administration of his duties as Lord High Treasurer. The
king had been taught to consider the treasure left by Elizabeth,
and the further resources of the kingdom, as an inexhaustible
mine. Lately arrived from a country where the use of money
was hardly known, he was really ignorant of its value, and
became immeasurably profuse, as exemplified by the following
anecdote. Carr, afterwards created Earl of Somerset, his first
favourite in England, having obtained from the king a
peremptory warrant to the treasurer for twenty thousand

138 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IH.

pounds, that minister, foreseeing the inabihty of the Exchequer
to answer demands so enormous, contrived to place the sum
ordered on the floor of an apartment through which the king
would pass. James, surprised at the sight of such a quantity
of gold, inquired of the treasurer whose money it was. Cecil
answered, " Your Majesty's, before you gave it away." Where-
upon the king fell into a violent passion, complaining bitterly
that he had been abused, and throwing himself on the heap,
hastily snatched up two or three hundred pounds, and swore
that Somerset should have no more. The treasurer, however,
prudently judging it necessary for him to steer an even course
between the king and the favourite, interceded in favour of
the latter ; and with some difficulty obtained for him half the
original sum.

^^ Gilbert Primrosse, who was appointed to the office of his
Majesty's Chief Chirurgion and also to the office of Serjeant
of the Surgeons, with fees, for the former office, of ^40 yearly,
and for the latter, of 40 marks per annum (as formerly
granted to William Gooderowse, his predecessor in those
posts), by Privy Seal, dated June, 1603. In September, 1606,
he had a free gift of 100 marks in regard of his service and
daily attendance upon James I., during his Majesty's sporting
journeys. Nichols' says that "in 1617 Dr, Gilbert Primrose
had a yearly salary of £26 i^s. A^d. as Serjeant Surgeon to
the King, £a,o as Ordinary Surgeon to the King, and ^33
6j-. ^d. as Surgeon to Charles, Prince of Wales." He was
ancestor of the Earls of Rosebery.

^ The Hon. Sir Robert Carey, fourth son of Henry, ist
Lord Hunsdon, whose memoirs, written by himself, were pub-
lished by John, Earl of Cork and Orrery, in 1759, was born
ci7ra 1560. At the age of seventeen he accompanied Sir
Thomas Leighton in his embassies to the States-General and
to Don John of Austria ; and he soon afterwards went with
Secretary Walsingham into Scotland, where he appears to
have entered into an arrangement with James VI. for the
purpose of giving the king the earliest possible news of the

1605.] SIR ROBERT CAREY. 139

death of Queen Elizabeth. Returning to England, he joined
the fleet in 1588, and assisted in repelling the Spanish
Armada. The next year he won a wager of i^20oo " by
going on foot in twelve days to Berwick." " After this," goes
on the memoir, " I married a gentlewoman, Elizabeth,
daughter of Sir Hugh Trevanion, more for her worth than
her wealth ; for I had in all the world but ^100 a year out
of the Exchequer, as a pension, and that was but during
pleasure ; and I was near ;i^tooo in debt. Besides, the queen
was mightily displeased with me for marrying, and most of
my best friends, only my father, was no ways offended at it,
which gave me great content." The tide of fortune, which he
took in the spring, was the opportunity afforded him by the
familiar intercourse with which his kinswoman, Queen Eliza-
beth, condescended to treat him, of being the first to announce
her Majesty's decease to her successor. Having been assured
by his sister, Lady Scroope, that the Virgin Queen was no
more, he took horse between nine and ten o'clock on the
morning of March 23, and arrived at Doncaster the same
night ! On the 26th he reached Holyrood Palace about the
time "the king was newly gone to bed." This journey has
been deemed a marvellous display of horsemanship, and when
we consider the state of the roads at this period, and that the
rider sustained a great fall on the way, added to a kick from
the horse on his head, by which he lost much blood, " and
made him so weak that towards the end of the journey he
was forced to go at a soft pace," the equestrian feat is all
the more notable. The Scotch king received him, of course,
most graciously, and observed, " I know you have lost a near
kinswoman, and a mistress, but here, take my hand, I will be
a good master to you, and will requite this service with honour
and reward." But beyond making him a Gentleman of the
Bedchamber, and subsequently Chamberlain to Prince Henry,
full nineteen years elapsed before he attained the peerage ;
and in his memoirs he observes, " I only relied on God and
the king. The one never left me ; the other, shortly after his
coming to London, deceived my expectations, and adhered to
those Scotch vultures who sought my ruin." On February 5,

HO THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book III.

1626, Carey was, by letters patent, elevated to the peerage as
Baron Carey, of Leppington, county York, and Earl of Mon-
mouth. By Elizabeth, his wife before mentioned, he had four
sons and one daughter. He died in 1639.

^ Sir Alan Percy, sixth son of Henry Percy, the 8th
Earl of Northumberland, and Katherine, eldest daughter and
co-heir of John Nevill, Lord Latimer. Sir Alan was made a
Knight of the Bath with Prince Charles, and ten others, in
January 1604-5. He married, in May, 1608, Mary, daughter
and heir of Sir John Fitz, of Fitzford, Devonshire, but died
s. p. in 1613. His widow married 2ndly, the Hon. Thomas
Darcy ; 3rdly, Sir Charles Howard ; and 4thly, General Sir
Richard Granville.

^^ Sir Dudley Carleton, Knight, son of Anthony Carle-
ton, of Baldwin Brightwell, county Oxford, born March 10, 1573,
having been employed, for a series of years, as Ambassador
to Venice, Savoy, and Holland, was elevated to the peerage,
May 21, 1626, as Baron Carleton, of Imbercourt, county Surrey,
and in two years afterwards created Viscount Dorchester, in
which year he was constituted one of the principal Secretaries
of State to Charles L Though twice married he left no
surviving issue, and his honours, in default, became extinct,
but his estates devolved on his nephew. Sir John Carleton, of
Brightwell. Dudley Carleton, Lord Dorchester, had the
reputation of being an able diplomatist and a polished states-
man. He was master of different languages, and a good
ancient and modern historian. He composed some pieces,
which are noted by Walpole, and was esteemed a graceful
and eloquent speaker. The familiar letters which so frequently
passed between him and his friends contain occasional allusions
to passing events in connection with the Turf during the
period he flourished. He died February 15, 163 1.

It seems the king did not pay another visit to
Newmarket until November, 1607. Writing from

1607.] PASSING EVENTS. 141

Charing Cross, November 24, J. Woode informs the
Earl of Shaftesbury that " His Ma'" about „

-^ November.

viii. dayes since went to Newmarket, and yt ^^o''-
is thought will follow his disports there till yt be nere
Christmas ere he retourneth," * from which we may
assume that the king and his suite left London for
Newmarket on the i6th of this month. However, the
earliest mention of the presence of the sovereign at
Newmarket occurs" in a letter from the Bishop of
Chichester,^*^ the king's almoner, to the Court of
Wards and Liveries, to allow the Countess Dowager
of Pembroke, a portion of some goods of a servant
of hers, who had committed suicide, to the amount
that he had stolen from her ladyship.f This com-
munication is dated Newmarket, November 23, 1607,
when this riofht reverend gentleman was in attend-
ance upon the king.

Sir George Chaworth,^^ in a letter to the Earl of
Shrewsbury, gives the following account of passing
events at Newmarket during this sojourn of the king
and court there : —

" The King is endifferently well pleased with his
hunting ; and, which is to me as great newes as ease,
ys not so earnest, without all intermission or respect of
weather, be yt hott or could, dry or moyst, to goe his
hunting & baulking as he was ; for, though he be as
ernest, being at yt, as he was, yet ys he more apt to
take hould of a lett, and a reasonabl wynd will blowe
him to and keepe him at mawe all daye. I seldome

* Lodge, Illustrations, vol. iii., p. 333.
t Docquet Book, sub data, MS., P.R.O.

142 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book III.

or never, except uppon an extraordinarye cause, have
knowne a greater Court of gentlemen then nowe is ;
but all of them cannot appease & satisfye the King
why a fay re whyte jerfaulkon of his lately flewe awaye,
& cannot be heard of againe. But the Court will
lessen for a season within these two dayes, for my Lo.
Haddington,^^ & all his favorytes, followers, and para-
ketts goe shortly to Huntingdon, to a match of hunting
that he there hath against my Lo. of Shefeeld's^^
horse : And well maye he afford to lose such a match ;
yea better then so poore a man as I to be at cost to
trayne & dyet my horse to win one ; by reason that
(as I conseve yt) his losing is wining ; for he had a
good and a gratiouse makar * in this terrestrial globe ;
for he that made him saved and delivered him out of
the merchant's books ; yea, yf I heard truth, he being
10,000^' deepe lately : But good Lord, yt was well
bestowed of him, & the King could doe no lesse for
him, he being to match so well as to my Lo. of Sussex,
dough ter, which makes a Mayde of Honor weare
willowe, and keepe her Christmas in the cuntrye.

" What is sayde of the famouse howse my Lo. Dunbar
ys building at Barwick I cannot heare subscribe ; but
surely {adiuwando cand) yt ys, as they saye, the greatest
squadron [i.e. quadranglar building] by much in Eng-
land ; and of that exceeding heyght, & yet magni-
ficent turrents above thay heyght, a goodly front, &
a brave p'spect open to the meanest & most distant
roome, & that uniforme p'portion everye waye, gene-

* The king's free-gifts alone to Lord Haddington amounted to
-^31,300!

1607.] PASSING EVENTS. 143

rally, as would stodye a good architector to describe :
Only, therefore, I will saye whas in p'ticular I heard
(to use their owne phrase) one of them creak ; that
Worsopp gallerye was but a garrat in respect of the
gallerye that would there be.

" Nowe for my owne ^'ticular, because yt pleaseth
yo'' Lo? to troble yo"" selfe with a care & well-wishing of
me. Howe my L. of Rutland doth com'and, deruit,
edificat, inutat quadrata rotundis, at Ansley,* as he is
Liefetenant of the forrest, so lykewise playing the
Lord over those poore forresters, my tenants, with
which justly he hath no culler to clayme to have to
doe, I shold too much troble yo'' Lo^ with yf I shold
wryte. This only in p'ticular : His Lo^ hath taken
occasion to bye wood of myne, that ys truly & playnly
myne as that little monye I have in my purse, of
another bodye ; so that I knowe not what I shuld doe,
for I cannot followe both the Court, my place, & the
com'on Pleas ; & yet a dogg cannot endure to be
troden on, much less a man, & more less I ; and I
thinke my impatience the more, by so much as I want
meanes, advyse, & ^'tection, of crying quittance, or, at
least, of defending myselfe, my greatest, best, & only
(and that suffitient, yf yt please y'' Lo'' still to continue
that goodness) supportar & comphort in these afflic-
tions being yo"" good Lo^'" great favor, w""" I beseech
may ever buyld on as ever my labour shalbe to deserve.
" Fro Newmarket this 29th of Novb. 1607." f

* Sir George Chavvorth's seat in Nottinghamshire, where the Earl of
Rutland, as Chief Justice of the Forest of Sherwood, was playing havoc.
t Lodge's " Illustrations," vol. iii., pp. 336-7.

144 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book III.

It is very probable that during those early visits
of the king to Newmarket the court was held at
the inn known by the sign of The Griffin, which sub-
sequently became by purchase the property of James L,
and probably the site of the royal palace of aftertimes.
It is traditionally alleged that the palace arose from a
house in the town given, or sold, to the king by Sir
Robert Cecil, ist Earl of Salisbury. At any rate the
earliest reliable notice of the palace, court-house,
chief messuage, or house as it has been variously
desienated, is in the accounts of the Public Works and
Buildings for the year 1609.*

^ Lancelot Andrews, D.D., was elected Bishop of Chi-
chester, October 16, 1605. In 1609 he was translated to the See
of Ely, and installed as its bishop, September 22 of that year.
He is said to have laid out i^2000 in repairs of Ely House,
Holborn, London, the palace at Ely, Downham Manor, and
Wisbeach Castle. In 16 19 he was translated to the Bishopric
of Winchester, and died at his palace in Southwark, Sep-
tember 25, 1626. He was at the head of that school of
divines in the English Church which maintained Catholic
doctrines, of which Laud was the most conspicuous defender.

^■^ Sir George Chaw^ORTH, Knight, of Annesley and
Wiverton, county Nottingham — only son of John Chaworth,
Esq., of Cophill Bulter (a descendant of the old feudal Lords
Chaworth), and Jane, daughter of David Vincent, Esq., of
Stoke D'Abernon, county Surrey, and Bernade, county North-
ampton— was knighted by James I., at Greenwich, May 29,
1605, and created a peer of Ireland as Baron Chaworth, of Trim,
county Meath, and Viscount Chaworth, of Armagh, March 4,
1627-8. He married Mary, daughter of Thomas Kayveston,

* See post. Richard Hamerton was appointed keeper of "the
king's house at Newmarket," April 20, 160S. — Docque Book, sub data,
MSS., P. R. O.

i6o7.] VISCOUNT HADDINGTON. 145

Esq., of Myreston, county Derby, by whom he had issue,
Gilbert, who died s.p. in 1627 ; John, his successor ; and three
daughters. " I do not find this gentleman," says Lodge, " who
seems to have wanted neither understanding, education, nor
politeness, in any political service, except an embassy of con-
dolence to the Archduchess Clara Eugenia, on the death of
her husband, the Archduke Albert." From the tenor of his
letters it would seem that he was a barrister, and many
barristers have been partial to Newmarket and its exhilarating
surroundings. Lord Chaworth died at Bath, July 3, 1639,
and was buried at Langar, Notts.

"^ Sir John Ramsay (brother of George, ist Lord Ramsay,
of Dalhousie) was one of the pages of honour of King James
VI., and had the good fortune to be one of the chief agents
in the preservation of that sovereign from the attempt of the
Earl of Gowric and his brother, Alexander Ruthven, at Perth,
in August, 1600. The king had been induced by Alexander
Ruthven to accompany him to the Earl of Gowrie's house at
Perth, and soon after his arrival had been murderously
attacked by Ruthven. At the moment young Ramsay, the
page, happened to be hurrying to the stable for his horse, and
heard the king crying from the window of Gowrie's house,
" Treason ! treason ! " The royal attendants, who had rushed
up the principal staircase to his assistance, found the door
locked, but Ramsay fortunately got into the room by a back
stairs, and perceiving Alexander Ruthven struggling with the
king, drew his dagger, plunged it twice into Alexander's body,
and then threw him downstairs, where he was met by Sir
Thomas Erskine and Hugh Harris, the king's physician, who
despatched him, and went up to the king. Just then the Earl
of Govvrie rushed into the apartment, with a sword in each
hand, followed by six of his attendants, completely armed,
but was met by Ramsay, Erskine, and Harris, and after a
mortal struggle was slain. For these acceptable services,
Ramsay was rewarded with knighthood, had the barony of
Eastbarns, county Haddington, conferred on him, and had a
charter of the same, November 15, 1600. He was also created
VOL. I. L

146 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book III.

Viscount of Haddington, and Lord Ramsay, of Barns,
June 11, 1606, and augmentation to his arms, etc. Upon
the accession of King James to the throne of England, his
lordship accompanied his royal master to London, and, after
participating to repletion in the royal bounty, was, some
years afterwards, January 22, 1621, made a peer of the
king's new dominions by the title of Earl of Holderness, with
this special addition to the honour, that annually, on the 5th
of August (the thanksgiving day for the king's deliverance
.from the Earl of Gowrie and his brother), he and his heirs
male should bear the sword of state before the king, in the
solemnization of that day's service. He died without leaving
issue in February, 1625, when his titles became extinct.

^^ Edmund Sheffield, 3rd Baron Sheffield — eldest son
of John, 2nd Baron Sheffield and Douglas, daughter of
William, Lord Howard of Effingham — succeeded his father
in 1569. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth he distinguished
himself by many military services, particularly in the cele-
brated defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 ; and was about
this date made Governor of Brill and a Knight of the Garter.
He was appointed President of the North, September 19,
1602, and was subsequently confirmed in that office by James
L By Charles I. he was created Earl of Mulgrave by patent,
dated February, 1626. He married, ist, Ursula, daughter
of Sir Robert Tirwhit, of Ketilby, county Lincoln, by whom
he had no less than fifteen children ; and 2ndly, Mariana,
daughter of Sir William Urwyn, Knight, by whom he had
three sons and a daughter ; and notwithstanding his numerous
issue, his titles and honours shortly afterwards expired for
want of heirs. Edmund, 3rd Lord Sheffield, and ist Earl
of Mulgrave, died in 1646, aged eighty years. This nobleman
lost all his sons by accidents, with the exception of Charles,
the eldest, who died in childhood. John, Edward, and Philip
were drowned in their passage over the Humber at Whitgift
Ferry, in December, 1614; William was drowned in France ;
and George killed when exercising a horse in his father's
riding-house.

160b.] THE GRIFFIN INN. 147

Under date February 11, 1608, a warrant was
g^ranted to R. Hamerton for /^soo, for the
remainder of his lease of the Griffin at New-
market ; and on the day following he received another
warrant for ^60, " for the king's charges at New-
market." * Then comes the following : —

James by the grace of God King of England Scotland

Fraunce and Ireland defend"" of the faith etc. To the Trer'

and Undertrer' of o'' Exchequer and to either of
1 - , . ,. . ,,^, ^-, Leonard Beale

them for the time bemg greetmg. Where[asJ ^^^^ a,d x £i

wee did of late purchase the lease of the Griffin -^ annu for ye
in Newmarkett in the Countie of Cambridge of Griflanm
one Richard Hamerton beeing the Inheritance of
one Leonard Beale of Orsett in the Countie of Essex to
whom there is a yeerely Rent of Tenne pounds reserved
paiable half yeerelie at the Feaste of the Annuncacon of the
blessed virgin Mary and S*^ Michael the Archangell by even
pore 6ns answerable by us. And forasmuch as we have
caused the said Leonard Beale to be treated with for the
purchase of the Fee simple we will and comaund yo" of
such o"" treasure as now is or heereafter shall bee in the Re-
ceipt of o' Exchequer not onlie to see the said rent of Tenne
poundes to be paid to the said Leonard Beale his Heirs &
Assignes as the same or anie parte thereof shall grow due
vnto him or them but also if it shall happen that the Bargaine
shall proceede for the purchase of the Fee simple thereof to
us our heires and Successors that you cause payment to be
made to the said Leonard Beale his heires and Assignes of
such sume of money as shall be agreed on for the purchase
of the Fee Simple, so as the same does not exceede the sum
of Foure hundred poundes. And theis oMres shall be you""
sufficient Warrant & discharge in that behalf Given vnder
our privy Scale at o'' pallace of Westm'' this Eight and
Twentith dale of July in the fifth yeare of our Raigne of

' Docquet Book, sub anno.

148 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IP-

England France, and Ireland, and of Scotland the Two &
Fortith.*

Half-yearly payments of the rent for the Griffin
continued to be paid until the fee simple was purchased
in 1610 : —

" Leonard Beale for a year's rent for the Griffin in New-
market.— By Order vltimo Octobris 1608 : To Leonard Beale
of Ovsett in the Countie of Essex the summe of tenne pounds
being a yearly Rent reserved vnto him out of a Lease of the
Griffen in Newmarket in the County of Cambridge by Richard
Hammerton and purchased by his Ma'"^ paieable halfyearly
by even pro'cons vntill such time as the said Leonard Beales
shalbe treated w"' for the purchase therof in Fee simple being
his owne inheritance, and due for one whole yeare ended at
the Feast of St. Michael th'archangill last past 1608 : f bve.
dat xxviij° Julij i6o8.'-wx"." — Pells, Order Book, 1608-9.
Vol. viii., p. 28 d. This is repeated sub dato Nov. 24, 1609.
Ibid., vol. ix., p. 41 ^. MS. P.R.O.

The next visit of royalty took place in the spring
of 1608. Sir Thomas Lake,*'' the Latin secretary,
1608. was in attendance on the king, and it
March. seems he had to conduct the correspondence
between his Majesty and Salisbury. Thus, on March
7th, he enclosed a letter to the minister for Lord
Knyvet about taking deer out of St. James's Park,*}*
and transacted divers and sundry affairs of state in
which we are not interested.

In the autumn the king again arrived at New-
market on a prolonged visit. J On October 14, Sir

* W^arrant Book, vol. ii., fo. 35 d.

+ State Papers, Dom., vol. xxxi., No. 71.

X On Sunday, October 12, the king left London for Newmarket,

1608.] SIR THOMAS LAKE. 149

Thomas Lake, in a letter to Salisbury, announced
that the news from Venice was pleasino^ to

. , . October.

his Majesty, who spent most of his time in
writing-. A few days after the king told Sir Thomas
he had kept his word with his Council, by being
parsimonious, and not troubling them with directions,
"and they had performed their part by leaving him
quietly to his sports." During the month of November
he remained at Newmarket, enjoying the chase, and
safe from the plague, which at that time was raging
in London, where Salisbury and the Council managed
to conduct the affairs of State independent of the
king's profound wisdom.*

^ Sir Thomas Lake, son of Ahneric Lake, or Du Lake,
of Southampton, was knighted May 20, 1603. He was
created a Privy Councillor in 16 14, and two years afterwards
was sworn in one of the principal Secretaries of State.

Bishop Goodman thus describes Secretary Lake's rise at
court : " It belonged to the secretary's office to present to the
king all the bills that are to be signed ; the secretary sends
them to the signet office, or at least receives them from
thence, giving directions what bills should be drawn. Now
the secretary (Secil), in regard of his greatness, being wholly
employed in state affairs, and being master of the wards,
could not attend the king in his hunting journeys ; therefore
it was necessary that some other should present the king
with the bills ; and this falling out when Lake was on duty,
who applying himself wholly to the Scotchmen, and taking
no fees from them, they gave him that commendation, that

and so little was the Sabbath regarded by his Majesty, that, before com-
mencing his journey, he not only transacted public business, but had a
very angry rencontre with the judges. — See Nichols' " Progress," vol. ii.
p. 210.

* Ibid., vol. xxxvii.

i5o THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book III.

the kin^ would have none other but Lake ; and here he grew
to be full of employment, and even noblemen did use his help
as well as others." — Memoirs, vol. i., p. 175.

Although Mr. Chamberlain places on record that,
for the nonce, the king had "fallen out with Nev\r-
1609. market and Thetford," it seems his Majesty
February, p^jj ^ brief visit to the former locality
towards the end of February, 1608-9. Sir George
Chaworth, in a letter to the Earl of Shrewsbury (dated
Newmarket, February 28), refers to the favour
which Sir Robert Carr was attaining at the court, and
the cold shoulder given to Edmund Lacells," who,
although an accomplished courtier, had the misfortune
to be an English gentleman, in distress and friendless,
pressing for preferment, pleading past service done
in his country's cause, but pleading in vain.*

^^ This gentleman was a younger son of an ancient family
formerly seated at Gateford, near Worksop, Nottingham-
shire, which descended from a cadet of the Lacelles of
Escrick, and Kirby Knowle, Yorkshire. His intimacy with
the Earl of Shrewsbury, which seems to have been formed
at an early time of life, probably originated in the proximity
of their fathers' country seats. James I., to whom he had
been of some service in London towards the end of the
late reign, appointed him a Groom of the Privy Chamber,
and, as appears by papers in the Talbot collection, he wasted
the whole of his small fortune at court without gaining any
further preferment. In the course of the following year he
was dismissed upon some trifling offence, and, after having
made several vain efforts to be re-admitted, was obliged to
fly from his creditors. He informs the earl, by a letter from
Utrecht, dated May 25, 1609, that he had been allowed to

* Lodge, vol. iii., p. 246 ; Nichols' " Progress," vol. ii., p. 214.

1609.] HUNTIXG MATCHES. 151

kiss the king's hand before his departure, but could obtain
no relief from him ; and implores his lordship to assist his
wife, whom he left in England, with three children, in so
wretched a situation that he was forced to divide with her
the small sum of twelve pounds which the Earl of Pembroke
had given him to purchase necessaries for his voyage. At
his first going abroad he enlisted under Sir Edward Cecil,
at Utrecht, with a stipend of nine shillings per week ; and
after the peace, was recommended by Anne of Denmark to
the Duke of Brunswick, in whose service he probably con-
tinued for the remainder of his life. His lineal descendants
were hereafter Earls of Harewood.

The kine ajrain arrived, on the ist of October, at
Nev^^market, where he remained, on and off, until the
end of December. On his arrival, great
preparations were made for the sports
peculiar to the locality ; but owing to the severe
frost and snow which prevailed, the fun had to be
relinquished until a change in the weather took place.
The king spent the interval in writing poetry, and
issuing orders on public transactions. This is a
specimen of the former : —

The earth ore-covered with a sheet of snow.
Refuses food to fowl, or bird, or beast :

The chilhng cold lets * every thing to grow,
And surfeits cattle with a starving feast.

Curs't be that love and mought t continue short

Which kills all creatures and doth spoil our sport.

In November, a change in the weather permitted
some " hunting matches " to take place ; and during
December several similar events are mentioned in
which the king and the princes participated. On the

* Hinders. • \ I.e. may it.

152 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book III.

5th, Sir Thomas Lake wrote to Salisbury : " This
morning his Majesty staid within, being sermon day,
and partly from hard riding yesterday, for they all
came very weary last night, and laid long a-bed
to-day. The prince was also distempered, never-
theless, as I hear, they hawk at the field in the
afternoon, and make trial of the Spanish hawks.
The matches went well enough yesterday with the
king, and he himself boasts they are with him, but
the other side will not yield. As I was writing this
letter I hear his Majesty is gone afoot up the hills to
see if it is possible that his dogs may hunt for the
frost. He will make another day of it for his
matches." On the 6th, Sir Alexander Hay,^'"^ in a
letter to Salisbury, tells him that the frost was too
hard for hunting, " and no prospect of sport for seven
nights." However, on the 13th, Sir Thomas Lake
announced that " the match is ended yesterday, and
yielded to my Lo. Dunbar,*" and you will shortly
hear of a bill of charges about it." *

*^ Sir Alexander Hay, knighted in June, 1608, was Secre-
tary for Scottish affairs, and participated largely in the king's
" free-gifts."

*^ Sir George Hume, knight, third son of Alexander Hume,
of Manderston, and great-grandson of Sir David Hume, of
Wedderburn, having accompanied James I. into England,
was elevated to the English peerage, July 7, 1604, ^s Baron
Hume, of Berwick. He had previously succeeded Lord
Elphinston, in the treasurership of Scotland, and was created
a peer of that kingdom, July 3, 1605, in the dignity of Earl

* Lake to Salisbury, Newmarket Dec. 5. State Papers, Dom., vol. 1.,
No. 14 — 52.

1609.] COURT LIFE. 153

OF Dunbar. His lordship, who was in "great favour with
his royal master, was a Knight of the Garter, Chancellor of
the Exchequer, Keeper of the Privy Purse, and Master of
the Wardrobe. He is characterized by a contemporary
writer " as a person of deep wit, few words ; and in his
Majesty's service, no less faithful than fortunate. The most
difficult affairs he compassed without any noise, never return-
ing when he was employed, without the work performed that
he was sent to do." He married Catherine, daughter of Sir
Alexander Gordon, of Gight, and had two daughters, his
co-heirs, viz. Anne, married to Sir James Hume, of Colding-
knows, and Elizabeth, married to Theophilus Howard, 2nd
Earl of Suffolk, K.G. Lord Dunbar died at Whitehall,
January 29, 161 1, when all his honours became extinct.

Many matters relating to current affairs engaged
the king's attention during this royal sojourn at
Newmarket ; but they call for no comment at our
hands. On the last day of November, for instance,
a proclamation was issued, and posted on the palace
gates, Inhibiting the importation of pepper from foreign
parts by any other persons than those of the British
East India Company, and limiting the price at which
they were to sell it to 2^-. 6^. per lb. Bishop Hacket
speaks of his hospitable reception by James
I. at Newmarket, and in his " Life of Lord
Keeper Willams " (pt. i., p. 227) presents us with the
following picture of the sporting and theologian
monarch's domestic life at the royal village. Answer-
ing certain objections, he writes : " It is said, but
mistaken, that Government was neglected at those
hunting houses ; and, by the way, why are they called
obscure places, Royston * and New7narket ? petty if

* " K. Ruhani I. granted Royston a Fair and a Market, which last is

154 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book III.

compared with London, but they are market-towns
and great thorowfares ; where the court was so
frequently, both for business and recreations, that
many of the followers could not find a lodging in
that town, nor scarce in the vil]ao;^es round about it.
I held acquaintance with some that attended the
principal secretaries there, who protest they were
held to it closer, and sat up later in those retire-
ments to make dispatches than at London. The
king went not out with his hounds above three days
in the week, and hunting was soon over. Much, of
the time his Majesty spent in State contrivances,
and at his book. I have stood by his table often,
when I was about the age of two and twenty years
and from henceforward, and have heard learned pieces
read before him at his dinners which I thought strange ;
but a chaplain of James Montague, Bishop of Winton,
told me that the bishop had read over unto him the
four tomes of Cardinal Bellarmine's Controversies at
those respites, when his Majesty took fresh air, and
weighed the objections and answers of that subtle
author, and sent often to the libraries of Cambridge
for books to examine his quotations."

This incident appears to have occurred about the

much thronged with Buyers, Sellers, and their Horses, from London and
all Parts upon the Account of the Barley and Malt Trade. The Market
is kept on Wednesday, and the Fairs on June 28, a.r\djnly 25, yearly. It
is 33 Miles from London, and lies East of that City. The Cambridge
Scholars, at their first coming, take much Notice of a sort of Crows
called Royston Crows, having some White about their Breast and Wings,
which is not usual in other Countries ; and the Oxonians of a Proverb,
viz. A Royston Horse, atid a Cambridge Master of Arts, are two

Creatures that will turn Head for no man.'''' — Magna Britannia, ed.

Savoy, 1720, vol. i., p. 238.

1G09.] COUNTRY ROADS. 155

end of the year 1609, when the king- was at New-
market. Sir Thomas Lake, writing from Newmarket,
December 9, 1609, to the Earl of SaHsbury, sends
warrants and bills for the minister's signature ; " and
also certain passages extracted out of Bellarmine's
late book, on which the king must have the council's
opinion, before he can be merry with them at Christ-
mas." '"'

At this period the roads en route from London to
Newmarket were in a bad state, and greatly impeded
the wayfarer's proQ^ress. Essex miles were

. T 1609.

proverbial for their length — not that they
were, in reality, any longer than the mile in any other
part of the kingdom ; they obtained the epithet simply
because of the abominable state of the track. In
those pre-macadam days the high roads were in
such a state that we have no conception of the diffi-
culties of progression, when carriages were almost
unknown, and most journeys were accomplished in
the pigskin. But when James L decided upon erect-
ing a villa venatica at Newmarket, an attempt was
made to mend the roads between that rising village
and the metropolis. Thus in 1609, Thomas Nor-
ton, his majesty's "way maker" was paid ^29 lo^-.
for superintending and seeing to the repairs " of the
higheways leadinge to and from the Citty of Lon-
don to the Towns of Royston and Newmarkett, for
his Ma"^^ better passage in goeing and cominge to
his recreations in those parts." f On July 3rd a

* State Papers, Dom., vol. 1., No. 33.
t Pells, Order Book, sub data, MS., P.R.O.

156 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book III.

warrant dormant was issued to pay him 35-. \d. per
day, during pleasure, and also to repay ^18 disbursed
by him.*

In the autumn of 1632, at the instance of the sur-
veyor of the highways to Charles I., when the king
was about to make the sporting journey to New-
market and Royston, the inhabitants of the county of
Hertford were enjoined to repair the roads and to
restrain the number of malt carts travelling thereon,
and waggons to be confined to such as were drawn by
five horses. f

The king was to leave London for Newmarket on
April 25, but, probably owing to an outbreak of the
plague at Thetford, this projected royal visit was post-
poned.J

Several foreigners of distinction were entertained,
from time to time, by James I. at Newmarket
Palace.

In May, 16 10, Louis Frederick, Prince of Wir-
temberg, was there received by the king, at which
date Newmarket was celebrated for hare-hunting,
when the prince and his royal host enjoyed the sports
together. §

The year following ^80 were paid to two French-

* Warrant Book II., p. 102. Ibid. He also received ^5 \os. \od. for
making certain bridges between Newmarket and Royston. — Docquet Book,
March 26, 1608.

t S. P., Dom. Chas. I., vol. ccxxii., No. 63.

X Winwood's Memorials, vol. iii., p. 153.

§ This visit is minutely described by the Majordomo or Secretary to
the Prince, Hans Jacob Wurmsser von Vendenheym ; it has been trans-
lated from the French by Mr. W. B. Rye in his most interesting volume,
" England as seen by Foreigners," London, 1865, pp. 54-66.

1611.] PASSING EVENTS. 157

men who arrived, and sojourned at the palace, to teach
the Prince of Wales dancing and fencing. ^^"

In February, 161 1, his Majesty arrived at New-
market and stayed there for nearly a month, ign.
when polemical, political, petitioning, and February,
similar topics are recorded, but never a word transpires
relating to the Turf.f In the autumn the king and
court made another visit, arriving on Sunday, Novem-
ber II. Sir Roger Aston,** Master of the Wardrobe,
appears to be the acting secretary between the king
and Salisbury. He records that twelve falcons arrived
there from Denmark for the king, and six for the
minister, of which latter the king had taken two, and
hopes he (Salisbury) will not be angry. The diplo-
matic and foreign affairs are followed in turn with the
sports of the place, in which his Majesty was quite
at home. On the 22nd the ambassador of the King
of Sweden arrived,' had an audience, and went hunting
with the king. The state of the roads between the
metropolis and Newmarket, as usual, called for, and
doubtless merited, the execration bestowed upon that
venerable highway by the travellers of the period,
high and low. J On the 28th the king w^as still at
Newmarket, " somewhat troubled with a humor in his

* Pells, Issue Book, sub data, MS., P.R.O.

t State Papers, Dom., vol. Ixi. The celebration of the mass at the
Spanish Embassy and in the Tower of Lbndon — the inhabitants of Epping
Forest to be exempt from purveyance — sixteen horses in ordinary for the
Duke of York (afterwards Charles I.) — Sir R. Stewart's petition for two
out of every hundred trees belonging to the king's manors, "his former
grant of lops and tops not sufficing to pay his creditors " — Sir Thomas
Bartlett committed to the Tower for begging, to the prejudice of the
Scots, etc., etc.

% Ibid., vol. Ixvii.

I5S

THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET.

[Book III.

great toe, that must not yet be called the gout." * The
following day the court arrived at Royston, but shortly
after returned to Newmarket.

On the 23rd of November the king issued a pro-
November— clamation concerning the alteration of the
December, prices of gold and fixing the different prices
current, at the following value : —

The piece of gold called the Unite
The piece of gold called the Double Crown
The piece of gold called the Britain Crown
The piece of gold called the Thistle Crown \ at

The piece of gold called the Half Crown
The coin of gold of Scotland, called the vj^
piece

/The piece of gold of our own coin 1
called the Rose Royal j

Not current
in Scotland

The piece of gold of our own coin |

called the Spur Royal j

The piece of gold of our own coin |

^ called the Angel j

s.

d.

/ 22

0

II

0

5

.6

4

4!

2

9

1 1

0

\

33

0

16

6

I I o

All other pieces of gold, other coin of any former
kings of the realm, and at this time current, to bear the
like increase in value with those above mentioned, viz.

Every piece of gold formerly current.

/ For 30 o "1

20 o I
15 o I

10 o j
5 o I
2 6 J

s. d.

{ 33 o

22 o

16 6

I I o

5 6

I 2 9

Birch MSS., 4173.

IGll.]

L. S. D. 0..

159

The abatements or remedies, which the several
pieces of gold may not exceed :

s. d.

^30 ol

20 o

10 o i shall not exceed

I , , I 1 5 o I The remedy and abatement
piece of gold <i ,^ ^1-

current for - 1

^3 6j

grs.
3

Superscription-—" Given at Newmarket the 23 day
of November, in the ninth year of our reign of Gt.
Britain, France, and Ireland. Anno Dom. 161 1."*

The Court remained at Newmarket until about
the 7th of December. During the interval the Spanish
Ambassador demanded redress for piracy committed
by English merchants, and received a hint, as a soliatium
for the grievance of his nation, that the King of Spain
might propose to the Princess Elizabeth. Salisbury's
attention was directed to abuses in the mint ; and
Sir Dudley Diggs invoked the bracing air of New-
market that he might the better work out his ideas for
the discovery of the North- West Passage — an expen-
sive hobby with some enthusiasts then as now.f The
Earl of Suffolk "^ had a house in the town at this date,
from which some of the furniture was requisitioned for
the comfort of the Spanish Ambassador during his
sojourn on this occasion.

^^ Illegitimate son of Thomas Aston, Esq., of Aston. Sir

* Black Letter Proclamation Book (printed), p. 250, P.R.O.
t State Papers, Dom., vol. Ixvii.

i6o THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book TIL

Roger was a gentleman of the Bedchamber and Master of the
Wardrobe to James I. He married, first, Mary Stewart,
daughter of Alexander, Lord Ochiltree, and had four daugh-
ters, his co-heirs ; and, 2ndly, Cordelia, daughter of Sir John
Stanhope, and sister to the first Earl of Chesterfield, but had
no other issue.

*^ Lord Thomas Howard, eldest son of Thomas Howard,
4th Duke of Norfolk, and his second wife Margaret, only
daughter and heiress of Thomas, Lord Audley, of Walden,
K.G., was a distinguished naval officer in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth. His lordship was restored in blood (his father, the
Duke, having been attainted and beheaded in 1572) by Act
of Parliament in the 27th year of Elizabeth ; and twelve years
afterwards, October 24, 1597, was summoned to Parliament
as Lord Howard of Walden, He was created Earl OF
Suffolk, July 21, 1603, and installed a Knight of the Garter.
To his lordship's vigilance the discovery of the Gunpowder
Plot has been mainly attributed ; he was elected Chancellor
of the University of Cambridge in 161 3, and constituted
Lord High Treasurer of England in the following year, of
which high office he was deprived in 161 8. His lordship
married, ist, Mary, sister and co-heir to Thomas, Lord Dacre,
of Gillesland, but had no issue. He married, 2ndly, Cathe-
rine, eldest daughter and co-heiress of Sir Henry Knevit,
Knight, of Charlton, Wiltshire, and widow of the Hon.
Richard Rich, eldest son of Lord Rich, by whom he had
several children. He died May 28, 1626, and was succeeded
by his eldest son, Theophilus, 2nd Earl of Suffolk.

Bishop Goodman mentions the following anec-
dote : — When the Spanish Ambassador was at New-
market, he had, at one time, occasion to confer in
Latin with the king, "and the ambassador speaking
false Latin, and sometimes not able to express

1612.] THE LANGUAGE OF DIPLOMACY. i6i

himself, he told the king that he spoke Latin like a
king, and that his majesty spake like a Master of
Arts, and so he excused himself and his false
Latin."

Secretary Conway, in a despatch from Newmarket*
says : " I desired in your grace's name, my Lord
Chamberlain's advice w^hat from the king, what from
your particular, might be done to honour the ambas-
sador, and what with best lustre.* To this he said,
the place must be Cambridge, Newmarket being able
to bear nothing of grace ; that on the king's part, the
general entertainment would be as good as is pos-
sible ; that the kinof ofave them one meal at his own
table ; and that his majesty must be pleased to send
to my Lord Suffolk to lend furniture of two lodgings
for the ambassador, with drawing-rooms and a dining-
room, and likewise to give order, as most proper to
his authority, for all that can be added by the
University." f

The kinof and court were ao-ain at Newmarket
in the spring of the year 1612, when Sir Henry
Vane *^ was knighted ; but the royal so-
journ on this occasion passed off without
any eventful incidents.

* " Thomas Footes gentleman vsher daylie vvayter to the Kynges Ma'"
for the allowance of himselfe, one yeoman vsher, three yeoman hangers,
two gromes of the Chamber, two groomes of the Wardrobe, and one
groom porter, for makeinge readie at Newmarkett for the Prince Palatyne
six dayes, and Counte Henricke six dayes, and at Royston for the Prince
six dayes, and at Theobaldes six dayes, in all by the space of xxiiij"
dayes in the monthes of November and December 1612 xxiij" xij"." —
Accounts of the Treasurer of the Chamber of the Household, series I.,
box G., bundle 4, m. 11 d.

t MS. Tanner, Oxon, Ixxiii., 397.

VOL. I. M

i62 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book III.

*^ Sir Henry Vane was born in Kent in 1589. He was
knighted by James I. at Newmarket, in March, 161 2, and
appointed cofferer to Prince Charles, on whose accession he
was made a member of the Privy Council. He was sent on
several special embassies — to the Queen of Bohemia, in May,
1625 ; to Holland, as Ambassador Extraordinary in Feb-
ruary, 1628-9; returned to London in the following May,
but was again despatched to the Hague, on October 18, 1629.
He was recalled on November 2, 1630, and left Holland in
March, 163 1. His credentials as Ambassador to Sweden are
dated September 22, 1631. On February 3, 1639-40, was
granted "the office of Secretary of State to Sir Henry Vane,
Knt., Tr*^'" of H. M. Household during H. M. plesur." Through
being implicated by the indiscretion of his son, who stole
some important state documents from his father's cabinet
relating to the Earl of Strafford, he was removed from all
his appointments, and died in 1654, aged sixty-five.

In January, 161 3,* James I. was again located at
Newmarket, when royal proclamations were issued
1613. against the use, manufacture, or importation
'^March' °^ pistols, and commanding the surrender of
November, all such ; and against the exportation of
corn and grain, on account of its high price and appre-
hended scarcity. After a brief sojourn the court
returned to the metropolis, which was en fete conse-
quent upon the marriage of the Princess Elizabeth
with Frederick, Palatine of the Rhine, titular King of
Bohemia, which was duly solemnized on the 14th of
February, with great magnificence. These festivities
(including the princess's portion of ^40,000) cost King

* " For riding and attendinge his Ma"^ from Whitehall to Theobalds
Royston Newmarkett and Thetforde and back agayne by the space of
xxxiiij" dayes in the monthes of Februarie and Marche i6i2(-i3] Ixvj"
vj'." — Ace. Treasurer of the Chamber, series I., box G., bundle 4, m. 11 d.

1613.] THE KING AND QUEEN OF BOHEMIA. 163

James close upon ^100,000. The high contracting
parties were entertained by the Templars at a sump-
tuous mask, with which his Majesty was so pleased
that he, in return, entertained the masquers, " but at
the cost of the Prince [Henry ?] and his followers, who
laid a wager for the charges of the feast, and lost it by
runninof at the rinof." *

In March, the king, the Prince of Wales, the royal
bride and bridegroom, attended by the Lord Chan-
cellor,"^ the principal ministers of State, with an enor-
mous following, arrived at Newmarket, where they
enjoyed the sports peculiar to the place to their hearts'
content. Here the royal bride selected the hounds
and hunters which she took with her to Bohemia, and
when the Palgrave bore her away from Rochester, in
the following month, those accessories of the chase con-
stituted the cargo of a good-sized vessel. Soon after
their departure, " the king escaped a great danger at
Newmarket, by reason of the foundation of the house
where he lay began to sink on one side, so that the
doors and windows flew open, and they were fain to
carry him out of his bed with all possible expedition ;
but the next day he removed to Thetford." f

Notwithstanding this contretemps, the king paid
another visit to Newmarket in November, when he
was, as usual, attended with the twenty-one preachers
in ordinary " for the sporting journeys."

'*'' Thomas Egerton, whose surname was assumed from
a manor in Cheshire so called, possessed by his father's

* State Papers, Dom., vol. Ixxii.

t Chamberlain to Carleton. "The Court of James I.," vol. i., p. 233.

1 64 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book HI.

ancestors when Domesday Book was compiled, was the
natural son of Sir Richard Egerton, of Ridley, in the same
county, by a young woman named Alice Sparke, He was born
in 1540, and having been brought up to the bar, attained the
highest honours of his profession, and filled, during the reign
of Queen Elizabeth, successively the offices of Solicitor and
Attorney General, Master of the Rolls, and Lord Keeper of
the Great Seal. Upon the accession of James I., Egerton was
appointed Lord High Chancellor of England, and elevated
to the peerage July 21, 1603, as Baron of Ellesmere, in the
county of Salop, and further advanced November 7, 16 16, to the
dignity of Viscount Brackley, which the wits of Westminster
Hall, who objected to his interference with the judgments of
the Common Law Courts, converted into Viscount Break-law.
During the intervals of his laborious avocations his chief
relaxation was in the sports of the field, and several noble
clients gave him licence to " hunt and kill " in their parks
and manors. James I., who appears to have regarded him
with great affection, is said to have parted from him with
tears of gratitude and respect, and to have signified his in-
tention to raise him to an earldom. Though death prevented
the Lord Chancellor from receiving this last mark of his
sovereign's favour, little more than two months elapsed before
his Majesty proved his sincerity by creating the heir Earl of
Bridgewater, in Somersetshire, on May 27, 161 7. This title
was changed into a dukedom in 1720, but both have since
become extinct. The earldom, however, was revived in 1840,
in the grand-nephew of the last duke, about which time the
great Bridgewater estates devolved, after much litigation, on
the Earl of Brownlow.

To Thomas Childe, Marshall Farryer vpon two bookes
signed by the Lorde Chamberleyne for allowance of Mar-
shallrye done in the Hobbye stable, the Coursers stable, and
Carrayadge stable from Christmas 161 1 to Christmas 161 2.
Q-ii ^s j^d_ * — Wardrobe Ace. Treas. of the Chamber. John

* These were annual charges slightly varying in amounts.

1614.] THE FARRIERS AND THE PREACHERS. 165

Lord Stanhope of Harrington, Series i, box G., bundle 4,
m. 15, dorso. MS., P. R. O.

To Thomas Lazenbye, Marshall Farryer for the huntynge
horses vpon a booke signed by the Lord Chamberlayne, for
Marshallrye and work done by him from the firste of October
16 1 2 vntil the laste of Februarie followinge — Vj^' xv^ x^*

To Thomas Welles vpon the Lord Chamberleynes war-
raunte dated the vj*'' of July 161 3 for money payde to xxj
Preachers attending his Ma*"^ in his sporting iourneys at
Newmarket in June 1613 — xxj".t

To the same for moneys payed to preachers attending his
Maf ^* hunting Journeys as appeareth by a bill of particulars
under the hand of the Lord Bishopp of Bath and Welles
and Dean of his Majtys Chappell — xxxv" (;^35). +

Mr. Chamberlain, writing to his friend Sir Dudley
Carleton from London, February 10, 16 14,
tells him that the kins: " has eone to New-
market, and left the Council to decide about a Parlia-
ment." §

On the 19th, Sir Thomas Lake, Privy Councillor
in attendance on the king, wrote " from the Court
at Newmarket," by the king's command, to some
minister in London, whose name has not transpired,
the following account of his Majesty's forebodings as
to the ensuing Parliament : —

" His Majesty is this morning gone to a house of
Sir Nicholas Bacons to hawk, but before oroine forth,
calling for me to receive direction to my Lord Chan-
cellor, for passing the Patent for Glass, which his
Lordship had stayed, he commanded me to signify to

* Ibid, t Ibid. X Ibid., m. 34

§ State Papers, Dom., vol. Ixxvi.

i66 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book III.

you that, now he hath given warrant for calhng his
Parhament, he thinketh fit to acquaint your Lordship,
with his gnosticks (that was his phrase), that is, that
he hath been enformed from some of his servants here,
who have laboured for places, that they have received
answer from the Gentlemen of the country of good
quality, that they think all the shires are disposed to
take care that none of his Majesty's servants be
chosen. If this be true, and so prove in other places,
his Majesty can foresee the success, and much better
it were for him to put it off then [than] to see
an assembly of men, who before hand discover their
disposition, and are not willing to have his servants
in their company ; for that cannot be a good sign
for him. Wherefore he recommendeth to your Lord-
ship's special care to do your endeavour with other
of my Lords of the Council, to whom (in his Majesty's
name) your Lordships are recommended the same
providence in places where you have credit or power,
that the ?Iouse be furnished of men of good disposi-
tion, and apt to have due consideration of him and his
estate, or else his Majesty shall have litde comfort in
the Assembly." '"

Fortunately this unconstitutional emanation of
royalty — notwithstanding the pressure brought to bear
by the king, the ministers, and the court party — had
little effect upon the constituencies, and a majority of
the new House of Commons was in favour, and
supporters, of their rights and privileges. As we shall
subsequently see, this bone of contention, between the

• MS. Lansdowne, 487.

1614.] THE KING OF DENMARK. 167

king and his subjects, occasioned many unseemly
wrangles at Newmarket in after times.

His Majesty was also at Newmarket in July,*
when he entertained the King of Denmark with
hunting, bear-baiting, etc. ; and in November we
read that '* Mr. Secretary goes next week to the
king at Newmarket, who, upon Saturday last, had
a dangerous fall with his horse hunting, yet without
any great hurt more than a bruise in his side
and arm, by the weight of his horse that lay upon
him ; " and that " some unkind and rough words passed
lately 'twixt the Earl of Montgomery and Lord
Walden'*^ about their hunting matches. "f In November
and December the king was again residing at New-
market, when many of the subordinate officials had to
lodge out of the precincts of the palace, which appears
to have been crowded to excess. | The weather was
" very foul," and beyond the creation of several
knights, no further incidents worth mentioning occurred

* The king's visit at Newmarket, Theobalds, and Royston extended to
March 5 (Bundle 4, m. 26 d). It seems his second sojourn extended into
the month of August : —

" To the said James Maxwell for the allowance of him twoe groomes of
the Chamber one groome of the wardrobe and one groome porter for
ryding from the Courte at Whitehall with his Ma"^" guift in plate and a
wardrobe traversed to Newm'ket to the Christning of S"" John Cottons
Childeby the space of xxj dais mens Julij et August 1614 xvij" x'." — Ace.
Treasurer of the Chamber, Series I., box G., bundle 4, m. 27.

t " The Court and Times of James I.," vol. i.

X " To Hughe Maye one of the grooms of his Ma" privy Chamber
vppon like warr': dated exto January 1614 for his lodginge out of the
Courte at Newmarket from the x"" of November 1614 vntill the x"" of
December followinge iiij" More to him and his fellowes for their lodginge
out of the Courte at Newmarket from the xvj"" of January i6i4[-i5] vntill
the viij of Feb'' followinge Ix'." — Aces. Treasurer of the Chamber, bundle 4,
m. 47 a.

1 68 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book III.

during the closing scenes of this royal visit. The
king soon after returned to London and kept the
Christmas festivities at Whitehall.*

^^ Theophilus Howard, eldest son of Lord Thomas
Howard, ist Earl of Suffolk, who had been summoned to the
House of Lords in his father's lifetime, as the 2nd Lord
HoWARD-DE-Walden. He married Elizabeth, daughter and
co-heiress of George, Earl of Dunbar. His lordship was
installed a Knight of the Garter, appointed Lord Warden of
the Cinque Ports, Constable of Dover Castle, Captain of the
band of Gentlemen-pensioners, and sworn of the Privy Council.
He died June 3, 1640, and was succeeded by his eldest son,
James, 3rd Earl of Suffolk, K.B.

* Nichols' " Progress," vol, ill., p. 25.

BOOK IV.

ROYAL SOJOURNS AT NEWMARKET. JAMES I. 1615-1625.

{Coutimied^

161 5. Royal visit in the spring — Arrival of the Marquis of Branden-
burg— Cost of his entertainment at the palace— Passing events —
Entering a new Secretary of State — Incidents in his journey down
and up — Severity of the weather — Field sport abandoned — Routine
affairs of State —Dispensation of court favours at Newmarket —
More royal visits in November and December — The Overbury
poisoning case — Home Rule — Arrival of the Venetian ambassador — •
And the Chancellor of Scotland — Dearth of lodgings in this " poor
villiage " — ^The King's " great horses " at Newmarket — St. Anthony
the rider — Villiers rising in the royal favour — Royal commands for
the preservation of the game at Newmarket — Sir John Throck-
morton— The Earl of Oriiiond — Sir William Woodhouse — Sir
Robert Drury — Sir Thomas Jermyti — Sir Nicholas Bacoft — 1616.
Arrival of the King and court — Royal sojourns in the spring and
autumn —The North-Sea fishing fleet refused a convoy — Action
of the Council thereon — Is ineffectual — The voyage abandoned in
consequence — The King orders the observance of Lent to be enforced
— No fish to be had — The King feasted by Lord Gerard — Somerset
sent to the Tower — Rise of Buckingham — Dignities showered on
him by the King — New Knights of the Garter — Newmarket peers —
Disgrace and dismissal of Chief Justice Coke— Steps taken by him
to regain the King's favour — He proceeds to Newmarket — Pro-
pitiates Buckingham — Bribery and corruption — Obtains access to
the palace — His interview with the King — Finess — Sojourn of
Prince Charles — H.R.H. created Prince of Wales — Formation of his
hunting establishment — Annual cost of his packs — Projected royal
progress to Scotland — The details arranged at Newmarket — The
King's own letter thereon — Incidental expenses attending the royal
sojourns— Another deluge at Newmarket — The Earl of Somerset —

I70 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

The Earl of Rutla?7d — Lord Brabazon — Lord Moore — Sir Ralph
Winivood — Sir Lionel Cranjield — I^ord Wotton — Lord Knollys —
Chief Justice Coke — 1617. Royal sojourns in the spring and autumn
— Arrival of H.E. Baron Wimberg — His expenses at Newmarket
defrayed by the King— Arrival of the Swedish ambassador — De-
scription of his journey down — His unexpected arrival at New-
market interrupts the royal disports — H.E. proceeds in state from
his inn to the palace — His reception by the King — Tall talk — The
language of diplomacy — The audience — Another state banquet at
the palace — Court etiquette — " The wisdom of Solomon " — Scene
after the banquet — H.E. calls upon the Prince of Wales — Another
audience — The ambassador is dubbed a knight of Newmarket — His
departure and journey up — Bolton's project to institute a Royal
Academy in England — He proceeds to Newmarket and submits the
scheme to Buckingham— The King and the favourite favour the
proposal^But it falls through — Ulterior proceedings— And the sequel
— The English expeditionary forces in Holland— Curious dispute
concerning commissions — The King stands on his dignity — "The
wisdom of Solomon" again— The Prince of Wales in amateur
theatricals — More Newmarket knights — Incidental expenses at the
palace — Prosecution of poachers — Payments to the King's farriers —
1618. Royal sojourns in the spring and autumn — Preliminary
arrangements for the tilt— Rural life outside the palace — Novel way
of celebrating the Prince of Wales's birthday — The King and courtiers
dine at Farmer Gamige's — Each guest provides his own grub — The
most extraordinary menu on record — The delicacies of the season —
The champion of the feast — More knights of Newmarket— More
of the "wisdom of Solomon" — The comet of 1618— The courtiers'
importunities — More Newmarket peers— Arrival of the commissioners
of Holland — And the ambassador of the Duke of Savoy— Rivalry
between the East India and other companies of merchant adven-
turers— Back-stairs influence at the palace — More meniis of the
period — Incidental expenses of the court — The Marquis of Hamilton
— The Earl of Southampton— Sir Philip Maimuaring—Sir George
Goring— Sir Edward Yardley — Sir Thomas Stukeley — Sir Albertus
Mortoti—Lord Digby — 1619. Royal sojourns in the spring — Arrival
of the King and court in January — Harsh administration of the
forest laws— The King's deer— Hawking in the vicinity of New-
market— Royal visit to Sir Nicholas Bacon, Bart., at Culford— The
first baronet created — The new dignity invented as a means to raise
the wind — Creation of baronets estimated to produce ^66,666 a year
— Departure of the King and court for London— Another royal visit
in February and March — The Prince of Wales remains in London
to train for tilting— H.R.H. first enters the lists — Runs twelve
courses at the ring and bears away the bell— The principal t liters
of the period— The Spring Meeting— The races take place notwith-
standing the death of the Oueen— Creation of Newmarket peers

Book IV.] SUMMARY OF CONTENTS. 171

during the meeting — A miracle on the heath and its consequences —
Partridges and hares turned down at Newmarket— Royal sojourn
in December — Heavy snow stops hunting and hawking — Arrival of
H.E. Baron Denow — His expenses at Newmarket — Ceremonies
attending his audience at the palace — Incidental disbursements
relating to these royal visits at Newmarket — Lord Thomas Gerard —
Sir Jajues Hay — Sir Richard Presto7i — The Hon. Sir Thomas
Somerset — Sir Thomas Howard — Sir Edward Sackville — Robert
Rich, Earl of Warwick — Sir Henry Rich — Sir William Cavendish
— The Earl of Buccleuch — The Earl of Melrose — The Earl of Kellie
— Viscount Pnrbeck — Viscouttt Doncaster — 1620. Royal sojourns in
the spring and autumn — Merry times at the palace — Tilting and
theatricals — Court life during the visit — Shroving — The King and
Prince entertained at Saxham by Sir John Crofts — Quarrels among
the Scotch courtiers — A duel and the consequences — Visit of the
ambassador of the Palatine — More Newmarket proclamations —
Chief Justice Montagu appointed Lord High Treasurer — Gives
Buckingham a bribe of ^20,000 for the office — More Newmarket
peers — Expenses at the palace incidental to these royal visits — The
Earl of Mafichester — Viscount Falklatid — Viscount Dunbar — 1621.
Royal sojourn in November and December — Causes much animad-
version— The popular feeling in London — Proceedings in the House
of Commons — Pass a petition and remonstrance — Committee of the
House appointed to convey the vote to the King — They arrive at
Newmarket — The King in the toils — He receives the committee in
the palace — The conference — The King writes to the Speaker —
Threats to commit members — The royal prerogative — The King
returns to London — Is amazed at the minutes of the House — Sends
for the Journals — Destroys the protestation in the presence of the
Council — And dissolves the Parliament — The King retires to Theo-
bald's— Thrown from horseback into the New River — And narrowly
escapes drowning — 1622. Royal sojourns in the spring and
autumn — Passing events — More shroving at Saxham — More
Newmarket peers — Theology — Sir Richard Graham — Viscount
Air — Lord Jedburgh — Pricking the sheriffs — Orders for preserving
the game — Poaching excessive — Ministerial tactics — Hawking —
More Newmarket proclamations — Home Rule — Its effect in London
— Causes inconvenience to many — The Home Rule policy produces
contrary effects — And frustrates the objects for which it was designed
— Inclement weather — The East India and Muscovy merchants
proceed to Newmarket — And are robbed on the road — Depredations
by highwaymen at Newmarket — Novel mode adopted by them to
elude arrest — Racing intelligence — Betting — The Duke of Bucking-
ham and the Earl of Salisbury — The King's jockeys and their wages
— The surveyors of the races — Their emoluments and liveries — •
Dispensation of patronage at Newmarket — The Duke of Bucking-
ham, Sir Richard Graham, and Sir Edmund Verney — Payments to

172 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

the court officials incident to these royal visits — Sir Edmimd Verney
— The Earl of Salisbury— \6i2,. Royal sojourns in the spring and
autumn — The Prince of Wales, the Duke of Buckingham, and Sir
Richard Graham leave Newmarket in disguise en route to Madrid — •
The royal pilgrimage of love a State secret — Passing events at the
palace — The observance of Lent — The trained bands — The royal
prerogative in the chase — How exercised — Sharp practice — Postal
expenses between London and Newmarket — Naval affairs — -Alarming
rumours about the Spanish alliance — Great excitement throughout
the country — The Council proceed to Newmarket — -Interview with
the King — Who lets the cat out of the bag — Troops sent to New-
market— The panic subsides — State retinue equipped and despatched
to the Prince — Royal present of jewels from the regalia for the bride-
elect — Are valued at ^600,000 — Enumerated by the King in his
letters to the Prince — Passing events at the palace — Royal com-
mands to take up partridges and turn them down at Newmarket —
Arrival of the Corps Diplomatique — The Cambridge comedians
perform at the palace — Cost of their entertainment — Great concourse
of visitors in the town — Audience of the envoy of the Arch-Duke—
Received by the King in camera — Occupies the Prince's apartments
during his visit — Royal sojourn in the autumn — Arrival of French
falconers — Present of hawks from Louis XIII. — State of the game
at Newmarket — ^Poaching excessive — Royal commands thereon —
The supervisor of the game at Newmarket — Incidental expenses at
the palace during the sojourn of the court — Sir Edzvard Conway —
Lord Brooke — Sir Edward Peyton — The Earl of Arundel — -1624.
Royal sojourn in the spring — More about the Venatic envoy from
France — His state entry by torchlight — Heavy expenses attending
his visit — He outstays his welcome — Valuable jewels and other
presents given to the embassy by the King— Return of the Prince
of Wales — The King breaking up — Another Newmarket peer —
Distribution of honours and emoluments — Dearth of wild-fowl at
Newmarket — The cause and remedy — Collapse of the Spanish match
— Political incidents — The King unable to get to Newmarket — The
political horizon clears — -And the King goes to Newmarket in
November — More about the preservation of the game — Lord Petre's
warren — Landlord, tenant, and sovereign — Serious illness of King —
Passing events at the court — Sporting affairs — Incidents and orders
— The rival Persian ambassadors — Curious expenses incurred at the
palace during these royal visits — Lord Grey— Sir George Goring,
Junior — Lord Petre — Sir William Pelham — Viscount Annandale —
1625. The last sojourn of James I. — His fatal illness — His pre-
dilection for sport under difficulties — More Newmarket proclamations
— More Newmarket peers — Jobbery — The golden age of corruption
— Lady Purbeck and the Prince of Wales — Deer in the London
parks — Departure of the King for Chesterford — He arrives at
Royston — His last illness and death — His character as a sportsman

1615.] ENTERING A NEW MINISTER. 173

— Posthumous present of hawks from James I. to Louis XIII.—
Expenses and account of their transmission to France — The ninety-
nine knights of Newmarket created during the sojourns of the King
— Contemporary opinions upon the knights and baronets of the
period — Lord Baltimore.

On January 12, 1615, the king left London for
Newmarket, where the court was located, on and off,
until March 22nd. During this royal visit jamesi.
the Marquis of Brandenburg was entertained Newmarket.

^ ^ , Royal

at the palace at a cost of ^125 \s. S^ci^* On sojourns,
the igth, Sir Dudley Norton was knighted ^^ — ^^^^ — -^
at Newmarket, "whither he went to take January—
his leave at his going over to Ireland." f On ^^^^^•
the first day of the ensuing month, Mr. Secretary
Win wood paid his first official visit to Newmarket,
where he was obliged to consult the king on affairs of
state. The journey down was made in a fearful storm
of snow, and was doubtless anything but a pleasing
reminiscence to the minister, who, it seems, was not
prepared for such an inclement passage. He was,
however, better prepared for his journey back, as he
left Newmarket on the morning of February 8th, and
arrived in London " in a day," after " a sore journey,
as the ways are ; but he had coaches laid for him in
three places." J

* Cofferers Aces., Series II., box E., Rot. 71, MS., P.R.O.

t Birch MS., Add., 4173.

X Mr. Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton, London, Feb. 9, 1614-15,
Birch MS., 4173. Of the hard winter of this year, see Howe's Abridgement
of Stow's Chronicle, 8vo edit., 161 8, by which it appears the severity of
the frost and snow was extreme, and continued almost without change
until the first week in March, " by meanes whereof much cattle perished,
as calves and lambs, deer and conies, etc. The snow brought extreme
danger to travellers. After this snow thawed, there followed inundations
great and violent, which did great spoil and damage."

174 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

It is obvious the weather put a stop to anything
in the shape of field sports at Newmarket, and it is
therefore no matter of surprise that no mention of any
outdoor events are chronicled during the spring visit.
In the absence of more congenial topics we may
mention that Sir George Chaworth obtained the
reversion of the office of constable and keeper of
Bristol Castle, Andy Boyd ^looo as a free gift,
Thomas Kaye a presentation of the rectory of Branes-
borough, in the diocese of York, Nicholas Hoare a
gunner's place in the Tower, the Earl of Salisbury ^900
for the almshouses next the king's stables in Cheshunt
and ^200 for Park Grove in Enfield Park, the Earl of
Dorset licence to enfranchise the copyholds belonging
to some of his manors, George Herriot ^2952 odd
for jewels and goldsmith's work for Prince Charles,
together with similar cogent matters ; from which it is
evident stress of weather did not interfere with the
importunities of the suitors who beset the Court, and
that Newmarket maintained the reputation it acquired
in the dispensation of favours, in spite of the inclemency
of the season. The Cambridge comedians endea-
voured to enliven the surrounding dulness, but in
this respect they were not particularly successful, as
the weather threw a damper on their acting, and
probably the elements kept away the fair sex, and
without the presence of the ladies the best theatre and
the best acting is as jolly as a Scotch sabbath. f

On the 6th of February, 16 14-15, a letter, "pro
Rege," was addressed to Sir Nicholas Bacon,^^ Sir

* State Papers, Domestic, vol. y^c.., passim. f Birch MS., 4173.

1615.] THE EARL OF ORMOND. 175

Robert Drury,^" Sir Thomas Jermin,^^ and to Sir
William Woodhouse, Knight/^ that by themselves or
their deputies they have care to preserve " his Majesty's
game of hare, heron, duck, mallard, etc., within twelve
miles' compass of Newmarket and Thetford, and to
punish offendors as well by course of Justice, as by
taking from them their greyhounds, beagles, guns,
bowes, setting dogs, trammel nets, etc." *

The king and court were again at Newmarket in
November, when the Overbury poisoning case en-
grossed all other topics, so far at least as
related to prominent public events. But the November—

^606111 1) 61*

insidious backstairs influences, which rarely
saw the light of day until after the jobbery in hand
was done too effectually for redress, were rampant.
An instance of this kind, which had now taken
place, illustrates the terrible power acquired by the
Scotch courtiers. Sir Walter Butler, who had recently
succeeded his late uncle to the Earldom of Ormond,
arrived in Newmarket for the purpose of moving the
king to grant him the hereditary and natural right of
possessing and enjoying his estates. But his inheri-
tance, by some specious backstairs influence, was
conferred by the king, contrary to all law and justice,
upon the new earl's brother-in-law. Lord Dingwall in
the peerage of Scotland. The Earl of Ormond ^^
naturally protested at being thus swindled out of his
patrimony. But his remonstrance was unavailable,
and, instead of obtaining justice, he was peremptorily
committed to the Fleet, and confined there, coram rege,

* Signet Office. " Docquet Book," vol. vi., s. d. MS., P.R.O.

176 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

for many long and weary years, in want of the common
necessaries of life. In December a proclamation was
issued requiring noblemen and gentlemen to reside at
their chief mansions in the country, for the better
maintenance of hospitality. Lord-lieutenants and
justices of the peace, who did not spend nine months
in the year in their own counties, were to lose their
commissions.* During this year the king enter-
tained the Venetian ambassador and the Chancellor
of Scotland at Newmarket, but the precise date
has not transpired. f Sir John Throckmorton,^* writing
to Mr. Turnbull, December 7th, says : " The King
is at Newmarket, where there are at this present
time twenty earls and barons attending, and such
number of principal gentlemen, as that it is wondered
how they can lodge in that poor village. The King
hath sent for some of his great horses at Newmarket,
for St. Anthony, the Rider." He adds : " Every
morning Sir George Villiers is a-horseback, and
taught to ride, whose favour increaseth." J

^ Sir Nicholas Bacon, of Redgrave, eldest son of the
Lord Keeper, was the first person advanced to the dignity of

* State Papers, Dom., vol. Ixxxiv.

t " To John Hobborne for thallowaunce of hiniselfe one yeoman vsher
a.nd three yeoman hangers two groomes of the Chamber two Groomes of
the wardrobe, and one groome porter for makinge ready certen roomes
at Newmarkett for the Venetian Ambassador the space of twoe dies and
for making ready certen roomes there twoe severall tymes for the Chaun-
cellor of Scotland the space of four diees, etc." — Apperallers Accounts,
m. 58.

Walter, Earl of Ormond, was at Newmarket in attendance on the
king " in the matter of Lord Digwell," Nov. 24.— State Papers, Ireland,
vol. ccxxxiii., No. 43.

X " The Court and Times of James I.," vol. i., p. 383.

1615.] THE EARL OF ORMOND. 177

a baronet, on the institution of that order by James I. at
Newmarket, in 161 1. He married Anne, only daughter and
heiress of Edmund Butts, Esq., of Thornage, in Norfolk, by
Anne, his wife, daughter and co-heiress of Henry Buers, Esq.,
of Barrow, in Suffolk, and had issue six sons and four
daughters. He died in 1649.

^ On July 2, 161 1, Sir Robert Drury, of Halsted, county
Essex, with his wife and family, obtained licence to travel
for three years in parts beyond the seas. He died in April,
1615.

^1 Sir Thomas Jermyn, of Rushbrooke, county Suffolk.sub-
sequently Treasurer of the Household to Charles I. He had
two sons, Thomas, 2nd Baron Jermyn of St. Edmundsbury,
and Henry, afterwards Earl of St. Albans.

^2 Sir William Woodhouse, son of Sir William Wood-
house (the valiant Vice- Admiral of England, temp. Queen
Mary, who was the second son of Sir Roger Woodhouse, of
Kimberley and Waxham, county Norfolk), was knighted by
James I. in 1603, "at Sir George Fermor's." Bloomfield
mentions that Sir William Woodhouse " is said to have been
the first person in England that erected and invented decoys
for the taking of wild ducks " (" Hist, Norfolk," vol. ix.,
P- 353)-

^^SirWalter Butler, of Kilcash, county Kilkenny, grand-
son of James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond, and Joan, daughter
and heiress of James, nth Earl of Desmond, succeeded, as iith
Earl of Ormond, to the dignities of his family only, on the
death of his uncle Thomas Butler, loth Earl of Ormond ; who,
dying in 1614, and leaving (by his second countess, Elizabeth,
daughter of John, 2nd Lord Sheffield) one surviving child
only, who, through the influence of James I., was married to
Sir Richard Preston, Baron Dingwall in Scotland, and Earl
of Desmond in Ireland. But on the demise of the loth Earl
of Ormond, his estates were claimed by his son-in-law, Lord
vol. I. N

178 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

Dingwall, who retained them by royal will and favour. James
I., to support a favourite, constituted himself arbitrator in the
case ; but Walter, the nth Earl, refusing to submit to such a
partisan arrangement, his estates were seized by order of the
King, and himself committed prisoner to the Fleet, where he
remained for eight years in the most shameful want of the
necessaries of life. Earl Walter married Helena, eldest
daughter of Edmund, 2nd Viscount Mountgarret, by whom
he had (with daughters) one son, Thomas, Viscount Thurles,
drowned December 15, 1619. He died in 1632, and was
succeeded by his grandson, James Butler, 12th Earl and ist
Duke of Ormond.

^* Sir John Throckmorton, Knight, eldest son of Thomas
Throckmorton, Esq., of Cloughton, Warwickshire, was a promi-
nent courtier and sportsman in the reign of James I. His
father's life was one continued scene of difficulty, owing to his
religious opinions, his estate being frequently under sequestra-
tion and his person often imprisoned. His severest calamity,
however, was the loss of the manor of Ravenston, which he
held by lease from the Crown, at the yearly rent of £6^ 13^.,
payable at Lady Day and Michaelmas, or within forty days
after these periods ; but advantage having been taken many
years after (occasioned by a servant losing part of the money
at gaming, which he was sent to pay), he was deprived of
this estate, and although the money was subsequently paid
to the Crown, and an acquittance given for it as if paid at the
proper period, yet he could never obtain restitution of the
property.

James R.

Our will and pleasure is that p''sentlie vppon receipte hereof
yo" kill w"Mn yo'' Chardge one fifatt Doae of this season and
the same to deliu^' vnto this bearer for w*^'' this o'' warm* shalbe
yo'' dischardge.

Given at Newmarket the fiftenth of december 161 5.
To the Keeper of o"" Parke at Elthame.*

* Had. MS., 9683, 105, 1 84.

1616.] ICHTHYOPHAGY. 179

To John Hebborne for thallowaunceof himselfe one yeoman
vsher three yeomen hangers twoe groomes of the Chamber
twoe groomes of the wardrobe and one groome porter for
makinge ready Certaine roames at Newmarkett for the
Venetian Ambassader the space of twoe daies And for
makinge ready certen roomes there twoe severall tymes for
the Chauncello'' of Scotland the space of twoe daies And
for making ready certayne roomes at Royston for a Comedie
the space of faur daies In all the space of tenne daies menss
Februar et Martij 161 5 ix" xvj^ viij''. — "Accounts of the
Treasurer of the Household, sub dato (m. 58), M.S., P.R.O.

On or about the ist of February, 1616, the king
and court arrived at Newmarket, and a few days after-
wards his Majesty was on horseback, " and igie.
bore it well." Tidings from London were February,
to the effect that the council very properly decided to
supply the North-Sea fishing fleet with two small war-
vessels to secure them from the Dutch and other
pirates, but this necessary precaution was, in the
opinion of the king, "a needless and unprecedented
charge." Nevertheless the council adhered to their
resolution, and humbly submitted rhyme and reason
for taking such action in that behalf; still the king
persisted in his opinion, and, of course, had his way.
The result was that the voyage had to be abandoned,
to the great loss of the fishermen and many other
adventurers therein. Curiously enough, this New-
market ukase was issued on Ash Wednesday, a day
of all others in the calendar favourable to ichthy-
ophagy and ichthyology, and at a period when the
observance of Lent was ordered to be enforced by all
law-abiding lieges throughout the realm. The follow-

i8o THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

ing day the king dined with Lord Gerard, when, let
us hope, " the salmon disagreed with him." If parsi-
monious to the poor fishermen, King James was
prodigal to his favourites ; Somerset ^^ sent to the
Tower, Buckingham created a duke, and " elected into
the order of the Garter ;"* the Earl of Rutland ^^ being
also honoured with the promise of the Blue Ribbon ;
while Sir Edward Brabazon " and Sir Garrett Moore ^^
were elevated to the peerage, the former with the
title of Baron Brabazon of Ardee, the latter as Baron
Moore of Melfont. Such were the doughty deeds done
at Newmarket during this Spring Meeting ; unfortu-
nately, they have eclipsed the ordinary affairs of sport
thereat occurring.^

In November and December the king again

honoured Newmarket with visits, when some changes

took place in the keepership of the Palace

November. ^ i r

and the New Warren. The Duchess of
Guise wrote for renewal of permission for her people
of Eu and Treport, to fish with four boats on the
coasts of the Cinque Ports, which was graciously
granted, on condition that it should not be a pretext
for others to fish, or employ improper nets, otherwise
the licences to be forfeited. J

Mr. Secretary Winwood,^^ in a despatch to Sir
Dudley Carleton, dated Whitehall, November 26,
1616, says: "Here hath nothing happened, but the

* Technically this is a mistake on the part of the intelligencer.
George Villiers was made a baron and viscount by patent, dated August
22, 1616, and installed K.G. in July same year.

t State Papers, Dom., vol. Ixxxvi. ; " The Court and Times of
James I.," vol. i. % Ibid.

1616.] THE FAVOURITE AND THE KING. i8i

fall of the lord chief justice Coke, who had run
himself so far into his majesty's displeasure, that he
is removed from both his place in council, and upon
the bench. In the latter, Sir Henry Montagu hath
succeeded him, and Sir Lionel Cranfield ^^ is sworn
master of requests extraordinary. My papers," he
continued, " being gone to Newmarket, whither I am
presently to follow, I cannot well tell whether I did
let you understand by my last, that Sir Thomas
Edmondes was now upon his return into England,
If I did omit it, you shall know by these that he is to
be made comptroller of the household ; the lord
Wotton" being by surrender of the Lord Knollys®^ to
be treasurer ; after which honour done him, he is to
resume his charge in France, until the affairs of that
kingdom shall be established." *

One of the most prominent incidents in connection
with this royal sojourn at Newmarket was the fall and
disgrace of Chief Justice Coke. The great lawyer, as
above mentioned, was arbitrarily deprived of his offices
and emoluments by James I., owing to his having
incautiously uttered some words hinting that the king
caused the death of Prince Henry by poison. Soon
after he was deprived of his offices. Coke retired to the
residence of Mrs. Anne Sadler, his eldest daughter, in
Hertfordshire, whence he made several journeys to
Newmarket during the sojourn of the Court there, in
the fall of this year. It was the centre of bribery
and corruption, and the ex-judge well knew how to
play his cards at Newmarket. To propitiate Bucking-

* Carleton's Letters, edit. 1780, p. 75.

I S3 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IY.

ham and fawn upon the king were the first steps
towards regaining the favour he had lost and the royal
road to higher dignities and enhanced opulence. On
receiving a hint that his compliance with a private
job of Buckingham's would prevent his dismissal, he
ostensibly refused the temptation, saying, " A judge
must not pay a bribe or take a bribe." Nevertheless,
we find him at Newmarket, early in December, perpe-
trating bribery of the most gross description by the
sale of his youngest daughter to Buckingham's eldest
brother, Sir John Villiers ; for he knew it would, be
an effectual way to propitiate the favourite. This,
however, occasioned a violent dispute and quarrel
betv/een Coke and his second wife, who, resenting her
husband's attempt to dispose of his daughter without
asking her leave, carried away the young lady, and
lodged her at Sir Edward Withipole's house, near
Oatlands. Upon this Coke wrote immediately to
Buckingham, to procure a warrant from the Privy
Council to restore his daughter to him ; but before he
received an answer, discovering where she was, he
went and took her by force, which occasioned his wife
to complain in her turn to the Privy Council. Much
confusion followed ; and this private match became at
length an affair of state. Eventually the differences
were made up, and Sir John Villiers married Frances
Coke at Hampton Court, with all the splendour
imaginable. This alliance, however, cost Coke an
enormous sum in dower and settlements, and, as we
shall subsequently have occasion to record, proved
an unhappy one for the bride — the future Countess
of Purbeck.

1616.] PROJECTED PROGRESS TO SCOTLAND. 183

Having thus secured the first step towards regain-
ing his status, the palace gates were soon thrown open
for his admission to the king, by the influence of the
favourite. Coke, who continued on and off at New-
market during November and December, watching
for a favourable opportunity of getting access to the
king, attained his object in due time. " The first time
he had orood success, and kissed the Kine's hand
What success he had the second time," writes Mr.
Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton, " I cannot yet
learn, for the news is as new as most certain and true.
The motive of his first journey was the report of some
of his Friends to the king, how much he was dismayed
and dejected. Whereupon the king answered, that if
he came to him, he should find that he owed him no
further displeasure, and indeed he has given Order
before to dash certain suits commenced in the Star
Chamber against him. And Mr. Attorney [Bacon]
committed two of his men to the Fleet, for presuming
to give order against him in his name, or as by his
direction. His friends are in hope that he shall very
shortly be restored to the Council-table. His Lady
hath somewhat changed her copy, and finding how
sharply her former carriage sounded as well with
friends as foes, hath reclaimed herself and a little
mollified the matter, as if she had no such meaning as
was conceived." * He adds : " There is a surd bruit f
as if the Blazing Star [Buckingham] at last were
toward an eclipse, and that there is some glimpse
or sparkling of a less Comet of the Lord of Mont-

* Birch MS., 4173, fo. 530. \ I.e. rumour ; and an idle one.

1 84 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

gomery's lighting. There hath been of late both big
words and looks from him and the Lord Hay towards
the present Favourite, which is taken of ominous, and
with all he hath been crasy [unwell] ever since he
came to Newmarket."* In a subsequent letter Mr.
Chamberlain mentions that Coke " was twice with the
king at Newmarket, so well and graciously used, that
he is as jocund and jovial as ever he was. It is
generally said he shall be made a Baron ; but some
interpret this kindness to be but for the compassing of
the match for the Lord Villiers's brother with one of
his daughters." f Such was the termination of this
incident : it demonstrates alike the sycophancy of the
ex-Chief Justice, '^^ the supineness of the monarch, and
the corruptness of the reigning favourite.

Among other passing events we must not omit to
mention that Prince Charles was a frequent visitor at
Newmarket during this year. All the details attending
the separate establishment which his father gave him
were arranged at Newmarket. We subjoin some
interesting particulars relating to his Royal Highness's
hunting establishment which was maintained at an
annual cost of ^547 8^. 6d. Charles was created Prince
of Wales by letters patent dated Newmarket, Novem-
ber 4, 1 616. J

Before concluding our description of this royal
sojourn at Newmarket, we must briefly allude to the
projected progress, in the following summer, to
Scotland, the details of which were settled here by the

* Birch MS., 4173, fo. 534. f Ibid.

X Camden's Annals, sub dato.

1616.] THE EARL OF SOMERSET. 185

king and the court officials. On December 15,
James himself wrote to the Privy Council of Scot-
land "anent the causis of his heir coming," and to
give them timely notice of the high honour he thus
intended to confer upon " his native and ancient
kingdom." He professed that for many years he had
a great and natural longing to revisit his native heath,
which " salmon-like " instinct produced restlessness,
and caused him to wake many times in his sleep, so
much so that he could never rest satisfied till the
journey was accomplished. A lot of fulsome twaddle
follows, in which his Majesty excuses himself for
neglecting to revisit the " Land o' Cakes ' at an earlier
period ; but the fact was " The Land of Promise "
possessed too many attractions when compared with
the natural products of his " ancient kingdom," which,
in the opinion of Sir Anthony Weldon (who had the
misfortune of beino- included in the kind's suite
during the progress), only possessed " great store of
fowle, as fowle houses, fowle sheetes and shirts, fowle
lynnen, fowle dishes and potts, fowle trenchers and
napkins, with which sort," he adds, " we have been
forced to fare as the children of Israel did with their
fowle in the wilderness. "

^^ Robert Carr, of Fernihurst, half-brother of Andrew, ist
Lord Jedburgh, was one of the numerous Scots who rendered
themselves so obnoxious to the English in the reign of
James I. This person was particularly disliked, owing to the
underhand share he had in the destruction of the idolized Sir
Walter Raleigh, whose estates the royal favourite coveted,
and subsequently obtained. Carr, having ingratiated himself
into the favour of James I., was appointed, upon the decease

1 86 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

of George, Lord Dunbar, Treasurer of Scotland, and elevated
to the peerage as Viscount Rochester, March 25, 161 1. In
May following he was installed a Knight of the Garter, and
created, November 3, 161 3, Baron Carr of Branspeth, in the
bishopric of Durham, and Earl OF Somerset, but, of course,
without any claim by birth or connection to these old and
honourable dignities. He was also nominated Lord Cham-
berlain of the Household, and sworn of the Privy Council.
At this time he was esteemed the first favourite of the Court,
and he retained his pride of place until the king discarded him
at Newmarket, as above mentioned. His implication in the
Overbury poisoning case, and his intrigue with Lady Francis
Howard, are subjects which have been treated by all the
historians of the period, and need no comment here. The
Earl of Somerset was released from the Tower in 1621, but
was afterwards confined in the house of Viscount Wallingford.
He died in July, 1645, leaving an only daughter, Anne, who
married William, 5th Earl of Bedford, and was mother of the
illustrious patriot, William, Lord Russell. The Countess of
Bedford was as distinguished for purity as her unhappy mother
had been for the reverse. Upon his lordship's decease this
Viscounty of Rochester and Earldom of Somerset happily
became extinct.

^^ Francis Manners, 6th Earl of Rutland, K.G. — second
son of John, 4th Earl of Rutland, and Elizabeth, daughter of
Francis Charlton, Esq., of Apley Castle, Salop — succeeded to
the earldom on the death of his brother (who died issueless)
in 1612. In 1618 he succeeded his cousin, William Cecil,
Baron de Ros (son of Lady Elizabeth Manners, Baroness Ros,
by the Right Hon. William Cecil, Earl of Exeter), in that
barony, and thus reunited the Earldom of Rutland with the
Barony of Ros (which had been separated in 1587). He
married first, Frances, daughter and co-heir of Sir Henry
Knevet, of Charlton, county Wilts, and widow of Sir William
Bevill, of Kirkhampton, in Cornwall, by whom he had an only
daughter, Katherine, who married, 1st, George Villiers, ist
Duke of Buckingham, and 2ndly, Randal Macdonald, Earl

1616.] BARON BRABAZON. 187

of Antrim. The Earl of Rutland married, secondly, Cecily,
daughter of Sir James Tufton, of Hothfield, and widow of Sir
Edward Hungerford. He died December, 1632, and thus
leaving no male issue, the old Barony of Ros devolved upon
his daughter, the Barony of Ros of Hamlake (created for and
held by him) expired, and the other honours passed to his
brother George, 7th Earl of Rutland. It may be here observed
that 134 years after Francis, 6th Earl of Rutland, was nomi-
nated a Knight of the Garter at Newmarket, his descendant,
John Manners, Marquis of Granby, by his marriage with Lady
Frances Seymour, became Lord of the Manor of Newmarket,
and that this property has been successively held by the
Dukes of Rutland ever since. Francis, the 6th Earl, travelled
much on the Continent in his youth. He was made Lord-
Lieutenant of Lincolnshire and Justice of Eyre of all the
king's forests and chases north of Trent, in 16 12, and in the
execution of that important post he acquired much obloquy,
in consequence of the severity with which he administered the
forest laws. In 1617 he was one of the lords who attended
the king in his progress to Scotland by special appointment ;
and in 1623 he commanded the expedition despatched to
bring the Prince of Wales home from Spain.

^'^ Sir Edward Brabazon — eldest son and heir of Sir William
Brabazon, Knight, Vice-Treasurer and Receiver-General of
Ireland, and Elizabeth, daughter and co-heiress of Nicholas
Clifford, Esq. — was little more than three years old at his
father's death, and, when in England, resided at Nether-Whit-
acre, county Warwick. In 1 571, having attained his majorit)%
he had a special livery of his estate ; was sworn of the Privy
Council in 1584, and in the Irish Parliament of 1585 he was
one of the members for the county Wicklow. In 1590 he
contributed towards the foundation of Trinity College, near
Dublin, and filled, from time to time, several minor posts in
Ireland. " And being a person highly considered by the
Crown," says Lodge, " for his great and manifold services,
was advanced to the dignity of a Baron, by the title of Baron
Brabazon, of Ardee, with limitations to his issue-male, by

i88 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

Privy Seal, dated at Newmarket, 14 February, i6i5[-i6], and
by patent at Dublin, 19 July, 1616, 21st of which month he
and the Lord Moore were created Lords by Deputy, after an
occasional sermon, preached in St. Patrick's church, by Dr.
James Usher. In 1620 he was commissioned, with Nicholas,
Lord of Howth, and others, to ascertain the number of ale-
houses in the county of Dublin ; and 15 July, 1624, appointed
one of the Commissioners to keep the peace in the province
of Leinster, during the absence of Lord D. Falkland on his
progress to view the plantation lately begun by the king in
Ulster, and to settle the government in those remote parts.
He married Mary, daughter of Sir Thomas Smith, of Micham
in Surrey, Knight, and, dying 7 August, 1625, had issue by
her six sons and eight daughters." William Brabazon,' i ith
and present Earl of Meath, now represents this Newmarket
creation.

^^ Sir Garrett Moore — eldest son of Sir Edward Moore and
Mildred, daughter and co-heir of Nicholas Clifford, Esq., of
Chart, county Kent — obtained pardon, June 9, 1603, for all
treasonable and other offences committed by him in Ireland
during the preceding reign, whereupon he obtained from James
I. some subordinate administrative posts in that kingdom. In
the Irish Parliament of 161 3 he was member for the borough
of Dungannon ; May 20, 161 5, appointed a member of the
Council of Munster; and July 8, same year, he was rated at
100 marks {£^6 13^-. \d.), for the subsidy then granted to
James I. In 1616 Sir Garrett was captain of twenty-five
horse-soldiers at 4^-. a day, "and the King," says Lodge,
" taking into consideration his great and manifold services to
the crown, was pleased, in testimony of the favour he bore
him, to create him and his heirs male Baron Moore of
Mellefont, by Privy Seal, dated at Newmarket 1 5 February,
i6i5[i6], and by patent at Dublin 20 July, 1616 ; the day
after which (being Sunday) his Lordship and the Lord Ardee
were so created by deputy, after a sermon preached in St.
Patrick's Cathedral by Dr. James Usher, then chancellor of
that Cathedral, from these words, Acts xvii. 11, There were

1616.] S/R RALPH WINWOOD. 189

more noblemen than they which were at Thessalonicar By
Privy Seal dated at Westminster, January 5, 162 1 [-22], and
by patent, dated February 7, same year, he was elevated a
step in the peerage by the title of Viscount Moore of Droug-
heda. His lordship married Mary, daughter of Sir Henry
Colley, of Castle-Carbery, county Kildare, by whom he had
issue seven sons and five daughters. Henry Moore, the 3rd
Viscount, was created Earl of Drougheda June 14, 1661, and
Charles, the 6th Earl, became Marquis of Drougheda by
patent, dated June 27, 1791. Francis Henry Seymour Moore,
8th Earl, and 3rd Marquis of Drougheda, K.P., ranger of the
Curragh, one of the most notable turfites in Ireland, now
represents this Newmarket creation.

'^ Sir Ralph Winwood, Secretary of State in the reign
of James I., was son of Lewis Winwood, Esq., sometime
secretary to Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and was
born in 1565, at Aynho, in Northamptonshire. After com-
pleting his university career at Oxford, he travelled on the
Continent, and returned to England a very accomplished
gentleman. In 1599 he attended Sir Henry Neville, am-
bassador to France, as his secretary ; and in the absence of Sir
Henry, was appointed resident at Paris, whence he was recalled
in 1602-3, and sent later in that year to the States of Holland
by James I. In 1607 he was knighted, and the same year
appointed ambassador, jointly with Sir Richard Spencer, to
Holland. He was sent there again in 1609 by James I., to
deliver the Remonstrance of the British Solomon against the
so-called heresy of Vorstius to the assembly, or council, of the
States, to which royal utterance they very properly paid little
attention. Upon this the king proceeded to threaten them
with his pen, and in one of those Newmarket effusions his
Majesty had the audacity to tell them that if they had the
hardiness to " fetch again from hell ancient heresies long since
dead, etc., he should be constrained to proceed publicly against
them." This idiotic ebullition of royal wisdom, with amplifi-
cations, was printed and published by royal command in 161 1.

igo THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

Taken altogether, it must be considered a good joke — for a
Scotch king. In 1614 Winwood was made Secretary of State,
in which office he continued till his death, which took place
October 27, 161 7. During this interval he was a frequent
resident in Newmarket. He left a son, who dying without
issue in 1688, his estate went to a son of Edward, Earl of
Montague, who had married his sister.

^^ Sir Lionel Cranfield, a merchant of London, and
married to a kinswoman of George Villiers, ist Duke of
Buckingham, was introduced to the court of James L by that
celebrated favourite, when he received the honour of knight-
hood, and soon after attracting the attention of the king by
his habits of business, he was appointed master of the requests,
next master of the king's great wardrobe, then master of the
wards, after which he was sworn of the Privy Council, and
elevated to the peerage as Baron Cranfield, of Cranfield, co.
Bedford, July 9, 1621. In the October following he was con-
stituted Lord Treasurer of England, and created, September
16, 1622, Earl of Middlesex (the first person, says Dugdale,
to whom that county gave the title of earl). Within two
short years, however, he was impeached by Parliament through
the influence of the very person who was the founder of his
fortune, the favourite Buckingham, for bribery, extortion
oppression, and other misdemeanours, for which he received
judgment. He died in 1645, and notwithstanding his disgrace,
was buried in Westminster Abbey, where a monument was
erected to his memory.

^1 Thomas Wotton, 2nd Baron Wotton — son and
successor of Sir Edward Wotton, Knight, 1st Baron Wotton,
of Maherly or Marley, county Kent, and his wife Hester,
daughter and co-heiress of Sir William Puckering, Knight of
Oswald-Kirk, county York — succeeded, on the death of his
father, circa 1604, to the family honours and estates. He
married Mary, daughter and co-heiress of Sir Arthur Throck-

1616.] LORD K NOLLYS. 191

morton, of Paulers Perry, Northamptonshire, and had issue,
Katherine, who married, ist, Henry, Lord Stanhope, by whom
she was mother of Phih'p, 2nd Earl of Chesterfield, Katherine
married to William, Lord Alington, and Mary, who died
unmarried. Her ladyship married, 2ndly, John Poliander
Kirkhoven, Lord of Heenvilett, in Holland. She married,
3rdly, Colonel Daniel O'Neile, one of the Grooms of the Bed-
chamber to Charles H. Her ladyship was governess to the
Princess of Orange, daughter of Charles L, and was created
by Charles H. Countess of Chesterfield for life. Her second
daughter, Hesther, married Baptist, Viscount Campden. The
heir-general of this co-heiress of Lord Wotton was the late
Duke of Devonshire, K.G. Her third daughter, Margaret,
married Sir John Tufton, Knight, and the fourth daughter,
Anne, married Sir Edward Hales, Knight, of Tunstall, Kent.
Lord Wotton died at Bocton, April 2, 1630, aged forty-two,
when the Barony of Wotton, in default of male issue, became
extinct.

^^ William Knollys, Treasurer of the Household in the
reign of Elizabeth, was advanced to the peerage by James I., by
letters patent dated May 13, 1603, in the dignity of LoRD
Knollys, of Greys, county Oxford (his chief seat). In 1614
he was appointed Master of the Wards, and within a short
time installed a Knight of the Garter. In 1616 he was created
Viscount Wallingford, and advanced by Charles I., August
18, 1626, to the Earldom of Banbury, with precedency of all
earls who were created before him. He married, ist, Dorothy,
daughter of Edward, Lord Bray, sister and co-heir of John,
Lord Bray, and widow of Edmund, Lord Chandos, by whom
he had no issue ; and 2ndly, Elizabeth Howard, daughter of
Thomas, Earl of Suffolk, and, dying. May 25, 1632, at the
advanced age of eighty-eight, was buried in the church of
Greys. The subsequent history of this peerage would, if
reproduced in detail, fill an average library (more or less).
The gist of the matter lay thus : Upon the decease of the
Earl of Banbury, the inquisition found that he died sine prole^
but leaving a widow, Elizabeth, his last wife. His honours

192 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IY.

were then deemed extinct, and his estates passed to his collateral
heirs, excepting such as he had devised to his widow, who
afterwards married Lord Vaux. In a few years this lady pro-
duced two sons, born during her marriage with Lord Banbury,
her first husband. They had first been called Vaux, but now
she set them up as the sons of the Earl of Banbury, and gave
to the eldest the title of that earldom. They were not of
age before the House of Lords had been abolished during the
Commonwealth. The elder died. Nicholas, the survivor, avail-
ing himself of the convocation of Parliament in 1660, took his
seat therein, and voted on several occasions. But soon after a
question arose as to his right to sit and vote in the House of
Lords, which occasioned a series of investigations, committees,
and trials, that lasted, on and off, until, in 1813, it was finally
decided that Lord Banbury's descendant, the then claimant,
was not entitled to the honours and estates of the earldom,
which title still remains in abeyance.

^^ Edward Coke — son of Robert Coke, of Mileham, county
Norfolk, and Winifred, daughter and co-heiress of William
Knightly, of Morgave Knightly, in the same county — was
born at Mileham, February i, 1 55 1-2. He received the
rudiments of his education at the Grammar School at
Norwich, and went in 1567 to Trinity College, Cambridge,
where he remained three years and a half. He was called to
the bar April 20, 1578. About 1585 he was chosen Recorder
of Coventry, and the next year the same office was given
to him by the citizens of Norwich. In 1592 he was like-
wise appointed Recorder of the City of London. By Lord
Burleigh he was selected as Solicitor-General, June 16,
1592. In 1598 he married Elizabeth, relict of Sir William
Hatton, and daughter of Thomas Cecil, who had just suc-
ceeded his father as Lord Burleigh, by whom he had, with
other issue, a daughter Frances, above mentioned. On the
accession of James I., Coke was confirmed in his offices, and
received the honour of knighthood at the hands of the new
sovereign, to whom he became a most subservient tool. His
mode of conducting the prosecution of Sir Walter Raleigh

1616.] THE PRINCE OF WALES' HOUNDS. 193

was heartless and unmanly, and after the trials of the con-
spirators in the Gunpowder Plot, he was elevated to the
bench as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, June 30, 1606.
On ascending the judicial seat Coke discarded all appear-
ance of subserviency, and boldly asserted the independence
of the judge. He did not hesitate to oppose the king in
his attempts to extend the royal prerogative ; consequently
several conflicts between them upon this and cogent questions
arose,* with which James was greatly offended, culminating
in the removal of the Chief Justice from his office, Novem-
ber 15, 1616, and the subsequent incidents between them
at Newmarket, above mentioned. Coke was restored to his
seat in the Privy Council in September, 161 7, and appointed,
July 21, 161 8, one of the commissioners for executing the
office of Lord High Treasurer. During these years he was
employed in various commissions, and his assistance was
required in the Star Chamber in all cases of difficulty ; but
he received no substantial proof of the renewal of the royal
confidence. In Parliament he represented, during his career,
several constituencies, but as a legislator he did not shine,
whilst his " Commentary on Littleton " and his other law
books have mainly tended to preserve his name from oblivion.
He died on September 3, 1633, being then nearly eighty-two
years of age, and was buried in the church of Tittleshall,
county Norfolk, in which a marble monument, bearing his
effigy at full length, is erected to his memory.

HUNTESMEN FOR THE PRINCES BUCKHOUNDES, VIZ. :
Alsoe allowed for money paid to Tymothie Tirrell, Esq,, M"^
of the Princes Buckhounds at xx^^ p. ann., payable q'"terly,
due to him for one whole yeare ended at Michas' Anno Regis

* In October, 16 16, Justice Warburton was in some disfavour for
hanging a Scotch falconer of the king's at Oxford, contrary, as alleged,
to the express commands that he should be reprieved. It was generally
said that he should be displaced, and have a writ of ease, as it was
called ; but it appears the royal wrath was appeased, as that judge con-
tinued on the bench of the Court of Common Picas (Birch MS., 4173).
See the Fieid^ December 27, 1854, p. 8S0.

VOL. I. O

194 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

Jacobi xiiij, xx". To Edward Harte, Sergeant of the
Princes Buckhounds in the roome and place of Sergeant
Rayen by Surrender, due to him from the Feast of St
Michaell th'Archangell, 1615, by virtue of his Ma*' Lres,
vnder the Signett dated at Newmarkett the xxix"' of February,
161 5, Anno Regni Regi Jacobi xiij'"", due to him for the same
time, Ixjx^' xiiij^ To Anthoney Dodsworth, Yeoman, at
xl" vj^ p. annum, payable q''terly, due to him for one whole
yere ended at Michas Anno Regni Regis Jacobi xiiij*", xl^'
vj.^ To Anthoney Brackenbury, William Readinge, Richard
Ray, Nathan Jackson, and Paule Stacey, each of them at
xxvj^'. xiij^ iiij*^. p. ann., for theire wages, payable q^'terly,
due to them for the like time, cxxxiij". v'f. \\\f. To
Edward Staunton, yeoman, at xxxvj". xvj'. viij"*., for his
enterteynment, payable q^'terly, due to him for like time,
xxxvj''. xvj*. viij'l To William Rawson, waggoner, at
xxvj^\ vl ij''., for his enterteynment, payable q'"terly, due to
him for like time. Anno pred, xxvj". v^ ij''. And to Jerome
Metcalfe, William Guilliames, Francis Beauchampe, and
Richard Eldridge, groomes, at xx". p. ann., for their enter-
teynm* to each of them, payable q'terly, due to them for one
whole yeare ended as before, Thomas Eldrige only for three-
q^ters of a yeare ended at Midsumer, 1616, Ixxxv^'. Total,
ccccxxij". viij^ vj*^.

The Harriers to the Prince, viz. : Alsoe allowed for
money paid to Thomas Cox, M"" of the Princes Harriers,
keeping and feedinge of a kennel of hounds called Beagles,
to continewe vntill such time as the Prince's howse bee
established, the first payment to beginne from the feast of the
Nativitie of St. John Baptist last past, 161 5, by virtue of his
Ma*' Lres vnder the Signett bearinge date at Lulwoorth xij'""
die Augusti Anno Regis Jacobi xiij'^'", payable q'terly, due to
him for five q'"ters of a yeare ended at Michas Anno Regni
Regis Jacobi xiiij*". Total, cxxv''.*

To Peeter Younge for thallowaunce of himselfe one gent
vsher q^'ter wayter one yeoman Vsher one yeoman hanger

* L.T.R. Accounts of John, Lord Stanhope of Harrington, Treasurer
of the Chamber, MS., P.R.O. (m. 55).

1617.] GARTERS. 195

three groomes of the Chamber two groomes of the wardrobe
and one groome porter for rydinge waytinge and attendinge
in the Princes service from Whitehall to Theobalds, Royston^
Newmarkett and back again to Theobalds the space of Ixvj
dales Mens Januarij, fifebruar et Martij 161 5 Cxvij'' Xiiij*

(m- 57)-

To him more for thallowaunce of himselfe one gent vsher
q'"ter wayter one yeoman vsher one yeoman hanger three
groomes of the Chamber twoe groomes of the wardrobe and
one groome porter for rydinge waytinge and attendinge in
the Princes service from S' James to Theobalds to Royston
to Abington, to Newmarkett to Thetford and soe back to
Greenwich in all the space of xxxj daies Menss Aprill et
Maij 1616, Iv" v' viij*^ (m. 57 d\

To William Connocke, Yeoman Pricker in the roome
and place of Thomas Murrall, deceased, at the like rate for
his wages, payable q''terly, and for his Livery xxs. p. ann.
payable at X'pmas, during his natural life, the first payment
to begin from the Birth of our Lord God last past, 161 5, By
virtue of his Ma*^' warr* vnder the Signett dated at New-
markett the xxviij"' of February Anno Regi Regis Jacobi,
xiij"°, due to him for three q'ters of a yeare ended at
Mich'as, etc. — Aces. Treasurer of the Chamber, MS., P.R.O.

" April 3. The King retired to Newmarket ; after having
appointed Oliver St. John Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

" April 24. Francis, Earl of Rutland and Geo7'ge Villiers,
admitted into the Order of the Garter." * — Camden's Annals,
by Bishop Kenneth, stib anno, Feb. 12, 1616.

Inundatio apud Newmarket. — Camden's Annals, Regni
Regis Jacobi L, p. 16, edit. Lond., 1691.

In the month of February, 161 7, the king enter-
tained his Excellency Baron Winberg (who arrived at
Newmarket on some diplomatic mission from the Count
Palatine), when Sir Lewis Lewknor, Master of the

* They were installed at Windsor, July 7, 1616.

196 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

Ceremonies, was allowed £i']y ^s. "for defraying the
charges of his Excellency to and from Newmarket,
and for his own expense and attendance upon the said
Ambassador during his abode there." *

Towards the end of the year the king also enter-
tained the young Count of Anhalt and the Envoy
Extraordinary of the King of Sweden at Newmarket
Palace ; the visit of the former having been occasioned
by the god of love, the latter by the god of war,
although his Excellency's mission resulted in a treaty
of peace between his sovereign and the king's
brother-in-law, the King of Denmark. f

The visit of the Ambassador Extraordinary of the King
of Sweden to James I. at Newmarket Palace is thus described
by Sir John Finet, Assistant Master of the Ceremonies, who
was on duty during the occasion :—

..." The fourth of December, Master Secretary Lake
sent for me, and shewed me a Letter he had then received
from the Earl of Buckingham (then with the King at Nezv-
markcf) signifying in Answer of, and by him from my Lord
Chamberlaine, That whereas the Ambassador of the King of
Siveden, was desirous of an Audience there, the King was
pleased he should have it, but not to be defraied (as that
which had never yet been done to any of that Kings Am-
bassadors, neither would he bring up any such Custome) but
that for Coaches and other things usuall, his Majesties pleasure
was that Order should be taken to furnish him. Upon sight
of this Letter, I desired Sir Thomas Lake to send to the
Master of the Ceremonies, but he was out of Town, as was
also the Lord Chamberlaine, whom when he returned I

* Pells, Order Book.

t The extraordinary expenses of a state banquet given to the former
was £21 IS. yd., and to the latter, ^22 lis. ^d. — Cofiferers' Account,
Series II., box E., Rot. 76.

1617.] AN AMBASSADOR'S AUDIENCE. 197

acquainted with the business. At the first he was of Opinion,
that the Ambassador himself must pay for the hire of his
Coaches, but I intimating, that it was his first Audience he
was to go to, at which usually his Majesty sent his own
Coaches at the King's charge, but not that he should have
carriages, so for his Baggages also demanded, as being an
allowance without president, yet this also at the last (besides
the hire of two horses) was yeelded to, and we sett forth from
London the eight of December, came the first night to Puck-
erage, whence I wrote by a Servant, sent before with the
Ambassadors Cookes, to the Earle of Buckingham to signifie
our approach, and that if his Majesties pleasure were to do
the Ambassador any further honour by incounter of some
Noble Person on the way, his Lordship might have time to
take, and give directions for it. But his Majesty and my
Lord being (when my letters came) allready horsed to ride on
hunting, all rested without further order till the evening that
we arrived at our Lodging, whence I went immediately to my
Lord of Bitckinghajii (my Lord Chamberlain being then at
London) with the accoumpt of our comming, and to solicite
the Ambassadors Audience, but this being referred for reso-
lution to the next morning, I acquainted Mr. Secretary Lake,
and the Lord Fcnton with the Ambassadors desire of despatch,
and at eleaven of the Clock before noone obtained the Kings
pleasure for access at two After noone, when the Lord Clijford
with halfe a dozen Gentlemen of the privy Chamber, his
Majesties Coach, and the Bishop of Winchesters were to
receive him at his Lodging, and with the Ambassadors fol-
lowers in [the] other foure Coaches that brought us from
London, brought him to Court. He was conducted (with-
out stay anywhere) to the Presence Chamber, where his
Majesty was already come forth to receive him. Having
delivered his letters of credence, he made an Oration (to the
purpose of the Kings Princely Office of mediation for Peace
between the King of Denmark, and Sweden) of almost an
hour long. Which finished, and briefly answered by his
Majesty in the same language [probably Latin], the Ambassa-
dor turned to the Prince, and beginning to him another formal

198 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

speech, the King left him, so did the Prince, and (after a
while) the Ambassador returned to his Lodgings.

"This was on Thursday; the Saturday following about
ten of the clock at night, came to my Lodging one of the
Pages of the Bedd-Chamber to tell me from his Majesty, that
his pleasure was I should invite the Ambassador to dine with
him the next day; which I performed in the morning, and had
his Majesties Coach (no more) attending at the Court gate,
about Noone when the King having ordered, that a Noble man
should fetch him from his Lodging, it was held by others
needlesse, and except at his first Audience (now past) and at
his last, I onely might serve the turn for his conduction,
which was allowed of, and I with Sir James Spence onely,
brought him through the Presence into the withdrawing
Chamber, where the King within a while entering, he took
him to dinner in the Presence Chamber. About the midst of
the Table (as accustomed) sate the King, at his left hand the
Prince, and at the Tables end beneath, the Ambassador, who
had for his Carver none but the Princes, and for his cup one
of his own Gentlemen.* Before dinner a question grew
(which was diversely argued according to opinions) whether
the Prince were to sit covered at dinner or no in Presence of
his Father, seeing that the Ambassador, as a Kings repre-
sentant, was not to sit uncovered ? Some affirmed, they had
seen the Prince sit bareheaded, when an Ambassador had his
hat on : others otherwise. But the King cleared all, when
after I had given him a hint of the question, and that him-
selfe had sate a while uncovered, he put on, and willed the
like to be done by the Prince, and the Ambassador. The
Ambassadors Gentlemen had no Table appointed for them
(by the King's express order) because (he said) the young
Prince of AnJiaitlts\ Gentlemen (who had been with him the
weeke before) had none, though the reason might not seem

* The description of this state banquet recalls that given by Edward
I. to John, King of France, when a prisoner in England after the battle of
Poictiers.

t John George I., Count of Anhalt. He arrived in England about the
same time as the Swedish Ambassador.

1617.] PROJECTED ROYAL ACADEMY. 199

to serve for one as for the other (the different qualities of
their Masters considered) but were sent two, or three of the
chiefe of them to the Table of the Groome of the Stoole, the
Lord Foiton, the rest dined after with the Princes Waiters.

" When dinner was done, the King retyred himselfe, and
left the Ambassadors there in the withdrawing Chamber to
attend there his returne, which was an houre after, and then
holding with him a private conference, with whom I entering,
his Majesty drew out my Sword and knighted with it the
Ambassador. From thence the Ambassador went (by assig-
nation from the Prince, who would save him, he said, his
offered paines of going to his Inn and returning) straight to
his Highnesse Lodgings, and after a short Audience, took his
leave. His Majesty by the mediation of Sir James Spence,
was pleased (besides giving him a Patent for conformation of
his Knight-hood) to add a marke of honour to his Coate of
Armes. The next day we left Newmarket, dined at Cam-
bridge, saw the best CoUedges there, lay the first night at
Newport neare Audley end (which rare Building of the Earle
of Sufifolks the Ambassador also saw), lodged the next night
at Waltham, and after ten dayes absence were againe at
London." *

We must not omit to mention that during this
royal sojourn at Newmarket a scheme for founding a
Royal Academy in England w^as started by Edmund
Bolton, an eminent scholar and antiquary of that
period. This was the second year of George Villiers'
introduction at Court, and there can hardly be a
doubt that Bolton saw, in the rising influence of
his countryman and distant kinsman, a circumstance
favourable to the success of his desisfn. It must be
mentioned, to the honour of the reigning favourite,
that he was a lover and encouraeer of the arts and

* *' Finetti Philoxenis/' pp. 41-45.

200 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

literature by natural inclination. The subject was
first moved to him, having then become Marquis
of Buckingham ; and Bolton was introduced by him
to James I. during this royal sojourn in Newmarket.
There and then the first outline of the project was
presented to the king ; but the affair then fell through.
It was again mooted in the House of Lords by Buck-
ingham in March, 1621 ; the king was very well dis-
posed to it, but his death seems to have been fatal to
the undertaking ; for, although his successor likewise
extended his patronage to it, political events interfered,
and led to its final abandonment. After the Restora-
tion a kindred project was once more mooted. The
scheme, it is true, somewhat differed from the original
project, and was called " The Royal Society." *

On November 19 the king wrote from New-
market to his ambassador, Sir Dudley Carleton, com-
plaining that the States of Utrecht had, contrary to
the course heretofore practised, bestowed a company
in General Cecil's regiment, without his consent, upon
a young man " of Sir John Ogle's name and kindred,"
" which," says the king, " we find very strange ; and
therefore we are pleased that you inform yourself by
this draught of a letter, which we send you herewith,
of the reasons against that course ; and thereupon
insist and press them in our name to revoke that, which,
contrary to order, they have done therein, and to give
to Sir Edward Cecil satisfaction." Cecil importuned
Secretary Lake to impress this grievance on the atten-

* Archoeologia, vol. xxiii. ; Wild's " History of the Royal Society,"
vol. i.

1617.] THEATRICALS. 201

tion of the ambassador; but his Excellency, considering
a matter of such trivial consequence beneath the dignity
of his office, and having regard to the fact that young
Ogle was actually in the enjoyment of the captaincy,
declined to interfere ; and when this result was com-
municated to the king, he, with that profound wisdom
which characterized all his Majesty's actions, coincided
with what his Excellency had done, because any other
course would have been without effect.'""

On November 27 the Prince of Wales went to
Newmarket, where he rehearsed a part in Ben Jonson's
mask, the " Vision of Delight ; " hence we learn that
among other accomplishments, his Royal Highness went
in for amateur theatricals.f As usual, several knights
were made during this royal sojourn at Newmarket.

To John White Thomas Smythe John Corye and Thomas
Huchingson ordinary yeomen of the Chamber vpon the
Councels warrannte dated the laste of January 1616, for
apprehending the prsons of diucrs malefacto'* who killed
and destroyed his Ma** game of hares in the Counties of
Suffolke and Norfolke, and bringing them vp to answeare
their Contempte vij." iiij.* — Aces. Treasurer of the Chamber,
bundle 4, m. j^d.

To Thomas Walton, Marshall Farrier to his Ma'^' for
Marshalrie donne by him in his Ma'^ Courser Stable 1616
to X'mas following 161 7 being for one whole yeare then
ended Cxlj". xvij^ \\\f. To Thomas Walker for Marshalrie
donne by him to his Ma*^ Hunting horses from February
1 61 6 to January following 16 17, being for one whole yeare as
appeareth by a bill of particulars signed by the Master of the
Horse xij". xjl ij''. (m. 89^^).

* Carleton Letters, pp. 204.-22 1.
t Birch MS., 1473, fo. twd.

203 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

The following year the king went to Newmarket

on January 14, and remained there until February

1618 ^7' when the court returned to London.*

January— During the interval a list of tilters to

FGbm&rv.

compete on the 24th of March, was
drawn up by the king, and forwarded by Mr. Secre-
tary Naunton to the Earl of Suffolk " and the rest
of the Lords Commissioners for Causes Martiall." j"

Another royal visit took place in November, when
the court was " very merry," and some quaint inci-
dents occurred. A feast was held at a

November.

farmhouse in the vicinity of the town, to
celebrate the birthday of the Prince of Wales, "to
which the king and each present brought a dish." J

Concerning this extemporized banquet, which was
held in celebration of the birthday of Charles, Prince
of Wales, Mr. Chamberlain wrote as follows to Sir
Dudley Carleton ; — " We hear nothing from New-
market, but that they devise all the means they can to
make themselves merry ; as of late there was a feast
appointed at a farm house not far off, whither every
man should bring his dish. The king brought a great
chine of beef, the Marquis of Hamilton ^^ four pigs
incircled with sausages, the Earl of Southampton ^^ two
turkies, another six partridges, and one a whole tray
full of buttered eggs ; so all passed off pleasantly."

Philip Mainwaring^^ writing to the Earl of Arundel from
Newmarket, November 22, gives the following additional par-

* State Papers, Dom., vol. xcv., xcvi.

t See Nichols' " Progress of James I.," vol. iii., p. 472.

+ State Papers, Dom., vol. xcv., xcvi.

1618.] A ROYAL-RURAL FEAST. 203

ticulars of this novel feast : — " The Prince his birthday hathe
beene solemnized heare by those few Marquises and Lords
w*^*" formed themselves heare, and, to supplie the want of the
Lords, Knights and Squires were admitted to a consultation,
wherein it was resolved that such a number should meete at
Gamiges, and bring every man his dish of meate : It was left
to theire owne choyces what to bring ; some strove to be sub-
stantiall, some curios, and some extravagant. S"" George
Goring's ^^ invention bore away the bell ; and that was foure
huge brawny piggs, pipeinge hott, bitted and harnised with
ropes of sarsiges, all tyde to a monstrous bagpudding." He
adds, concerning current events at the palace, that " The King
takes no more notice of the blazing starre then he hath
alwayes done of the daystarre, nor will acknowledge it for any
other.* . . . This morning the King knighted the new Governor
of Virginia, S"" Edward Yardly,*^^ who, upon long discourse w'*"
the Kinge, doth prove very understandinge. Amongst many
other things, he tould the King that the people of that
country do beleeve the resurrection of the body ; and that
when the body dyes, the soule goes into certaine faire pleasant
fields, there to solace it self-untill the end of the world, and
then the soule is to retourne to the body againe, and they
shall live both together happily and parpetually. Heareupon
the King inferred that the Gosple must have been heretofore
knowme in that countrie, though it be lost, and this fragment
only remaynes. S"" Thomas Stewckley ^^ plyes the backe staires
close ; 'tis thought he will declare him self eare long. Sir
Albertus Moreton "'^ hath beene heare a day or too ; and I
constantly remaine heare." f

^^ James, 2nd MARQUIS OF HAMILTON, K.G. — only son
and successor of Lord John Hamilton, first Marquis, and
Margaret, only daughter of John, Lord Glamis — acquired the

* A comet which appeared at this time, and of which a " Description "
was pubHshed in 1619, by the celebrated astronomer, Bainbridge. It was
supposed at the time to have predicted the queen's death, and afterwards
the troubles of Bohemia.

t Lodge, " Illustrations of British History," vol. iii., p. 403.

204 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

honours and estates of his family on the death of his father,
April 12, 1604. He married Lady Anne Cunningham,
daughter of James, 7th Earl of Glencairn, by whom he
had James, his successor ; William, successor of his brother ;
Anne, married to Hugh, 7th Earl of Eglintoun ; Mar-
garet, married to John, Earl of Crawford and Lindsay ; and
Mary, married to James, 2nd Earl of Oueensbury. This
Marquis of Hamilton, who died March 2, 1625, in the thirty-
sixth year of his age, was a gentleman of the king's bed-
chamber, Lord Steward of the household, and a Privy
Councillor, and June 16, 1619, was advanced to the English
peerage by the titles of Baron of Ennerdale and Earl of Cam-
bridge. He was High Commissioner of the Parliament which
sat in Edinburgh in 1621 ; and was installed a Knight of the
Garter July 7, 1623.

^'^ Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl OF SOUTHAMPTON — only
son and successor of Henry Wriothesley, the 2nd earl, and
Mary, daughter of Antony Brown, Viscount Montague —
acquired the honours and estates of his family on the death of
his father in 1581. Having taken part with the unfortunate
Earl of Essex in the treasonable proceedings for which that
nobleman was beheaded, under such romantic circumstances,
in 1599, he was also brought to trial, found guilty, and
attainted. He, however, obtained the Queen's mercy for his
life, but remained a prisoner in the Tower till a few days
after the accession of James I., when he was released from
prison, restored in blood by Act of Parliament, and created
by a new patent, dated July 21, 1603, Earl of Southampton,
with the same rights, precedency, and privileges that he
formerly enjoyed. He was also made a Knight of the
Garter, and constituted Captain of the Isle of Wight and the
Castle of Carisbrooke. He was a nobleman of high courage,
great honour, and integrity ; was well respected by the king
and court ; was a patron of literature, and assisted Shake-
speare to publish his first poems. His lordship married
Elizabeth, daughter of John Vernon, Esq., of Hodnet, county
Derby, and dying in 1624, left issue Thomas, his successor;

1618.] THE MASTER OF THE GAME. 205

Penelope, married to Lord Spencer, of Wormleighton ;
Anne, and Elizabeth.

^ Sir Philip Mainwaring — fourth son of Sir Randle
Mainwaring, Knight, of Over Peover, Cheshire (where his
family has been seated since the Norman Conquest), and
Margaret, daughter of Sir Edward Fitton, of Gawesworth,
Cheshire, sometime Treasurer of Ireland, temp. Elizabeth —
was, as he himself tells us, a constant visitor at Newmarket at
this period. In the ensuing reign he was Secretary of Ire-
land, under the Lieutenancy of the Earl of Strafford, and
died unmarried, in London, August 2, 1661.

*^' Sir George Goring, sometimes styled " Master of the
Game," of Hurst Pierrepoint, county Sussex, representative of
a junior line of the ancient family of Goring, which still main-
tains its importance at Highden in that count}^ was bred in
the Court, under the care of his father, one of Queen Eliza-
beth's Gentlemen Pensioners. He was knighted May 29,
1608 ; in 16 10 he was one of the Gentlemen of the Bed-
chamber to Prince Henry; and in 1617 he accompanied the
king to Scotland as Lieutenant of his Gentlemen Pensioners.
He was recommended to James I. equally by his sagacity
and by a popular jocularity of humour, and became the
king's familiar companion and a sort of minor favourite. In
1629, through the interest of the Duke of Buckingham, he
was created Baron Goring, and in 1645 was advanced to the
Earldom of Norwich, which had in 1630 become extinct on
the death of his maternal uncle, Edward Denny, the first and
last of his name by whom it was borne. Sir George Goring,
Earl of Norwich, died in 1662, leaving the titles to his son,
who, like his father, was eminent as a courtier, a wit, a warrior,
and a loyalist. Owing to a similarity of name, disposition,
and title, their identity has been confused and mixed by
many writers.

^^ Edward (or George) Yardley was knighted at New-
market about this date, with several other persons (see the list

2o6 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

of knights made by James I. at Newmarket at the end of this
Book). Mr. Chamberlain in a famiHar letter to his friend, Sir
Dudley Carleton, says : " Here be two or three ships ready for
Virginia, and one Captain Yardley, a mean fellow by way of
provision, goes as Governor, and to grace him the more the
king knighted him this week at Newmarket, which hath set
him up so high, that he flaunts it up and down the street in
extraordinary bravery, with fourteen or fifteen liveries after
him."

'^'^ Sir Thomas Stukeley (or Stewkley), knighted by
James I. at the Charterhouse, London, May ii, 1603, was
son and heir of Sir Hugh Stukeley, of March, county Cam-
bridgeshire, and Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Chamberlayne,
Esq., Alderman of London. He married Elizabeth, daughter
and co-heiress of John Goodwin, of Over, Wichingdon, Bucks,
by whom he had, with other issue, Hugh Stukeley, created
a baronet June 9, 1627.

'° Sir Albertus (or Albert) Morton, of Kent, was
knighted by James I. at Hampton Court, September 29, 161 7.
He was elected Scholar at King's College, Cambridge, in
1602. He went to Venice as secretary to his uncle, Sir Henry
Wotton, when ambassador there, and was afterwards Agent
to the Court of Savoy, and with the Princes of the Union in
Germany, and in 161 6 Secretary to the Queen of Bohemia.
He was at last, for a short time, one of the Secretaries of
State, and died in that post in November, 1625.

In concluding our account of this royal sojourn at
Nev^market we must not omit to record that on
November 25, Sir John Digby. vice-chamberlain of
the king's household, was created by patent Baron
Digby of Sherborne, county Dorset. ^^

" John, Lord Digby, third son of Sir George Digby (who
had been knighted by the Earl of Leicester for his bravery at

1618.] A NEWMARKET PEER. 207

the memorable battle of Zutphen) and Abigail, daughter of
Sir Arthur Haveningham, Knight, of Ketteringham. He was
knighted by James I. at Theobalds in 1605, and was one
of the king's carvers and master of the Ro}'al Harriers.
Having filled some high situations in the Court of James I.,
and being twice accredited ambassador to the Court of Spain,
he was elevated to the peerage at Newmarket, as above stated.
He was subsequently employed upon different embassies, but
particularly to the Court of Spain, in 1622, touching the pro-
jected alliance between Prince Charles and the Infanta, when
he was created Earl of Bristol. In 1624 he had a difference
with the Duke of Buckingham, when they mutually im-
peached each other ; from thence he lived retired until the
breaking out of the Civil War, in which he at first sided with
the Parliament, but afterwards went over to the king, and at
last retired into France, where he died in 1652, after having
lost his estate. Walpole mentions him in his " Catalogue of
Noble Authors ; " observing, that " he was not supple enough
for a Court, but by far too haughty for popularity. He would
have been a suitable minister for Austrian phlegm, or a
proper patriot in a Diet which would have been content to
proceed by remonstrance and memorial." The earl married
Beatrix, daughter of Charles Walcot, Esq., of Walcot, county
Salop, and had issue George, his successor ; John, who was
a general of horse in Lord Hopton's army, and afterwards
a secular priest in France ; and two daughters.

Mr. Chamberlain, writing to Sir Dudley Carleton from
London, December 19, says, "The Commissioners of the
States [of Holland] returned this day se'nnight from the
voyage to Newmarket, where they had reasonable entertain-
ment, though nothing so much as was first bruited. They
had otherwise a journey bad enough, by reason of the weather
and the overthrowing of two coaches. And withal, the King,
as I hear, forbore not to tell them their own. They were
with the Council at Whitehall on Tuesday." *

* Birch MS., 4174, fo. 80.

2o8 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

In December " the States Commissioners ""'' went to

an audience at Newmarket in seven coaches, and were

lodged at Cambridge. At this time his Excellency John

Baptista Giblione, Ambassador Extraordi-

December.

nary from the Duke of Savoy, was the king's
guest at the palace. During his Excellency's visit the
kitchener was allowed ^8 a day for all the ordinary
meats for his table, as also for the choicest fowl, fish,
baked meats, and other sorts of the best provisions
that could be procured for the season of the year.
The daily allowance for Canary, Rhenish, claret, and
white wine, was 25^-. ; for bread and beer, 12^-.; for
fruit and banqueting stuff, 40^. ; for oil and butter,
\os. ; for lemons and oranges, 4^'. ; for herbs of all
sorts, 4^. ; for sugar, \s. ; for billets, fagots, and coals,
20s. ; for light and torches, 6^-. ; and for the use of
plate, linen, and other necessaries, attendance, and the
hire of three cooks, 40^.f

To William Pryce one of the gromes of the privie
Chamber vpon the Lorde Chamberlayiies warr' dated the
vij*'^ of February 161 8 for the lodging of himselfe and the
reste of his Followers at Newmarket from the xiiij"' of
November 161 8 to the xvi"^ of December next following

* Their mission to Newmarket related to the hcence exacted by the
king from every Dutch fishing-boat that participated in the herring
fishery off the English coast, from which a large revenue was derived.
This tax was resented, but reluctantly paid, by the Hollanders, and the
Commissioners now pleaded that, as " the herring fishery is the greatest
support of the Commonwealth, and the only succor and relief of the
common people, and that as there were now great trouble amongst them,"
they hoped that the fishing tax would not be demanded. It continued to
be paid until the reign of Charles II. (see Camden's "Annals," continued
by Bishop Kcnnett).

t Pells," Order and Issue Books : Privy Seals," sub dato.

1618.] THE SAVOY AMBASSADOR. 209

being iiij'" weeks and a halfe f^ iiij" xl — Wardrobe Ace,
Treasurer of the Chamber, Series I., box F., bundle 4,
m. 804, MS, P.R.O.

To John Coppin & Robt'e Glover twoe yeo'm of his Ma*^
Chamber vpon warraunte dated at Whitehall x'"° die February
1617 for theire paines and Charges in bringing vp Robt'e
Hope and George Armstronge from Newmarket to the
Prison of the Gatehouse in Westminster x^' (m. 87 d).

To Thomas Brooke vpon a warraunte dated at Whitehall
ij*^" Maij 1 61 8 for diverse Sermons preached before his Ma*y
in hunting Journeys at Royston, Newmarkett, and Thetford
from Mich'as 1616 to the xvij"' of March following xxix".
To the said Thomas Brooke vpon like warraunte dated at
Whitehall ij''" Maij 161 8 for diverse Sermons preached before
his Ma*-^' in his hunting Journeys at Royston Newmarket and
Thetford from Mich'as to Shrovetide 16 17 xix". — Ibid.

To John Heborne, gent vsher and daylie wayter to the
Kinges Ma"® to him for thallowaunce of himselfe and one
gent vsher q'^rter waiter one yeoman hanger fower groomes of
the Chamber twoe groomes of the wardrobe and one groome
porter for ryding wayting and attending on the Kings Ma*^
from the Court at Whitehall to Theobalds Royston and
Newmarkett and back againe to Whitehall, In all the space

of xliiij'"" dales mens Januar. et Feb. & Mar. 161 7 iiijv^' xvj*
(m. 92).

Sir John Finett, Assistant-Master of the Ceremonies, gives
the following description of the visit of his Excellency the
Ambassador of Savoy, whom he attended to Newmarket : —
" The Ambassador of Savoy coming the King at Nciv Market,
March the second, was by me fetched and conducted (in
the Lord Chamberlaines Coach with foure score Horses), in
company of Lord Worcester* (Sir James Spence, and Sir
William Anstroder), from his Lodging two miles out of Towne
there to the Presence Chamber, where he attended till the
Lord Chamberlain comming forth of the Kings withdrawing

* Edward Somerset, 4th Earl of Worcester, an ancestor of the Dukes
of Beaufort (see ante, p. 132).

VOL. I. P

2IO THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

Chamber brought him to his Audience there. This done, the
Ambassador requested me to move the Prince for the honour
to kisse his hand. But it was observed, that the demand
should be more seasonably made, before the very instant of
presenting it. Thereto the Ambassador replied, that he had
no spare time for it between that of his Arrival at Court and
his immediate repaire to his Majesty, which excuse admitted,
he was immediately introduced to his Highnesse in his owne
Lodgings." *

The king left London on January 9, 1619, en route
to Newmarket, vid Theobalds and Royston, w^here he
jgjg arrived soon after safe and sound, when
January— he issued proclamations for the regulation of
ale-houses, and for the stricter execution of
orders for restraint of killinof and eatlnsf flesh In Lent
and on Fridays. On the 24th It was arranged that the
Earl of Oxford '^ and Lord Hunsdon '^ were to tilt In
lieu of the Prince of Wales and Buckingham. On
the 6th of March his Majesty was laid up " with a
severe fit of the stone," from which distemper the
Lord Chancellor, then at Newmarket, also suffered,
which caused the tilting to be postponed.")* On the
1 2th his Majesty was able to attend to business, and
Issued another proclamation relating to the building
trade, by which order timber was forbidden to be used
in the fronts of houses.

■^2 Henry de Vere, i8th Earl OF Oxford, succeeded his
father (who dissipated the noble inheritance of his family) in
1604. He married Lady Diana Cecil, second daughter of

* Finetti Philoxenis, London, 1656, p. 32.

t Tilting and tournaments at Newmarket seem to have been subject
to many disappointments.

1619.] FOREST ENCLOSURE. 211

William, Earl of Exeter, one of the greatest fortunes and
most celebrated beauty of the period, but had no issue. His
lordship died at Breda, in the Netherlands, where he had the
command of a regiment under the Prince of Orange, when
the Spaniards captured that stronghold by famine, after a
dreadful siege of nearly eleven months, in 1625.

'^^ Henry Carey, 4th Baron Hunsdon, who was advanced,
June 6, 162 1, to the viscounty of Rochfort, and created. May
8, 1627, Earl of Dover. He married, ist, Judith, .daughter of
Sir Thomas Pelham, Bart., of Loughton, Sussex, by whom he
had four sons and three daughters ; and, 2ndly, Mary,
daughter of Richard Morris. He died in 1668.

About this time there v^as keen rivalry between
the Dutch and the British East India Companies
touching their respective trading monopoHes, which
continued for years. When the court was at New-
market both companies employed agents, who were
" persons of quality," to advocate the interests of their
employes with the king and the ministers as oppor-
tunity offered them.

The king and a portion of his court were at
Newmarket in the month of January, 16 18-19; ^^id
on the 22nd the Marquis of Buckingham, in his
capacity of Chief Justice in Eyre north of the
Trent, wrote thence to Sir Edward Stanhope and
others his deputies in the forest of Galtres, inform-
ing them that he had received a petition from the
inhabitants of Easingwold complaining against a
recent enclosure of three hundred acres of that forest,
that had been appropriated for the king's deer, which
enclosure, the petitioners alleged, was an infringe-
ment of their rights and privileges. Nevertheless

212 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

he gave instructions that the enclosure should be
maintained and used as a fresh pasture for the
royal deer during the winter half of the year only.
About this time Buckingham was appointed to the
office of Lord High Admiral of England. On the
30th, Mr. Chamberlain records that the king was not
expected in London for some days : "His Majesty
went lately from Newmarket to Sir Nicholas Bacon's
to hawk," * and it is probable the royal visitors
returned to London the following day.f

On the 15th of February the king returned to

Newmarket, with a small retinue ; the Prince of Wales

forbore the journey, in order to train for

February.

running at the ring: his Royal Highness
having this year, for the first time, entered the lists as
a tilter.J

The principal tilters, about this date, were the

Duke of Lennox, the Earl of Pembroke, the Earl of

_,.,^. Arundel, the Earl of Rutland, the Earl of

Tilting. ' '

James I. Dorset, the Earl of Montoromery, Lord

c. 1619.

Clifford, Lord Howard de Walden, Lord

* This was, probably, Culford in Suffolk, where the king went hawk-
ing with Sir Nicholas in February, 1613-14. It is situated about twelve
miles from Newmarket and four from Bury St. Edmunds. It was part
of the possessions of the Abbey of Bury, and was granted to Sir Nicholas
Bacon, afterwards Lord Keeper, in the 36 Henry VIII. His son,
Sir Nicholas, erected a mansion there in 1591, and lived in it for
some years. The latter gentleman was the first baronet created, when
James I. devised that dignity to raise the wind, which Lord Bacon
estimated to yield ;^66,666 per annum. Baronetcies varied in price from
;!^5oo to ^2000 each.

t State Papers, Dom., vol. cv., passim.

X Birch MSS., 4176. The prince evidently trained to some purpose,
as Camden says his Royal Highness, on March 12, ran twelve courses
at the ring, and got all the praise.

1619.] Sm THOMAS SOMERSET. 213

Gerard/^ Lord Hay/^ Lord Dingwall/^ Sir Thomas
Somerset," Sir Thomas Howard/^ Sir Edward Sack-
ville/^ Sir Robert Rich,^'' Sir Henry Rich,^i and Sir
William Cavendish.^^ Charles, Prince of Wales, was
also expert in this sort of horsemanship, in which
he first competed about this time.

'^^ Thomas, Lord Gerard, was son and heir of Sir Gilbert
Gerard, Attorney-General and Master of the Rolls in the
reign of Queen Elizabeth. He was created Baron Gerard of
Gerard Bromley, county Stafford, by James I., in 1603. He
died in 161 8,

'^ Sir James Hay became 7th Lord Hay, of Yester,
on the death of his brother-german, William, the 6th Lord,
when he had a charter of the lands and barony of Yester,
containing a new creation, with a seat and vote in Parliament.
He died in February, 1609-10. The present Marquis of
Tweedale is his immediate descendant.

■^6 Sir Richard Preston had been educated at the
Scottish court ; and, being of an agreeable and winning
deportment, he soon grew into the king's special favour,
attaining first the honour of knighthood, and ere long the
post of Groom of the Bedchamber. He accompanied
James VI. to England, and was dignified with the Scotch
title of Lord Dingwall in 1607, and the Irish one of Desmond
in 1622 ; the latter title became extinct with him in 1622, but
the former devolved on his daughter Elizabeth, who married
James, Duke of Ormond.

'^ The Hon. Sir Thomas Somerset, third son of
Edward, 4th Earl of Worcester, Master of the Horse. He
went to Scotland with Sir Charles Percy in 1603, to officially
signify to James VI. the death of Queen Elizabeth, and
consequently his accession to the English monarchy. He
was made a Knight of the Bath with Prince Charles in
1604-5. Like his noble father, he was a witching horse-

214 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

man, and excelled in all equestrian feats of this period. He
was created Viscount Somerset of Cashel, county Tipperary,
December 8, 1626. The preamble to the patent recites that
he had performed many acceptable services both to the king
himself, his father and mother, especially as a faithful coun-
sellor of his father, as Master of the Horse. His lordship
married Eleanor, daughter of David, Viscount Buttevant, and
had an only daughter, Elizabeth, who died unmarried. Lord
Somerset of Cashel died in 165 1, and with him the title
became extinct.

'^^ Sir Thomas Howard was second son of the Earl of
Suffolk, and ancestor to the present Earl of Suffolk and
Berkshire. He was Master of the Horse to Prince Charles ;
created Lord Howard of Charlton, county Wilts, and Viscount
Andover in 162 1-2 ; Knight of the Garter in 1625 ; Earl of
Berkshire 1625-6 ; High Steward of Oxford University in
1634. Soon after the rebellion broke out in 1642, he was
taken prisoner, for no other reason, according to Lord
Clarendon, than wishing well to the king. On his release in
1643, he waited on Charles L at Oxford, when he succeeded
the Marquis of Hertford as governor to the Prince of Wales
(Charles H.). He attended his Royal Highness in the west
in 1645, and subsequently accompanied the prince to Scilly
and Jersey. There he parted from the prince, and lived retired
in England till the Restoration. He died in 1669, and was
buried in Westminster Abbey. Though near ninety, he was
so hearty that he might have lived several years had he not
met with an accidental fall, which occasioned his death, after
he had lingered some months.

'9 Sir Edward Sackville, K.B., brother of the Earl of
Dorset, made himself notorious with his fatal quarrel with
Lord Bruce. He was M.P. for Sussex, and a leading member
of the House of Commons. He was one of the chief com-
manders of the forces sent in 1620 to assist the King of
Bohemia at the battle of Prague. In 1621 he was sent
ambassador to France, and on his return sworn of the Privy

1619.] SIR JVILL/AM CAVENDISH. 215

Council. In 1624 he succeeded his brother as 4th Earl of
Dorset ; in 1625 was installed K.G. ; at the coronation of
Charles I. he bore the sword of state ; on the king's marriage
was instituted lord chamberlain to Queen Henrietta Maria ;
and till the Rebellion was one of the principal members of
the Government, unremitting in his efforts for the king, on
which account the greater part of his estate was sequestrated.
He died June 17, 1652, at Dorset House, London, and was
succeeded by his son Richard.

^ Robert Rich, subsequently 2nd Earl of Warwick,
succeeded his father in 1618 ; was admiral for the Long
Parliament, and, during the Commonwealth, enjoyed the full
confidence of Cromwell. He died in 1658.

^^ Sir Henry Rich, K.B., was constituted captain of the
King's Guard in 1617 ; created Baron Kensington in 1622 ;
Earl of Holland in 1624 ; K.G. in 1625 ; constable of Windsor
Castle and general of the House in 1636. He was negotiator
of the projected Spanish and French matches, but flourished
chiefly in the reign of Charles L He was executed for treason
against the Commonwealth, March 9, 1648-9.

^2 Sir William Cavendish, eldest son of William, ist
Earl of Devonshire, knighted March 7, 1606. He was as
conspicuous for his learning as his extravagance. So well
did he understand foreign languages, that he was appointed
to introduce several foreign ambassadors to the English
court ; and in such expense did he indulge, that, when he
succeeded to the titles and estates of his family, his house
appeared rather like a royal court than a subject's. He
married Catherine, daughter of Edward, Lord Bruce of
Kinlossie, and died June 20, 1628, aged 39.

The death of his queen did not appear to have
caused the British Solomon much sfrief,

^ March.

as, on the 19th of March, "there was a
horse-race at Newmarket, at which the king, tarrying

2i6 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

too lone, in his return from Newmarket, was forced
to put in at an inn at Wichfordbridge, by reason
of his being indisposed, and came very late in the
night to Royston." * As usual at Newmarket, knights
and peers were created, among the latter Lord Scott
Buccleuch,^^ Lord Binning,^^ and Viscount of Fenton ^^
were advanced to the title of earLf

^^ Walter Scott, 2nd Baron of Buccleuch, created at New-
market, March 16, 16 19, Lord Whitchester and Eskdale, and
Earl of Buccleuch, with remainder to his heirs whatso-
ever. He was a mihtary character, and had the command
of a regiment under the States of Holland, against the
Spaniards. He married Lady Mary Hay, daughter of Francis,
Earl of ErroU. He died in 1633.

^* Sir Thomas Hamilton, of Priestfield, eldest son of Sir
Thomas Hamilton, who obtained a charter for Balbyn, Drum-
cairn, and Priestfield, in the year 1597, and Elizabeth, daughter
of James Heriot, of Trabroun, was born in 1563. He studied
the law in France, was admitted advocate in 1587, and soon
distinguished himself at the bar ; and was appointed Lord of
Session in 1592, by the title of Lord Drumcairn. He was
subsequently one of the commissioners of the Treasury of
Exchequer, called Octavians, and king's advocate. In 1604
he was nominated a commissioner by Parliament to treat of
a union with England. In 1612 he was received Lord-Clerk-
Register of Scotland ; and in the same year succeeded Sir
Alexander Hay as Secretary of State. He was elevated to

* The queen's jewels were valued at ^400,000 ; her plate at ;^9o,ooo ;
her ready coin consisted of 80,000 Jacobus-pieces, besides cloth of gold
and silver, and silks and linen "for quality and quantity beyond any
prince in Europe." By her death the king saved ^60,000, the annual
cost of her household, servants, and stables, besides her jointure of
;^i3,ooo (Birch MS., 4174).

t Nichols, " Progress of King James," vol. iii., p. 532 ; Camden's
"Annals ;" Goodman's " Court of James L," vol. ii., p. 186.

1619.] S/J? THOMAS ERSKINE. 317

the peerage November 30, 16 13, as LORD BiNNiNG, was
appointed Lord-President of the Court of Session in 1616, and
created Earl of Melrose at Newmarket, March 20, 1619. His
lordshijD, with the approbation of the Crown, after the death
of Sir John Ramsay, Viscount Haddington, changed the title
of Earl of Melrose for that of Earl of Haddington, by patent
dated August 17, 1627, but with the precedence of the origi-
nal patent. This nobleman acquired, by the lucrative offices
he enjoyed, one of the largest fortunes of his time, which was
considerably augmented by the discovery of valuable mines
upon his estates. He died in 1637.

^ Sir Thomas Erskine — second son of Sir Alexander
Erskine, of Gogar, the second son of John, 5th Lord Erskine,
and Lady Mary Campbell, daughter of Archibald, Earl of
Argyll — was born in 1586, the same year with James VL,
was educated with the king from childhood, and came
thereby to have a great share in the royal favour. The king
bestowed on him many marks of his special esteem, and
appointed him one of the Gentlemen of his Bedchamber in
1 595. He had charters of Mitchellis, Eastertown, and Wester-
town, in the county Kincardine, October 17, 1494; of Winding-
town and Windingtown Hall, June i, 1598; and of Easterrow,
in Perthshire, January 15, 1598-9. He had the good fortune
to be one of the happy instruments in the rescue of the king
from the treasonable attempt of the Earl of Gowrie and his
brother, Alexander Ruthven, of Perth, August 5, 1600, having
with his own hand killed the latter. For this signal service
he had the third part of the lordship of Dirleton, belonging
to Gowrie, conferred on him by charter, dated November 15,
1600; and in warrandice thereof the king's barony of Corri-
town, in Stirlingshire. In that charter he is designated eldest
lawful son of the deceased Alexander Erskine, Master of
Marr. He accompanied the Duke of Lennox in his embassy
to France in July, 1601. Attending King James to England,
he was the same year constituted Captain of the Yeomen of
the Guard, in the room of Sir Walter Raleigh — a preferment
which made him very unpopular in England. He was created

21 8 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

Viscount Fentown, being the first raised to that degree
of the nobility in Scotland, May i8, 1606; and advanced to
the dignity of Earl of Kellie, at Newmarket, March 12, 1619 ;
had charters of Rycroft, July 16, 1622 ; and the barony of
Restinsrioth, May 13, 1624 ; was nominated a Knight of the
Garter, but was not installed in the order ; and died at
London, June 12, 1639, in the seventy-third year of his age.
His male line failed in 1829, when the titles went to John
Francis Miller Erskine, 7th Earl of Mar.

At the end of March the court returned to
London, where the Council were busily engaged in-
vestieatine a terrible charp-e arainst one Matthew
Mason, who promulgated a treasonable document
concerning the alleged " miraculous appearance at
Newmarket of a sword and hand, rising out of the
ground and striking at the king, who went to see it,
and has kept his bed ever since." *

Preparatory to the king's visit in December, Sir

Robert Vernon was empowered to take fifty brace of

partrido^es and fifty brace of hares, in any

December. ^ . . . ^

part of the realm he chose, without let or
hindrance, yearly, and turn them down at Newmarket,
or wheresoever the king might appoint, for the preser-
vation of the game. Thus, when his Majesty arrived
here on December 7, there was doubtless a fair supply
of game in the New Warren and its sacred circuit of
ten miles to give sport with the land-hawks and the
royal harriers. This, however, was not to be, owing
to a heavy fall of snow, which drove the king to Theo-
balds, where the court sojourned for some weeks.f

His Excellency Baron von Denow, "sent to us

* State Papers, Dom., vol. cv., cvi., and cvn., passim. f Ibid., vol. iii.

1619.] BARON VON DENOW. 219

in embassage from our dearest son-in-law, the Elector
Palatine," was the king's guest at Newmarket in
December, when his expenses were somewhat similar
to those of Gabilione, and call for no comment.

Sir John Finett, Assistant-Master of the Ceremonies, gives
the following description of Baron von Denow's visit to
Newmarket : —

" The Barn of Denow eimployed to his Majestie from the
Prince Palatine, soone after the Crown and title of King of
Bohemia was conferred on him by the Election of those
States, had had after his Arrivall here two or three private
Audiences with publique notice or stile of King given him by
his Majisty. He was after wards appointed to follow the
King to Newmarket, whither he came on the 27. of January,
with no other company or attendance but Master Williams
(Agent here for the affaires of that King, or rather for the
Queen, our Kings only Sister,) and his own few followers.
(Sir Lewes Leivkner, then remaining at London, and ex-
pecting the Arrival of a Spanish Ambassador Don Diego
Sarmiento, new made Conde de Gondemar.) Some occasions
at the same time having drawn me to Newmarket, I received
there the Lord Chamberlaines command to do the Ambas-
sador the service of my place ; so I waited on him to his
first Audience there, when my Lord Marquis of Buckingham,
the Earl of Montgomery, the Lords Viscounts of Purbeck ^^ and
Doncaster,^'' the Lord Grayf^ and divers others of his Majisties
better sort of Servants, did him the honour on foot to come
to his Inn, (His Majesties Coach walking by) & accompany
him thence on foot to the Court, where his Majisty receiving
him in the withdrawing Chamber, took him instantly with
him into his Inner Lodgings, where (after an hour and an
halfes conference) he was reconducted by all the Lords men-
tioned on foot as before to his Lodging. From that time he
had his access to Court, and to his Majesties Presence as a
Domestique without Ceremony, and this by the Kings own
Signification of his Pleasure to me to that purpose. From

220 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

Newmarket he went along with his Majesty to Royston,
Theobalds, London, and with my continuall attendance." *

^^ Sir John Villiers, Knight, elder brother of James I.'s cele-
brated favourite George Villiers, ist Duke of Buckingham,
was elevated to the peerage July 19, 16 19, as Baron Villiers,
of Stoke, county Buckinghamshire, and ViSCOUNT PuRBECK,
county Dorset. He was Master of the Wardrobe to Charles,
Prince of Wales. He married, first, Frances, daughter of Chief
Justice (Sir Edward) Coke, a lady who eloped from him, in
1 62 1, with Sir Robert Howard, and after her misconduct as-
sumed the name of Wright, and gave birth, privately, to a
son, who also bore that surname. She died in the garrison
of Charles I., at Oxford, in 1645, and was buried in St. Mary's
church. He married, secondly, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir
William Singsby, of Kippax, county York, but had no issue.
Viscount Purbeck died in 1657, when the Barony of Villiers,
of Stoke, and the Viscounty of Purbeck became extinct.

^'^ Among the natives of Scotland who accompanied James
I. into England was a gillie of the name of James Hay, of
whom Sir Anthony Weldon has left a very faithful but
uncomplimentary account. This celebrated favourite shared
with the king many of the good things derived " by the new
conquest." By the influence of his royal master he obtained
Honora, daughter and heiress of Edward, Lord Denny, in
marriage, had a grant of the name and title of Lord Hay,
with precedence next to barons of England, but no place or
voice in Parliament. On June 29, 161 5, he was, however, ad-
vanced to the dignity of a baron of the realm, under the title
of Lord Hay, of Langley, county York, without any solemn
investiture, and thereby {more Scotia) saved the fees incident
to the creation, his lordship being the first ever so created,
the lawyers then declaring that the delivery of letters patent
was sufficient without any ceremony. He was next year sent
ambassador to the court of France. In March, 161 7, he was
sworn of the Privy Council, and created ViSCOUNT DoN-

* " PhiloxeniSj" p. 61.

1619.] VISCOUNT DONCASTER. 221

CASTER, July 5, 1 61 8, preparatory to his proceeding upon
an embassy to Germany. In 1622 he was again employed as
ambassador in France, and was advanced on September 13
in that year to the Earldom of Carlisle. Besides all these
high honours and trusts, he was Master of the Great Ward-
robe, Gentleman of the Robes to James I., and Knight of the
most noble order of the Garter. He was also first Gentleman
of the Bedchamber to Charles I. "The extravagancy of his
voluptuousness," says Lodge, "hath probably preserved his
character from oblivion, particularly in the invention of what
are called Ante Suppers ; the manner of which, saieth Osborne,
in his ' Memoirs,' was to have the board covered, at the first
entrance of his guests, with dishes as high as a tall man could
well reach, filled with the choicest cold viands that could be
procured, which, as soon as the company was seated, were
instantly removed to make room for an equally numerous
service of hot meats. Notwithstanding these expensive ab-
surdities, he left a very large fortune, partly derived from
his marriage with the heiress of the Lord Denny, but more
from the king's unlimited bounty." After the decease of his
first wife, he married, secondly, the Lady Lucy Percy, youngest
daughter of Henry, Earl of Northumberland. He died, wallow-
ing in wealth, April 25, 1636, and was succeeded by his only
surviving son, James Hay, 2nd Earl of Carlisle, who married
Lady Margaret Russell, daughter of Francis, Earl of Bedford,
but died s. p. in 1660, when all his honours became extinct.

^ " Lord Gray." There being so many noblemen to whom
this title applies, it is safer not to conjecture, in the absence
of positive knowledge, his lordship's identity.

To John Cosnolde gentleman Vsher daily wayter to his
Ma*'® for ryding wayting and attending in his Ma'* servyce
from Whitehall to Theobalds Roiston and Newmarkett, and

so backe to Greenwich by the space of iiijix'^'^ dayes in the
moneths of February March Aprill and May 1618 and 1619
Cxiiij^' iiij^ iiij'^ (m. 100) . . . To Thomas Footes gentleman
Vsher and daily waiter to his Ma"® for the allowaunce of him-

222 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

selfe one gentleman vsher q'rter wayter one yoeman hanger,
two gromes of the wardrobe one yoeman vsher and one grome
porter for ryding wayting and attending in his Ma^ service
from Whitehall to Newmarkett and backe agayne to White-
hall by the space of eighte and forty dayes in the monthes
of November and December 1619 Ixj'^ xij* (m. \oo d). — "Ac-
counts of the Treasurer of the Chamber of the Household,"
MS., P.R.O.

To Thomas Vnderhill, Robert Ramsey, and Richarde
Pettooke three of his Ma*^^ Trompetto''^ for ryding waiting and
attending on his Ma*"^ in his journey from Whitehall the
xv*'^ of February 1618 to Newmarkett and backe againe the
xix"^ of Aprill next following being Ixiij dayes at \f the pece
f diem by vertue of his Ma^'^ warr'' dormaunte and a bill
thereof signed by the Lorde Chamberleyne xviij" xviij^ —
Ibid., m. 104 . . .

To Richard Connyngesby Knight dayly wayter to his
Ma"® for thallowaunce of himselfe etc. for making ready
with riche stuffe at Newmarkett against xp'mas etc. — Ibid.,
m. 116 d.

A pehcon of ij* vj^' T diem for W"^ Marsten during his
life in consideracon of breeding keeping & feeding the Fowle
about Newmarkett, prcured by S'" Thomas Lake. — Docquet-
Book, April, 161 5, MS., P.R.O.

The last day of January, 1620, saw the king and

court once more located at Newmarket Palace, where

1620 were celebrated divers and sundry festi-

january— vities, intermingled with public business,

until about the end of February, when

this visit terminated. The time passed merrily at

Newmarket, in tilting, masques, etc. The king and

the Prince of Wales went "shroving" to Sir John

Crofts, at Saxham,* where Sir Robert Carr killed a

* Saxham (or more properly Saxham Parva) is a parish with a station
one mile north from the village, on the Bury and Newmarket branch of

1620.] FESTIVITIES AT THE PALACE. 223

gentleman named Maxwell in a duel, and was par-
doned at the earnest request of the prince. The
Ambassador of the Palatine of Bohemia was amonof
the royal guests at the palace during this sojourn at
Newmarket.*

Mr. Chamberlain gives the following version of
these incidents to Sir Dudley Carleton : —

" They pass the time merrily at Newmarket, and
the running Masque rages all over the Country where

the Great Eastern Railway, 3I miles from Bury St. Edmunds, and 79
from London. The Marquis of Bristol, who is lord of the manor, and
T. R. Mills, Esq., are the principal landowners. Towards the end of the
fourteenth century Saxham was held by John Cavendish, Lord Chief
Justice of the King's Bench, who was murdered by Wat Tyler's mob
during the insurrection at that time. It subsequently was held by the
ancient family of Crofts, who had their seat here, where they flourished in
great esteem ; several of them were knights, and of them Sir Thomas Crofts
was High Sherifif of Suffolk in the thirty-sixth year of Queen Elizabeth's
reign. He was the father of Sir John Crofts, knighted in Ireland in
1 599, who married Sir Robert Shirley's sister, contemporarily described as
" niece to the Lady Cheney" (Davy MS., Col. Suffolk, Thingoe Hundred,
Vol. i. Saxham Parva, fo. 4 [20]), and grandfather of William Crofts,
descended by females from the ist Lord Wentworth, of Nettlested, as
also from the Montacutes, Earls of Salisbury, and Nevils, Earls of West-
morland. This William Crofts, having been brought up in the court of
England from his youth, became Gentleman of the Horse to the Duke of
York, Captain of the Guard to the queen-mother, and Gentleman of the
Bedchamber to Charles II. All which places he executed with such
approbation, that he was at length sent ambassador to Poland, where he
executed his mission so well, that he was, for his good services, advanced
to the peerage, by the title of Lord Crofts of Saxham. His lordship
married, ist, Dorothy, widow of Sir John Hobart, Bart. ; and 2ndly,
Elizabeth, daughter of Lord William Spencer, of Wormleighton ; but
having no issue, the Barony of Crofts became, at his lordship's decease
in 1677, extinct. Lord Crofts was a frequent Iiabitice at Newmarket, and
had the pleasure of frequently entering Charles II. and his jovial circle
at Little Saxham, where a " grand apartment " was specially erected for
the reception of the king and his hard-drinking companions. This
building was pulled down in 1771, though it was said to have appeared
as sound then as when it was first erected.

* Cofferers Aces., Series III., box E., rot. s. d.

224 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

there be fit subjects to entertain it, as lately they have
been at Sir John Crofts near Bury, and in
requital those Ladies have invited them to
a Masque of their own invention, all those fair
sisters "" being summoned for the purpose, so that
on Thursday next the King, Prince, and all the
Court go thither a Shroving. Some ten or twelve
days since there fell out an unlucky accident by
reason of a quarrel and challenge betwixt two Scots-
men, Sir Robert Kerr,f near about the Prince,
and [Charles] Maxwell, brother of him of the Bed-
chamber, who was left dead in the field, though he
held himself the braver man upon the success of
having killed one before in Scotland and another in
France. But the King says, though he pardoned him
then, and the French King after, yet it seems that
God would not pardon him now. Upon the Prince's
humble and earnest entreaty, assisted by the Duke of
Lennox and Marquis of Hamilton, together with the
Coroner's Inquest finding it ' Manslaughter,' the King
is pleased to remit the offence ; and Ker be restored
to former favour, the rather for that he was earnestly
urged, and could not by any reasonable means avoid it.
The quarrel occurred at Sir Thomas Murray's table,
upon some speech Ker used touching the deportment

* Of "those fair sisters," Anne was Lady Wentworth, and Dorothy
was the wife of Sir John Bennet, and mother of John, ist Lord Ossulston,
and Henry, ist Earl of Arlington. Another sister was Cecily, reputed
mistress of the Prince of Wales, subsequently a maid of honour to
Queen Henrietta Maria. Charles I. gave her a pension of ^500 a year.
An interesting account of the costumes provided by the prince for this
masque will be found in the accounts of his Royal Highness's wardrobe,
preserved in the Public Record Ofhce.

t Created Earl of Ancrum in 1633.— Nichols, vol. ii., p. 514.

1620.] NEWMARKET PEERS. 225

of Mons. Lugnes, the French King's Favourite ; which
the other would interpret to be meant for somebody
here at home, and threatened he would force him to
confess it ; which oiitreciiidaiice it seems preceded to
the success aforesaid."

The king seems to have governed the nation by
virtue of proclamations, which continued to be issued
ad lib., and at this time to be utterly ignored by those
to whom they appealed.*

On the 4th of November, the king set out from
London for Theobalds, Royston, and Newmarket, " to
stay till Christmas." He does not appear
to have reached Newmarket before the loth
of that month, and probably sojourned there until
about the middle of December, when Chief Justice
Montagu ^^ arrived at the palace, "to be ennobled
and receive the Treasurership,"*}" for which appoint-
ment he gave Buckingham a bribe of ^20,000. In
the meantime Sir Henry Carey ^"^ was created Viscount
Falkland, and Sir Henry Constable,^^ Baron Constable
and Viscount Dunbar in the peerage of Scotland, by
patents, dated respectively Newmarket, November 10
and 14, 1620.J

To Thomas Sackvilc ats Footes Gent vsher daily wayter
to. his Ma"'^ for thallowaunce of him selfe one yeoman vsher
three yeoman hangers twoe groomes of the wardrobe and one
groome porter for making ready at Newmarkett for Bohemian
Ambassador and at Sir John Croftes house for the King and

* State Papers, Dom., vol. cxii., passim.

t Ibid., vol. cxviii. Created Viscount Mandevil. Sec Bishop Goodman's
"Court of James I.," and Howell's Letters, p. 116.
X Nichols' " Progress," vol. iii., pp. 628, 629.

VOL. L Q

226 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

for a Maske there viij daies Menss. Janur et ffebr i6i9[-2o]
etc. (m. 115 d).

To William Holmes in the behalfe of diverse Preachers
for the Sermons preached before his Ma*^ in his hunting
Journeys at Royston Hinchinbrooke and Newmarkett from
the first of October 16 18 to the first of March following by
warraunte of the xxv*'^ of June 1620 Ixx'' (m. 121 d).

To Sir Robert Vernon keeper of his Ma'* house at New-
markete for hire of a Carte to carry away soile and rubbish
by reason of building there by warraunte of the iiij"^ of
November 1620 Ixvj* viij'^ (m. 122 d'). — Wardrobe Aces,,
bundle 4, m. 100.

For xiij dz di of gold open lace for a skie coullor mask-
ing suite sent to Newmarket at vij* pr iiij^' xiiij* . vj*^. —
Account of Viscount Purbeck, Master of the Wardrobe to
the high and mightie Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, etc.,
fo. 21, MS., P.R.O.

^^ Henry Montagu, Baron Kimbolton, Viscount Mandevil,
and Earl of Manchester, was grandson of Edward Montagu,
of Huntington, Northamptonshire, Speaker of the House of
Commons temp. Henry VHL, Chief Justice of the Court
of Common Pleas temp. Queen Mary, being the third son of
Edward, his eldest son, who was seated at Broughton, North-
amptonshire, and sheriff of that county and its representa-
tive in Parliament, by his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir
James Harington, of Exton, in the county of Rutland. He
was born at Broughton about 1553, and showed so much
intelligence that even at school it was prognosticated " that
he would raise himself above the rest of his family." On
November 16, 16 16, he was selected to succeed Sir Edward
Coke as Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench, He is
said to have procured this appointment by consenting to give
the Duke of Buckingham's nominee the clerkship of the
Court of King's Bench, worth ^4000 a year, which Coke, in
whose gift it was, refused to part with, although by doing
so he might have retained his office. Montagu did not long
rest satisfied with the place of Chief Justice. He aimed still

1620.] THE EARL OF MANCHESTER. 227

higher, and after sitting in the judicial seat for four years
he succeeded in obtaining the more elevated and lucrative
post of Lord Treasurer at Newmarket, as above stated.
When the king was at Newmarket the courtiers con-
sidered it a favourable time to obtain favours ; and many-
posts, honours, and emoluments were secured on those occa-
sions. The Countess of Buckingham, who had great influence
over her all-powerful son, the king's favourite minister, is
reported to have been the actual dispenser of the immense
patronage which ostensibly flowed from his hands. She had
no objection to a bribe. Montagu is said to have obtained
the office of Lord Treasurer at her hands for the large sum
of iJ^2O,00O. If so, it proved to be an expensive bribe, as
Montagu was deprived of the treasurership during the follow-
ing year. The white staff had been conferred on him at
Newmarket, where there was a great scarcity of timber. A
friend, alluding to these circumstances, pleasantly inquired of
the earl, " if wood were not extremely dear at Newmarket."
One of the charges against Buckingham on his impeach-
ment was the receipt of this money ; but his answer alleged
that it was a voluntary loan to the king, and that he did not
receive a penny of it, which, of course, nobody believed. The
venality of this job was most flagrant, particularly as Montagu
was deprived of the office by Buckingham, on the 13th of the
following October, when the unfortunate Lionel Cranfield,
Earl of Middlesex, by the favourite's interest, was named his
successor. It was ever considered a place of great profit, and
when Montagu was asked what it might be worth per annum,
he answered, " Some thousands of pounds to him who after
death would go instantly to heaven ; twice as much to him
who would go to purgatory ; and a memo scit. to him who
would venture to a worse place." On his removal from the
treasurership he was but poorly comipensated for his loss by
being made Lord President of the Council. In this office
he remained for the rest of James's reign, and for the first
three years of Charles I.'s, when he exchanged it for that
of Lord Privy Seal, which he enjoyed for the rest of his life.
King Charles, in the first year of his reign, on February 5,

228 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

1626, created him Earl of Manchester. He was an active
minister of the Crown, and was a frequent attendant upon
the court during the sojourns of royalty at Newmarket. He
did not Hve to witness the fatal termination of Charles I.'s
career, but died November 7, 1642, shortly after the com-
mencement of the hostilities between the royalists and the
Parliamentary forces. He had nearly attained his eightieth
year, and showed as much activity and sagacity in business
as at any former period of his life. His eldest son and
successor, Edward Montagu, a Cromwellian lord during the
Interregnum, became lord chamberlain to the household of
Charles H. He died May 5, 1671, and George I. gave his
grandson a dukedom in 17 19, which has been enjoyed by his
descendants ever since.

^" Sir Henry Carey, only son and successor of Sir Edward
Carey, Knight, of Berkhampstead, and Catherine, daughter of
Sir Henry Knevett, and widow of Henry, Lord Paget ; born
at Aldenham, Herts ; educated at Exeter College, Oxford ;
knighted by the Earl of Essex in Ireland in 1599. He was
united with his father in the office of Master of the Jewel-
house ; and was one of the judges of the tilt on the king's
day, 1615, 1616, 1618, and 1622. He was M.P. for Hertford-
shire in the only four Parliaments held from 1602 to 1620,
and created a Scottish peer by the title of ViSCOUNT Falk-
land, at Newmarket, November 10, 1620, as above mentioned.
He was Lord-Deputy of Ireland from 1622 to 1629, and died
in September, 1633, in consequence of breaking a leg when
the stand in Theobalds Park collapsed. Lord Falkland is in
several authorities styled K.B., with much confusion between
the creations of Henry and Charles, Princes of Wales. It is
remarkable that on both these occasions a Sir Henry Carey
was so created, but at the former it was Lord Hunsdon's
eldest son, afterwards created Earl of Dover ; and at the
latter Sir Robert Carey's eldest son, who succeeded his father
as 2nd Earl of Monmouth. His lordship, who was a man of
letters, wrote a History of Edward II., and was remarkable for
an invention to prevent the counterfeit of his signature — that

1621.] VISCOUNT DUNBAR.

229

of artfully concealing within the writing the successive years
of his age. Plantagenet Picrrepoint Carey, iith and present
Viscount Falkland, now represents this Newmarket creation.

^^ Sir Henry Constable, of Burton Constable and Hal-
sham, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, the representative of
a very ancient and eminent family, was knighted by James I.
at the Tower of London, March 14, 1603-4. He succeeded
his father in 1608; "and," says Sir Bernard Burke (a weak
authority), " being a man of parts and learning, highly es-
teemed by James VI. {sic), was created a peer of Scotland, by
the title of ViSCOUNT OF DUNBAR, and Lord Constable by
patent dated at Newmarket, 14 November, 1620, to him and
his heirs male, bearing the name and arms of Constable ; "
while Nichols asserts that " his peerage, there is no doubt,
was purchased, as he appears to have had no other influence
about the court than that his wealth might produce." He
married Mary, second daughter of Sir John Tufton, Bart., of
Hothfield, county Kent, and sister of Nicholas, ist Earl of
Thanet, by whom he had issue three sons and two daughters.
Hedied in 1645. The title became dormant ^/rr^?' 1714, no heir
male general having appeared to claim it ever since. The
estates are now in the possession of Sir Thomas Aston Clifford-
Constable, Bart., of Tixall, county Stafford.

On November 8, 162 1, the newsmongers in the
metropolis announced that the " king- has 1621.
gone to Newmarket," and on the 17th that November.
" he stayed longer than he intended at Royston,
Buckingham being ill, but is now at Newmarket ; " and
on the 1st of December they had the audacity to
assert that " his Majestys tarrying at Newmarket
amid so much business causes surprise." "It is much
marvayled," writes Mr. Chamberlain to Sir Dudley
Carleton, "that so much business being now on foot
both at home and a broade, the King should kepe

230 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

Still at Newmarket, when by reason of the fowle
Weather and Wayes, he can take so great pleasure,
nor have any store of Companie : The Lord Marquis
of Buckingham, his Lady, and his mother the
Countesse with the Lady of Purbecke, being all of
note, that I can heere, are about him." * This bad
and rebellious example was followed by the House of
Commons, which presumed to petition the king and to
invite his attention to the state of public affairs. Never
was such a consternation known at Newmarket Palace
as on the 3rd of December, when a Committee of the
House of Commons arrived, and presented their peti-
tion and remonstrance to the king. " Twelve of the
Lower House had a cold journey to Newmarket, to
present their remonstrance and Petition to the King ;
which were a kind of answer to the King's letter, that
did a little daunt them at first, but they soon recovered
their spirits. The Messengers came back on Thursday,
and yesterday made their relation to the House. It
seems they had a favourable reception, and the King
played with them in calling for stools ' for the Ambas-
sadors to sit down ; ' but in conclusion he read the
Remonstrance, but would not look at the Petition, and
for answer returned his pleasure in writing, which was
twice read yesterday in the House. But sure there is
not that good understanding between the King and
them that were to be wished, whilst he is apprehensive
of the least point that may seem to touch his Preroga-
tive, and they so jealous and careful to preserve their
Privileges. And withall it is thought some privy

* Birch MSS., 4174, fo. i8, 19.

1621.] THE KING AND THE COMMONS. 231

whisperers and tale-bearers do misinform his Majesty,
and so animate him to the prejudice of the House.
This afternoon they are to have a Conference with the
Lords, where it is thought the Lord Digby will relate
to them somewhat touching the Palatinate, and how
matters stand there since his coming hence." *

James, in a letter to the Speaker, admonished him
for allowing those " fiery spirits to meddle with matters
far beyond their capacity, and intrenching upon the
prerogative." He enjoined him not to allow any
further meddling with State mysteries. He justified
his action in committing Sir Edward Sandys, M.P., for
" misdemeanors in Parliament," and considered himself
free to punish any such, and that he would continue to
punish all insolence in Parliament. But the faithful
Commons did not feel the force of this wisdom, although
some of them thanked God they lived under so benign
a prince, and promised to be good and dutiful subjects
for the future, f His Majesty was graciously pleased
to return to London soon after, when he was amazed
to find that, on the eve of the Christmas recess, his
faithful Commons had entered the following protesta-
tion on their Journals : " Whereas the liberties and
jurisdictions of Parliament are the ancient and un-
doubted birthright and inheritance of the subjects of
England, that arduous and urgent affairs concerning
the king, the State, and defence of the realm and the
Church of England, the making and maintenance of
laws, and the redress of grievances, are proper subjects

* Chamberlain to Carleton, London, December 15, 162 1.
t State Papers, Dom., vol. cxxvi., passim.

232 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Cook IV.

of counsel and debate in Parliament ; that In the hand-
ling of these businesses every member hath and ought
to have freedom of speech ; that the Commons in Par-
liament have like liberty to treat of those matters in
such order as they think proper ; that every member
hath like freedom from all impeachment, imprisonment,
and molestation (other than by the censure of the
House itself) concerning any bill, speaking, or reasoning
touching Parliament matters ; and if any be complained
for anything said or done in Parliament, the same to
be showed by assent of the Commons, before the
king give credence to any private information." This
revived the former jealousy and irritation in the
breast of James. Sending for the Journals, he tore
out with his own hand the obnoxious protestation in
the presence of his Council, and a few days later
dissolved the Parliament*

To S"" Roberte Vernon Knight keeper of Newmarkett
house by warr^ dated v'° Novembris 1621, for broomes by him
prouyeded and bought for one yeare ended at Mychas 1621,
xiij'' xiij^ iiij*^ ; more to him for allowaunce of his lodging
being putt out of the same in Nouember 1620, by warr* dated

* Rush worth's "Historical Collections," vol. i., pp. 40-56. On December
19 Parliament was adjourned by Royal Commission in the House ol
Lords. The Commons were not present, and, when that fact was an-
nounced, replied that they would adjourn themselves. " The same day
his Majesty rode by coach to Theobalds to dinner, not intending, as the
speech is, to return till towards Easter. After dinner, ryding on horse-
back abroad, his horse stumbled and cast his Majestic into the New
River, where the ice brake : he fell in, so that nothing but his boots were
.seen : Sir Richard Young was next, who alighted, went to the water, and
pulled him out. There came much water out of his mouth and body.
His Majestic rid back to Theobalds, went into a warme bed, and, as we
heere, is well, which God continue." — Ellis, " Original Letters," vol. iii.,
p. 117.

1622.] SHROVING. 233

vij™° Aprilis 162 1, vj". — Aces. Treasurer of the Chamber,
m. 137.

To John Glover one of the Knight Marshalls I\Ien vpon
Councells warr*^ dated at Whitehall xv'" die December 1621,
bringing one Whitegniste prisoner from Ncwmarkett to
Whitehall P. — Ibid., m. 146.

On the 27th of January, 1622, we find the king
employed at Newmarket in writing one of those sapient
epistles, for which he was celebrated, to 1622.
the Bishop of Durham in favour of Sir January.
Richard Graham,^^ who was endeavouring to reform
vice in Cumberland, where he lived, by building a
church, educating the young, and many other good
deeds, which entitled him to the presentation of
some fat livings in that county ; and by royal will
and favour, he and his heirs were ordered henceforth
to enjoy the same for ever. The court remained
at Newmarket until the end of February, and in the
interval the king, accompanied by his courtiers as
usual, went a-shroving to Sir John Croft's, whose
daughter Cecilia then was on intimate terms with the
Prince of Wales, and reported to be secretly married
to his father.*

The following day (being Ash Wednesday) Bishop
Andrewes preached before the king and court.f

* State Papers, Dom., vol. c\x\'\\., passim .

t This sermon, which is printed in the Bishop's " XCVI. Sermons,"
was from text Matthev^ vi. 16, " Of Repentance and Fasting," is there said
to have been delivered at Whitehall, but the date, and the king being at
Newmarket, proves it was delivered at the latter place. Bishop Andrewes
was held in high esteem by James I., who not only gave him the prefer-
ence to all other divines as a preacher, but also chose him to vindicate
the royal prerogative against his subjects. The king likewise requested
Andrewes to reply to Cardinal Bellarmine, and between James and his

234 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

By patents dated Newmarket, February 2, 162 [-2,
William Crichton, 7th Lord Crichton, of Sanquhar,®^
was advanced to the title of Viscount Air ; and Sir
Andrew Kerr (or Carr), of Fernihurst, was created
Lord Jedburgh''* in the peerage of Scotland.*

^^ Sir Richard Graham, Knight, Gentleman of the Horse to
James I., was created a baronet, March, 1629, by the style of Sir
Richard Graham, of Esk, county Cumberland. He purchased
Netherby and the barony of Liddell, in the same county, of
Francis, Earl of Cumberland. Sir Richard subsequently dis-
tinguished himself under the royal banner, particularly at
Edgehill, where he was severely wounded, and lay among
the slain for an entire night. As we have frequently seen, he
was an habitue at Newmarket, and a prominent patron of the
turf Early in the seventeenth century he married Catherine,
daughter and co-heiress of Sir Thomas Musgrave, of Cumcatch,
Cumberland, and "having," says Hutchinson, "took, in 1648,
a solemn adieu of the king in the Isle of Wight," he died in
1653. His descendant, the present Sir Richard Graham, Bart.,
member of the Jockey Club, worthily represents his valiant
predecessor.

^^ William Crichton, 7th LORD Crichton of SAN-
QUHAR, succeeded to that title on the death of his cousin-
german Robert, the 6th lord, who, in a fencing-match with
one John Turner, a master of that art, was deprived of an
eye. The loss, which he confessedly brought upon himself,
induced him in May, 161 2, to hire two of his distinguished

favourite " preacher for the hunting journeys " the controversional work
" Tortura Torti"was elaborated at Newmarket. Andrewes was born at
London in 1555 ; educated at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge ; chaplain in
ordinary to Queen Elizabeth ; ditto and sporting preacher to James I. ;
appointed Bishop of Chichester, November 3, 1605 ; translated to Ely,
September 22, 1609 ; nominated to the Privy Council, and attended James
in his progress to Scotland, in J617 ; translated to Winchester, February
18, 1618 ; ob. September 25, 1626, cet. 71.

* Nichols, " Progress of James I.," vol. iv. page 752.

1622.] LORD JEDBURGH. 235

countrymen, Gray and Carlisle, to assassinate the unfortunate
English swordsman. For this atrocious act he was tried at
the bar of the King's Bench in Westminster, found guilty, and
sentenced to be hanged. Great interest was made to procure
his pardon, but in vain, and he was hung June 29, 161 2, on
a gibbet erected in Great Palace Yard, before the gates of
Westminster Hall. William, 7th Lord Crichton, who was
advanced to the title of Viscount Air, at Newmarket, February
2, 1622, entertained James I. at Sanquhar Castle, in July, 1617,
during the royal progress in Scotland. In addition to the
viscounty conferred upon this Scot, he was further advanced
to the dignity of Earl of Dumfries, when Charles I. visited
Scotland in 1633, by patent dated Douglas, June 12, in
that year. John Patrick Crichton Stuart, K.T., LL.D., the
present Marquis of Bute, is the 8th Earl of Dumfries and
Viscount Air, having succeeded his maternal great-grand-
father in the latter titles, and now represents this Newmarket
creation.

^^ Lord Jedburgh was half-brother of the deposed favour-
ite, Robert, Earl of Somerset, and the only son and heir of
Sir Thomas Kerr (or Carr), of P"ernihurst, by his first marriage.
Sir Andrew had been a Gentleman of the King's Bedchamber
in Scotland, having been appointed to that office in 1591.
He was succeeded by his son James, with whose son Robert
the 3rd lord, the male line of the eldest branch of the
family terminated in 1692. This title then devolved, pur-
suant to an entail made in 1670, on William, Lord Newbottle,
son and heir-apparent of Robert, 4th earl, and afterwards
Marquess of Lothian, Lord Jedburgh's nearest heir male, and
Schomberg-Henry, the 9th and present Marquess of Lothian,
now represents this Newmarket creation.

Another royal visit to Newmarket occurred in the
month of November, the court having left 1622.
Hampton Court about October 5, and, with- November.
out passing through London, the royal party pro-

236 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

ceeded, via Theobalds and Royston, en route to
head-quarters. While tarrying at Theobalds, " where
there was a great court and much to be done," the
king pricked the sheriffs for the coming year, in
such haste that the business had to be almost clone
over again after his arrival at Newmarket. In
the meantime William Hawkins wrote from New-
market, November 12, to the authorities in London, to
inquire whether all the commissions for preserving the
game within sixteen miles of Royston had passed the
Seal ; poaching on the royal preserves appears to have
been so excessive that extraordinary measures were
about to be made to diminish such abuses. It seems
the king arrived at Newmarket about the i6th of this
month, as Buckingham wrote thence, under this date,
to Sir Edward Conway, enjoining him to promulgate
as widely as possible ex parte reasons for the surrender
of Manheim (the Khartoum of the period), and that the
king would be glad for Conway to be at Newmarket
to meet the Dutch Commissioners, "and to bring his
hawk with him."

A week later a proclamation was issued, com-
manding noblemen, knights, and gentlemen, excepting
the Privy Council and officers of the king or prince,
to repair to their mansion houses in the country, to
attend their services, and keep hospitality, according
to the ancient and laudable custom of England, on pain
of being disabled from serving the king, and punished
for contempt. This Newmarket ukase compelled
many noblemen, knights, and gentlemen, " that had
come to town to nestle with their families, to pack off

1622,] HIGH W A YMEN. 237

again, as they dare not incur the penalty." * It was
bad for trade in London, where " the winter was so
severe" that from 270 to 280 of the inhabitants died
weekly ; Lord Abergavenny, Sir Wilh'am Killigrew,
Sir George Curson, and Sir Francis Egiock were,
among others, carried off by the cold. Partly owing to
the inclemency of the weather, the States Commis-
sioners did not go to Newmarket when expected ; but
the East India and Muscovy merchants were there to
meet them in solemn council with the kine. On the
journey from London to Newmarket the latter guild of
adventurers '* were robbed of a bag containing their
papers and ;^200 in money." f As was usual here,
several persons were knighted during this royal so-
journ.J The king remained at Newmarket some few
days early in the following month, " much troubled
with the gout in his arms and legs." §

William Fennor, a satirist of the period, animad-
verting on the evil results of gaming, alludes to the
extortion of the money-lenders, who usually ruined
their clients, and eventually left them no resource but
the highway. Hence, he says, Newmarket Heath was
so full of highwaymen " that poor Countrie people can-
not passe quietly to the Cottages, but some Gentlemen

* Hume says James's object in dispersing the nobility to their country
seats was to prevent them indulging in politics. " But the contrary effect
soon followed : the riches amassed during their residence at home rendered
them independent; the influence acquired by hospitality made them for-
midable ; they would not be led by the court ; they could not be driven:
thus the system of the English government received a total and sudden
alteration in the course of less than forty years." — " Hist. Eng.," Ap. IV.

t State Papers, Dom., vol. c'^xvav., passim.

X See the chronological list at end of this book.

§ State Papers, Dom., vol. cxxxiv., passim.

238 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET, [Book IV.

will borrow all the money they have," which made
Tyburn and Wapping *' have so many hangers-on."
He adds that when these young gallants had effected
a robbery on Newmarket Heath, in case the hue and
cry came too hotly after them, they posted to London,
and there got themselves arrested for a small debt, and
by lying in prison "until the matter cools," escaped
detection, " for who would look into such a place
for such offendors ? " *

The manuscript accounts of Sir Richard Graham,
as Gentleman of the Horse f to George Villiers,
Duke of Buckingham, contain a list of the
horses, and other interesting particulars
relating to the royal stud, the chase, and the turf, at
this period. Reference is also made to the personal
disbursements of the Master of the Horse, in
connection with this office, which, among other
matters, exhibit the duke losing ^loo to Lord
Salisbury j on a race at Newmarket; and other
betting transactions are similarly recorded. The
king's two jockeys-in-ordinary, or, as they are termed,

* "The Competers Common-Wealth," etc. : Lond. 1617. i,s. Highway-
men were formerly called " Saint Nicholas' clerks." — See notes by Bishop
Warburton and Mr. Steevens on the First Part of " King Henry the
Fourth," A. ii. s. i.

t It seems he subsequently resigned the Mastership of the Horse to
the Duke of Buckingham, that post having been held by Baltazar Gerbier,
as appears by the following passage in the Hist. Preface to Carleton's
Letters (xxviij) : " The Lord Dorchester had the direction of the negocia-
tion for a peace with the court of Madrid ; the first overtures of which
had been carried on, between Reubens the painter, by a private commis-
sion from the Infanta at Brussels, and Baltazar Gerbier, Master of the
Horse to the Duke of Buckingham, before the assassination of the
latter."

\ William, 2nd Earl of Salisbury.

1622.] RACING INTELLIGENCE. 239

"riders for the races," were Thomas Freman and John
Prichard. Their wages are not given ; they were,
however, entitled to one horse hvery each. Sir
WilHam PowelP^ and Sir George Marshall,^^ surveyors
of the races, each enjoyed ^22 per annum and two
hackney Hveries.*

We have been indebted to the papers of Sir
Richard Graham and Sir Edmund Verney ^^ for some
rather interesting items of information relating to the
turf in those days. It is also remarkable that an
ordinary incident gives us an insight into the distri-
bution of patronage between these celebrities and the
king's favourite minister with respect to the lieutenancy
of Waddon Chase, which office was in the gift of
Buckingham, by whom it was conferred on Sir
Edmund in June, 1622. Some time previously, Verney
solicited the post from Buckingham on " Newmarkett
heath," when Graham was present, doubtless with
many more, at the races. The appointment was now
confirmed, without limit to venison, with permission
to kill what he chose both in park and chase, and
without restriction to his own pleasure or those of his
friends.f

95 William Powell, Esq., of Pengethby, in the county of
Hereford, one of the Masters of the Requests, was created
a baronet, January 18, 162 1-2. He married Mary, daughter
of Sir Peter Vanlore, Knight, but died without issue at his
manor of Munster House, Middlesex, in 1653, when the title
became extinct.

* Hist. MS. Coss., vi., Rep. App., pp. 323-325.
t Verney Papers, p. 106. Ibid.

240 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

"^ Sir George Marshall, knighted by James I. at Royston,
October 6, 1614, was connected with the royal studs from this
time to his death. In 1628 he had iJ^5oo a year, payable at
Michaelmas and Lady Day, for " keeping his Majesty's race
of mares " in Cole Park and West Park, Wiltshire. Some of
his descendants also fulfilled these offices to temp. George II.

^' Sir Edmund Verney, third son of Sir Ralph Verney,
of Penley and Middle Clayton, Buckinghamshire, on the
death of his half-brother. Sir Francis Verney, succeeded to
the family estates in 161 5. Before Edmund Verney had
attained his majority, he had seen war in the Low Countries,
and had visited the courts of France and Italy. On his
return to England, a gentleman accomplished in all courtly
qualities, he was taken into the household of Prince Henry,
where he filled the office of chief sewer, while his uncle
Francis was one of the prince's falconers. On January 7
1610-11, Edmund Verney was knighted. In the same year
he visited Madrid. He returned to England to find Prince
Henry dead, and in the interval which took place between the
death of the king's eldest son and the establishment of the
household of Prince Charles, Sir Edmund espoused Margaret,
eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Denton, Knight, of Hillesdon,
Bucks, December 14, 161 2. During the ensuing year the
new regulations of Prince Charles's household took effect,
and Sir Edmund was appointed to the place of one of the
Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber. For some years following
he attended to the management of his estates, and took an
active part in the local affairs of his county, in which his
status was considerably increased by his appointment to the
lieutenancy of Whaddon Chase. In 1623 he joined the suite
of attendants despatched to constitute the retinue of the
prince during his stay in and journey back from Madrid. Sir
Edmund Verney was returned Member of Parliament for the
borough of Buckingham in 1624. The accession of Charles I.
made a material improvement in the position of Sir Edmund
Verney and all those who had been in his Majesty's household
during the lifetime of his father. On December 25, 1625, the

1G22.J SI7i ED M VXD VERXEY.

24 1

new king confirmed to Sir Edmund a pension of ^^"200 per
annum, which he had formerly, whilst Prince of Wales, given
him during pleasure. This was followed by another and more
important preferment. The ancient office of Marshal of the
King's Palace, the holder being commonly called " the Knight
Marshal," which had been held in succession during the reign
of James I. by Sir Thomas Gerrard, Sir Thomas Vavasour,
and Sir Edward Zouch, was surrendered by the last of those
gentlemen to the king on February 14, 1626, and on the i6th
of the same month his Majesty granted it to Sir Edmund
Verney for life. The principal duties of the office — to preserve
order and prevent the access of improper persons to the court
— rendered it necessary for the holder to be a close attendant
upon the court ; but he was empowered to appoint a deputy,
as well as from four to six officers or vergers. The profits of
his court, which could take cognizance of all causes arising
in the king's household, or within the verge, that is, within
twelve miles compass of the court, probably yielded ample
compensation to the holder for his ordinary services. This
appointment was followed, on March 26, 1626, by a further
pension of ;^2O0 a year for life. In May, 1630, Spencer, Earl
of Northampton, commissioned Sir Edmund Verney " for the
space of six whole and entire years, to take and seize for his
]\Iayest}-s vse, and in his jNIajestys name, within all places in
the county of Buckingham, such and so many greyhounds,
both dogs and bitches, in whose custody soever they be, as he
shall think meet and convenient for his majestys disport and
recreation." Sir Edmund accompanied Charles I. in the
expedition to Scotland, and on the outbreak of the civil war
he was appointed marshal and standard-bearer to the king.
As it was Sir Edmund's duty to carry the royal standard in
time of war, he took a prominent part in several engagements,
and at the battle of Edgehill he charged with it amongst the
thickest of the enemy, to encourage the soldiers to follow him,
and, being surrounded, was offered his life if he would surrender
the standard, but, rejecting the offer, he fell with great honour.
He had six daughters and six sons, of whom Henry was one
of the most enthusiastic turfites of his day.

VOL. I. R

242 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

To John Cosnold gentleman vsher'daylie wayter to his
Ma^^' for allowance of himselfe one gent vsher q'^rter wayter
one yeoman vsher, twoe gromes and one groome porter for
riding and attending his Ma*'® from Theobalds to Newmarkett
and backe to Whitehall nync dales menss September 1622
x'' viij^ (m. 145).

To S"" Robert Vernon, Knight, Keeper of his Ma*^ house
at Newmarkett being lodged oute of the Courte in November
and December 1621 by warr': dated viij'"^ Febr. 1 621 [-22] C*-
To him more for not being lodged in Courte mense Januar et
Febr 162 1 [-22] by warr*^ dated sc^do Apriles 1622, O'. To
him more for Brooms shovells S:*^ and carrying the soyle
away for one whole yeare ended at Mich'as 1622 by warr'
dated viij"" Novembr 1622 xiij^' xiij^ iiij'' (m. 149).

To John Gosnolde (and others) for attending on his Ma*"^
from Whitehall to Theobalds, from thence to Royston,
Fynchinbroke and backe to Royston and from thence to
Theobaldes, backe to Royston, and soe to Newmarkett and
from thence to Royston Theobaldes and Whitehall, in all by

the space of iiij ij dayes in the months of October, Nov^ember
and December 1622 Cv'' iiij^ viij'^ (m. 158). — Aces. T. C.

"1622. February 3, Rex aucupatur apud Newmarket." —
Camden's Annals, sitb dato.

The king' and court were located at Newmarket
in February, 16^23, when one of the first occurrences
1623. mentioned related to the charges for the
February, journey thither of his Excellency Ferdinand
de Boischot, Ambassador Extraordinary of Clara
Euglnia Isabella, Infante of Spain. Curiously enough,
he encountered the Prince of Wales and the Duke of
Buckingham on the road, disguised with false beards,
and travelling as Messieurs John and Thomas Smith,
with their servant (the Right Worshipful Sir Richard
Graham, Knight, and lord of many manors), en route

1623.] THE SPANISH MATCH. 243

to the court of Madrid, where beauty called and
pleasure led the way. Of course the king, the
council, the ministers, and the courtiers were (when
it, soon after, became known) absorbed in the prince's
romantic pilgrimage of love to the court of Madrid,
so much so that all other events were either shelved
or regulated to Secretary Conway,^^ the minister in
attendance on the king.* It may be mentioned,
however, that the Council were enjoined to attend
to the Lent sermons ; the Lord Mayor of London
was directed to drill the trained foot-bands, and see
to the well ordering of the City ; the Attorney-
General was to call before him the owner and tenant
of a coney warren at Foulmere, near Royston, which
hindered the king's sport there, and to request them
to have it diswarrened ; should they refuse, their grant
of free warren to be called for, and annulled if found in
any way informal or defective. The Naval Com-
missioners were ordered to report whether the Lord
Admiral's pinnace was swift and strong enough to
carry the prince's jewels, etc., to Spain, and how and
at what cost it, or any other bark, could be got ready.
These extraordinary proceedings gave rise to all sorts
of rumours, and the crisis became so serious, that the

* "Whereas Jonathan Scot one of the messengers of his Ma*"'
Chamber in Ordinary hath of late bene imployed vppon his Ma""
Special! service by the Right Honorable S' Edward Conoway Knight
Secrettary to his Ma"°, in Riding post from Newmarkett vnto London &
backe agayne to his Ma"" Court at Newmarkett in the which Journey he
hath disbursed severall somes in the w'^'* he humblie prayeth allowance @,
Impr'm: from Newmarkett vnto London it being 54 miles at 6'' the
mile is ^01 : 07 : 00. Item for the post guides being ;^oo . 02 . 06. Item
from London to Newmarkett the same at 6'' the mile & G"* the guide
;^oi. 09. 06. Some £,01. 19. 00." — State Papers, Dom., vol. cxxxix.,
m. 20 (120).

-44 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

members of the Council repaired to Newmarket, threw
themselves upon their knees before the king, and
implored him to tell them what it all meant. He told
them the prince had gone to seek the hand of the
Infanta Donna Maria, eldest daughter of the King
of Spain, and reminded them how he, his father,
and his grandfather had gone from Scotland to w^in
their wives. This denouement increased the excite-
ment. The captains of the guard, with their forces,
were summoned to Newmarket, in case their assist-
ance should be required to suppress any insubordina-
tion which threatened momentarily to break out.*
The difficulty was tided over in peace, and in March
elaborate preparations were concluded for sending a
proper suite to attend the prince at Madrid, accom-
panied with a large collection of Crown jewels which
the king ordered Secretary Conway, Lord Brooke,''^
the Treasurer of the Household, the Chancellor of
the Exchequer, Auditor Grafton, and Herriot the
jeweller, to select from the regalia in the Tower.
This novel expedition soon after sailed for Madrid.
The jewels, which were valued at ^600,000, arrived
in safety, and were duly presented to the Infanta by
the prince. They are enumerated by the king in his
letter to the prince, which bears the following super-
scription :— " From Newmarket, on St. Patrick's Day,

* Secretary Conway, in a letter to the Duke of Buckingham, says :
" Those that gave the council to have bands of soldiers to guard his
Majesty at Newmarket, have now discovered that this sufferance of so
many to follow into Spain, will exhaust the money of the kingdom wholly.
By this your Excellency may find how infinite the wisdoms are here." — •
Harl. MS., 1580, p. 293.

1623.] THEATRICALS. 245

who, of old, was too well patronized in the country
you are in." *

In the meantime a few ordinary passing events
at Newmarket may be mentioned. On March 7 Sir
Edward Peyton ^°*^ wrote to the Earl of Holderness -^"^^
to furnish him with a warrant to take one hundred
partridges yearly, in the Isle of Ely, Marchland,
Holland, and the woody part of Norfolk, where
gentlemen cannot hawk. These were to be turned
down at Newmarket and Iselham. The warrant was
granted the same day : hence both personages must
have been at Newmarket at this date. The Spanish
and Flemish Ambassadors were also at Newmarket,
which was full to overflowing until the departure of
the court at the end of that invigorating month.!
On the loth of March the Cambridge comedians
(" lez comedian Cantabrig.") were entertained at the
palace at a cost of ^16 17^. \d.\

^^SiR Edward Conway— son and heirof Sir John Conway
and Elene, daughter of Sir Fluke Grenville, of Beauchamp's
Court, county Warwick — received the honour of knighthood
from Robert, Earl of Essex, at the sacking of Cadiz, where he
commanded a regiment in 1596. He afterwards served in the
Netherlands, and was Governor of the Brill. In the twentieth
year of James I.'s reign he was constituted one of the principal
Secretaries of State, and elevated to the peerage, March 22,
1624, as Baron Conway of Ragley, county Warwick, a manor
acquired by purchase towards the close of Queen Elizabeth's
reign. He was appointed captain of the Isle of Wight in the

* State Papers, edited by Lord Hardwicke (Lond., 1778), vol. i., p. 406.
t State Papers, Dom., vols, cxxxviii., cxxxix., passim ; compare
Hackett's " Life of Williams."

+ Cofferers' Aces., Series IIL, box E., Rot. 44, MS., P.R.O.

246 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

December following, and being again Secretaiy of State in
the first year of Charles I.'s reign, was advanced to the Irish
Viscounty of Killultagh March 15, 1626, in which year,
June 6, he was created Viscount Conway, of Conway Castle,
county Carnarvon. He filled afterwards the high office of
President of the Council, and was accredited upon some other
occasion Ambassador Extraordinary to the court of Vienna.
He married Dorothy, daughter of Sir John Tracy, Knight, of
Toddington, county Gloucester, and widow of Edward Bray,
Esq., by whom he had Edward his successor, Ralph, and four
daughters. He died in 1630, and was succeeded by his eldest
son and heir, Edward, 2nd Viscount Conway.

^^ Sir Fluke Grenville, son of Sir F. Grenville and Anne,
daughter of Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmorland, a man of
letters and a distinguished courtier in the reigns of Elizabeth
and James I., who, at the coronation of the latter monarch,
was made a Knight of the Bath, and soon after was called
from being Treasurer of the Navy to be Treasurer of the
Household and Chancellor of the Exchequer, and was sworn
of the Privy Council. In the second year of James I.'s reign
he obtained a grant of Warwick Castle and the gardens and
other dependencies about it, and was elevated to the peerage,
January 29, 1 620-1, by the title of Baron Brooke, of
Beauchamp's Court, county Warwick, with limitation, in
default of heirs male of his own body, to his kinsman, Robert
Grenville, son of Fluke Grenville, Esq., of Thorpe Latimer,
CO. Lincoln. His lordship died September 30, 1628. As he
was never married, the honours descended, according to the
limitation, to his kinsman, Robert Grenville, above mentioned.

1°° Sir Edward Peyton, eldest son and heir of Sir John
Peyton, of Isleham, Cambs,and Alice, daughter of Sir Edward
Osborne, Lord Mayor of London in 1585, succeeded to the
estates of his family on the death of his father, about the year
1 61 7. Sir Edward was knighted at Whitehall, February 4,
1610, and during the lifetime of his father was denominated
" of Great Bradley, in Suffolk." He served in Parliament

1623.] DIPLOMACY.

247

from the i8th of James I. to the 3rd of Charles I. as one of
the knights of the shire for the county of Cambridge, and
was custos rotulorum thereof, which office he was deprived of
by the influence of the Duke of Buckingham. "Whereupon
he was so much disgusted, that he first drew his pen against
the court, and writ several pamphlets with great acrimon}'
against Charles I. and the royalists." He subsequently sided
with the Presbyterians in the great rebellion, and so im-
poverished himself in the cause, that he was obliged to sell
Isleham, and, drawing his son into joining him, sold the whole
estate, with the reserve only of annuities, during both their
lives.

^"^ See ante.

Sir John Finet gives the following account of
the Spanish ambassador's journey to Newmarket : —
" Monsieur de Bolscot, Ambassador Extraordinary
from the Arch-Duke, arriving at London while the
King was at Theobalds in his way to New-Market,
and setting forth from London, (in Company of the
Spanish Ambassador, Don Carlos de Coloma to come
to their Audience of his Majesty). On Sunday the
23 of February [they] lay at Ware the first night,
the next at Royston, the third at Cambridge, where
in Trinity Colledge, the Master's Lodgings were
taken up for them, the King's officers of his House
appointed to serve them ; being defrayed there, all the
way out and home by his Majestie, but not befor
nor after in London. The Wednesday following they
were fetcht, (by Lord Walden, with three or four
Gentlemen, the King's servants, in the King's Coach,
and others appointed for their Journey), to New-
Market, where straight entering the Court for their

248 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IY.

repose in the Prince's Lodgings, (his Highness being
then gone for Spaine,) they were introduced by the
Earle of Arundel ^°" meeting them in the Presence,
then to the Privy-Chamber-door, through it and the
withdrawing chamber into the king's Bed-Chamber,
(where all others but the Agent of the Archdutchess
Monsieur Van Mall, who attended him there) were
excluded ; they had an hour's audience of his Majesty,
and returned that night to Cambridge. The next day,
passing their time in sight of severall coUedges and
of the Schooles (where at a Congregation purposely
called they were admitted Masters of Arts, and heard
after that a Disputation in Phylosophy) they the next
morning parted thence to Audley-end and, entertained
there that night by the Lord Walden (in absence of
his Father the Earle of Suffolk) they the next day
came to London." *

^°- Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, was born July
7, 1592. Being deprived by his father's attainder of the
honours and the greatest part of the estates of his family,
he had only the title of Lord Maltravers by courtesy during
Queen Elizabeth's reign ; but he was restored, by Act of
Parliament, in the first year of James I. (1603), to all such
titles of honour and precedence as Philip, Earl of Arundel,
lost by his attainder, as also to the honour, state, and
dignity of Earl of Surrey, and to such dignity of baronies
as Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, lost by his attainder. He
was created Earl-Marshal in 162 1, and Earl of Norfolk,
June 6, 1644. His lordship married, in 1606, Lady Alatheia
Talbot, daughter, and eventually sole heiress, of Gilbert, 7th
Earl of Shrewsbury. He died October 4, 1646.

* Finetti, " Philoxenis," fo. 119.

1623.] THE ROYAL GAME. 249

In the autumn the king was at Newmarket on
a flying visit, when William Lamplough, clerk of the
kitchen, received ^500, for providing " divers
French gentlemen, lately sent unto his
Ma"^ with a present of hawks from the French king,
of all necessaries in a journey along with his Majesty
to Theobalds, Royston, and Newmarket, they being
to reside there for a season, to exercise the game ot
hawking for his Ma''" disport and recreation."* About
this time Thomas Johnson was appointed supervisor
of the game at Newmarket, and Royston, where poach-
ing appears to have been excessive, and all justices
of the peace, etc., were enjoined to aid and assist
him In the performance of his duties, as appears by
the followino^ writ : —

James by the, etc. To all Mayors Sheriffs Justices of
Peace Bayliffes, Constables Headborroughs, and all other o''
ofificers and Ministers to whom it shall appertaine Greetinge.
Whereas wee are giuen to vnderstand that o'' Game of Hare,
Pheasants, Partridge, &c. is much spoyled and killed vp
by vnlawfuU wayes w"' Gunnes, Netts, setting Dogs, and
divers sorts of Engines the effect whereof wee o'" self doe find
in the parts about Royston, and Newmarkett where though
wee have given speciall charge and comand for p''sevinge
the Game for o'" owne Royall disports, and doubt not but
that the gents of qualitie doe in their dutie and respect
vnto us yeild all due obedience and comformatie therevnto,
yet the Game is exceedingly spoyled by Pochers, and persons

* Pells, Order Book; Privy Seals, sub dato ; State Papers, Dom.,
vol. cliv. The valley of the Lee was a favourite meet with the royal
hawks and cormorants. The river was strictly preserved by the king,
who employed several gamekeepers for that purpose. During this visit
one of the king's cormorants was stolen. It was purchased from the
thief by the Bishop of Winchester, and, after much ado, was eventually
restored to the royal vivaria.

2SO THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

of base condition. For p'ventinge wherof wee have appointed
and authorized Thomas Johnson to have the care and over-
sight of o'' Game in all the parts about Royston and New
markett, and to seize, and take away all such Gunnes
Netts, and Engines as are, or shalbe ready or kept for de-
stroinge o'^' Game in anie those parts, contrarie to o' comaund.
And wee doe hereby require and charge you, and desire of
you to bee aydinge and assistinge vnto him from time to time
as their shalbe cause, for the better exerci^con of o'' pleasure,
&c. — n.d. State Papers, Dom., vol. cviii. no. 109 (575).

To John Peynell vppon warr* dated xxviij"" Marij 1623 for
rydinge poste from Westminster to the Courte at Newmarkett
iiij". — Accounts of the Treasurer of the Chamber of the
Household, M.S., P.R.O. (m. 162).

To George Cuddington picture drawer vppon the Councils
warr' dated primo July 1623 for drawinge the picture of the
Infanta of Spayn w^'' was delivered into his Ma*^ bedchamber
xxx". — Ibid.

To Raphe Robynson vppon the lyke warr*: dated vltimo
marij 1623 for rydinge post from Newmarkett to London and
backe agayne viij^'. — Ibid.

To Sir Roberte Vernon knight, keeper of the house at
Newmarkett vppon twoe warrauntes dated xij'"° Aprilis 1623
for his lodginge out of the Courte ; his owne beinge taken
from him by the space of xij weekes in the moneths of
November December Februarye and Marche xij". To him
more vppon a warr' dated viij'"° Octobris 1623 for broomes
&<= xiij" vij^ Vnf.—Ibid.

To Sir Thomas Sackvyle, Knight gentleman vsher daylie
wayter for the allowaunce of himselfe one yeoman vsher three
yeomen hangers, twoe groraes of the Warderobe, and one
grome porter, for makinge readie of Trinity e Colledge in
Cambridge for Don Carlos the Spanishe Ambassador, the
Baron de Boyscote the Archduches' Ambassador ; and Mon-
sieur Vannall a gentleman from the Archduches xviij'^° dayes ;
twelve Chambers for gentlemen w"^'' did accompanye the saide
Ambassadors xxiiij"'' dayes ; the Princes lodgings at New-

1624.] FALCONRY. 251

markett twoe sevcrall tymes for the saide Ambassadours XYJ*"
dayes, in all by the space of Ivij dayes menslbz Februar et
Martij 1622 and 1623 -^^ xlvij" vij\ iiij'' (m. 158^;). — Ibid.

To Willm Welde servaunte to Mr. Secretary Conwa}'
vppon Councells warr* dated the laste of February 1622 for
rydinge in poste from Newmarkett to London and backe
againe for his Ma'^' service O (m. 159.) More to him vppon
like warr*^ dated Marcij xxiij*^" 1622 for his postinge charges
from Newmarkett to London and backe againe iiij'' (m. 160).

To Sir John Coke, knight, vppon the lord Chamberleynes
warr* dated xxiiij^'^ Jaunarij 1622 in reward to sondry
Preachers of Cambridge preachinge before his Ma*"^ in his
huntinge Yourneys at Royston, Finchingbroke and New-
markett at seuerall tymes between the vij"' of October 1620
and the sixteenth of December 1622 attested vnder the handes
of the Bishoppe of Durham and the Vicechauncello"" of Cam-
bridge Ixij" (m. i63</), — Ibid.

Although ever^^thing was at sixes and sevens at
Whitehall, the king stole away to Newmarket in
January, 1624. He arrived there on the 1624.
I 7th, " against the advice of his physicians, January,
to see some hawks fly." A French nobleman, who is
described as " a good falconer," had recently arrived in
London, with a present of sixteen cast of hawks, some
horses, and "setting dogs," from Louis XIII. These
were destined for the royal mews, stables, and kennels
at Newmarket. This venatic envoy was received in
London with all the ^clat and ceremony accorded to
the highest embassies : " He made a splendid entry
with bis train by torch-light, and will stay till he has
instructed some of our people in this kind of falconry,
though he costs his Majesty ^25 or ^30 a day."*

* Chamberlain to Carleton, London, Jan. 17, 1642.

252 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

Expcnsis of the diet of Mons. Bonavons, a Falkoner at
Royston and Newmarket in the months of Jany and Feb.
viz, at Waltham Cross ^^34. 17. 8, Royston £/^\. ys. yd,
Newmarket £21$. 11. 6, Royston ^43 10. 2, Waltham
Cross ^49. 8. 9, and London ^^354. 11. 9, 35 days in the
said months amounting altogether to the sum of ;^739. 7. 4.

Expensis of a feast provided for Mons. Bonavons at New-
market in the month of February ^10. 3. 2. — Exchequer,
L.T.R., Wardrobe Aces., Cofferer, Series III., box E., Rot. 45,
M.S., P.R.O.

What this instruction was, or what sport ensued,
has not transpired. However, on the 29th, Secretary
Conway wrote from Newmarket to Mr. Draper in
London to send some one for a hawk of the king's,
which had been taken up in Kent. His Majesty him-
self wrote to the authorities of Jesus College, Cam-
bridge, to elect John Hume to the next vacant
fellowship, notwithstanding their statutes excluding the
" beggarly Scotch " of participating in the honours and
emoluments of that university, which was an old
grievance, dating back to the arrival of the king and
his Caledonian followers in the " Land of Promise."
On the 30th, Secretary Conway intimated to the Earl
of Middlesex, the Lord Treasurer, that the king,
wishing to be " disburdened of the noble falconers,"
desired expedition of the presents designed for them
on their departure. The king's present to the Grand
Falkner of France was his picture in a case garnished
with diamonds, with a chain set in diamonds, to the
value of ^800 or ^1000. The Prince of Wales returned
to London on the following day ; and on February 3
" the king was so drousey that he could only keep him-

1024.] THE SPANISH MATCH BROKEN OFF.

^53

self awake by playing at cards." Sir William Grey, of
Northumberland, was created Baron Grey ^"" of Werke
Sir George Goring ^"^ obtained the surveyorship of the
soap-works, with a fee of ^60 a year ; the Bishop of
St. Asaph got a dispensation to hold certain livings
in coniniendavi ; and Sir William Pelham ^°^ directed
attention to the great destruction of wild fowl at
Crowley, which if prevented, Newmarket would
abound with those useful accessories of the chase.
Similar business was transacted at the palace up to
February 7th, when the court went to Theobalds, en
7'oute to Whitehall, where the king arrived on the
nth, to find that the course of true love did not run
smooth with " Baby Charles " and the " Infanta Maria,'
as the Spanish match, which promised so much feli-
city, happiness, and honour to all concerned, was
definitely broken off. Parliament was in session at
Westminster, where the Commons were claiming
rights and privileges unheard of; and, sooth to say,
had their claims allowed. Some of the high officers
of state were impeached for neglecting and abusing
their functions. Foreign affairs were terribly com-
plicated, and war seemed imminent on all parts of the
continent. Thus the spring, the summer, and the
autumn passed away, and not until the treaty con-
cluded with France was ratified in November, did
another opportunity occur for James to behold again
his beloved Newmarket.

In the meantime steps were taken to improve the
game at Newmarket. On the 14th of March, John
Fyson,* gamekeeper of heron, duck, and mallard, at

* Ancestor of the present Surgeon Fyson, of Newmarket.

254 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

Newmarket, received a warrant for payment of ^40, for
enclosing ground near the river there, to feed young
fowl in, for increase of the game. On the 26th,
Secretary Conway wrote to Lord Petre ^^^ on the
subject, as follows : —

26 March, 1624.
Right hono'"'''

Yo'' Lp will best see by this inclosed the infor-
ma'cons that is come to my Lo. Annesie and imparted to the
Kinge. His Ma"*^ hath comanded me to lett yo'' Lp. knowe
how much hee affects the perfecting of that work of impailing
a place for p'servaiice of the Fowle w'^'' is the founda'con of
his pleasure about Newmarket. His Ma''*' is confident of yo'"
good inclana'con to fashion all things conveniently in yo'"
power, to his contentm*. His Ma"*^ desire therefore is, that
you would by this Bearer send to me yo'" Lrs directed to yo'"
Tennant to require and "Warrant him to suffer the pales to be
put vp on that quantitie of ground expressed. And his Ma'"^
is pleased to remitt it to you to make a iust and consciunable
satisfaccon to yor Tennant for the value of the proffit he
might take of that land. And his Ma"° will give order for
the paym* of it duly to him. And if yo'" Lp. shall please to
addresse to my Lo. Annesie or myself what yo*" desire to
have done in this point, you will find readines to gett quick
dispatch, and good satisfaccon and faithful indeavour to im-
prove your humble assecc'an to his Ma*'° service in his Ma*'*"^
opinion of it. This is what I have in charge. My humble
dutie presseth me to say that I may signe to it that I am yo'"
Lp^, etc.

In answer to this letter Lord Petre wrote from his
town house in Aldersgate Street, the same day, that
he would order his tenant to yield to his Majesty's
w^ish touching the enclosure of the ground in his
manor near Newmarket, for the preservation of wild
fowl ; and that then he would be a suitor for recom-

lG2-i.] FASS/A'G EVENTS AT THE PALACE. 255

pence for him. The tenant, however, appears to
have put obstacles in the way ; as on April 1 1
Conway wrote again to Lord Petre on the subject,
expressing the king's confidence that his lordship
would persuade his tenant to acquiesce with his
wishes ; assuring him that just recompence would be
given for any loss or damage he might thereby sus-
tain. On the 20th, Fyson, one of the gamekeepers
at Newmarket, wrote to Secretary Conway, that he
had been hindered empaling the enclosure, because
Lord Petre's tenant forbid the workmen to proceed
until he had spoken with him. The writer asserted
that the ground they made so much to do about was
only worth forty shillings a year, and asked the secre-
tary to furnish him with the king's warrant to proceed
with the work. This was apparently refused, and we
hear nothing further on the subject until July, 1632.

The king arrived from Royston at Newmarket on
November 7. He was accompanied by the Prince of
Wales, the Duke of Buckino-ham, Secretary

November.

Conway, and a large retinue. The royal
sojourn lasted for about a month. During the greater
portion of his visit the king was seriously indisposed,
and he does not appear to have actively joined in the
sports to which he was so devotedly attached. The
time was passed in the performance of miscellaneous
affairs of state. Count Ernest de INIansfeldt was
entertained at the palace prior to his departure to
lead the expedition for the recovery of the Palatinate,
in the success of which the British public were
generally interested. James's predilection for field

256 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

Sports is exhibited in many transactions and occur-
rences here at this time. Thus, Sir Wilh'am Russell
is ordered to destroy a coney warren on composition ;
Cuthbert Bacon, ranger and riding- forester in the
New Forest, appointed to have the oversight of the
game and woods therein, during the vacancy occa-
sioned by the absence of the warden ; the dispute
between Mr. Lee and John Knight, his under-keeper
in Waltham Forest, to be reinvestigated, that a
reconcihation may be effected between him and his
master ; Sir Robert Osborne to examine deer-stealers
from Higham- Ferrers Park; warrant to Auguistine
Parker to preserve the game of pheasants within five
miles of Stanton, county Suffolk, and to take away any
guns, nets, etc., used to destroy them ; warrant to
Richard Kerry to have charge of the game in and
about Hampton Court. Being informed that Lord
Clifford has bought a very fleet hound, the king desired
him to send it to Newmarket : " The demand may be
unacceptable, but it shows the king's freedom with his
lordship." Lord Clifford replied that the hound was
lame, or he would gladly send it to his majesty. Most
of these documents were signed in the king's presence,
"by his stamp in custody of the Earl of Annandale," ^°''
in consequence of his Majesty being unable to hold a
pen. * Such was the last visit but one of the British
Solomon to the palace and the " royal village " which

* " During the greater part of the Year, the King had kept at New-
market as in an Infirmary, and forgot his Recreations of Hunting and
Hawking, having his Thoughts set upon the Match, and the restoring his
Son-in-La\v to the Palafhiate; which, if it did not take Effect, he thought
he should be undervalu'd by all the Princes of Europe." — Goodman, p. 58.

1624.] VISIT OF THE PERSIAN AMBASSADOR. 257

he may be said to have created, and which was destined
to become the head-quarters of the EngHsh turf.''"

In connection with this royal sojourn during the
spring, we must now turn back, in order to refer to the
following incidents.

In January, 1624, Sir Robert Shirley arrived in
England from Persia, where, for some time past, he
had been trading in silks and other commodities of that
country. He came home accredited with diplomatic
functions by the then Shah, and received all the
honours and ceremonies usually accorded to ambassa-
dors. His journey to and sojourn at the court at
Newmarket is thus described by Sir John Finett : —

"The nineteenth of January, having received directions
from my Lord Chamberlaine to repair to Newmarket for
attendance of Sir Robert Sherrley (arrived Ambassador from
the King of Persia) to his Audience, which by his Majesties
appointment he was to have there \i.e. Newmarket] with the
advantage and commodity of his neere abode at Saxhani (his
first rest after his Landing and long Travells, and whence his
Sister the Lady Crofts sent to me to London, to prepare his
access to his IVTajesty.) As soone as he was come to Court I
sent my man to him with notice of my comming thither to
serve him, and having received answer of his desires to be
dispatcht for his speedy return, I acquainted both the Duke
of Buckingham, and Master Secretary Conway with the
cause of my comming, and the address I had from my Lord
Chamberlaine to him too for my further Government : so the
27. of January I was sent [from Newmarket to] Saxhani with
the Kings Coach only, and five Gentlemen, the Kings Ser-
vants ; and parting thence the next morning early (in
obedience of a Command sent Post to me thither from my
Lord Duke after midnight, That the King having assigned

* State Papers, Dom., vols. \^Z-\-]b, passim.
VOL. I. S

258 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

the Audience for the afternoone, would have me bring the
Ambassador by ten in the forenoon) we camie with three
Coaches, besides the Kings to Court, where conducting him
immediately up to the Princes Privy Chamber (for in absence
of his Highness was purposely hung for honour of the Am-
bassador) he was fetcht thence by the Earle of Anglesey
through the Privy Chamber, and the Withdrawing-Chamber ;
(where the Duke met him) into the King's Bedchamber ;
There having made his two first respects of Approach with his
Turbant on, (his whole habite being Persian) at the third, he
took it off, and laid it at the Kings feete, and made his
Speech of Entrance kneeling, till the King willing him to arise
and come, he did, and presenting his Letters of Credence
(written in the Persian Language, and un-understood for
want of an Interpreter no where then to be found in England :)
After this, having gratious words, and countenances from his
Majesty, he returned accompanied as he came to the Prince
his Lodgings, where Master Secretary Conway repairing to
him, intertained him an hour with discourse concerning the
Propositions of his Negociation, (which he had a little before
delivered to him, and the Duke in Writing,) and so returned
to Saxham." *

In connection with this subject it only remains to
be said that two years after these events took place a
rival ambassador — one Nagdi Bey — landed in England,
who pronounced Sir Robert Shirley to be an impostor,
contending that he alone was properly accredited to
the English court. Curious complications then arose
between the rival ambassadors, the East India and
Turkey Companies, and their respective partisans. The
court officials and the ministers of state were sorely
puzzled what to believe. Shirley waited on Nagdi
Bey at his lodgings on Tower Hill, but, whether owing
to the proximity of his hotel to Billingsgate or other

* " Philoxenis," p. 135.

1624.] THE RIVAL ENVOYS OF PERSIA. 259

circumstances, the interview between their Excellencies
was a downright slanging affair, terminating in blows.
After this scandal cooled down, Nagdi Bey was
received by Charles I. in London, where he duly
presented his credentials ; but, as in everything else,
the king was undecided, and got over the difficulty by
recop^nizinof and admittino; the claims of both ambas-
sadors. On March 14, 1624, Sir Robert Shirley was
allowed ^30 a week " during his Embassy here,"
which was subsequently increased to £^0 a week " for
diet and entertainment." His exertions in promoting
commerce with Persia and the importation of Persian
silks were highly appreciated. He chiefly resided with
his sister. Lady Crofts, at Saxham, near Newmarket.
Shirley, Nagdi Bey, and Sir Dormer Cotton (who
went to Persia as ambassador to Charles L) all died
soon after, "and with them the quarrell and inquiry
after it."

103 William Grey, son of Ralph Grey, Esq., of Chillingham,
Northumberland, and Isabel, daughter and heir of Sir Thomas
Grey, of Horton, was created a baronet June 15, 1619, and
elevated to the peerage as Baron Grey of Werke, at New-
market, February 11, 1614. He married Anne, daughter and
co-heir of Sir John Wentvvorth, of Gosfield, in Essex, by whom
he had Ralph, his heir and successor, and two daughters. In
the year 1643, when Lord Keeper Lyttleton deserted the
House of Lords, and carried the Great Seal to Charles I. at
Oxford, Lord Grey was elected Speaker at Westminster. He
died in 1674.

^°^ Son of Sir George Goring, Earl of Norwich. (See ante?)

^°^ Son and successor of Field-Marshal Sir William Pelham,

26o THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

Knight, and Eleanor, daughter of Henry Nevile, Earl of
Westmorland. He was ancestor of the Earls of Yarborough.

106 William Petre, 2nd Baron Petre of Writtle, county
Essex, succeeded his father, Sir John Petre, Knight, M.P. for
the county of Essex, elevated to the peerage as Baron Petre
of Writtle in that county, July 21, 1603, who died October 11,
1 61 3. William Petre, 2nd Baron Petre, died in 1637, when
the titles and estates reverted to his eldest surviving son.

^^'^ Sir John Murray, Knight, youngest son of Sir Charles
Murray, by Margaret, his wife, eldest daughter of Hugh, 5th
Lord Somerville, rising high in favour with James VI., was
appointed Master of the Horse, and upon the king's accession
to the throne of England, accompanied his Majesty to London
as one of the gentlemen of the privy chamber, and was created
Viscount Annandale and Lord Murray of Lochmaben, On
March 13, 1624-5, he obtained the Earldom of Annandale.
His lordship, who succeeded his brother. Sir Richard Murray,
Bart., in the old family estate of Cockpool, married Elizabeth,
daughter of Sir John Schaw, Knight. He died in September
1640,

Fyson. a Warrant to the excheq'' to paie to John Fyson
his Ma*^ Game Keep at Newmarkett the some, of 40" towards

1623-4. the empaling & enclosing a piece of ground there

March. for the feeding & holdinge of younge fowle for
his Ma*^ service for the Preseruacon of y® Game there. Trer.
Procud by the : Lord Viscount Annan[dale]. Pro Rege. —
Docquet Book, s.d.

Fyson. A Warr' vnder the Signet for John Fyson for
preservacon of his Ma*^ Game of Heron, Ducke and Mallard
in and about Newmarkett, Exninge, Lanworth, Snaylewell,
Fordham, Chippenham and diue^ other places thereabouts.
Procured by Mr. Leuinston of his Ma'^ Bed-chamber ; dated
the : 12'^'' daie of Marche 1623. — Ibid.

To Oliver Browne his Ma'* Vpholdster vpon the Councills
warr* dated xiiij^ December 1624 for making sixe portable

1625.] THE LAST VISIT OF JAMES I. 261

Chaires covered with Velvett to bee vsed in tyme of hunting
for ease and sixe seats of Spanish Leather to Hft his Ma'-^' to
and from his Bed xxxix^' xiij^ (m. \']\d).

To Sir Robert Vernon keeper of his Ma*^ House at New-
markett vpon a warraunte dated tertio Marii 1623 for his
Lodging out of Courte from the sixt of January 1623 vntill
the fift of February following iiij^* (m. 175).

To John Barwicke, Keeper of his Ma*^ House at New-
markett vpon a warr*^ dated xv'° Octobr 1624 for clensing
the said House for halfe a yeare ended at Michas 1624 C*

(m. 175./)-

To Henry Feale vppon the Councils warraunte dated viij
Decembris 1624 for the Charges in hyringe of a Coache, and
for Dyett with his owne attendaunce on Mouns'' de Boots a
Dutche gentleman from London to Newmarkett to make
knowne to his Ma*'® some matters of Importance xvj''
(m. 189).

To John Manington vppon the Councills warraunte dated
at Newmarkett xx*' Novembris 1624 for Riding Post from
Newmarkett to London and backe againe iiij" (m. igid).

To Richard Scutt vpon a like warraunte dated xxj"
February i624[-2 5] for Riding post from Newmarkett to
Newhall, and from thence to London and back againe to
Newmarkett iiij^'. (m. Ibid.). — Accounts of the Treasurer of
the Chamber, MS., P.R.O.

" The King kept his chamber all Christmas, only
going out in his litter, in fair weather, to see some
flip;hts at the brook." * Hawkino- was the

^ j^ 1625.

only sport the king could now indulge in, February—
and, owing to his impaired health, even
that pastime was pursued under difficulties. How-
ever, on February 3, 1625, his Majesty was once
more, and for the last time, located at Newmarket,

* Chamberlain to Carleton, London, Jan. 8, 1625.

262 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

whither he was accompanied by the Duke of Buck-
ingham and a small suite of retainers. On the
7th he issued a proclamation " for redress of the
inveterate evil of killing, dressing, and eating flesh
in Lent, or on fish days " ! Butchers were not to
be licenced, under any circumstances, to infringe
this regulation ; and victuallers, hotel-keepers, etc.,
were to give sureties not to dress meat on such days ;
and none were to eat it without special licences from
a bishop, which indulgences were to be " sparingly
granted." Fishmongers were likewise forbidden to
increase the price of fish, A few days later, Sir Albert
Morton arrived at the palace, and was sworn in as
Secretary of State in succession to Sir George Calvert,^^^
from whom he obtained that post for ^6000 and an
Irish barony, either for himself, or any other person
on whom he chose to bestow it. Young Edward
Hungerford, who was then at Newmarket, was re-
ported to have been made a baron by payment, " this
being the true golden age." On the 1 3th Bucking-
ham wrote to the Lord Chief Justice to take steps to
remove his sister-in-law, Frances, Viscountess Purbeck,
from the house of the Prince of Wales, " which is
defiled by her presence, and where by her subtilty
she still works on her husband, to some fitting the
prison, the King having ceased to wish her to be
treated with respect." ^°^ The master of the toils was
ordered to take three brace of bucks in Hyde Park
and convey them to Marybone Park (now the Regent's
Park), " to supply the scarcity caused by the great rain
there." On the 17th Secretary Conway arrived at

1625.] DEATH OF KING JAMES I. 263

the palace, where he remained conducting routine
pubHc business between the king and the Council
(which calls for no comment), until the 23rd of that
month, when the king and court removed to Chester-
ford Park, en route to Royston, which was reached on
the 27th. Here the Prince of Wales joined his father,
who was visibly approaching his end. The next, and
last, remove was to Theobalds, where the court arrived
on the I St of March ; and, about noon of the 27th of
that month, James I. breathed his last, and Charles I.
was instantly proclaimed king."^^

^•'^ Sir George Calvert, son and heir of Leonard Calvert,
Esq., of Danbywiske, Yorkshire, and Alecia, daughter of John
Crossland, Esq., of Crossland, in the same county, was born in
1578. Having served as secretary to Sir Robert Cecil when
Secretary of State, and afterwards as a clerk to the Privy
Council, he received the honour of knighthood in 161 7, and
was appointed, in the beginning of the ensuing year. Secretary
of State to the king, who employed him in the most impor-
tant affairs, and settled, in 1600, a pension of i^iooo a year
upon him beyond his salary. Sir George changing his
religion, however, and turning Roman Catholic in 1624,
voluntarily resigned his post. The king continued him,
nevertheless, in the Privy Council, and, having made him
large grants of lands in Ireland, elevated him to the peerage
of that kingdom, at Newmarket, February 16, 1624, as Baron
Baltimore, county Longford, Sir George being at the time
representative in Parliament for the University of Oxford.
Whilst Secretary of State, his lordship obtained a grant of the
province of Avalon, in Newfoundland, with the most extensive
privileges, and expended ;^2 5,000 in the settlement thereof.
This place he visited thrice in the reign of James I., but after
contending with great spirit against the French encroachments,

* State Papers, Dom., vols, clxxxi. — chiycsx .., passim.

264 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. Book IV.

he was obliged to abandon it altogether ; whereupon he
obtained from Charles I. a patent of Maryland to him and
his heirs for ever, with the same title and royalties as in
Avalon, to hold in common soccage as of the manor of
Windsor, paying yearly, as acknowledgment to the Crown, two
Indian arrows at Windsor Castle, upon Easter Tuesday, and
the fifth part of the gold and silver ore. His lordship did not
live, however, to see the grant pass the Great Seal, and his son
Cecil, the succeeding Lord Baltimore, had it made out in his
own name, bearing date June 20, 1632. The province of
Maryland was so named by Charles I. in honour of his queen,
Henrietta Maria.

'^^ She was charged for practising sorcery, which could not
be sustained, and subsequently for incontinency (see Bishop
Goodman's "The Court of James I.," vol. ii., p. 376). Lady
PURBECK cohabited with Sir Robert Howard, fifth son of the
Earl of Suffolk, Lord High Chamberlain. A son having been
born,Lady Purbeck and the reputed father. Sir Robert Howard,
were both prosecuted for adultery in the Court of High Com-
mission, and were convicted and sentenced to do penance.
Lady Purbeck escaped the humiliating ceremony by conceal-
ing herself ; but her paramour had probably to undergo it, for
in 1640, when the "Old Powdering Tub" was abolished, a
fine of i^SOO was, at the suit of Sir Robert Howard, imposed
on Archbishop Laud, who had passed the sentence. It seems
that the Ambassador of Savoy was implicated in this intrigue.
Sir John Finett records that —

" In the time of Christmas, the Vicountess of Purbeck
having for execution of a sentance pronounced against her
in the High Commission Court, her house beset by a Serjeant
at Armes, with other Officers of Justice ; a Gentleman came
in the morning from the Countess of Buckingham to the
Ambassador of Savoy, demanding leave of him for the said
Officers to pass through his house into his Garden (joined to
the Ladies) for her more easie apprehension, and arrest by
that way, which though at first he somewhat struck at (as
wronging and lesning, he thought, the respect of his quality,

1625.] LADY PURBECK. 265

to leave his house free of entrance to such persons, especially
for the surprize and arrest of a fair Lady his Neighbour) he
at last, notwithstanding suffered the Constable to enter it,
and with convenience to remain in it and in the Garden,
watching his opportunity till dinner-time, when some of the
Gentlemen attendants on him, contriving a way to be rid of
that incumbrance, dressed the Ambassadors Page (a handsome
fair Boy) in womans apparrell, thrust him suddenly into the
Lords Coach, (as if it had been the Lady making her escape)
and drove fast with him down the Strand, followed by a
Multitude of people, and those Officers (not without danger
to the Coach-man, from their violence) but with ease to the
Ambassador, that had his house by this device cleared of the
Constable, but himself after charged by the Duke, That all
this was done of designe for the Ladies escape (which in that
Hubbub she made) to his no small prejudice, and scorn in a
business that so nearly, he said, concerned him (she being
Wife to his Brother, and bringing him Children of anothers
begetting, yet such as by the Law (because begotten and born
while her Husband was in the Land) must be his Fathering).
The Ambassador for his Purgation from this charge, went
immediately to the Duke at Whitehall, but was denied accesse:
Whereupon repairing to my Lord Chamberlain for his media-
tion, I was sent to him by his Lordship to let him know more
particularly the Dukes displeasure, and back by the Ambas-
sador to the Duke with his humble request but of one quarter
of an hours audience for his disblaming, he a sevennight after
obtained of the Duke an interview in Whitehall Garden, and
after an hours parley, a reconciliation." — " Philoxenis," 239.

To William Glover gentleman vsher daily wayter to his
Ma*^^ for the allowaunce of himselfe one gentleman vsher
Quarter wayter, one yeoman vsher, one yeoman hanger,
and attending from Whitehall to Newmarkett and backe
again to Denmarke house Menss Januarij Februarij Martij
et Aprilis 1624 et 1625 for Ixxviij*^'' dayes C" ij* (m. 188^).
— Aces, of the Treasurer of the Chamber.

266 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

Probably the final incident in connection with the
last sojourn of James I. at Newmarket related to a
present of four cast of hawks, which he sent to Louis
XIII., so quaintly related in the subjoined document : — •

The Decleration of the Accompte of Sir Anthonie
Pell Knight M'' Falkoner to his late Ma*y and by him
appointed to send vnto the French King a present of fower
Caste of Hawkes as appeareth By warr* of the right honor-
able Henry viscount Mandevill now Earle of Manchester late
Lord highe Threar of England and S"" Fluke Grevill knight
then Chauncello'" and vnderthrear of the Courte of Excheq''
remayning in y" Threasury Office at the Receipte of the said
Excheq' and directed to S"" Robert Pye and the rest of the
officers of the Receipte for Impresting moneys vnto him this
Accomptunte for that service Which warr^ bearing date
the xij**^ Daye of January 1620 is hereafter verbatim recited
viz. After o'" hearty commendacons. Whereas it hath pleased
his Ma^^ to appointe S*" Anthony Pell his M"" Falkoner to
send vnto his good Brother the French King a Present of
fower Caste of Hawkes and is pleased to allowe vnto him
for theire transportation and five Servants w^'* horses to attend
them the some of One hundred and fifty pounds Current
english money imprest and such further somes as shall
appeare vpon Bills to bee allowed by vs vpon Accompte, and
in regard of the speed of the service doth require, wee cannott
procure a privy Seal to warr* the paym* Therefore wee will
and desire you to make paym*^ of the said some of CF vnto
the said S'" Anthony Pell and take his Acquittunce for the same,
vntill a privy Seale may be procured, w*^*^ w'^^ all convenient
speed shallbe done. And in the meane tyme this o'" Lre
shallbe yo'' warr'. This xij"* of January 1620 THAT IS TO
SAVE aswell of such moneys as the said S"" Anthony Pell hath
received oute of the receipte of the Exchq"" as of the Dis-
bursem* thereof for provicon of the said Hawks w^*^ the charge
of sending and transporting them into Fraunce in Anno
XVIIJ"° Regis Jacobi As by a Booke thereof exhibited vpon

1625.] THE KINGS PRESENT TO LOUIS XIII. 267

his oathe appeareth Which said Accompte was taken and
Declared before the right honorable Francis Lord Cotting-
ton Chauncello' and vnderthrear of his Ma^^ Courte of the
Excheq'" (and alsoe Exercising the place and office of Lord
High Threar of England by Comission vnder the Create
Scale of England bearing Date the xiij'*" day of Maye in the
Ninth Yeare of his Ma*^ Raigne during the attendunce of
Richard Earle of Portland Lord High Threar of England
on his Majestys person in his journey into Scotland and vntill
his returne vnto the City of London or Westm'., the xix'^
Daye of July in the Ninth yeare of his Ma*' Raigne, viz. :

The said Accomptu^'NTE is charged with money by him
receaved and had of the Threar and vnderthrear of the Courte
of Excheq"" in MiCHAS Tearme Anno Regni Re Jacobi xviij""
finien et xix™° incipien by thands of S"" Francis Egioke knight
one of the fower Tello'"® of his Ma*^* Receipte of the Exchq"^
for provicon of fower Caste of Hawkes to be sent from his
late Ma'^' to the King of Fraunce for the Charge of their
Transportacon and of sixe Servauntes w"^ Horses to attend
them By vertue of the before recited warr' and Dirreccon As
by a Certificatt thereof vnder the hand of S"" Robert Pye
Knight appeareth. . . . Cl'\

The said Accomptu^nte is allowed for the .severall
sumes of money hereafter following, viz. for fower Caste of

Hawkes viz. twoe Caste of Herners iiij'' and twoe Caste of
Brooke Hawks Ix'' . . . Cxi" For fowre Coates and fowre
Suits for fower Servaunts sent w'^ the said presents ... 1'^
For fower Horses bought and given them for their Journey
. . . xxxij'^ And for defreying their chargs and expense in
their Journey into Fraunce theire staye there and returne back
againe . . . Ix" In all by him the said S"" Anthony Pell dis-
tributed and paid As by a Booke exhibited vpon his oath

XX

and herevpon remayning appeareth. . . . CCiiij ij".

And so he resteth in SUPPLUSAGE the sume of ... .
Cxxxij".

(Signed) Francis Cottington.

— A.O.R. Ambassadors, roll 9, bundle 9, MS., P.R.O.

268 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET, [Book IV.

Bishop Goodman, who was, as he himself declares,
" the last man that did homage " in the time of the
king's sickness, attributed the fatal illness of James I.
to the excessive use of screen fruits : " After eating
of fruit in the spring time, his body fell into great
looseness, which although while he was young
did tend to preserve his health, yet now, being
grown toward sixty, it did a little weaken his
body, and going to Theobalds, to Newmarket, and
stirring abroad when as the coldness of the year
was not yet past almost, it could not be prevented,
but he must fall into a quartan ague, for the recovery
whereof the physicians taking one course, and the
plaister another, I fear the King was wronged be-
tween both." The plasters referred to by the bishop
were applied, by Buckingham and his mother, to
the king's wrist, without the consent of his physi-
cians ; and, through the medium of the plasters, it
was alleged that the king was poisoned. On the
fourteenth day of his illness the king lost the faculty
of speech, and in the course of a few hours expired,
in the fifty-ninth year of his age and the twenty-
third of his reign. Of his seven children, three sons
and four daughters, only two survived him : Charles,
his successor on the throne ; and Elizabeth, the titular
Queen of Bohemia.

Dr. Lingard says : " James, though an able man,
was a weak monarch, . . . To forget his cares in the
hurry of the chase, or the exercise of golf, in carousing
at table, or laughing at the buffoonery and indecencies
practised by those around him, seems to have con-

1625.]

THE KNIGHTS OF NEWMARKET.

269

stituted the chief pleasures of his life. . . . Had the
lot of James been cast in private life, he might have
been a respectable country gentleman : the elevation
of the throne exposed his foibles to the gaze of the
public, and that at a time when the growing spirit of
freedom and the more general diffusion of knowledge
had rendered men less willing to admit the preten-
sions, and more eager to censure the defects, of their
superiors. With all his learning and eloquence, he
failed to acquire the love or esteem of his subjects :
and though he deserved not the reproaches cast on
his memory by the revolutionary writers of the next
and succeeding reigns, posterity has agreed to consider
him as a weak and prodigal king, and a vain and
loquacious pedant." *

The following list of " all the Knights Batchelaurs made
by King James," at Newmarket, "since his comming to the
Crown of England" is extracted from the " Perfect Collec-
tion " by J[ohn] P[hiHpot] Esq., Somerset Herald, "a devout
servant of the Roy all Line," London (4™°) 166b: —

DATE.

NAME.

1604-5.

Feb. 26 ..

Sir

Rice Griffin

)(

Francis Fulford

„ 27 ..

)>

Thomas Flemyng

»

Robert Crane

»

Thomas Huggon

»

Henry Colt

1606.

Oct. 17 ...

))

Nicholas Hayes

„ 18 ...

>)

William Hewet

COUNTY.

Harwich

Devon

Southampton

Suffolk

Norfolk

Suffolk

Southampton
London

Hist. Eng.," vol. vii., chap. iii.

2/0

THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET.

[Book IV.

DATE.

NAME.

COUNTY.

Oct. 19 ...

Sir

Thomas Plater

... Suffolk

»

Edward Lewknor ...

3)

1607.

April 16 ...

»

Edward Vere

... Essex

»

John Vere

... ,,

1608-9.

March 5 ...

»

Edward Lewkner ...

... Suffolk

))

Robert Quarles

Essex

4 •••

»

Thomas Seckford ...

• • • >>

1609.

Aprils ...

j>

Frank Harris

„ 17 ...

))

Edward Barret

... Essex

1610-11.

Feb.

>j

Henry Pallavisine ...

... Cambs.

>)

Charles Howard

161 1-12 (?)

March

j>

Henry Fane

... Kent

1612-13.

Jan.

M

Humphrey May ...

Sussex

>»

Francis Leigh

... Warwick

>>

Robert Wingfield

»

Edmond Wyld

>)

Edward Ascough

5)

Joseph Killegrew

»

Edward Underbill...

. . . Warwick

f)

Nevill Pool

1614.

Nov. 21 ...

)>

William Some

>>

John Repingdon ...

... Warwick

1614-15.

Jan. 19

>)

Dudley Norton

» 30 ...

)J

John Savage

Feb. 3 ...

>>

Robert Anstrowcher

March 17...

>>

William Lampton

»

Thomas Gerrard

1615.

Dec. 4

»

William Brunckard

1625.]

THE KNIGHTS OF NEWMARKET.

271

DATE,

Dec.

4

>'

15

1615

-16.

Jan.

17

1616

May

14

Nov.

18

»

20

»

25

5)

28

J>

29

Dec.

6

12

NAME.

Sir John Leighton

„ Alexander Muncrifife

„ Thomas Bland

„ Steven Boteler

„ Giles Mompesson ...

„ William Pelham ...

„ Moses Hill

„ Huntington Colby

„ Ferdinando Knightley

„ Robert Oxenbridge

„ Robert Brown

,, Charles Grosse

,, Henry Radley

„ Samuel Somester ...

„ Richard Sandford ...

„ Richard Waldron

COUNTY.

„ 14 ..,

»

ratrick Moneypenny

„ 16 ...

>)

George Lamplough

»)

Thomas Wentworth

I6I7.

Nov. 17 ...

j>

Robert Digby

„ 27 ..,

))

William Fish

Dec. 3 .-

»>

Charles Hussey

„ 6 ..

»

Richard Saltingstall

1617-18.

Jan. 30 ...

>>

Francis Blundell ...

Feb. 3 ...

))

Simon Norwich

» 7 •••

j>

Michael Longevill

„ 8 ..

>)

Jasper Herbert

1618.

Nov. 23 ..

»

Richard Saltonstall

»

George Ellis

»

Robert Kemp

„ 24 ..

>)

Benjamin Thornborow

Yorks.

Wilts.
[Lincoln]

Suffolk-
Northampton
Hants.

[Lincoln]

[Devon]

[Westm.]

London
Ireland

York

2/2

THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET.

[Book IV.

DATE.

NAME.

Nov. 30 (?)

Sir

George Yardley

»

Nathaniel Napper

Dec. I

»

Thomas Deerham

„ 4 ...

)>

John Hare

» 5 •••

)>

Philip Bedingfield

„ II ...

)>

Robert Willoughby

„ 12 ...

»)

Francis Leigh

» 15 •••

>>

John Brewes

1618-19.

Jan. 21

>>

Francis Vivyan

»

Robert Lacy

»

John Miller

„ 22 ...

>>

Edward Dering

„ 24 ...

j>

Robert Filmer

1619.

April 26 ...

)>

Thomas Fleetwood

1620.

Dec.

»

Francis Michell

(after degraded, June,

1621)*

1621.

Nov. 19 ...

)>

Alexander Culpeper

Dec. 8 ...

>>

Thomas Lydall

...

1621-22.

Feb. 12 ...

>>

George Hayes

1622.

Nov. 16 ...

j>

William Becher

Dec. 2

>>

Giles Estcourt

))

William Master

„ II ...

>>

Thomas Wanton

1622-23.

March 2 ...

>>

John Mead

12...

)>

Thomas Sanders

1623.

March 25 ...

)>

Thomas Symons

COUNTY.

Kent

[Newcastle]

* He was impeached in Parliament and imprisoned for corruption
in connection with pubHc-house Hcences.

1625.] THE KNIGHTS OF NEWMARKET. 273

DATE. NAME. COUNTY.

1624.

August ... Sir Thomas Hartop

of Burton Lazus ... Leicester

Nov. 19 ... „ Philip Parker

of Arwerton ... ... Suffolk

Dec. 2 ... „ Alexander Brett

1624-25.

Feb. 8 ... „ Thomas Swinborne ... Northampton

„ 15 ... „ Nicholas Martin Devon

„ 20 ... ,, Thomas Culpeper ... ... Kent

„ 24 ... „ Roger Thornton

of Snailwell Cambs.

James I.'s knights were held in great contempt by the
old English families. Any gentleman who could, without
giving offence, usually declined the honour. Anent the
royal progress to Scotland in 161 7 Mr. Chamberlain writes :
"All our Pentioners that went with the King are knighted
there, that were undubbed before, and all the Gentlemen of
Yorkshire ; so that there is scarce left an esquire to uphold
the race. And the Order is descended somewhat lower, even
to Adam Hill, that was the Earl of Montgomery's barber,
and to one Green, husband of the queen's laundress, an
host of Doncaster, and to another that lately kept an inn
at Romford." But they brought grist to the royal mill, and
filled the pockets of the Scotch favourites. The same may
be said of this monarch's baronetcies, which were avowedly
designed to raise the wind.

Sir Anthony Weldon (" Court and Character of King
James ") remarks that " At this time the honour of knight-
hood, which antiquity reserved sacred, as the cheapest and
readiest Jewell to present virtue with, was promiscuously
laid on any head belonging to the yeomanry (made addle
through pride and a contempt of their ancestors' pedigree)
that had but a court friend, or money to purchase the
favour of the meanest able to bring him into an outward
roome, where the king, the fountaine of honour, come downe,
VOL. I. T

274 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book IV.

and was uninterrupted by other businesse. In which case,
it was then usuall for him to grant a commission to the
chamberlaine, or some other lord, to it. But experience soon
informed the empty Scot, that this airy treasure was in-
exhaustible, so it might be turned to great profit, seeing
the shoales of base and ignorant trouts that gaped after it
(the cause, accesse to the king was more daily difficult) by
this rending the temple of honour a common theater
into which the basest were suffered to enter for their
money." The minimum price of a Baronetcy was iJ^iooo
(although, in many instances, no reasonable offer was refused) ;
while the various grades of the peerage were procurable at
varying prices according to arrangement. The prodigality
of Charles I. in conferring the honour of knighthood and
titles of dignity was almost equal to that of his father.

BOOK V.

MISCELLANEOUS OCCURRENCES AT NEWMARKET,
1609-1625.

Works and buildings at Newmarket Palace during the reign of James I.
— The materials — Their cost — The workmen employed and their
wages — Description of the palace — And its appurtenances — ;£20,383
laid out on building there in sixteen years — The New Warren —
John Bancks appointed custodian — His functions and fees — Cost of
palling — Great Wilbraham — Little Wilbraham — Six-Mile-Bottom —
Szr Robert Vernon obtains the reversion of the Keepership of the
Palace — Succeeds to the appointment in 1616 — His patent — His
duties and remuneration — 1619. The King present at the races —
Valuation and taxation, with list of the inhabitants of Newmarket
in the reign of James L — Horses and horsemanship — James L on
riding and sporting subjects — His instructions to Prince Henry —
Famous race-horses of this era — Popularity of the Turf — Betting
by noblemen and gentlemen — The Earl of N'orthumberland — Im-
portance attached to horse-breeding — The King's four jockeys in
ordinary — Their wages and emoluments — The royal studs at Malmes-
bury, Newmarket, Tutbury, Cole Park, and Middle Park, Eltham —
Introduction of Eastern blood — The Markham Arabian bought by
the King — Its price — The Duke of Newcastle's comments on this
horse — George Digby sent by the King to the East to purchase
horses — Their cost — Sir Thomas Edniond^s Barbary horses at New-
market— The royal stud there — Spanish asses — Mules and jennets
— Retrenchment at the royal studs — Sully's present of horses to
James I. — St. Anthony the rider — He instructs Pritice Hetiry in the
manege — The Prince a famous horseman — St. Anthony's remune-
ration— His emoluments curtailed — Recouped in money — Curious
case of cors presente — Lord Gerard's Captain — Dispute relating to
the horse between the King and the Bishop of Coventry and Lich-
field— Captain sent to the royal stud at Newmarket — Spanish horses
imported by the Duke of Buckingham — The King's admiration for
horses and hounds — Horse-breeding in Yorkshire — Sir George

276 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book V.

Reresbfs stud — Remarkable rides— Sir Robert Carey — Prince Henry
— The Duke of Alva — Edmond Howe's riding academy — Famous
circus horses — Bank's performing horses — " The wonder of the
world " — They perform in Rome^And are burnt alive by order of
the Pope — Referred to by Shakespeare and Bishop Hall — Pedes-
trianism — Account of some curious matches — Sir Dudley Diggs
endows a race for men and women — Gaming — Restrictions on horse-
racing and gaming in Scotland — Act of Parliament thereon — Its
provisions, pains, and penalties — Sir Christopher Hatton — The Earl
of Pembroke — Twelfth-night at the Groom Porters — Lord Scrope —
Lord Walden — Mr. Blunt — Lord Mayor Lee — Lord Monteagle — The
Earl of Dorset — The Marquis of Hamiltoti — Sir Francis Wolley
— Lord Scrope^ and other notable gamesters of the period — George
Villiers, ist Duke of Buckingham.

The following extracts from the accounts of the
Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer, preserved in the
James I Public Record Office, show the cost of
1609—1625. materials used in works and building, with
The Palace, the money disbursed for workmen, at New-
1609-1610. niarket Palace, from 1609 to 1625. The
first for the year 1609 is as follows : — " Alsoe allowed
to the said Accompt' for money by him yssued
paide and defrayed for worke and Emp'cons and
Provi'cons within the tyme of the Accompte donne
and bestowed in and aboute his Ma" house at New-
markett, viz., Masons ymploied in cutting, fitting, and
setting fower Chymney pannells in the new pryvy
lodgings and laying the Borders of the same : Car-
penters ymploied in fitting and setting up of planks
for Dressor boordes in the privy kitchen and Larder,
Setting up a pti'con with quarter boordes in the privy
Chamber at the stayres head by the Chamber of
p''sence, taking downe and setting up a paire of
stayres in the said roome ; boording up part of a
wall between the Larder and the roome where the

1609.] THE HOUSE THAT JAMES BUILT. 277

provi'cons are laid ; fastning of quarters to the walls
for hangings in the new privy lodgings ; making
three new Doores of Oken boordes one between
the p'sence Chamber and Princes lodgings, and th'
between the Lord Fenton's Chamber and his Dyning-
roome, and the third for the Prince's wardrobe ;
making of tables tressells formes and Cupboordes
and doing sondry oth' needefull woorke aboute the
said house. Bricklayers and Tylers ymploied in
paving w'"" bricks a gutter betweene the King's house
and the house next adioyning ; making a vantle of
bricks from the said gutter throughe the Bottlehouse
and greate entrie to convey the Rainewater into the
old vantle ; paving with paving tyles the floores at
the staires foote going up to the pallett chamber ;
paving of div'se broken places in the hall ; making of
Raunee ; mendino- the broken harthes and Furnace ;
setting the panne in the Scullery ; tyling div'se broken
places over the Privie lodgings & over the olde lodg-
ings about the house ; Plaisterers ymploied in lathing
and laying with plaister of parris & lyme and haire the
outside and inside walles ceelings and p'ticons of the
newe lodgings, the stoare-house, the pantry, the
buttery, the wyne-seller, and the groomes of the privy
chamber their lodging. Thatchers ymploied in cover-
inor w'"" strawe the Back-side of the olde house over
the staires which were brought up at thende of the
lodgings and over the privy kitchin and scullery.
Plombers ymployed in laying w'*" sheete lead the greate
Cornish on the forefront of the newe lodgings, playning
and fitting of quart'' for footeplates there and helping

278 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book V.

to boorde up the pti'con in the p'sence. Sawyers
ymploied in cutting of timber into div'se and sondry
scantHngs ; and Labourers attending the said woork-
men & doeing sondry other necessary busynesses
there ; for p'formance of all wh"'' woorkes diverse quan-
tities of Em'pcons & Provi'con's have been made and
bought, the p'ticulars whereof, with their quantities,
nombers, and price, as also the chardge of carriage,
wage of artificers, woorkemen, labourers, & others
ymploied in these services doe hereafter more
p'ticularly ensue, viz."

Then follow the different items, the materials used,
with the cost of each, from which it appears that four
chimney panels of stone cost i6i-. each ; 29ft. 6in. of
border-stone cost Zd. a foot ; timber cost Zd. a foot ;
deals cost ^5 146-. \d. the 100; ash poles, (:>d. each;
lime, Zd. the load ; sand and gravel, 6^. ditto ; bricks,
\y. \d. per 1000; laths, 'x,os. the load, etc. The
workmen's wages per day were as follow : — Masons,
\Zd. ; carpenters, from \od., to \^d. ; bricklayers, from
\\d. to \']d. ; plasterers, from \\d. to 22d. ; joiners,
\%d.\ plumbers, \Zd. \ labourers, from <^d. to \2d.\
sawyers, 25. 6d. the couple. Two clerks of works had
\s. a day each. Piece-workers were paid a lump sum.
for a certain job, — all materials being found by the
king. Richard Griffin, for laying 303^ square yards of
bulrush mats in the king's new privy lodgings and the
noblemen's lodgings, finding mat-nails, pack-thread,
etc., was paid at the rate of Zd. per yard. The total
amount expended on the Royal Palace at Newmarket,
in this account, was ^457 6i". \\d.

1611-1613.] THE WORKS AND BUILDINGS. 279

In the following year ^59 4^. ^d. was expended on
the works and buildings at the king's palace at New-
market. The articles included timber,

1 • 1- 1611—1612.

lime, gravel, sand, hair, solder, bmdmg-

rods, reeds, straw, candles, ropes, nails, ironwork,

glass, and glazing, to the value of ^27 5^. 4^.

Among the workmen employed were carpenters,

bricklayers, thatchers, plumbers, joiners, sawyers, and

labourers. Thomas Pointer, clerk of the works, was

employed for forty days at 4^. per day (including

horse-hire). John Pigott received £/\. for framing,

raising, and boarding a floor in Mr. Bohennon's

lodgings in the privy buttery, 16 ft. long and 15 ft.

wide, with a new pair of stairs leading up the

same, taking down the old roof and raising a new one

with a " dormer " window ; taking down a partition

wall between the privy buttery and pantry, and laying

fittings, " he only finding workmanship." Altering a

smoky chimney cost 22s. For laths, lime, and hair

used in the walls and ceilings of Mr. Bohennon's

lodgings, 395-. A^\d. was charged. John Wyatt, the

painter, was paid 27^-. \d. for repairing, stopping, and

laying in white-lead, colour in oil, twenty-two lights

and double casements, etc., in the presence-chamber,

where also some new timber cornices cost 9^., while

the same apartment was embellished with four score

and nine yards of bulrush mats at an expense of

493-. ^d.

In the accounts of money laid out on the palace at
Newmarket for the ensuingf year, which

1 ^ .. , / 1612—1613.

amounted to ^162 2s. 8^., the sum ex-

28o THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book V.

pended on materials came to ^76 y. 2d.\ land carriage,

£<^ ^s. 4^d.; wages, ^66 i^. 2^d. ; riding charges for

the clerk of works and surveyor, ^10 Si-. ; and 3^-. 6d.

given in reward to the keeper of the clay-pit for

" permittinge fetchinge of xxj lodes at 2d. the lode."

These sums were chiefly spent in defraying the cost

of taking down two partitions between the prince's

bed-chamber and the presence-chamber, " for his

highness more easy passage from there into thother,"

and in mending the ranges in the kitchen, tiling

over the king's presence-chamber and divers other

lodgings about the house, and soldering and mending

cracks in divers gutters. The cost of the materials

employed, artisans' and labourers' wages are then

given in detail, somewhat similar to, and at about the

same rates as in, the preceding accounts.

In the financial year of 161 2-16 13, ^85 Ss. was

spent "in and about his Ma** House of Newmarket"

in covering- vaults, boarding- up partitions,
1612-1613. . ^ ' ^ / ^

settmg up shelves, makmg slidmg wmdows,

tables, trestles and forms, screwinsf and streno-thenine
' '000

the floors that were sunk ; tiling divers lodgings,
setting up pans, and " layeing of Footpaces," and
doing many other needful works there with the ma-
terials, quantities, prices, carriage, artificers, etc. The
items are much the same as before. Lord Mont-
gomery's lodgings were carpeted like the rooms of the
king and the prince (? Henry), with bulrush matting.
For the year 1613-1614, £4.6 gs. 1 1 d. was expended
upon 10 ft. of oak timber at Sd. the foot ;

1613--1614.

1400 of ^-in. boards at los. the hundred;

1614-1615.] GREAT EXTENSIONS. 281

and other timber of different thickness ; Hme, laths,
tile-pins, hair, ironwork, nails, glass, and glazing were
also supplied. A well-rope for the stables cost 2^-. 6(/.,
and a bucket for the well 2s. Three loads of gravel
and sand were bouorht at (^d. the load. The car-
penters, bricklayers, and tylers were paid at the rate
of \s. ^d., and labourers at is. per day.

The amount of money expended on the royal
palace at Newmarket in the following year was no less
than /"4660 IIS. old. This heavy ex-

, ^ . . . . 1614—1615.

penditure was chiefly incurred for building
with stone and brick a pile of new lodgings for
the king, with a great chamber, presence-chamber,
etc., and rooms both under and over the same for
noblemen and gentlemen of the bed-chamber, as
also for other works done there during seventeen
calendar months, commencing May i, 16 14, and
ending September 30, 16 15. This account is very
long and interesting, and covers two membranes.
The cost of materials and the workmanship was about
equally divided. Building ground in Newmarket was
cheap in those days. John Ramsey received ^5 los.
" in full payment of the absolute purchase and
sale of a parcel of ground containing in length 30 ft.,
and in breadth 19 ft, whereon part of his Majesty's
new building is extended, and was taken in to make
the said building range straight." "" The walls of the

* In 161 7 a further purchase of land, consisting of three roods, was
made for extensions to the palace, as appears by the following copy of
agreement, etc. : —

" Right trustie and right welbeloved Cousin and Councello'', We grete
yo° well ; and will and comaund you that vnder o' privy Seale being in

282 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book V.

new buildings were three bricks in thickness from the
foundation to the ground-floor, and from that elevation
upwards they were two bricks in thickness. The
garden was enclosed with a new brick wall, and 780
square yards of new bulrush matting were laid in the
king's bed-chamber, the prince's lodging, the privy
lodgings, the chambers occupied by the Earl of Mont-
gomery, Lord Haddington, and Lord Hayes, and
certain lower rooms of the new buildings, which, at
9^. per square yard, cost ^39 i ^s. 6d.

The works and buildings at the palace for the
ensuing year were also considerable, when the cost

came to /r26o6 i^s. 2d. The new premises
1615-1616. . , ^ , ,

consisted of a new brewhouse, " a greate

new stable for the great horses," a kennel for the
king's privy hounds, with lodgings over them ; besides
sundry works and repairs about the house and tennis-
court ; " setting up of div'se posts in the stable close

yo' custidie, yo° cause o"' ^rs to be made foorth in forme following.
James, by the grace of God, &c. To the Trer. and Vnder-Trer. of o'
Excheq'' greeting. Whereas S" John Cotton, K', and some of the officers
of o' works, have made composicon w"" Reginald Gawen, of Newmarkett,
for a small parcell of land, contayning three roods or therabouts, lying on
the backside of a house in Newmarkett (commonly knowne by the name
of the Star), in o' County of Cambridge, on w°'' peece of ground are
lately erected a Brewhouse, and a Storehouse for o' vse and service.
We doe hereby will and comaund yo" out of the Treasurie remayning
in the Receipt of o' Excheq' to cause paym' to be made vnto the
said Reginald Gawen or his Assignes, of the Some of threescore pounds
in satisfa'con for the said peice of ground, w"'out accompt, Imprest or
other charge to be sett vpon him or them for the same, or any p't thereof.
And these, &c. Given, &c. And these o' ^res shalbe yo' sufficient war-
raunt in that behalfe. Given vnder o' Signett at o' pallace of Westm',
the sixt day of January, in the fourteenth yeare of o' Raigne, France and
Ireland, and of Scotland the fifteth. R. Kirkham.

Endorsed. " To o"^ right trustie, and right wellbeloved Cousin and
Councello', Edwarde Earle of Worcester, Keeper of o' privey Scale."

1615-1617.] THE WORKMEN'S WAGES. 283

for managing of great horses to runne at the ring,"
etc.*

Workmen's wages had increased. Masons now
received 2s., 22d., 2od., and 18^. each a day; car-
penters, 2s. 2d., 2S., 22d., 2od., iSd., and is. ; bricklayers,
2^. 2d., 2s., 22d., 2od., i8d., and i6d. ; pkimbers from
22d. to iSd. ; plasterers, 22d. to yd. ; mat-layers, 22d. ;
sawers, y. 4.d. the couple; joiners, i8d. ; lathmakers,
iSd. ; and labourers, from i^. 4</. to 10^. Most of
the stone used was brought from Northampton ;
^12 2s. S^d. was spent on new bulrush mats for the
king's gallery, the withdrawing-chamber, the Lord
Chamberlain's bed-chamber, and the apartments of the
Earl of Pembroke, Sir George Villiers, Lord Hayes,
and the Secretary of State in attendance ; the king
finding in some cases nails and packthread, and in
others ** nayles onely." Richard Fann, for looking to
and setting the clock, received a present of Ss., while
he was rewarded with 2s. Sd. for cleansing the well
and digging it deeper. The^ new stables and the
kennel cost ^1704 igs. ^^d.

In 16 1 6-1 6 1 7, ^2446 3^-. o^d. was laid out on the
king's establishment at Newmarket in building "a
faire lardg-e newe stable for the ereat

11 .11. 1616—1617.

horses, a new dog-house with lodgmgs over

it, a brewe-house, riding-house and store-house, as

alsoe levelling the tenis-court f with bricks, and laying

* A sum of Ss. is charged for extinguishing a fire that broke out in the
timber-yard, which at one time threatened to destroy the palace and
appurtenances.

t A specific sum of ^100 was paid to Sir George Reeve on May 3,
161 5, "to be by him expended for the furnishinge of a Tennis-court,

284 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book V. '

the same with paveing tyles upon the brycks ; thatch-
ing the king's hey barne ; laying the gutters between
the brew-house and store-house ; making perti'cons,
doores, tressels, and formes ; joysting and boordinge
of floores, with dooeing sondry other workes and
repairs about the said house," etc.*

During the ensuing year only ^467 \^s. \\d. was

spent on this palace, chiefly on account of a stable,

with lodorinors over it, for Sir Thomas

1617—1618. .

Compton ; alterations and extensions to the
king's great stable ; " making great tables, cupboards,
tressels, formes, and screens for feasting the Germany
prince and Sweden ambassador ; " likewise " for
bringing up the fence-wall by the tennis-court, and
another low fense-wall into the churchyard over
against the great gates with brick and stone, and in
doing sundry other works upon and about the said
house," etc.

The accounts for the following year are not

extant, but in those for 1619-20, which amount to

/^27iQ i^s. 64-rt^., we learn that some old

1619—1620. . . ^

buildings and sheds towards the street were
pulled down and the ground cleared for the erection
of additional lodgings of brick and stone, a wooden

appointed to be builded at his Ma"*'' House at Newmarkett, for the
recreation and exercise of the nobility and others his Ma'"'' attendants,
and such as have cause to repair to his Majesty's court. By writ &c.
C»." _ Pells Order Book, sub data. MS., P.R.O.

* Francis Carter, chief clerk of the works, was allowed 4ar., which he
gave to Sir William Carway for changing ^400 in silver into gold " for
the easier carriage of it down, and in consideration it was paid ten days
sooner than it was due to the king." He was also allowed 73-y. \d. for the
charges of himself and three others " for safeguard of the same iiij"'
to Newmarket" (Account No. 55).

1620-1622.] ROYAL WORKS AND BUILDINGS. 385

gallery, and offices for the prince. There were also a
farrier's office and coach-houses built. The woodyard
was enclosed with a stone wall. Lodgings and store-
houses were erected for the clerk of works. For
framine and raisingf " a roome on the back side of the
kinges privy kitchen for the Marquis of Buckingham,
with washing, boarding, lathing, and tileing the same,
quartering a partition there ; " and setting up racks,
mangers, and stalls, and other miscellaneous work,
including decorations to the ceiling of Buckingham's
new lodgings, considerable expenses were incurred.
As usual, new mats were provided for the king's
chambers, while in other subordinate parts of the
palace the old ones were mended and pieced.

In the year 1620-21 the royal works and buildings
at Newmarket cost ^975 2s. 6d. This amount
is made up of a variety of miscellaneous

^ ^ . 1620—1621.

items, too numerous and diffuse to men-
tion in detail. ^^ A new well was sunk five fathoms
deep to serve the king's and prince's kitchen, for
which the labourer was paid at the rate of ^s. the
fathom. New bulrush mats were supplied for all
the principal apartments and stairs of the palace.

The accounts for the ensuing year are of a some-
what similar description, w^hen ^238 2s. ^\d. was laid
out on works and buildingrs in and about

, , , 1621—1622.

the palace.y

* Twelve cases of glass were ordered from, and refused by, Sir R.
Mansil, who enjoyed a monopoly in that article. The particulars are not
fit for publication. — State Papers, Dom., James I., vol. 112, No. 67 (780).

t On October 3, 1622, a warrant was issued to pay Sir Robert Vernon
£\^o for lands and inheritance belonging to the Swan, at Newmarket,
taken for building offices for the king's use. — Docquet Book, s.d., MS.,
P.R.O.

286 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book V.

In 1622-23 the sum of ^253 2s. 6d. was expended
in mending the wainscot, shutting windows and case-
ments in the king' and prince's privy

jg22 1623.

lodgings, planking in the prince's great
horse-stable, repairing the rack in the king's great
horse-stable, a wainscot casement at the end of
the tennis-court and the bins in the king's pantry;
setting up shelves in the Groom of the Stole's
lodging ; setting up ledges on the walls of the
great horse-stable, with strong pins to hang saddles ;
setting up a shed to boil fish for the prince,
setting up shelves in the lodgings of the prince's
secretary, boarding part of a decayed floor in the
wardrobe, making a high stool with steps to ascend
the top of it for the prince to run at the ring, making
a new hearth and range in the king and prince's privy
kitchen, mending the hearths and setting the pans in
the boiling-house for fish, mending the chimneys in
the great and presence-chambers, running up the
lower lights in the dog-house, mending the walls in
the prince's gallery, new lathing and laying the walls
of the stable in the timber-yard with lime and chopped
hay, new matting a room for the Marquis of Bucking-
ham and a chamber for the master of the prince's
robes, and piecing and mending the broken mats in
the king's privy lodgings and the lodgings of the
Marquis of Hamilton, the Earl of Montgomery,
and the Marquis of Buckingham, Among other
expenses, John Straver and Humphrey Warcup
received a present of 22^. for carrying letters from
Newmarket to London, and 6^. to a labourer for his

1623-1625.] THE STABLES AND KENNELS. 287

attendance during five days at the water-side to see
the bricks and tiles safely laid up and loaded at
Freckenham.

The works and building at the palace at New-
market for the following year only cost £\'^'] <^s. io\d.,
and included boardingr and mendino- the

11 1 1 -1 r • 1 ,1 1623—1624.

stalls broken in the " hunting horse stable
and in the Duke of Buckingham's stable ; " shoring
up the old house on the west side of the court
" dangerously shaken with wynds," raising the poles
in the dog-yard on boards " in bredthe rounde
aboute ; " bringing up and finishing the stack of
chimneys that served the prince's bed-chamber and
other buildings, and mending them " for avoydinge
the smoake ; " taking up the paving-tiles at both ends
of the tennis-court and " new paveinge one end
agayne." A bucket for the stable well cost 2s. 6d.,
a well rope, 2s. 6d., and a leather for the pump, is.

The account for the year 1624-25 (which is the
last whole year of James I.'s reign in this series)* for
works and buildings at the Palace of
JNewmarket represents a disbursement of
^148 5^-. 6hd. It thus appears that ^20,383 13J. 2d.
was laid out on this palace during the reign of James I.,
from the year 1609 to ;625, being an average of about
;^i274 per annum, f

* Compare some fragmentary accounts in the British Museum from
1609 to 1614, sub-tit. Newmarket (MS. Add., 12, 498). Heavy expenses
attended the maintenance of the royal stables at Charing-cross, York, St.
Albans, Hampton Court, Tutbury, Theobalds, Royston, Enfield, &c.

t L. T. R. Works and Buildings, Nos. 46-62, MS., Public Record
Office.

288 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book V.

In 1605 John Bancks was appointed keeper of

Wilbrahm Bushes, alias the New Warren, ahas Hare

Park, at Newmarket, and keeper of the

1605—1612. . . ^

James I. game " within ten miles compass of the

ThTNew same," with a fee of 2S., "of lawful money

Warren, aUas of England," * by the day, and 2s. a day for

keeping the game there. The following

year he was paid £'J2, ^Z^- 4^- ^or " impailing the new

warren between Newmarket and Thetford, and for

making certain bridges thereaboutts for his Majesty's

more easy and safe passage." On November 26, 1607,

he received ^100, and on June 5th, 1609, ^4^ iQ-^". 8^.

for similar works.f

In 161 2 Sir Robert Vernon obtained the reversion

of this office, as also that of Keeper of the Palace at

Newmarket, as appears at length in the following

patent : — J

Right trusty and right Welbeloved Cousin and Coun-
cello'' wee greet y® well : And will and Comaund y® that
vnder o^ priuy Scale being in yo"" custody you cause o'' ;^res
to be directed to o"^ Chauncello'" of England comaunding him
that vnder o' great Seale of England he cause o"" ;^res to
be made forth patents in forme following. jAMES by the

* " Lawful money of England," so frequently used in grants of this
period, became necessary in order to prevent any misunderstanding.
The English, or pound sterling, was 20s., while the pound Scotch, to use
Sir Anthony Weldon's expression, " would not pay for the shoeing of a
horse."

t Pells, Order Book, 1606 ; Docquet Book, 1607 ; Warrant Book,
vol. ii., 1609, MS., P.R.O.

X Besides the fees mentioned in the grant. Sir Robert drew ^10 a
year " for brooms, shovels, spades, and other necessaries by him provided
about the said house." — Wardrobe Accounts, Treasurer of the Chamber,
bundle 4, m. 90 d., et ultra passim.

1605-1612.] THE NEW WARREN. 289

grace of God &". To all men whome these prs'ts shall
come greeting. Whereas wee by o'' ^res patents vnder o""
great Seale of England bearing date at Westm the eight and
twentith day of Aprill in the sixth yeare of o"" raigne of England
France and Ireland and of Scotland the one and Fortith for
the considerations in the said iJ'res patents expressed did giue
and graunt vnto o'' Servaunt Richard Hamerton the Custody
and keeping of o'' house at Newmarket in the County of
Suffolk. And him the said Richard Hamerton keeper of o''
said house we did make order and appointe by o"" said £x&s
patents To haue hold and enioy the said Custody and keepnig
of o'" said house to the said Richard Hamerton for and during
the time of his naturall life together w^^ all proffits and como-
dities to the same belonging or in any wise apperteyning.
And further of o"" more ample grace certayne knowledge and
meere mocon wee did giue and graunt to the said Richard
Hamerton for the keeping of the said house the wage and fee
of eight pence of lawful money of England by the day To
haue hold receive and enioy the said wages and fee of eight
pence by the day to the said Richard Hamerton and his
assignes from the Feast of the Annunciacon of the blessed
Virgin Mary then last past before the date of the same ^res
patents for and during the naturall life of the said Richard
Hamerton out of the treasure of us o^" heyres and Successo''s
at the receipt of the Excheq' of us o"" heyres and Successor's
by the handes of the Tres. and Undertres''^ of vs o"" heyres
and Successor's there for the time being at the fowre usuall
termes of the yeare that is to say at the Feasts of the Nativity
of St. John Baptist St. Michael the Archangell the birth of
o"" Lord God and the Annunciacon of the Virgin Mary
quartly by even porcons to be paid as by the said ^res patents
more plainly and at large as doth and may appeare w*^'' said
Richard Hamerton is yet lining as we are credibly informed.
And whereas also by other o"" i^res patents bearing date at
Westm the sixteenth day of December in the third yeare of
o"' raigne of England France and Ireland and of Scotland the
and thirtieth wee did giue and graunt to o'' Loving
subject John Banckes the custody and keeping of o'' new
VOL. I. U

290 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book V.

erected waren Called WiLBRAHM BUSHES betwixt o'' towne
of Newmarket and Shelford in o'" County of Cambridge And
the office of keeping of o' game of all sortes w^'^in ten miles
compasse of the same And him the said John Bancks keep[er]
of o"" said Warren and of o"^ said Game there wee did make
ordayne constitute and appoint by the same ;^res patents : To
haue hold exercise and enioy the said office and every of
them to the said John Banks by him selfe or his sufficient
Deputy or deputies during his natural life. And further of
o'" more ample grace certen knowledge and mere mocon wee
did giue and graunt vnto the said John Banks for the exer-
cising of the said office of keep of o^' hare warren the wages
and Fee of two shillings of Lawfull money of England by
the day and for the keeping of o'" said game the wages and
Fee of two shillings of like Lawful money of England by the
day. To haue and yearly to receaue the said severalle Fees
and allowances to the said John Bankes and his assignes
from the Feast of St Michaell-th-Archangle then last past
before the date of the same ;^res patents during his naturall
life out of o'' treasure remayning in the receipt of o'' said
Excheq'' by the handes of o'' treasuro'' and Chamberlaynes
there for the time being at the Fowre vsuall Feasts of the
yeare (that is' to say) at the Feaste of the birth of o'' Lord
God the Annunciacon of the Virgin Mary the Nativity of St
John Babtist and St Michaell th' Archangell by even porcons
to be paid together w*^** all other allowances proffitts and Com-
odities to the same offices or any of them due belonging
incident or apperteyning as by the said ^res patents more
plainly at large it doth and may appeare W"^^' said John
Bankes is yet living as wee are credibly in formed. KNOW
ye therefore that wee of o' especiall grace certayne know-
ledge and mere mocon in consideracon of the good faithful
and acceptable service done vnto us by o'" welbeloved Servant
Robert Vernon Esqr. o'^ Avenor, have giuen and graunted
and by these prntes for us and for o'" heyres and Successor's
do giue and graunt vnto the said Robert Vernon the Custody
and keeping of o' said house at Newmarket in the County of
Suffolk, And him the said Robert Vernon keep[er] of o^" said

1605-1612.] SIR ROBERT VERNON. 291

house wee do make ordeyne and appoint by these prntes, To
haue hold and enioy the said custody and keping of o'' said
house to the said Robert Vernon immediately after the death
of the aforesaid Richard Hamerton or as soon as the said
office shall become void by surrender forfiture or otherwise of
the said Richard Hamerton for and during the terme of his
natural life together w**" all the profitts and comodities to the
same belonging or in any wise apperteyning. And further of
o' more ample grace certayne knowledge and mere mocon
wee haue given and graunted and by these prnts for us o""
heyers and Successor's do giue and graunt unto the said
Robert Vernon for the keeping of the said house the wages
and Fee of eight pence by the day to the said Robert Vernon
and his assignes immediately and assoone as the said Office
shall become void for and during the tearme of the naturall
life of the said Robert Vernon out of the treasure of vs o""
heyres and Successors at the receipt of the Exchq"" of vs o""
heyers and Successors by the handes of the Trs'' and
Undertrs"" of vs aforesaid for and during the terme of the
being at fowre vsuall termes of the yeare that is to say at
the Feasts of the Nativity of St. John Baptist St. Michaell
the Archangle the Birth of o'^ Lord God and the Annunciacon
of the Virgin Mary quarterly by even porcons to be paid.
And furthermore know ye that wee of o"" especiall grace
certen knowledge and meere mocon haue giuen and graunted
and by these presents wee do giue and graunt vnto the said
Robert Vernon the custody and keeping of o^" new created
warren called Wilbraham bushes betwixt the towns of New-
market and Shelford in o'' County of Cambridgeshire. And
the office and keepinge of o^ game of all sortes w"^in ten miles
compasse of the same. And him the said Robert Vernon
keep[er] of the said warren and of o^ said game there wee do
make ordeyne and appointe by theise prsnts, To haue hold
exercise and enioye the said Offices and every of them to the
said Robert Vernon by himselfe or his sufficient deputye or
deputies ymediately after the death of the aforesaid John
Bankes or as soon as the said Offices shall become void by
surrender forfeiture or otherwise of the said John Bankes

292 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book V.

during his naturall life. And further of o'' more ample grace
certayne knowledge and meere mocon wee haue giuen and
graunted and by these presents wee do giue and graunt vnto
the said Robert Vernon for the exercising of the said office of
keeper of o' said Warren. . . . And for the keeping of o'
said game the wages and Fee of sixteen pence of lawful
money of England by the day. To haue and yearly to
receaue the said severall Fees and allowances to the said
Robert Vernon and his assignes ymediately and assoone as
the said office shall become voyd as aforesaid during his
naturall life out of o'' treasure remayning from time to time
in the Receipt of o"" Exchequ'' by the handes of o'" Thr'' and
Chamberlaynes there for the time being at fowervsuall termes
of the yeare that is to say at the Feastes of the birth of o""
Lord God the Annuncacon of the blessed Virgin Mary the
Nativity of St John Baptist and St Michaell the Archangell
euen porcons to be paid tugether w*'^ all other allowances
p'ftts and Comodities to the same offices or any of them due
belonging incedent or apperteyning Although expresse mencn
&". In wittness myself &''. Under &°, And these o'' Ires
shalbe y' sufficient warrant and discharge in this behalf
Given vnder o' Signet at o'' Hono' of Hampton Court the six
and twenteth day of September in the tenth yeare of o^ raigne
of England Fraunce, and Ireland and of Scotland the six and
Fortieth.

Endorsed — To o'' right trustie and right well-beloued
Cousin and Councello'' Henry Earle of North'ton Keeper of
o"- Priuy Scale.— Roll H., No. 88, MS., RR.O.

Great Wilbraham is a parish and village, about eight
miles nearly west of Newmarket. The manors of Great
and Little Wilbraham, otherwise Temple, belonged formerly
to the Knights Templars, who also possessed the church
of Wilbraham. The estate of the Templars consisted chiefly
of lands given them by William Loveday, which were held
of the king, by the service of finding every year a sore
sparrow-hawk, to be brought to the king's court by the
proprietor, who had a right of maintenance for twelve

1605-1612.] WILBRAHAM. 293

days, with two horses, two grooms, and two hounds. In
the year 1545 Henry VIII. gave the manor of Great Wil-
braham, with the rectory and advowson, which, after the
suppression of the Templars, had been granted to the
Hospitallers, to the College of Fotheringay ; this college
having been suppressed in the reign of Edward VI., Queen
Mary gave the manor and rectory of Great Wilbraham to
Sir John Huddleston, as a recompense for his seasonable
assistance, when Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed queen
immediately after her brother's death. Dr. Watson, after-
wards Bishop of St. David's, purchased this estate of the
Huddlestons in 16S3 ; it passed next to Mr. Ward, who
married the bishop's niece, and was purchased of his family,
in 1788, by the Rev. James Hicks, whose descendant, Edward
Hicks, Esq., M.P., is the present lord of the manor.

Little Wilbraham lies about seven miles east of Cam-
bridge, and about the same distance west of Newmarket.
The manor of Little Wilbraham was held by the Veres, Earls
of Oxford, in the reigns of Edward I. and Edward II. ; in
the succeeding reign it was held under the Veres by the
family of Chamberleyne ; it afterwards belonged to Sir
William Phelip, and passed by female heir, with the title of
Bardolf, to William, Lord Beaumont, who was attainted in
1 46 1. Edward IV. granted it, in 1468, to Richard Quater-
maynes, who, having founded a chantry in the parish church
of Rycot, in Oxfordshire, endowed it with this manor. After
the Reformation, the manor of Rycots, in Little Wilbraham,
was granted to Sir John Williams ; and having passed by
sale to the family of Hinde, was purchased with the advowson
of the rectory in 1570, by the Master and Fellows of Benet's
College, in Cambridge. The manor of Anglesea, in this
parish, was given by Mr. Thomas Wale, citizen of London,
in the year 1625, to the corporation of the city of Coventry,
in trust for charitable uses. The neighbourhood has been
noted for its salubrity, several of the inhabitants from time to
time having attained great age ; an inscription on a tomb-
stone in the parish churchyard, erected to the memory of
Elizabeth Hobbs, who died in 1804, testifies that she lived in

294 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book V.

three dififerent centuries, and was 104 years of age at the time
of her death.

Six-Mile-Bottom, a hamlet in this parish, was, in the
pre-railway days, the last halting-place, with the London
racing pilgrim, on the Newmarket road. The late General
Hall, at his own expense, erected a school here ; also a free
library, to which a coffee-room has been added ; there is also
a recreation ground, enclosed by a double row of trees, and
pleasantly situated near the railway station, which are still
kept up by W. H. Hall, Esq., J. P., whose picturesque seat
forms a pleasing contrast to the general bleakness of the
surrounding district.

In 1616 Sir Robert Vernon ^^" was appointed

keeper of Newmarket Palace and appurtenances

thereunto belonmng-, with a fee of i^. per

1616. & S' i

James I. day ; and also keeper of the garden there, for
Thrpaiace ^hich he obtained the like remuneration,
as appears by the following patent : —

"James, &''. To all men to whome these p''sents shall
come Greetinge. Knowe ye that we of o'' especiall grace
certen knowledge and meere mocon' in consideracon' of the
good faythfull and acceptable service done vnto us by o*"
wellebeloved Servant S"" Rob't Vernon knight our Avenor
have given & graunted and by theis 1*"nts for us o'" heires and
successors we doe giue and graunte vnto the sayd S' Rob't
Vernon knight the Office of Custody and keepinge of our
howse at Newm'kett in the Countie of Cambridge, and him
the sayd S'' Rob't Vernon knight keep of our sayd howse and
of the Stables brewhowses and all other outhouses edifices
backsides and growndes whatsoever now built or hereafter to
be built there, and which Do now belonge or shall hearafter
be belonginge and apperteyninge to our sayd howse we
doe make order and appointe by theis presents To Haue
hold & enjoye the said office of Custodie and keepinge of
o"" said howse at Newmarkett tog-eather w"' the Stables

1616.] THE PALACE GARDEN. 295

Brewhowses and all other the p^'misses to the said S"" Rob't
Vernon knight duringe his naturall life together w"' all the
p'ffitts and comodities to the same belonginge or in anie
wise appeyteyninge. And further of o'" mere ample grace
certeine knowledge and meere mocon wee haue given and
graunted And by theis presents for us o'' heires and successo''^
we doe give and graunte vnto the said S"^ Rob'te Vernon knight
for the keepinge of the said howse the wages and Fee of xij'^
by the dale of lawfell money of Engl'd. To haue and
yearlie to receiue the said Fee of xij*^* by the daie to him the
said S"^ Rob't Vernon Knight and his assignes from the feast
of the birth of o'' lord God laste past before the date hereof
for and duringe the naturall life of him the said S"" Rob'te out
of the Treasure of us o'' heires and succesor® at the Receipt of
the Excheq'" of vs our heires and successors by the hands
of the Threr Underthrer & other officers of vs o'" heires and
successo"'s there for the time beinge at tow vsuall T'mes of
the yeare that is to sale Att the Feasts of the birth of o^ lord
God and the Natiuitie of St. John Baptist half yearlie by even
porcons to be paid And further know yee THAT WHEREAS
of late we haue caused a garden to be enclosed, planted and
adioyned to our said house at Newmarkett We have likewise
given and granted for the consideracons above said And by
theis presents for us o*" heires and successor's we doe giue and
graunte vnto the said S"" Rob't Vernon knight the Office
and place of keep of o'' said Garden now belonginge to
o^" said house and of anie other garden that shall or maie
hereafter belong vnto the said house To HAUE hold
exercise and enioye the said place of keep of o^" Guarden
aforesaid together with the premises to him the said S'" Rob't
Vernon or to his sufficient deputie or deputies during his
naturall life And further of o'' more especiall grace certen
knowledge & meere mocon- we haue giuen and granted and
by theis "F'tT'ts for vs o^" heires & successor's wee doe giue
and graunte to the said S'' Rob't Vernon for the exercisinge
of the said place of keep of o"" Garden aforesaid the wages
and Fee of xij'' by the day of lawfuU money of England
To HAUE enioye and yearlie to receeave the said Fee and

296 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book V.

wages of xij*^ by the day to him the said S"" Rob't Vernon
and his assignes from the Feast of the birth of o^' lord God
last past before the date hearof duringe his naturall life out of
the Treasure of vs o'" heires and successors at the Receipt
of Thxcheq^' of vs o"" heires and successors by the hands of the
ThrSr Underthrer & other officers of vs our heries and succes-
sors there for the time beinge at tow vsuall Feasts of the
yeare that is to saie at the Feasts of the birth of o"" Lord God
and the Natiuitie of St. John Baptist by even porcons half
yearlie to be paied Althoughe expresse mencon &^ In
Witness whereof we have caused theis o'" i^re's to be made
patents Witness our self at West'm the sixt day of December
in the Fowerteenth yeare of o'' Raigne of England Fraunce
and Ireland & of Scotland the Fiflity.

" Cartwright."
"per b're de pri: sigillo." *

11° Sir Robert Vernon, of Hodnel, in Shropshire, was
created a Knight of the Bath by Queen Elizabeth, and made
comptroller of her Majesty's household. He married Mary,
daughter of Sir Robert Needham, of Shavington, sister to the
1st Viscount Kilmorney. It is unnecessary here to recapitu-
late the incidents of his life as keeper of Newmarket Palace
during the reign of James I. He died in 1625 (at which time
he also held the office of Cofferer to the household).

" Martii 19. Cursus Equestris ad Novum Mer-

catum, cui diim R, diutius interfuit a Novo-mercatu

discedens, in Hospitium ad Wichford-

(j^r.^) Bridge prse invaletudino divertit, & multi

James I. nocte ad Roistonam venit." — Gulielmi Cam-
Newmarket.

deni, " Annales Regni Regis Jacobi I.,"

edit. 1691, p. 42.

" March i. Queen Anne died of a Dropsy in the

* Pell, Office Inrolments, MS., P.R.O., vol. v., p. 19.

1619.]

THE RACES.

297

Night: after her Son diaries had been to pay her
a Visit, A^ino y^tatis XLV. . . .

"March 19. A Horse Race at Newmarket ; at
which the King tarrying too long in his Return from
Newmarket, was forced to put in at an Inn at Wich-
fordbridge by reason of his being indisposed, and came
very late in the Night to Roystojt." — "The Annals of
Mr. William Camden In the Reign of King James I.
Done into English, by W. Kennett, Bishop of Peter-
borough," edit. Lond., 1719, fol.

The following is a copy of the assessment of the
first payment of the subsidy granted by
Parliament 7 James I., and levied on the jamesi.
inhabitants of Newmarket in 1609.

Newmarket.

Newmarket in Cambridgeshire. *

John Bankes, gent.
Edmund Milleson, gent.
Agatha Burdall, widdow
George Trace, gent.
William Bottlesham .
Jane Apleyard, widdow
Raynor Gawyer (in part)
Robert Mettcalfe
Richard Hanote
Allen Phillips .
Edmund [illegible']
Johus Pickes

VALUATION.

in land ;^io

£^
£^
A
£^
£1

£^
£3
.. £3

£3
£3
£3

Total £46

in goods
in land

in eoods

TAXATION.

£i 6s. 8d.
£1 IS. \d.

2S. M.

8.f. od.
\os. od.

2s. 8d.

IS. 4d.

$s. od.

Ss. od.

5 J. od.

Ss. od.

Ss. od.

£S IS. Sd.

Exch. Lay. Sub., Cambridge ^^p m. 3, M.S, P.R.O.

* The part of the town is not given in the corresponding assessment
relating to Lackford Hundred, in Suffolk.

298

THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET.

[Book V.

1624.

Assessment of the first of the three entire
subsidies granted anno 22 James I. : —

Joane Botlesham, widdow
Richard Pickes, gent.
Raynard Gawen (aHen)
Wm. Philhpps
Rob. Godfery .
Richard Sherman .
Amos Burges .

Ibid. 3^.

VALUATION.

TAXATION.

in land

£1.

I2S.

))

£3

12s.

5>

£1

8s.

»

£1

4S.

))

£1

4s.

))

£1

4s.

>)

£1

4s.

Total £ 1 1

£2 8s.

About this time, according- to an assessment of a

similar subsidy, levied in Newmarket (Suffolk), which

is the earliest extant for that part of the

1623. . r 1 •

town, we ascertain the names 01 the m-
habitants and value of their effects as follows : —

Marie Bucke, widdow

in land

xb.

viijj-.

James Ayres

k\s.

. viijj.

Thomas Raven .

XXJ-.

iiijj.

Tymothie Lancaster .

XX.S.

iiiji-.

Samuda Pollington .

XXi".

iiiji".

Sidneyard

XX J".

iiijj.

Robert Chambers

XXJ.

iiiji".

John Mathew

xxs.

iiijj-.

Jefferie J res

xxs.

iiijj-.

John Hewlett

xxs.

iiijj.

John Bentley

xls.

viijj-.

John Gamage

x\s.

viijj-.

Thomas Coake .

in goods

; iij'\

. viijj-.

Jeremie Miles

in land

xxs.

iiiji-.

John Bridgman .

in good

3 iij".

. v'njs.

Ibid, Suffolk If |,

Total in land £17} j.

goods £6 \£ ^

A 4^-

1623.] JAMES I. ON PASTIMES. 299

What need we know
More than to praise a dog or horse ? or speak
The hawking language ?

Ben Jonson.

In that quaint effusion, " Religio Regis ; or, the
Faith and Duty of a Prince," written at Newmarket,
by Kino- Tames I., for the instruction and

-' ^ J James I.

edification of his son Henry, Prince of Horses and
Wales, we read as follows : " Next among
all unnecessary Things that are lawful and ex-
pedient, the Exercise of the Body is most com-
mendable to be used by a King, for maintaining his
Health. Certainly bodily Exercises and Games are
very requisite as well for banishing Idleness (the
Mother of all Vice) as for making his Body able and
durable for travel ; which is very necessary for a
King : therefore you may use Fencing, Tennis, Bowles,
Archery, and Palle-maille. But the honnourablest
and most commenduable Games that a King can use,
are on Horseback, for it becomes a Prince above all
Men to be a good Horseman : And use such games
on Horseback, as may teach you to handle your Arms
thereon ; such as the Tilt, Ring, and low-riding for
handling your sword. As for hunting, the most
honourable, and noblest Sport thereof is with run-
ning Hounds ; for it is a thievish sport of hunting
to shoot with Guns and Bows. Then hawking is
not to be condemn'd ; but nevertheless give me leave
to say, it is more uncertain than the other, and Subject
to Mischances. However, in using either of these
Sports observe such Moderation, that you slip not
therewith the Hours appointed for your Affairs, which

30O THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book V.

you ought ever precisely to keep ; Remembring that
these Pastimes are but ordain'd for you to enable you
for your Office, to which you are call'd by your Birth."
Indoor pastimes, such as cards, dice, chess, billiards,
although not profitable for the exercise either of mind
or body, should not be utterly condemned ; care being
observed to play fairly and not for high stakes, " for
otherwise neither a Mad Passion, nor Falsehood us'd
of Desire of Gain, can be call'd a Play." Heed should
be taken that, in such cases, the company consists of
honest persons, " not defam'd or Vicious ; " and beware
of comedians and actors, " for Tyrants formerly de-
lighted most in them, glorying to be both Authors and
Actors of Comedies and Tragedies themselves."
Curious advice, in sooth ! bearing in mind the well-
known fact of his Majesty having a mask performed
before him and his court, by command, on the Sab-
bath. And did not the British Solomon turn Inio^o
Jones into a stage-carpenter, and offered to create
Ben Jonson a Baronet, who would have been known
to posterity as the " Rare Baronet " if he had had the
funds indispensable to acquiring that great honour }

Ben Jonson mentions the following race-horses upon which
wagers were made by the gallants of the day : Puppy, Pepper-
corn, Whitefoot, Franklin. In the "Alchemist " he sarcastically
refers to " the rules to cheat at horse-races." Fynes Moryson,
in 1617, mentions betting on horse-races "by no meane Lords
sonnes and Gentlemen." — "Itinerary," part i., p. 198. And
Markham cites the superiority of the Earl of Northumber-
land's ^^^ Grey Dallavell : Grey Valentine, " which dyed a
Horse neuer conquered." "The Hobbie of Mister Thomas
Carlentons ; and at this houre the most famous Puppey

1623.] THE EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND. 301

against whom men may talke, but they cannot conquer."
— " Calvalrice," Lond., 1617, p. 2,

"^ Henry Percy, 9th Earl OF NORTHUMBERLAND, K.G.,
succeeded his father (who was murdered in the Tower) June
21, 1585. He was one of the lords assembled in council, who
signed, at the Palace of Whitehall, on March 28, 1603, the
letter to the Lord Eure, and other commissioners for the
Treaty at Breame, directing them how to proceed, and
signifying to them, " That the Queen had departed this life
on the 24th, and that King James of Scotland was become
King of England, and received with universal acclamations
and consent of all persons, whatsoever degree and quality."
When the king, at Edinburgh, in answer to the letter of the
council signifying the death of the queen, brought by his
lordship's brother, Sir Charles Percy, authorized the con-
tinuance in office of all the lords and other counsellors of the
late queen ; he signified at the same time his further pleasure,
that the Earl of Northumberland should be added to their
number. The earl was present in council on May 3rd, at
Broxborne, on the king's delivery of the Great Seal to Sir
Thomas Egerton, and attended the king to the Tower of
London soon after. His lordship was subsequently impli-
cated in the Gunpowder Plot, and although he proved his
innocence, he was, nevertheless, " cast," as recorded by
Osborne, " into the Star Chamber," and sentenced to a fine
of i^3O,000, with imprisonment in the Tower during the king's
pleasure, and he actually suffered incarceration therein for
some years. The earl married Dorothy, sister of the Earl of
Essex, Queen Elizabeth's favourite, and widow of Sir Thomas
Perrot, by whom he had a son, Algernon, who succeeded to
the honours, etc., of his family on the death of his father,
November 5, 1632.

The importance of horse-breeding is duly james i.
inculcated by the author of " The Court of ^°^^?s-
King James," who enjoins all courtiers " to be very

302

THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET.

[Book V.

forwardly inclined to bring up horses ; " no cost should
be spared in breeding from the best strains. He
has also something to say in "prayse of hunting,"
which, unfortunately for us, refers to ancient Greece
and Rome, rather than to the British Island of his
own time.*

On the accession of James I. the four child-riders
or jockeys in ordinary had 6</. each per day,
with some other small allowance, altogether
amounting to ^59 a year : —

1603—1604.

Fower boyes \ Also allowed for money payde to \ '
broughte upp the Erie of Worcester Master of

under y® iiij*"" y the horse for thallowaunce of
Ryders of the fower boyes broughte upp under

Stables viz. j the fower Riders of the Stable
for their boord waages at vj'^' the
yere W diem and for other neces-
saries at vj^^ xvij^ vj'' the yere '^
ann due for one yeare ended at
March 1603.!

Iviiij^'.

As to the royal studs, those at Newmarket, Tut-
bury, Malmesbury, Eltham,| and Cole Park § appear to
have been the most important.

* " The Court of the Most Illustrious James the First," etc. London :
Printed by Edw. Griffin, in Eliot's-Court in the Little-old-Baily, neere
the Kings-head, 1620.

t Accounts of Sir John Stanhope, Knight, Treasurer of the Chamber,
44 Eliz., Michaelmas, 1602 ; i James I., Michaehnas, 1600, m. 88, MS.,
P.R.O.

X In 1620,^70 was expended for enclosing the paddock, Middle Park,
Eltham, with pales, which were brought from Waltham Abbey and Theo-
balds for that purpose. — L.T.R., Works and Buildings, No. 441, MS.,
P.R.O.

§ 1609-1611,^382 i6x 8^. was expended, under the supervision of

1603-1601.] THE MARKHAM ARABIAN. 303

Several thorouofhbred horses of Eastern blood were
acquired, from time to time, by James I. The most
notable, and one of the earliest mentioned in this
reign, was the Markham, which the king purchased
for ^154. The Duke of Newcastle says: "He
was a Bay, but a Little Horse, and no Rarity for
shape; for I have seen Many English Horses farr
Finer. Mr. Markham Sold him to King James
for Five Hundred Pounds {sic) ; and being Trained
up for a Course, when he came to Run, every Horse
Beat him." *

"Item the xx"' of Decern' 1616 paid to M*" Markham for
the Arabian horse for his Ma** owne vse CHiij^' Item the
same day paid to a man that brought the same Arabian horse
and kept him xj"." — " Brevia De Private Sigillo," vol. iii., fo.
114^, MS., P.R.O.

This extract proves the Duke of Newcastle makes a mis-
take in saying James I. gave ^500 for the Markham Arabian ;
as, including the £\\ given to the groom who brought the
horse to the king and " kept," i.e. fed, him while in transitu,
together with the ^^154 paid for the horse to Markham, the
whole cost only came to ^^^165. It is probable the Mr. Mark-
ham referred to was George Markham, the father of Jervaise
the author, who was a keeper of Clipston Shraggs walk, in
Sherwood Forest, circa 161 3.

The following year, George Digby was sent to

Sir Robert Brett, Knight, " Surveyor of the Kings Ma" Race called Cole
park race," Wiltshire, with a " drie wall of sufficient height and strength
for the keeping of horses and mares in the same park " (dry = without
lime — Halliwell). The wall was to be 7 ft. high, coped above ; 2 ft. 2 in.
at the bottom ; in length 464 perches or thereabouts, and to cost
;^382 i6j. 8^., according to estimate. The document is attested by Lord
Salisbury, Sir Julius Csesar, and the auditor, R. Sutton. — L.T.R., Works
and Buildings, No. 441.

* Edit. London, 1667, p. 73.

304 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book V.

Italy to purchase race-horses for the king, as appears
by the annexed warrant : —

"James R.

" James by the grace of God &''. To the Trer^ and

Under Tres® of o'' Excheq'' Greeting, Wee will and require

yow out of o'' Treasur in o'' said Excheq'' remayn-

1617. jj^g ^Q p^j Qj. cause to be paide to o'' trustie and

welbeloved George Digbye esq'" one of o' quirries

or to his order the sume of fyve hundred and fiftie poundes of

lawfuU monie of England to be imploied and disbursed by

hini for provision of horses for us for the Race, And theis

are, &''.

" By order from the
"Westminster, Nov. 4, 1617. Lord Treasuur.

"Ex*: Levjnus Munck." *

Besides the above sum of ^550, Digby was
further authorized, by a Sign Manual, No. 72^, dated
Westminster, Nov. 20, to draw upon the Treasury for
;^200, to meet the expenses of his journey into
" Italy "^ — for his own entertainment 40^-. per day, and
3i-. a day for each of his four servants, the said charges
to continue until he accomplished his mission and
returned to the royal presence.

"April 6, 1605, there arrived at Greenwich Palace 'a dozen
gallant mares, all with foal, 4 horses, and 1 1 stallions, all
coursers of Naples,' a present to James I. from the Arch-

duke."t

Sir Thomas Edmonds ^^'-^ arrived in England with " half a
dozen Barbry horses," which were sent to the royal paddocks
at Newmarket about Nov. 15, 1617.:!:

* Sign Manual Grants and Warrants, 1617, No. 48, MS., P.R.O.
t Lodge's " Illustrations of Brit. Hist.," vol. iii., p. 276.
X Chamberlain to Carleton, in Birch, vol. ii., p. 53.

1617.] SIR THOMAS EDMONDS. 305

"On the 29th of December, 1617, Sir William Ingleby, of
Ripley, Yorkshire, made his will, in which he bequeathed to
his ' welbeloved nephew. Sir Peter Midleton a bale Barbaric
horse which he now hath of mine.' George, Earl of Cumber-
land, who died in October, 1605, left this Sir William his
' bald * gelding called Grey Lambert.' " — "Archaiologia
^linana," vol. i., p. 4.

" Count Gondomar, in a despatch, dated Madrid, September
19, 1622, to James I., says : ' Les deux chameaux et I'asne et
I'asnesse grandes a propo pour la race et generation je les
baillctay a my Lord Digby, qui les enuoyera a V. M"^ pour les
mettre dans le pare de Theobalds ; ' from which it seems that
the king contemplated to breed mules and jenets. The two
camels were probably designed for the menagerie in the
Tower." — Goodman's " Court of James I.," vol. ii., p. 237.

^^^ Sir Thomas Edmonds was descended from a good family,
of which the chief branch was settled in Wiltshire. He was
born in the year 1654, and early in life entered the service of
the crown, under Sir Francis Walsingham, Secretary of State
to Queen Elizabeth. He was Ambassador to Henry IV. of
France, in which post he continued till June, 1599. In
December, 1599, he was despatched by the queen to the
Archduke Albert about a treaty of peace ; as he was again
in March following upon the same business. In May, 1600,
he was one of the commissioners in the Treaty of Boulogne,
and after his return was appointed one of the clerks of the
Council ; and in June, 1601, was again sent to France. On
the accession of James I. to the crown of England he was
knighted, and in April, 1605, sent Ambassador to the Arch-
duke at Brussels, where he resided till about the end of

* Bill, in the Celtic, is white-faced. In the Gaehc bal signifies a spot
or mark ; and ballach, spotted. In Welsh, ceyffyl bal is a horse with much
whiteness in his forehead. Hence the word piebald, i.e. black and white.
Balius is a horse with a white mark in his forehead or feet. Procopius,
describing the horse of Bclisarius, tells us that his general colour was
brown, with the exception of the lower part of his muzzle, which was white.
Cf, Boucher's " Prov. Gloss."

VOL. I. X

3o6 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book V.

August, 1609 ; and in May, 16 10, he went in the same employ-
ment to the court of France, where he continued many years.
His long experience and important services gave him a just
claim to the post of Secretary of State ; but he was not able
to procure it, for reasons, perhaps, which did him honour under
so weak and corrupt an administration as that of James I.'s
favourites. But in December, 1616, he was made comptroller
of the household to the king, and in January, 161 8 (N.S.),
advanced to the treasurership of the household, which post
he held till his death, which took place on the 9th of Sep-
tember, 1639. He was frequently elected M.P., but his
absence from England on diplomatic affairs precluded him
from regularly attending to his Parliamentary duties, which,
as a courtier, he did not appreciate, except so far as they
might have related to the enforcing of the king's unconsti-
tutional behests. He took great interest in breeding thorough-
bred horses ; and his official duties on the Continent doubtless
afforded him rare opportunities of obtaining the best strains
of Arabian blood.

Retrenchment being the order of the day, the
king, heavy in debt, and, as usual, prodigal to his
favourites, it w^as proposed " to bring a reformation
into the stables ; " and every v^ay but the right one
was devised to settle his Majesty's pecuniary affairs.*

About this time the King of Denmark sent his
daughter, Queen Anne, a present of twelve mares,

* Rev. Thos. Lorkin to Sir Thos. Puckering, Bart., Greenwich, June
30, 1618.

"By Order dated xxiiij''' July, 1618. To Mons"' St. Anthony, John
de Banclier and Julian Bourden his Ma" Esquires the some of l.xv" ^'cell
of their yearlie allowaunce of two hundred and threescore pounds in lieu
of a diett of iiij" dishes of meat form'ly allowed them in his Ma"
household w'''' is converted into an allowance of monie payable quarterly
during pleasure and Due for the quarter ended at the Feast of the birth
of o' Lorde god last 1617 ^er b're datxx" Maij 1616."— Pells, Order Book,
1617-1618, No. 17, p. \M.

1619.J THE ROYAL STUD.

307

which, most probably, were very choice animals,* as
we learn from a familiar letter addressed by her
Majesty to Sir George Villiers, subsequently Duke of
Buckingham. The Earl of Salisbury presented the
King of Denmark with one of his Barbary horses
when that monarch was in England in 16 14.

According to an indenture dated October i, 1619, it appears
that the king received by the hands of George, Marquis of
Buckingham, " five horse coults of three years old," from
George Alsopp, " groom to his highnes Studd & Race of
Tutburie." The animals were delivered by Alsopp at his
Highness's stables at Charing Cross.f

" The first of August, 1621, there passed through Exon
[Exeter] six horses and mares which the Marquis of Buckingham
sent for into Barbary." — Diary of William Young, Esq., s. d.

" I made a present," says Sully (iii., p. 143), " to the King
of England of six beautiful horses, richly caparisoned, and
the Sieur de St. Antoine as their keeper." The letter by which
Henry IV. introduced this equerry into the service of James
is still preserved in the British Museum.J St. Antoine was
first equerry to Prince Henry. ^^^ He was afterwards equerry
to Charles I., and is painted by Vandyck holding the king's
helmet, in the well-known picture of Charles in armour on a
white horse. § This celebrated expounder of equestrian art

* " My kind dog, your letter hath bin acceptable to me, I rest alreadie
assured of your carefulnesse. You maye tell your Maister, that the king
of dennemarke hath sent me tuelf [12] faire mares, and, as the bringer
of them assures me, allgreate with foles, which I intend to put into
byfield parke, where being the other daye a hunting I could find but
verie few deare, but greate store of other cattle as I shall tell your
Maister myself when I see him, I hope to meete you all at woodstock at
the time appointed, till when I wish you all happiness and Contentment.

"Anna R."
— Harl. MS., 9683, 108, 190.

t MSS. Exch., 2 R. Auc. Misc. Equitium Regis, %^.

X Harl. MS., 1760, 12.

§ "Anecdotes of Painting," p. 219. This interesting picture has been
recently purchased by Government from the Duke of Marlborough, and
is now in the National Gallery.

3o8 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book V.

long continued in favour at the Court of St. James's ; he
dined with his Excellency Marshal Bassompierre in London,
November 21, 1626,* and was on terms of familiarity with
most of the nobility and gentry of the time.

^^^ Henry, Prince of Wales, for some years prior to his
death, was a great breeder of horses at Newmarket, where he

was a constant visitor.f He had an almost kingly
ofWales establishment; the officers and servants of his

stables numbered sixty-six persons.^ " The Prince
had an early and eager inclination to those exercises, which
tend at once to engage and employ the mind, form the body,
and add grace to vigour and activity. He therefore culti-
vated horsemanship with equal pleasure and application, and
the art would have found in him its greatest ornament and
support, had not death prematurely deprived the world of
this amiable prince, and the manege of a promoter and pro-
tector. He was under the tuition of an experienced horseman,
St. Antoine, and received his lessons in a riding-house in
St. James's Palace. Several writers on the subject of horses,
speak of this young prince's attachment to equestrian exer-
cises, with regard to hunting as well as the manage ; and
mention the hopes that were once conceived of the advan-
tages the kingdom would derive from the studs which he
had formed, and the races he had established " (Anony-
mous, c. 1792). Immediately prior to his sudden and un-
expected death. Prince Henry was extremely popular at
Newmarket, and it was on the occasion of his last visit there
that Sir Anthony Weldon observed the incident which in-
duced him to give expression to the repulsive opinion that
his Royal Highness was poisoned at the instigation of his
father. On this occasion the king, the prince, and the usual
court following were enjoying the pleasures of the Heath.
The prince having retired early in the day, nearly the whole
of the courtiers departed with him ; " few being left with the
father, and these mean persons, which drew tears from him,

* Memoirs, p. loi. t Harl. MS., 9683, 69 (123).

% Ibid., 252, II, (192).

1623.] THE BISHOP OF COVENTRY.

309

but the passion did not last long ; " and although he did not
forbear to reprove his fool, Archy, for calling his attention to
the incident above mentioned — " who, being more Scot then
foole, was able to mind one that filled a wiser roome, that it
is the religion of some nations, but the custome of all, to
adore the rising sun, and contemne him that is going
downe."

It is remarkable to notice that the ancient claim
of cors p7^esente seems to have been curiously enforced,
and under somewhat novel circumstances, at this
period. Secretary Conway, writing to the Bishop of
Coventry and Lichfield, May 17, 1623, tells him that
Lord Gerard ^^* having left by his will his two choicest
horses to the Prince of Wales, his Majesty now re-
quested the bishop, who had taken the best horse
as a heriot, to give it up to M. St. Antoine, the
prince's rider, and to suffer him to choose another
horse, after which the Bishop was at liberty to take
the best that remained.* To this letter the bishop
replied that, befi^re receiving the king's command,
he intended to present to the prince the late Lord
Gerard's best horse, Captain, but wished it to be
understood that it belonged of right to him, and
was so acknowledged by Lord Gerard, and to be
accepted as a present from him.f The king was
pleased with the bishop's offer to relinquish the horse
as a matter of courtesy, and without entering into the
merits of the case, expected the animal to be sent
to him at once ; and on June 20 Captain was
delivered to his Majesty at Wanstead, in Epping

* State Papers, Dom., vol. cxlv., No. 14.
t Ibid., May 26, No. 38.

3IO THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book V.

Forest, whence, it appears, it was sent on to New-
market.*

"^Gilbert Gerard, 2nd Baron Gerard, of Bramley,
Staffordshire, attained the family honours and estates in
1617 ; he died in 1623. Charles Gerard, 4th Baron Gerard,
succeeded his father in 1640. He died in 1667, and was
succeeded by his only child, Digby Gerard, 5th Baron Gerard.
This nobleman married his distant relation, Elizabeth, daughter
of Charles Gerard, ist Earl of Macclesfield, and had an only
daughter and heiress, Elizabeth, who married James, Duke of
Hamilton in Scotland, and ist Duke of Brandon in England,
Lord Gerard died Nov. 8, 1684, when the title devolved on
Charles Gerard, 6th Baron, who died without issue, April 1 2,
1707, when the title became extinct. All these noblemen
were more or less connected with the turf and breeders of
race-horses.

In June, 1623, the Duke of Buckingham wrote

from Madrid to the Commissioner of the Navy, to

send to St. Sebastian, a ship capable of

conveying home thirty or thirty-five horses,

presented to the Prince of Wales by the Spanish

Court.f

The predilection evinced by James I. for hounds and horses
is exhibited in the following letter by him sent to the Duke
of Buckingham : —

" Sweet hairte blessings blessings blessings on my sweete
tome badgers % hairte rootes and all his for breiding me so
fyne a kennell of yong howndes, some of thaime so fine
and well shaped, and some of thaime so fine prettie little

* State Papers, Dom., vol. cxlvii., No. 17 ; Harl. MS., 6987, 253a.
t Ibid., vol. cxlvii.. No. 95.

% " Tom Badger " and " Steenie " were used as cant names for the
duke, who, in return, styled the king as his " dear dade and gossip."

1623.] SIR GEORGE RERESBY'S STUD. 311

ones as thaye are worthie to lye on Steenie and Kates
bedde ; and all of thaime rume together in a lumpe both
at sente and uewe [view], and God thanke the maister of
the horse, for provyding me such a number of faire useful!
horses, fitte for my hande ; in a worde I proteste I was never
maister of suche horses and howndes ; the bearer will tell you
quhat fyne running we hadd yesterdaye. Remember now to
take the aire discreitlie and peece and peece, and for Gods
saike and myne, keepe thyselfe verrie warme, especiallie thy
heade and thy showlders, putte thy of Bewlie to an ende, and
love me still and still, and so God blesse thee and my sweete
daughter and god-daugher, to the comforte of thy deare dade.

"James R.
" [P.S.] Thy old purvayoure sent thee yesternight six
partridges and two levrettis, I am now gowing to hawke the
pheasant." — Harleian MS., 6987, fol. loi, p. 184.

A curious list of necessaries pertaining to the royal stables,
classified under the head of coursers, geldings, hunters, coach-
horses, bottle-horses, etc., will be found among the manuscripts
in the British Museum (Add. 5750, fo. 150).

It is evident that horse-breeding was conducted systemati-
cally in England at this time. In a rare work for the " Order
and Government of a Noblemans House," as observed in
1605, the " Officer of the Gentleman of the Horse " is enjoined
" to keep a note in a booke when everie mare is coverede and
with what horse, and that they bee carefullie looked into
before they foale and after" (" Archaeol.," vol. xiii.).

Sir George Reresby kept a considerable stud at Ickles,
in Yorkshire, about this period. His descendant. Sir John
Reresby, in his Memoirs, records that " his diversion was
sometimes hawks, but his chiefest was his breed of horses,
in which he was very exact ; but his breed was not of that
reputation to get any profit thereby, and the keeping of
much ground in his hands both at Thrybergh and Ickles,
for the running of his horses, which he might have let at
good rates, made it the more expensive," * When Sir John

• " The Memoirs of Sir John Reresby," by J. J. Cartwright, M.A., p. 10.

312 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book V.

inherited the estates, in the reign of Charles II., these race-
courses or training-grounds were discontinued and let for
farming purposes. His son and heir, however, is said to
have re-instituted racing and breeding thoroughbred horses
at Ickles, where, leading a short and merry life, he died in
1 70 1, when that branch of the family became extinct.

Pr'ythee, speak,
How many score of miles may we well ride
'Twixt hour and hour .''

Cymbeline.

Some remarkable feats of horsemanship are men-
tioned about this period.

On the demise of Queen Elizabeth, Sir Robert Carey,*
who had been anxiously hovering about the deathbed of
his kinswoman and benefactress, set off, with the lamen-
tations of her women still ringing in his ears, to announce
the important tidings to King James ; an act quite as
indelicate as it was unauthorized. It appears, by Carey's
own statement, that he must have ridden the distance
between London and Edinburgh (about four hundred miles)
within the space of sixty hours, notwithstanding he received a
dangerous fall from his horse, which retarded him on the road.
He rode to Doncaster, a distance of 162 miles, the first night.

Carey informs us, in his Memoirs, that he had, some years
previously (1599), won a wager of ;^2000 by walking in twelve
days to Berwick, which, he says, " bettered him to live at court
a good while after." The distance is 337 miles from London ;
but probably in those days it was much greater, and the
roads unquestionably were much worse.

Shortly before the death of Henry, Prince of Wales — the
Marcellus of his age — he set out one morning early, and rode
from Richmond to meet his father, James I., at Bever, in

* Fourth son of Henry, ist Lord of Hunsdon, created by James I.,
Feb. 5, 1625-6, Baron Carey and Earl of Monmouth. His Memoirs were
first published by John, Earl of Cork and Orrery, in 1759. He died in
1639 (see ante, page 138).

1623.] HORSEMANSHIP. 313

Notts, and reached " Sir Oliver Cromwell's, near Huntingdon,
by 10 o'clock before noon, near sixty miles, and the next
day betimes to Bever, forty miles " (Aulicus Coquinariae).
This was a remarkable ride, considering' that the prince was
ill, and that he died very soon after.

The Duke of Alva, in the short space of eight days and
nights, travelled all the way from the middle of Hungary
to Barcelona, on horseback, where he spent the night with
his wife, whom he loved with all the ardour of youthful
affection, and returned in the same manner, and in the same
space of time, to his post before the enemy.

" Henry VH., about the year 1500, had occasion to send to
the Emperor Maximilian upon a matter that required haste,
and thought no messenger would so speedily execute it as
Mr. Thomas Woolsey, at that time his chaplain. He accord-
ingly gave him his errand, desiring him to use every ex-
pedition. Woolsey departed from the king at Richmond
about noon, and the next morning got to Dover, and from
thence the noon following he was at Calais, and by night with
the emperor. He received his answer, and rode the same
night back to Calais, and the succeeding night came to
Richmond. The next morning he met the king, who blamed
him for delaying his journey. Woolsey replied that he had
despatched his business, and produced the Emperor's letter.
The king wondered much at his speed, and quickly bestowed
upon him the deanery of Lincoln. He soon after made him
his almoner. This was the cause of the first rise of that
afterwards great Prelate, Cardinal Woolsey." — Daniel, Rural
Sports, ed. 1812, vi. p. 492.

" In 1604, John Lepton, Esq., of Kenwich, Yorkshire, who
was one of the grooms of his Majesty James I., undertook
to ride five times between London and York from Monday
morning till Saturday night ; he set out on the 26th of May
and completed his undertaking in five days, with no apparent
fatigue to himself. — Ibid, (see "Rural Almanac," 1885, p. 15).

"On the 17th of July, 1619, Bernard Calvert, of Andover,
rode from St. George's church, Southwark, to Dover, when
he passed by cutter to Calais in France, and from Calais back

314 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book V.

to Dover, and thence rode to St. George's church the same
day, setting off at three in the morning, and returning at eight
in the evening." — Ibid.

In Stow's " Annales " by Edmond Howes, gentleman,
London, 1615 (v. v.), it is written, " I will giue the Palme to his
Majesties Ryders, and his gallant Caiiallerizos, & to the
gentlemen of the Escuyryc, or stable royall, who are com-
monly called Quiries, who since the burning of the R. Esaiycry
at Blondesbury, neere high Holborne, haue practised this art
at Charing crosse in the Mewes & thereabout and have
beene and are as expert as any Nepolitans whatsoever. This
art is taught also upon Clarkenwell greene, and was not long
since at Mile-end, by Singor Prospero. The arms of this
profession be vert, a horse arme, and caparassonne Or." —
p. 895^.

Bishop Hall and Shakespeare allude to a Newmarket horse
exhibited by one Bankes (a brother of the first keeper of the
New Warren) that was taught to perform a variety of tricks,
since commonly seen in the modern circus. Both Bankes
and his performing horse were, at length, to the disgrace of
the age, burnt at Rome, as magicians, by order of the Pope.
See Reed's Shakespeare, vol. vii., p. 26.

Pedestrianism occasionally occupied the attention of the
king and the court gallants ; a remarkable event, upon which
there was some heavy betting, about Easter 161 8, and is
described by an eye-witness as follows : " On Wednesday
there was a race of two footmen from St. Albans to Clerken-
well, the one an Englishman, belonging lately to the Countess
of Bedford, but now to the king ; the other an Irish youth,
that lost the day, and I know not how much money laid on
his head. The sums no doubt were very great, when my
Lord of Buckingham, for his part, went away with ;^30OO, and
it is said for certain, ihere was more than twice as much won
and lost that day. The Irish youth serves Sir — Howard,
a younger son of the lord treasurer, and the general opinion
is, that if the race had been shorter, and the weather and
ways not so extreme[ly] foul, our man had been put to the
worse, though he had made good proof of himself heretofore ;

1623.] S/Ji DUDLEY DIGGES. 315

and 'tis a very lusty, able fellow, but carried it now by main
strength, so that the other gives over 'twixt this and Highgate,
when he was not twice his length behind him. This story
were not worth the telling, but that you may see we have
little to do, when we are so far affected with these trifles, that
all the court in a manner, lords and ladies, some farther off,
some nearer, went to see this race, and the king himself,
almost as far as Barnet, and, though the weather was so sour
and foul, yet he was scanty?/^ de bonne mere, that went not
out to see ; insomuch, that it is verily thought there was as
many people as at the king's first coming to London.
And, for the courtiers on horseback, they were so pitifully
bewrayed and bedaubed all over, that they could scant be
known, one from another. Besides divers of them came to
have falls and other mishaps, by reason of the multitude
of horses." *

" Sir Dudley Diggs,"^ Knt, Master of the Rolls, by his last
will dated in 1638, left the sum of ;^20 to be paid yearly
to two young men and two maids, who on Monday, May
19th, yearly should ritn a tye, at Old Wives Lees in Chilham,
Kent, and prevail ; the money to be paid out of the profits
of the lands of the part of this manor of Selgrave, which
escheated to him after the death of Lady Clive. These lands,
being in three peiccs, contain about 40 acres, and are commonly
called TJie Rujining Lands. Two young men and two maids
run at Old Wives Lees in Chilham yearly on the ist of
May, and the same number at Sheldivich Lees, on the Monday
following, by way of trial, and the two which prevail at each
of those places run for ^10 at Old Wives Lees, as above
mentioned, on May loth." f

"^ Sir Dudley Digges was a member of a family in which
talent seems hereditary, for his grandfather, Leonard, was
an able mathematician and architect, and was the author of
several works on geometry. His father, Thomas, was an

* " The Court and Times of James I." (London, 1848), vol. ii., p. 72 ;
see also Camden's " Annalcs," s. d.

t Hansted, " Hist. Kent," vol. ii., p. 787. London, 1790.

3i6 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book V.

eminent astronomer. Dudley was his eldest son, born in
1583, educated at Oxford. He was knighted by James I.,
and sent ambassador to the Czar of Muscovy, which was
followed by other employments abroad. But his reputation
was gained in the House of Commons in the reign of
Charles I., and his opposition to the court and the Duke of
Buckingham procured his committal to the Tower. The
government at last contrived to release him by making him
Master of the Rolls, in 1636, three years after which he died.
He had a monopoly of the Feversham oysters. His son
Dudley and his brother Leonard also distinguished them-
selves in the world of letters.

At a Parliament held at Edinburgh, in 1621, an Act

(xiii.) was passed for the purpose of preventing excessive

betting upon horse-races in Scotland, which were,

James I. ^^ ^j^jg time, "over much frequented" in that

1621. . ^

Scotland. country, to the great prejudices of the lieges.

Racing in Cards and dice were also, to a certain extent,

Scotland. interdicted, because the honest man ought not
ActofParlia- ,

ment to re- ^o expect that any winnings at cards, dice, or

strain exces- racing could conduce to his good or prosperity ;

sive betting on therefore it was enacted That no man shall play at
horse-races .

and gaming, cards or dice in any common-house, town, hostlary,

or " Kuikis houss," under pain of forty pounds
money of this realm, to be exacted of the keeper of the said
inn, etc., for the first fault, and loss of their liberties for the
next ; moreover it shall not be lawful to play in the private
house of any one where the master of the family plays him-
self " And giff It shalhappin anye man to win anye sommes
of money at Carding Or dyceing Attoure the soume of ane
hundreth merkis within the space of Tuentie four houres Or
gayne at waigeris vpon hors' Races anye soume attoure the
said soume of ane hundreth merkis. The superplus shal be
Consignit within tuentie four houres ]?airefter in the handis of
the thesaurer for the Kirk ef it be in edinburgh. Or in the
handis of suche of the kirk sessioun in the Countrey parochines
as Collectis and Distributis money for J>e Poore of the same.

1621.] BETTING AND GAMING. 317

To be employed alwayis vpoun the pure of the paroche

Ouhair suche evynning sail happin to fall out and to \q.

effect that ather exces' in playe may be thus restrayned

Or at the leist that excessive winning may be employed as

said is OURE SOUERANE Lord by actis of his supreme

Court of parliament gevis full power and Commissioun to the

bailzeis and magistraitts of borrowes The schireffis and

Justices of peax in the Cuntrie To persew and Convene all

suche persounes for all wynning at Cardes or dyce and hors'

races w*^"^*^ shalhappin to be made by any persoun by and

attoure the said soume of anc hundreth merkis money forsaid

And incace the magistrat informed J^airoff refuis to persew for

the same The pairtie Informer sail have actioun agains the

said Magistrat for double of ]?e lyik soume the ane half q"" of

to be gevin to |?e pure and the vther halff to J»e pairtie

informer." — Acts of Pari., Scot., vol. iv., p. 612 ; 4to edit.

Lond., 1 8 16.

A curious instance of the rage for gambling in those days

is mentioned by Sir John Harington.* " Because examples

are more effectual often than perswasyons, and to

prayse the dead is no flattery, I will alleadsre one ^^.mes i.
•^ ^ Gaming,

example, well known to many and thearfore not

unfit for this purpose. Who was more magnificent in matters .
of trew honor, more sumptuous in buildinge, ritch in fur-
nishinge, royall in entertayning, orderly in maintayninge his
howse then Sir Christofer Hatton, late Lord Chawncellor ? a
man taught vyrute, framed to wisdom, raysed to honor, by
her Majesties speciall grace and choyce ; yet when some
ambassadors lay at his howse, (knowinge the generall humor
of the meaner sort to love to see great play) whyle hee him-
self entertayned the cheefest of them with some grave dis-
course or some sollom musycke, he caused some of his freends
to play at cardes with ^1000 in fayr golde of his money,
ratinge it at theyr owne pleasures at ^\\d. in the pownd, or
as they themselves agreed on, that the summes played might
seem great, and show bountifull, the substance not unsup-
portable. Thus you see that, if men will needes have a
* " Nugse Antique," edit. Lond., 1804, vol. i., p. 210.

3i8 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book V.

pryde in a thinge whereof they may rather be ashamed, yet
in this manner of play I recommend to you, both the idle
man may have his pastyme, and the prowd man his pompe."
Sir John Harington further records that his grandfather,
William, Earl of Pembroke, lost ;^2000 in one night, " imita-
ting Augustus Caesar's play, though I will be sworen for him
he never read his life — still giving away all he won, and
paying away all hee lost." *

Owing to the reputed influence obtained by the
Jesuits, through the Spanish ambassador, over James
I., a canny Scot named Ramsy, watchmaker to his
Majesty, issued clocks at a certain rate of odds to
whomsoever chose to gamble in timepieces ; they to
pay a minimum price for the timepiece, so staked on
a maximum alternative, " when King James should
be crowned in the pope's chaire." Ben Jonson ridicules
the romantic wagers which were then laid, by intro-
ducing Sir Peuntravolo, in " Every Man out of his
Humour," giving the odds upon the performance of
a journey to Constantinople, by himself, his cat, and
his dog.

John Chamberlain (a notable "intelligencer" of
the period), writing from London, January 8, 1608,
to his friend and gossip, Dudley Carleton, says, inter
alia, that " On Twelfth Eve there was great golden
play at court. No gamester admitted that brought
not ^300 at least. Montgomery played the King's
money, and won him ^150, which he had for his
labour; the Lord Monteagle"*^ lost the queen ^400;
Sir Robert Carey, for the prince, ^300 ; the Earl
of Salisbury, ^300 ; the Lord Buckhurst ^500,

* "Nugae Antique," edit. Lend., 1804, vol. i., p. 220.

1621.] S/R FRANCIS WOLLEY. 3^9

ei sic de c ester is ; so that I heard of no winners,
but the King and Sir Francis Whooley,^^^ who got
above /8oo. The King went a hawking journey
yesterday to Newmarket, and returns to-morrow." *
On Twelfth Night, 1618, the Marquis of Hamilton"'
won ^400, and the Earl of Dorset "^ /500 " at play
in the King's Chamber." f

116 William Parker, eldest son and heir of Edward Parker,
Lord Morley, and Elizabeth, only daughter and heiress of
William Stanley, Baron Monteagle, who had been summoned
to Parliament in the lifetime of his father, in right of his
mother, as Baron Monteagle, and was summoned to the
Upper House as Lord Morley and Monteagle, from January
30, 1 62 1, to November 4 in the same year. This is the
nobleman to whom the memorable anonymous letter was
addressed, by which the Gunpowder Plot was fortunately
discovered. It is said to have been written by his sister
Mary, wife of Thomas Abington (or Habington), of Hinlip,
which Thomas had been cofferer to Queen Elizabeth. Abing-
ton was concerned in many projects for the release of Mary,
Queen of Scotland, and contrived various places of con-
cealment in his old mansion at Hinlip. He was condemned
to die for concealing Garnet and Oldcorn the Jesuits, but
was pardoned at the intercession of his wife and Lord Mont-
eagle. This Lord Morley and Monteagle married Elizabeth,
daughter of Sir Thomas Tresham, Knight, and was succeeded
at his death, in 1622, by his eldest son, Sir Henry Parker,
K.B., second Lord Morley and Monteagle.

ii'' Sir Francis Wolley, of Priford, Surrey, where he
entertained James I., August 10, 1603, by ^whom he was
knighted, at the Charter-house, May 3, same year.

lis James, 2nd Marquis OF HAMILTON, K.G. — only son and

* "The Court and Times of James I.," vol. i., p. 71.
t State Papers, Dom. vol. xciv., No. 14.

320 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book V.

heir of Lord John Hamilton, ist Marquis of Hamilton, and
Margaret, only daughter of John, 8th Lord Glamis — succeeded
his father, April 12, 1604, and his uncle, James, Earl of Arran
(who fell in love with Mary, Queen of Scots, and was ac-
cordingly declared a lunatic, incapable of managing his own
affairs), in 1609. He obtained the English peerage June 16,
1 61 9, by the titles of Baron of Innerdale, in Cumberland, and
Earl of Cambridge, and was installed a Knight of the Garter,
at Windsor, July 7, 1623. He married Lady Anne Cunning-
ham, daughter of James, 7th Earl of Glencairn, by whom he
had two sons and three daughters. He died March 2, 1625,
and was succeeded by his elder son, James, 3rd Marquis and
1st Duke of Hamilton.

"9 Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl OF DORSET — eldest son of
Robert, the 2nd Earl, and his first wife, Margaret, daughter
of Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, born March 28, 1589 — succeeded
his father (who enjoyed the family honours but a few months)
February 25, 1 608-9 ; married Anne, daughter and sole
heiress of George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, by whom he
had two daughters ; he died in 1624, when the honours
devolved upon his brother, Edward Sackville, 4th Earl, K.G.
This nobleman, before he attained the title, was concerned
in a fatal quarrel with Lord Bruce, " upon which they both
transported themselves into Flanders, and attended by two
chirurgeons, placed at a distance, and under an obligation not
to stir but at the fall of one of them, they fought under the
walls of Antwerp, when the Lord Bruce fell dead upon the
place." This earl (4th) died in 1652.

In August, 1 6 19, the quidnuncs were full of an
alleged quarrel between Lord Scrope and a young
gentleman named Foster, in which the latter was
generally supposed to be killed. Foster had won
^1500 from Lord Scrope ^'^° "at bowls and other
gaming, besides his coach and coach-horses : and for
refusing to lend him them, they fell out. But the

1621.] BARON SCROPE. 321

truth Is," writes Chamberlain to Carleton, " there
was no such mishap befel, nor any quarrel, only the
young gentleman had once won above ;^5000 pieces,
though he carried not half away. And, indeed, I
have not heard of greater play than was then [at
Henly] ; as for example, they played three pieces
glick, as ordinary folks used to play two-penny glick."
Again, under date May, 1623, he writes: " The Lord
Walden hath 111 luck of late ; for the last week he lost
above ;^i5oo in one day at bowls, at Hackney, and
;^400 or ^500 two days before, all of which the Lord
of Montgomery carried off the greater part" (Birch,
vol. ii.).

^^ Emanuel Le Scrope, nth Baron Scrope, of Bolton,
succeeded his father Sept. 2, 1609 ; president of the king's
council in the north in the reign of James I. ; created Earl
of Sunderland by Charles I., in 1627. He married Lady
Elizabeth Manners, daughter of John, Earl of Rutland, but by
her had no issue. He died May 30, 1630, when the title became
extinct. He had three illegitimate daughters — Mary, married
to Charles, Duke of Bolton ; Elizabeth, to Thomas, Earl Rivers ;
Annabella, to J. G. Howe, Esq., ancestor of Earl Howe.

Dr. Tobie Mathew, in a letter to the Lord Treasurer,
expressed his disapprobation of the king spending so much
time in sporting affairs, and probably casting reflections on
the gambling, etc., at the court, was called before the Council ;
" and after some schooling, the Earl of Salisbury told him that
he was privy to his imprisonment," but, as a special mark of
clemency, gave him five weeks to settle his affairs and quit
the realm. This "storm in a teacup" soon blew over, and
some years afterwards Dr. Tobie Mathew became, by royal
will and favour. Archbishop of York.

Parson Hinde, a Puritan writer of the period, severely con-
demned sports and betting of all descriptions ; he regarded
VOL. I. Y

322 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book V.

racing as " an exercise of profaneness," and lamented that it
should have been " diligently followed by many of our gentle-
men, and by many of inferior ranck also," who, "of their
weekly and almost daily meetings, and matches on their
bowling greenes, of their lavish betting of great wagers in such
sorry trifles, and of their stout and strong abbeting of so sillie
vanaties amongst hundreds, sometimes thousands, of rude
and vile persons, to whom they should give better, and not
so bad example and encouragement, as to be idle in neglect-
ing their callings ; wasteful in gameing and spending their
meanes ; wicked in cursing and swearing ; and dangerously
profane, in their brawling and quarreling." *

" Mr. Blunt, a greate gamester, maruelous franke, and a
lelunt cauelier." f

" Three things which make others poore make Alderman
Lee, now Lord Maior, rich, — wine, women, and dice ; he was
fortunat in marrying riche wives, lucky in great gaming at
dice, and prosperous in the sale of his wines." %

George Villiers, ist Duke of Buckingham, who
in many respects was closely connected with the Turf, as an
owner and breeder of race-horses, was born on August 20,
1 592, at Brookesby, in Leicestershire, and was the son of Sir
George Villiers. At an early age he was sent to a private
school in that county. When he was about eighteen, he
travelled on the Continent, where he acquired a knowledge
of the French language, and some of the accomplishments of
the noblesse, such as fencing and dancing, in which last he
particularly excelled. Soon after his return to England, his
mother, who was a sagacious and canny woman, is said to
have introduced him at court ; concluding probably, and not
without some reason, that a young gentleman of his physique
and accomplishments could not fail of making his fortune
under such a monarch as James L Another version is that
the king first encountered Villiers at a horse-race at Linton,
in Cambridgeshire, where the latter " lived in a stable and

* Biography of Bruen. t Manningham's Ti'i^xy, sub dato Nov. 10, 1602.
% Ibid,, March 30, 1603.

1019.] GEORGE VILLIERS, 323

was dressed in an old black suite broken out in divers
places." *

According to the general opinion of most writers, George
VilHers was indebted for his first step in royal favour to his
ability as an actor. It is probable he played many parts, and
most likely turned his talents to account at the race-course
or the barn {i.e. stage) as opportunity presented. In a rare
book entitled "A Detection of the Court and State of
England," by Roger Coke, Esq., our authority gives the
following description of the first meeting between James I.
and Villiers : " The King, about the Beginning of March
1614, according to his usual methods, went to take his
Hunting Pleasures at New-market ; and the Scholars of
Cambridge, who knew the King's Humour, invited him to
a Play called Ignoraimis, to ridicule the Common Law :
Never did anything so hit the King's Humour as this
Play did ; so that he would have it acted, and acted again,
which was increased with several Additions, which yet more
pleased the King. At this play it was so contrived, that
George Villiars should appear with all the advantages his
Mother could set him forth ; and the King, so soon as he
had seen him, fell into Admiration of him, so as he became
confounded between his Admiration of Villiars, and the
Pleasure of the Play, which the King did not conceal, but
gave both Vent upon several Occasions. This set the Heads
of the Courtiers how to get Somerset out of Favour and to
bring Villiars in." The writer then goes on to record how
the Earl of Somerset was arrested by the king's order at
Newmarket, and sent to the Tower, charged with poisoning
Sir Thomas Overbury, and other matters in connection with
Buckingham's rise to fortune, with which we have directly
nothing to do. Sir Anthony Weldon says that at this time
Villiers was indebted to others for the clothes and linen
necessary to appear before the king.

Curiously enough, in this comedy (" Ignoramus ") the
author, George Ruggles, M.A., makes mention of race-courses
at " Roystoniensis, Brackliensi, Gatterliensi, and Coddington."
* Harleian MS., 646.

324 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book V.

It was first acted before James I. and the Prince of Wales
during a visit to Cambridge in March, 1614-15, The edition
of " Ignoramus " edited by J. S. Hawkins (8vo, 1787) contains
a Life of Ruggles, and a valuable glossary of his " ultra-canine
Latin " legal terms. There is also a translation of this
comedy by " R. C. of Magdalen College, Oxon," and pub-
lished London, 1662, 4to.

At any rate, Buckingham's first step to fortune was either
made on the race-course or on the stage. His name occurs
frequently in these annals in connection with the Turf, in
racing, betting, and breeding. His first post at court was
cup-bearer to the king. Soon after, he was made a gentleman
of the bed-chamber, a Knight of the Garter, and, at sub-
sequent intervals, a baron, a viscount, an earl, a marquis, and
a duke ; he became Lord High Admiral of England, Lord
Warden of the Cinque Ports, Master of the Horse, and
entirely disposed of the favours of the king, in conferring all
the honours and all the offices of the three kingdoms without
a rival. Well might Lord Clarendon exclaim : " Never any
man, in any age, nor, I believe, in any country or nation,
rose in so short a time, to such greatness of honour, fame, or
fortune, upon no other advantage or recommendation than
the beauty or gracefulness of his person."

In 1620 Buckingham married the only daughter of the
Earl of Rutland, who was the richest heiress in the kingdom.
Some have said he debauched her first, and that the Earl of
Rutland threatened him into the marriage, but the corre-
spondence which took place on the irregularity does not
justify the aspersion. In 1623 Buckingham owned some of
the best race-horses in England, and after the fiasco of the
Spanish match he imported a cargo of the best Eastern
horses obtainable. Owing to the intimate relations between
him and James I. at this time, it is difficult to say whether
these horses were for his own or the royal stud, but there is
very little doubt that many of them and their descendants
were in the Tutbury " race," soon after the duke's assassina-
tion in 1628.

Buckingham's mode of dispensing court favour at New-

1619.] DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM. 32S

market we have already witnessed. These abuses, and the
aggrandizement of his own numerous family and dependents,
offended alike the ancient nobility and the people of all con-
ditions. When Charles succeeded to the throne in 1625,
the duke continued in the same degree of favour with the
son as he had enjoyed so many years under the father. This
greatly disappointed certain courtiers who anticipated a
change in the mode of distributing emoluments and honours.
But Buckingham still gave away all preferments in Church
and State ; his kindred and friends were promoted in honour,
riches, or offices as he thought fit, and all his enemies and
enviers discountenanced, as he appointed. But whatever
interest he might have with the king, he had now none with
the Parliament and the people. His incapacity in command
of the disastrous expedition to the Isle de Rhe would have
caused the retirement of any other minister under any other
monarch ; but Charles still retained Buckingham in his
pride of place. He ignored the aristocracy and defied the
public.

Having returned to England, and repaired the fleet and
reorganized the army, Buckingham was about to sail from
Portsmouth to the relief of Rochelle, which was then closely
besieged by Cardinal Richelieu, when he was assassinated by
a soldier named Felton, on August 23, 1628. The duke was
then in the thirty-sixth year of his age. The particulars of
Buckingham's murder are well known, as it is detailed in
all our histories. He was lamented by none save his own
followers, while Felton was considered by the public as the
Brutus of the time.

BOOK VI.

THE ANNALS OF THE TURF IN THE REICxN OF
JAMES I. 1605-1625.

Brief introduction : Newmarket — Chester — The " ancient race " for St.
George's Cup — The articles for the bells and cup — -The fixture — The
entrance fees — The weights— The Clerk of the Course — His functions
— -The sheriff appointed starter — No horses allowed on the course
but those entered for the races — Jockeys riding foul disqualified and
committed to prison — New articles — Length of the course altered
— The winner to retain the cup for ever — Some further particulars —
The Earl of Derby — Wallasey or Farndon — Contemporary painting
of a horse-race at Leasowe Castle — Described by Sir Edward Cust —
Croydon — The races attended by the King — Tumults and disorderly
conduct at the meeting — The Earl of Pembroke and the King — The
former a notable sportsman and turfite — Dignities conferred on him
at this meeting — Doncaster — Early notice of this meeting — The
stand — The town moor — The course — The officials — Frequency of
riots at this meeting — The races temporarily abolished in conse-
quence— The stand and rails ordered to be destroyed — The races
revived — Durham — Articles for the gold cup — The course and
officials — Visit of the King — Notable turfites — Sir George Selby —
Sir Charles Wren — Racing in Yorkshire — Gatherley — The song of
the Gatherley race — Richmond — The cup — Description of the race —
Won by Sir George Bowes — The entrance fees, etc. — Langwathby
— ^" Belted Will " — Lord IVilliani Howard — Lincoln — The races
attended by the King — The cup — The royal stand — The course
partly railed and roped in — The gold snaffle — Foot-races — Salisbury
— The gold bell for horses — The gold bell for grej'hounds^ — Coursing
matches — New articles — The bell and snaffle sold to provide "a
silver cup gilt with gold to be run for ever " — Thetford — The meeting
suppressed by the Privy Council — Linton — The races attended by
the King — George Villiers introduced to James L on the race-course

1605.] THE ANNALS OF THE TURF 327

— Derby — York — A race on the ice — Racing in Lancashire — Whalley
Abbey, Liverpool, and WaUon ^Meetings— Lancastrian turfites of the
period — T\i&Asshetons, lilolvieux, Toiunleys, etc. — Brackley — CarUsle
— The royal cup — Paisley — The meeting established by the corpora-
tion— The silver bells — The races celebrated in song and elegy — The
stewards — The articles — The course — The trophies —Lord Paisley —
Peebles— Alleged meetings at Theobalds, Enfield, etc.

Our summary introduction to the Annals of the Turf
in the reign of James I. commences with Newmarket,
where horse-races and "hunting matches" jamesi.
were instituted under the auspices of royalty. ^^® Annals.
Palatial Chester next attracts our attention, where many
gallant contests took place for St. George's Cup and
other races on the feast day of our patron saint. The
articles for the cup and the bells run for on Rodee are
exceedingly interesting, from w^hich it will be seen
that the riders carried ten stone, and paid an entrance
fee of 2s. 6d. each. The owner of the winnine horses
had to contribute 6s. Sd. or 3^. ^.d. to the prisoners
confined in the " North Gate," according to circum-
Stances. Security was required from the winner of
the cup and the bells for the reproduction of these
trophies against the next meeting, when they were to
be contested for over again. The sheriff officiated as
starter, and if any rider committed foul play during
the race, he was to be committed to prison and the
horse disqualified in case it won. In 1624 these
articles were, in some respects, altered ; the race was to
be run five times round the course, instead of three
times, as formerly observed, and the winner was entitled
to retain the prize for ever. It is probable the influ-
ence and the associations of the Turf at Chester
extended to Farndon, the Goodwood of the Grosvenor

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

1G09.] IN THE REIGN OF JAMES I. 329

Privy Council ordered that meeting to be suppressed.
We find the Turf instituted at Brackley, Northampton,
under somewhat novel circumstances. Races were
held at Linton and at York. Mention of the national
sport also occurs at Derby. In Lancashire meetings
were held at Whalley Abbey, Liverpool, and Walton.
This brings us to the Borders, and before crossing into
the Land o' Cakes, Carlisle stops the way, where the
Border meetings appear to have been in a flourishing
state, and attended with the social shindies peculiar to
all such gatherings at this period. At Peebles the
disturbance and bloodshed incident to the races, occa-
sioned the meeting there, in 1608, to be prohibited. At
Paisley silver bells were run for as early as the year
1608, when this meeting was first instituted by the
corporation of that ancient and horsey borough. The
articles for the bell-race are interesting, and it appears
the chief steward was Andrew Crawfurde — a name
well and honourably known on the Turf in our
own time. Horse-racing must have been a popular
pastime in Scotland about this time, where the meet-
ings being " over much frequented," and the betting
excessive, the Parliament were induced to apply certain
restraints for remedy thereof.

" The bell and bowl, which are run for on St.
George's Day by horses, were provided by Mr. Robert
Amery, sometime sherift* of this city, who on
the same day in this year brouMit them }^^J-

^ \ ^ _ Chester.

down to the Roods-Eye with great triumph."

— " Local History of Chester," quoted by Dr. Ormerod,

" Hist," vol. i., p. 202.

330 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book VI.

A proclamation was issued by the Mayor of Chester
and posted on " the Roody upon St. George's Day,"
A.D. 1609, admonishing all persons assembled "to see
the ancient race " to keep the peace and be of good
behaviour. Horses, other than those in the race, were
ordered to keep off the course.*

The articles for this race were as follows : —

" Articles to be performed for certaine orders towching the

runninge of a race for twoe bells and likewise a cuppe to be

runne for at the Ringe vpon Saint George his

Chester ^'^^^ being the three-and-twentieth of Aprill, as

followeth, —

'^ First, it is agreed vpon that the race for the bells and
runninge at the Ringe for the cuppe shall be houlden and
kepte vpon St George his day, except it fall out to light vpon
Saterday or Saboath day. Then they shalbe runne vpon
Monday next followinge, and the warninge by the drum and
cryer shalbe vpon Saterday or the day next before St. George
day not being the Saboath.

" Secondlie, every man that bringeth in his horse for the
race shall put in for to runn for the Bells xxj-. except him
that bringeth in the best bell, which shall pay but vi^-. viiirt'. and
him that bringeth in the second bell xiiij-. \\\\d. And he that
winneth the firste bell shall haue twoe partes of the money
that is laid down. And he that winneth the second bell shall
haue the third parte, which is the residue of the money that
is putt in. And every one that rydeth shall waye or be made
in weight just tenne stone weight. And to be wayed vpon
the Roodey in a paire of scales which shall be set vpp neare
vnto [the] house where the Maior and his brethern standeth.

" Thirdlie, everie one that runneth at the ringe for the cuppe
shall put in \\s. v'ld. a man, except him that bringeth in the
cup accordinge to his covenaunte by bounde at the tyme
apyointed, who shall put nothinge in for three times runninge

* MS. R. Cholmondeley, Esq., at Cholmondeley Hall, Shropshire.

1612.] CHESTER.

331

at the ringe. And whosover doth take in the first three
tymes shall haue the vse of the cupp accordinge to the
covenauntes, and soe much money as was put in. And if none
do take it the first three times, then shall all lose their money
that they put in at the first, and the said money to be given
to the Maior for the tyme beinge for the vse of the poore and
prisoners of the Northgate. And they all or as many of them
as please to put in newe money, viz., \\s. \\d. euerie man as
before is mencioned, to haue all the last money that was putt
in and the vse of the cupp as afore is expressed. Provided
allwayes that he that shall winne the Game shall pay and giue
to the prisonners of the North Gate \s., to the clerke for
writinge their names downe \\s. \\d.

" Fourthlie, the that winne the Bells shall giue to the
prisonners in the Northgate xs., viz., he that winneth the best
bell shall giue vii". v'nu/., and he that winneth the second
iiij-. iiii^., if they runne aboue three horses, and if they runne
but three they shall allowe but vis. viii^. to be paid equallie
amongest them.

" Fifthlie, he that winneth the said bells and cuppe shalbe
bounden to the Maior and Citizens of this citie to bringe in the
said bells and cupp every yeare with one or twoe sufficient
suerities for the deliuery of the said bells of the same waight
and goodness as they were when the receaved them vpp to the
Maior or his deputie for the time beinge vpon St George his
day, in the Inner Pentice of the said citie of Chester, before
twelue of the clock at noone upon the same day, beinge the
three and twentieth of April, vpon payne of forfeiture of theire
boundes. Allsoe, they shall paye to the dark when they doe
enter into boundes for making their boundes xiW. for every
bound.

" Lastlie, for givinge of the starte, either Mr. Sheriffes for
the time being, or whom Mr. Maior will appointe. And that
noe horses, geldinges, or mare shall come vpon the Roodey,
but oonlie those that doe runne, vntill the race be ended.
And allsoe that the ryders shall not offer one to another any
foule play in their ridinge vpon payne of ymprisonment.
And these articles and orders to be kept and performed

332 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book VI.

vnviolated, vpon payne of punishment and forfeiture of the
boundes and covenauntes." *

In celebration of St. George's Day, a " Triumph "

was composed by Richard Davies and performed in

Chester, in honour of Henry, Prince of

1610. Wales (who bore, among- other titles, that

Chester. \ ' &

of Earl of Chester). After a succession of
tableaux the pageant finally assembled on the Rodee,
where the " Mayor, Sheriffs, and Aldermen of Chester,
arayed in their scarlet, having seen the said Shewes,
to grace the same, accompanied and followed the
Actors. The bels, dedicated as before is mentioned,
being presented to the Mayor, proclamation being
generally made, to bring horses to runne for the said
bels. There was runne a double race, to the great
pleasure and delight of the spectators ; men of great
worth running also at the ring to the said cuppe,
dedicated to St. George. And those that wonne the
prizes, according to the articles agreed upon in that
behalfe, had the same honour thereunto belonofinsf.
The said severall prizes being with Speeches, and
severall wreathes set on their heads, delivered in
cerlmonious and tryumphant maner, after the order
of the Olimpian sportes, whereof these were an
imitation. . . ."

" After the running of the Horses, Fame specikes :

" With rich characters of resplendent gold,
Fame hath your names within her booke enrold ;
Which, till Time stays his course, shall glitter bright,
Maugre detraction and fell Envie's spright.

* Hist. MSS., Coss. Report V., p. 342.

1609-10.] CHESTER. 333

" Britaine, to him that wan the best Bell :

" In signe of victory which thou hast gain'd,
This wreathe by thy faire front shall be sustain'd ;
Whose green-leav'd branches unto Fame shall tell
That thou didst best deserve the better Bell." *

" William Robert Wall alderman dyed in march
& William Stanley E. of Darby ^'^ chosen Alde'iii in his
place the friday after. 1609.

"St. Georo^es Bells, and race of Runino-e Chester.

^ ^ 1610.

horses, vv"" other pleasante shewes sett out, st. George's
now Invented, by one m'' Roberte Amerye ^^^'

Iremongor and some tymes sheriff & borne in this
Cittye, all at his Coste. zaith the diall (22 strikers) 7iow
at St. />eters church''' f

121 William Stanley, 6th Earl OF Derby, K.G. This noble-
man, who bought from his nieces their claims to the Isle of
Man, was a notable turfite of the period and a proniinent
patron of rural sports in the Western Counties. He took
a special interest in the turf at Chester and Farndon. In the
city of Chester he " made a fair cock-pit under St. John's in
a garden by the water side to which resorted gentlemen from
all parts and great cocking was used there a long while."
The game-cocks of the Knowlsey breed were famous in the
pits of the three kingdoms for nearly three hundred years.
This justly celebrated breed were (alas ! and more's the pity)
exterminated by order of the 15th and present earl, who is so
full of the milk of human kindness. But in the days of the
6th earl this "sport of the gods " flourished under his patron-
age at Chester, and there were fought many mighty mains,
devised in those guileless times, as old Burton hath it, " to
avoid idleness," although later on in the seventeenth century

* Nichols' " Progress of James I.," vol. ii., pp. 295-306.
t The words in italics are in a different, and probably more recent,
hand. MSS. R. Holme (Chester Collections), Harleian, 2125, fol. ~'^.

334 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book VI.

estates were wont to change owners on the issue of a single
battle. At the period in question {circa 1619) Chester was a
notable centre for horse-racing, hunting, pedestrianism,
archery, bull-baiting, cocking, and similar national pastimes
(Harleian MSS., 2125). This Earl William succeeded his
brother, April 15, 1594; he married, June 26, in the same
year, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward Vere, 17th Earl of
Oxford, and had, with four daughters, two sons — James his
heir, and Robert ; he died in 1642.

,, , , ^ ^ T 1 f Christop Clease mercer

"John Creceton Inkeep J „,.,,~ /- , t 1

( Willm fisher Inkeep.

" This maior Caused first S* Geo Race on Roodey the 23

Aprell 1624 to be begone at the poynt .beyond

1623. j^g^y tower & to Run 5 tymes about the Roodye
& he that wan the last Course or Trayne to haue
the bell of a good value of 8 or 10" or thereabout to haue it
for euer : w'^'^ moneys was collected of cittisens to a some for
same purposse the 3 former bells of M"" Amoryes beingesould
& a 100" more gathered the vse thereof to find a Cupp.

" He caused the new tower gate to be enlarged for the
sayd horsrace w"^^ before was but a small gate for the rome of
3 horses to run in brest & caused the gutters to be filled in the
Roodey w"^ the muck hill called the pudinghill at the gate." *

" We are told," says Strutt, " that in the last year of

James I., John Brereton, inn-keeper, INIayor of Chester, first

caused the horses entered for this race, then called

**• St. GeovQ-es race, to start from the point beyond
Chester. , "^^ ' , . , , ^ ^ ^

the new tower ; and appomted them to run five

times round the roody ; 'and he,' says my author — probably

the younger Randel Holme — 'who won the last course or

trayne, received the bell, of a good value, of eight or ten pounds,

or thereabouts, and to have it for ever ; which monies were

collected of the citizens, to a sum for that purpose.' " f

* MS. Harleian, 2125, fo. f-S-J. According to Omerod, John Brerton
was mayor, and Christopher Blease and William Fishere, sherififs, of the
City of Chester in 1623.

t Strutt adds that, " By the author's having added, that the winner of

1605.] WALLACY OR FARNDON ? 335

The following description of a picture of horse-
racing " in the seventeenth century," preserved at
Leasowe Castle, near Birkenhead, Cheshire, ,„„,

c. 1605.

was communicated by the late Col. the Hon. Qy. Waiiacy
Sir Edward Cust, Bart, K.C.H., F.R.S. (to
whom it belonged), to the Historic Society of Lanca-
shire and Cheshire, and published in the ist vol. of
their Proceedings: Liverpool, 1849, pp. 143-145.

" This picture represents the sport of horse-racing in the
seventeenth century. As a work of art it is below mediocrity,
but the authenticity of its antiquity is evidenced by some
details, which prove it to be genuine. The scene of the
background is uncertain, but probably a remarkable hill in
the distance may make it known to any one well versed
in topography, who has travelled much in England. The
trees would not put to shame those of our Hundred of
Wirrall ; but there is no pretension to suppose that there
is any certain connection between the scene of this picture
and this immediate neighbourhood ; indeed, the scene may
be altogether ideal.

" The race appears awkwardly represented, inasmuch as
the winning-post is placed between the contending horses.
The jockeys are singularly dressed, but are distinguished
from each other by the colour of the jacket and cap, as at
this day. In the group to the right of the picture, King
James I. is easily recognized in a bonnet and rufif ; and in a
position in front of the crowd, but amongst those who follow,
one appears to be smarter — both horse and rider — is thought
to be the king's son. Prince Charles. To the left of the
picture is seen a nobleman, or country gentleman, with one
attendant. What is the most interesting in the several

this race was to have the bell, and and have it for n'cr, is implied, that
it had formerly been used as a temporary mark of honour, by the suc-
cessful horseman, and afterwards returned to the corporation ; this altera-
tion was made April 23, a.d. 1624."

336 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book VL

groups, is the costmue of the persons represented, which is no
doubt faithful, however rudely painted. The coats, hats, and
leggings are all unlike anything of modern times. The habit
of carrying swords, even to their private recreations, may
probably have continued to a much later period than the
beginning of the seventeenth century, which is assigned to
this representation ; but under the peaceful reign of James
it had probably degenerated into a mere form. Thus, while
the king appears only to carry a sword-hilt (for no scabbard
is to be distinguished), the gentleman on his left has his sword
carried for him by a running footman. The man in the tree,
apparently cheering on the winning horse, is probably a speci-
men of the common peasantry of the time, with neither shoes
nor stockings ; whilst the falling horseman is probably a
squireen or yeoman, or mere farmer, being a character known
at that period ; all probably proprietors, though not of gentle
blood. In the background is seen the royal carriage, capable,
from its size, to contain all the attendants, in which two
gentlemen may be perceived sitting very formally on the
back seat. A lady, very conspicuous at the window, is pro-
bably intended to represent the queen, although it has no
resemblance to Anne, consort of James I. The coachman
is in scarlet, driving a single pair of horses, and two out-
riders may be seen in the short cloak of the period, also in
scarlet. Still further in the distance may be seen two horses
in their body clothing, either walking about between the heats
or coming forward for another race.

" It is sufficiently singular that a sport so truly and exclu-
sively national as horse-racing should be so little known to
the national literature. Until within these few years, no work
existed on the subject, as far as can be traced from the cata-
logue of the library of the British Museum. It is believed
that the two Palatinates may be jointly regarded as the cradle
of the sport. In King's ' Vale Royal ' is inserted a description
of the Hundred of Wirrall, by Webb, dated about 1605, in
which the situation of Leasowe Castle is distinctly noticed,
at that time a racing-ground already well established. ' There
lie those fair sands or leasowes, on which the gentry do oft-

1G05.] SIR RICHARD GROSVEXOR, JUNIOR. 337

times try the speed of their horses, and venture no small
sums thereupon.' With the puritanic habits and opinions of
the Commonwealth, all such amusements were discontinued ;
but within the first year of the restoration, a notification
appears in the public prints, from the Earl of Derby, describ-
ing a course of four miles long in the neighbourhood of
Liverpool, as well suited to the sport, and inviting persons
to send their horses to it. This is believed to have been the
Leasowe course. . . .

" The castle is supposed to have been erected by the Earl
of Derby, of Queen Elizabeth's time — who was the great
proprietor and lord of the manor of the parishes of Wallacy
and Bidstone — for the express purpose of witnessing the
sport. Its form, an octagon with turrets on the alternate
faces, and windows on every side of the building, was favour-
able for commanding a view of the course in every direction.
At that time it stood above the level grass sward extending
for two miles on either side of it. It is not known what
other gentleman's racecourse existed before King James' reign,
in whose time Newmarket first came into vogue. ... A cup
was very early introduced as the prize for which gentlemen
sportsmen contended, and there is a very interesting example
of one as early as the seventeenth century, in the possession
of Mr. Curtis, of Liverpool."

We can find no direct reference relating to the
presence of James I. at any race-meeting in Cheshire,
or the adjoining counties ; nevertheless he may have
attended at some such improvised race, as depicted in
the Leasowe picture, during his return from Scotland
throuo^h Cheshire. As the kingf and court were enter-
tained at Farndon by Richard Grosvenor, junior,* whom
he knighted there, August 17, 1617, it is very likely this
was the locality and the occasion of the curious artistic

* In the lifetime of his father, Sir Richard Grosvenor.
VOL. I. Z

338 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book YI.

production in question. As we shall subsequently see,
Farndon became a popular race-meeting later on in the
seventeenth century.

" Great horse-racing " came off at Croydon during
the Easter holidays, a.d. i6ii. The king and the
1611. court were present, and an immense as-
(Monday sembly of nobility, gentry, and the public,
March 10.) " where by occasion of foul play or foul
words, one Ramsey [probably Lord Haddington], a
Scottishman, struck Philip Herbert, Earl of Mont-
gomery, with his riding rod.^^- Whereupon the whole
company was ready to go together by the ears, and
like enough to have made it a national quarrel. But
for want of weapons it was pacified." ''•" " The begarly
Scotch " were so disliked in England at this time that
it is said King James iyviva vocid) made this Philip
Herbert a knight, a baron, a viscount, and an earl on
the spot, for the loss of reputation he sustained by not
offering to strike again, whereby it is probable a tumult
was avoided. f

It is remarkable to notice the frequent allusion to
the detestation in which the Scots were held by the
English in the reign of James I. The offensive arro-
gance of the king's Caledonian followers almost pro-
duced an insurrection in 1612, when "the Scottish-men
were bodily afraid." Three hundred of them left London
for Scotland within ten days, in fear of their lives. A
Scotch knight having been buried, with almost regal

* Chamberlain to Carleton : " The Court and Times of James I.," vol. i.
t "Traditional Memorials of the Reign of King James," by Francis
Osborne, ch. 23.

1611.] CROYDON. 339

ceremonies, at the king's command, in Westminster
Abbey, the butchers of Clare Market buried a dead
dog in Thoulhill fields as a satire on the Scotch knight's
obsequies, whereupon the king ordered the butchers
to be whipped, but they escaped Scot free for lack
of executioners. On another occasion, when one of
those impecunious and importunate persons complained
to James that they were called " beggarly Scotch," the
king replied, " Bide a wee, mon, and a' sene mak' them
as puir as yoursel'." At the Universities the dons
refused to admit them, on the plea (which was legally
correct) that they were "aliens." However, they
managed to oret all the Qfood things that were ofiven
away by the court, and they ruled the roast until the
rise of Buckingham somewhat checked their " con-
quests." They were lampooned and satirized con-
tinually somewhat in the style of the subjoined
lines : —

They beg our goods, our lands, our lives ;

They whip our Nobles, and lie with our Wives ;

They pinch our Gentry, and send for our Benchers ;

They stab our Seargeants, and pistol our Fencers.

Leave oft", proud Scots, thus to undo us,

Lest we make as poor as when you came to us !

Birch MS., 4175.

Philip Herbert, Earl of Pembroke and Mont-
gomery, the " memorable simpleton " of Walpole, was
one of the first acknowledoed favourites of Kine
James, after his accession to the English throne. His
handsome face, his love for dogs and horses, and es-
pecially his taste for hunting, rendered him peculiarly
acceptable to that monarch.

The earl was an expert horseman, and seems to

340 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET [Book VI,

have shared the success of his brother in the tourna-
ments and other sports of the period. We find

The Herberts, every cockpit-day,

Do carry away

The gold and glory of the day.

With this nobleman's poHtical career we have
nothing to do beyond remarking that Butler celebrates
the earl's apostasy in some humorous lines in which
reference is made to his sporting predilections : —

His hawks and hounds were all his care,
For them he made his daily pray'r,
And scarce would lose a hunting season.
Even for the sake of darling treason.

122 Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke, brother of William,
the 3rd earl, was elevated to the peerage, as above related, as
Baron Herbert, of Shurland, in the Isle of Sheppey, county
Kent, and Earl OF Montgomery. His lordship was installed
a Knight of the Garter in 1608, at which time he was one of
the Gentlemen of the Chamber to the king. He was Lord-
Chamberlain of the Household to Charles I., and Chancellor
of the University of Oxford before he joined the patriotic
party. He married, first, Susan, daughter and eventually
co-heiress of Edward Vere, Earl of Oxford, by whom he
had issue Charles, Philip (successor to his father), William,
James, John, and Anne Sophia. He married, secondly,
Anne, only daughter and heiress of George, Earl of Cumber-
land, Duchess-Dowager of Dorset, but had no other issue.
He died in 1655.

Api'opos of the pugnacious disposition so frequently
displayed by a certain class of rowdies frequenting the
race-courses in those days, Richard Brathwait, Esq.,
in "The English Gentleman" (London, 1630), cautions
his readers to avoid such querulous persons. "For
these Jii'ie Spirits',' he says, " who have Thersites

1614.] DONC ASTER. 341

tongue and Ant mis hand, are dangerous to consort
with ; for they seldom resort to any meeting, but
either they doe hurt, or receive it. So as, even in
those tolerable Recreations of Horse-races, Cockings,
Bozulings, &c., you shall ever see those throw one
bone or other to make differences amongst men of
qualitie and ranke, wherin they will be sure to be in-
terested as Seconds, if not as principall Agents. My
advise there is," he continues, " that you avoid their
company, as disturbers of the pulicke peace, interrupters
of all honest Recreations, and profest enemies to all
civil societie. But wee have insisted too long upon
them, therefore wee will returne to our former dis-
course."

"The division of the Common betwixt Doncaster and

W'heatley [occurred in] 161 1.

"Miller states that, '1611, Hugh Childers,* mayor. In

this year a division was made in the Common

Doncaster.
betwixt Doncaster and Wheatley.

'" 1614, June, IS. 6d. were paid to Anthony Hogg for
makinge the waye at the horse race.' There is every proba-
bility that there would be a wooden stand of some ,„,^

'' 1614,

description at that period, not for the public, but

for officials ; as would appear from the rude representations

in the woodcuts of early race-lists. In one, a stand at the

winning post contains the judge— with a flag in his hand —

and two men, probably the stewards ; and at the distance post

a smaller box or stand, with a man holding a flag.

* " Carr House. About half a mile from the town stands this old
mansion, which for several generations was the residence of the family
of Childers. The house was built in 1604, by Hugh Childers, Esq., who
was Mayor of Doncaster in 1604 and 161 1, and was the ancestor of the
Childers. Leonard Childers, Esq., bred at Carr House the race-horse
known as Flying Childers." — " Hist. Notes," p. 1 1.

342 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book VI.

"In a plan of 1595, a former race-course and the present

one, with parts of adjoining lands, are called 'Wheatley

More ' intersected by a path ' grene gat from

1595 J r o !::>

Doncaster to Tandall ; ' at the end of which is
furnished the information that ' Heare Whestlay get their
truffe.' The great North Road is not market, but a notice
is given ' London Way, or small brygges,' with a ' Bracken-
bed ' and ' Whinny-hill ' to the left, and to the right, the place
where ' Doncaster trespass in graving of turffe.' ' The
London Way ' is again given further south across ' Cantley
comon,' but without any lin€ showing the road."

"In a deed dated May 24, 1631, is mentioned some land
in Long Newton (now known as Doncaster or the Town
Field), between the lands of Hugh Childers east
and the balke leading betwixt the Sandpitts
wynde myll and the Stand on the More west, H. Childers
south, and the Hades [ridges of land] north. This stand may
have been situate nearly where the Grand Stand is at present ;
but with a ' stoope ' for a starting-post, a tumbril-shaped
wooden stand for the Judge ; the course not bounded with
posts and rails, with the More and other common beyond, the
whole affair was easily removable." — " Historical Notes," by
W. Sheardown, Esq., J. P.

" It appears that the races were frequently conducted in a

riotous and disorderly manner ; and provocation passing

between the partisans of particular horses too

often produced a fatal termination, which the

prevailing custom of wearing swords tended to promote, led

the Corporation of Doncaster to make the following order : —

'1615, June 6. Forasmuch as it plainely appeareth by

divers accidents and inconveniences past, that the race on

Doncaster More hath brought and bred many caires and

sutes w*^*^ tendeth to the great damage and prejudice of the

Corporacon, and quarrells and other inconveniences have by

occasion of this Race bene stirred upp, therefore for the

preventinge of sutes, quarrels, murders, and bloodsheds that

may ensue by the contynuinge of the said race, it is

agreed that the stand and stoopes shall-be pulled upp and

1613.] DURHAM. 343

imploied to some better purpose, and the race to be dis-
continued.'

" This order is signed by Thomas Colson, Maior ; Hugh
Childers, Alderman ; Henry Riley, Robt. Roiston, and
thirteen others of the Corporation.

" However, the stand was soon after re-erected, when it
is beyond doubt the races were revived. Thus in February,
1616-17, \2d. was paid 'for making a way for
the horse race at the water gapp.' " — Ibid.

'* Mem. quod Thomas Robson, de Bushop Auckland, et
Johannes Bainbrigge de Whetleyhill, Gen. venerunt coram
Ricardo Hutton, Servient! ad Legem, Cancellar.
Dunelm. et recogn. se debere Georgio Selbie et Woodham-
Carolo Wrenn, militibus, centum marcas legalis raaox,
monete Anglic, &c., 20 Dec, 11 Jac, 1613.

" The condicon of this recognozance is such, that whereas
divers of the knights and gentlemen of this countie have
delivered over into the handes and custodie of the above
bounden Thos. Robson, the sum of fiftie pounds as a stock
collected and provided for the yearely bringing in of d. peece of
plate for a Jiunting prize, to be ridden for at Woodham Stowpes
yearely, upon the Tuesday next before Palme Sunday, and
soe to be contynued. If, therefore, the above bounden
Thomas Robson and John Bainbrigge, or either of them,
their heirs, &c., shall yearelie during the life of the above
bounden Thomas Robson, bring and present, or cause
to be brought and presented, to the now usual weighing
place upon Woodham-moore, yearely upon the Tuesday
next before Palm Sunday, a peece of gold and silver
plate in the form of a boivle or cupp, or such like forme, of
the value of seven pounds at the lease for a hunting prize,
to be ridden for at Woodham Stowpes, there to be disposed of
according to the articles thereof made and agreed, &c., and
also the next Tuesday before Palm Sunday, w"^ shall happen
after the death of the above bounden Thomas Robson, &c.,
and also shall bring and present the same day, the some of
fiftie pounds of lawful English money, being the stock afore-
said, to be paid over to the said Sir George Selbie ^-^ and Sir

344 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book VI.

Charles Wrenn,^^^ or the survivor, &c., to be further disposed
of as they the said Sir George and Sir Charles, or the
survivor, &c., shall think fitt for the contynuance of the said
prize, according to the true meaning and intent of certeyne
articles made and agreed upon by the knights and gentlemen
of this county, for the contynuance and tryall of the said
prize ; and if anie controversie doe arise touching the pre-
misses, if then they and ev[er]y of them doe performe such
order as by the Temporall Chauncelor of this County shal
be sett downe — then this recognizance to be void," etc.

" Note — That no ale was brewed for the King at Durham

Castle till the fifth day of April, 1617 ; and on Saturday the

tenth of the same April, the King came to the

lfi17 ir ' o

Castle ; and on Monday the next following the

King travelled from the Castle to Woodham-moor, to a

horse race,* which was run by the horses of William Salvin

and Master Maddocks,t for a gold purse, which was intended

to have been on the 8th of April, but on account of the

King's coming, was put off till the 21st, which match the

King saw."

" Mr. Topp Heath, of Eden, Gentleman, dying upon

Mainsforth-moor, coming fro' a horse-race and
1620. . ^

was buried ist April 1620." — Startees, "Hist.

Durham," vol. iii., p. 333.

^^^ Sir George Selby, eldest son of William Selby, Esquire,
of Newcastle, was sheriff of that borough in 1594, and mayor
in 1600, 1606, 161 1, and 1622. Sir George was knighted by
James I., whom he had the honour of entertaining during his
various progresses northwards, and was, in consequence, gene-
rally distinguished by the title of " the King's host." Indeed,
Sir George's splendid hospitality seems to have been a very
leading feature in his character, and not forgotten in his
epitaph. He died on the 25th of March, 1625, aged sixty-
eight. His splendid monument was removed several years
ago, and only underwent the fate of a still more illustrious

* Hippodromum. f Rowland Madokes, Esq., of Skermingham.

1620.] GATHERLEY. 345

memorial, the cenotaph of the fourth Percy, Earl of Northum-
berland (murdered at Cockledge in 1489), which was removed
to make way for the Selbys' — Swit ipsis etiann, etc. The
Selbys were connected by marriage with some of the most
notable Turfites of the seventeenth century, including the
Fenwicks, Mostyns, etc. Five individuals of this family
obtained the honour of knighthood from James I., viz. Sir
William Selby of Breddleston ; Sir George, " the King's host ; "
Sir William of Winlaton ; Sir William of Motte, and Sir John
of Twisel.

^^•* Sir Charles Wren, Knight, seated at Binchester, was,
about this time. Constable of Raby Castle, and keeper of the
park there. He appears to have sold his office to Sir William
Gascoigne, without permission or assent of the Secretary of
State, or the Bishop of Durham, which was productive of
some quaint pleadings between Sir Charles Wren, Sir George
Freville, the Earl of Salisbury, and Bishop Hutton. Even
the wisdom of the king was ineffectual in bringing the dispute
to an amicable adjustment. It reverted, at last, to the simple
rule, the good old plan, that he should keep who hath the
power, and he should hold who can,

" Sir William Webb was altogether in the north, where

this summer-horse had the honour to carry away the bell at

Gusterly race ; and himself, newly mounted on a

•^ ' •' . Gatherley.

well-ridden filly ... is likely to pay his old
debts in herbe or en gerbe, or both . . . " — Chamberlain to
Sir D. Carleton, Sept. 9, 1613. "The Court and Times of
James I.," vol. i.

At this time, Gatherley Moor, not far from Rich-
mond, was one of the most celebrated places in
the north of England for horse-racing, as Gatherley
appears from the following curious old ^°°^'
racin*^ suncr : —

346 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book VI.

You heard how Gatherly race was run,
What horses lost, what horses won,
And all things else that there was done,

That day.

Now for a new race I shall you tell,
Was neither run for bowl or bell,
But for a great wager, as it befell,

Men say.
Three gentlemen'of good report.
This race did make, to make some sport ;
To which great company did resort.

With speed.

To start them then they did require,
A gallant youth, a brave esquire,
Who yielded soon to their desire

Indeed.
They started were, as I heard tell,
With, now St. George ! God speed you well !
Let every man look to himsel.

For me.

From Severn-Hill to Popleton Ash,
These horses run with spur and lash.
Through mire and sand, and dirt, dish, dash.

All three.
Bay Corbet first the start he got
A horse well known, all firey hot ;
But he full soon his fire had shot,

What tho' ?

For he was out of graith so sore,
He could not run as here-tofore,
Nor ne'er will run so any more,

Grey EUerton then got the lead,
A gallant beast, of mickle speed ;
For he did win the race indeed ;

I throw.

Even so.

Grey Appleton the hindmost came,
And yet the horse was not to blame.
The rider needs must have the shame.

For that.

For tho' he chanc'd to come behind.

Yet did he run his rider blind ;

He was a horseman of the right kind.

That's flat.

1612.] RICHMOND. 347

For when the race was past and done,
He knew not who had lost nor won ;
For he saw neither moon nor sun

And thus the race is at an end,
And so farewell to foe and friend ;
God send us joy unto our end,

As then.

Amen.

The following quaint description of a race for a
cup run for at Richmond, May 6, 1622, is copied from
the municipal records, and printed by Mr. ^g^^
Clarkson in his " History of Richmond " Richmond,

, Yorkshire.

(p. 282) :—

" A new maid race upon Rychniond Moore of iiii myles,
sett forth and measured by Mr. James Raine, Alderman, and
Mr. John Metcalfe, and many other gentlemen and good-
fellowes the vi^^. of May. And further the said James Raine,
Alderman, with his brethern, hath maid up a sume of xii
poundes for to buy a free cupp for those knights, gentlemen,
or good-fellowes that were disposed to have horses or mares
to run for the same. Allwayes provided that the knights,
gentlemen and goodfellows that have horses or mares to run,
havyng the cupp free to their own disposition, must make upp
the value of the said cupp, to renue the same for the next
yeare.

" Whereas the names in order as they came this present
year 1622, was as followeth, John Wagget onely the starter.
Imprimus — Sir George Bowes ^^^ . , . . his horse, i
Mr. Humphrey Wyvell, his tryer.

Mr. Thomas Bowes his horse, 2

Mr. Christ. Bollmer, his tryer.
Mr. Francis Broughe .... his horse, 3
Mr. Matt. Rymer, his tryer.

Mr. Wanseforde his mare, 4

Mr. Anthony Franckland, his tryer.

Mr. Loftus his horse, 5

Mr. Francis Wickliffe, his tryer.

348 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book VI.

Imprimus — Mr. Gylbert Wharton the last and the 6th.
„ Mr. Thomas Wharton, his tryer.

" So every party putting xl shillings, hath maid upp the
stake of xii pounds, for the buying of another cupp, for the
next year following."

Then follows, " A new maid race upon Richmond Moore
for a gilded cuppe of xii pounds value," no date.

1^^ Sir George Bowes, of Brundley, grandson of Sir
George Bowes, Knight, Marshal north of Trent, and half
nephew to Sir Talbot Bowes who was knighted at Aske Hall
when James I. was his guest there during the night of April
l6, 1617. He was ancestor of John Bowes, Esq., of Streatlam
Castle, who won the Derby four times : in 1835 with Mundig,
in 1843 with Cotherstone, in 1852 with Daniel O'Rourke,
and in 1853 with West Australian.

In the household books of Lord William Howard,
of Naworth Castle, payments occur, in the year 1612,
1612. o^ account of disbursements in connection
Langwathby.* ^^\^\^ ^^^ xdiC^^ at Langwathby.* Beyond a
few such entries we have been unable to obtain '
any information relating to this meeting, which
was supported and patronized by Lord William
Howard and the members of his family, who are like-
wise occasionally mentioned as going to races in
Scotland.

There is no doubt that this well-known nobleman
kept and ran his horses at the northern meetings as
as he had done at Salisbury and other southern meet-
ings before he settled in the north. Under the head
of " stable charges," Barbary horses and others, evi-

* Pronounced Langomby, a parish on the eastern bank of the Eden,
about five miles from Penrith, Cumberland.

1622.] LAiXGWATHBV. 349

dently racers, are mentioned, as they were (when in
training) fed with bread.

Lord WilHam Howard, better known as " Belted
Will," was the third son of Thomas, fourth Duke of
Norfolk, by his marriage with Margaret, only daughter
and heir of Sir Thomas Audley, of Walden. He w^as
born December 19, 1563; educated at Cambridge,
and married Lady Elizabeth Dacre, October 28, 1577.
As to his early manhood and subsequent career during
the reign of Queen Elizabeth, we need not stop to
record, suffice it here to state that he took up his
residence at Naworth Castle early in the seventeenth
century, and from that time until his death it was
his chief residence, and the place around which there
has been such an outgrowth of traditions respecting
him.

These traditions present him to our view in a
picturesque and romantic aspect, and additional vitality
has been given to them by the graphic portrait which
Sir Walter Scott has drawn in his " Lay of the Last
Minstrel," of the outward Q-arb and the oallant bearinor
of the Lord William Howard as Lord Warden of the
Marches, though for the purposes of his story the poet
antedated his existence and assigned to him an office
which he never filled.

It is somewhat uncertain when the soubi'iquet of
" Belted Will " became attached to him ; a broad
leathern belt, studded with a series of letters in metal,
arranged so as to form a verse in German, used to be
shown at Naworth as having belonged to him. Hence
probably originated the name, to which Sir Walter's

3 so THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book VL

stanza gave wide-spread currency (canto v. i6). By
the name of " Belted Will," however, in whatever way
it originated, he is now popularly known, and by the
title of Lord Warden he is still traditionally designated.
Tradition tells us also, and the statement finds a place
even in the sober pages of the historian, that he main-
tained a garrison of one hundred and forty men at
Naworth ; whilst stories, based upon the rough-and-
ready chastisement which he is supposed to have
meted out to the banditti who infested that wild
country, still meet with unhesitating acceptance and
undoubting belief. What dweller on the Border
refuses, for example, to give credence to that grim tale
of the summary punishment dealt out to some unlucky
wight, by reason of a peevish word from the lips of
the Lord Warden being only too literally interpreted ?
" Hang him ! " was the hasty ejaculation of Belted
Will, when disturbed, in the library which still bears
his name, by the tidings that a thief had been caught
in some act of plunder or spoliation, and by the natural
inquiry, how it might please my Lord to deal with
him. The man-at-arms, who brought the intelligence
and heard the response, retired perfectly satisfied that
he had received a precise and definite order ; and
when, after some brief interval of time, my lord
descended from his tower, he found the unhappy
malefactor suspended either from some extemporized
gallows in the court-yard, or from a bough of some
neighbouring tree. It was a case of what was known
on the Scotch border as " Jedburgh Justice," i.e. hang-
ing the culprit first and trying him afterwards.

1622.] LORD WILLIAM HOWARD. 351

It Is a somewhat ungrateful task to throw the h'ght
of historical evidence upon wild and picturesque
legends which, in successive generations, have charmed
the ear of eager childhood, when told by some hoary
grandsire or some ancient grand-dame to a listening
group around a winter hearth. But legends these really
are, so far, at least, as this Lord William Howard is con-
cerned. Yet how interesting it would be if the doughty
deeds done by his horses on the northern race-courses
had been handed down to posterity, instead of those
traditions in which he never took hand, act, or part.

At the time when the Langwathby races are first
mentioned, Lord William Howard and the Lady Eliza-
beth, his wife, had ten surviving children — seven sons
and three daughters. They lived in patriarchal fashion.
For many years none seem to have left the paternal
roof, with the exception of the married daughters.
The sons married one after another ; but they and
their wives and children lived on at Naworth Castle,
until, in the later years of Lord William's life, some of
them appear to have resided on the lesser mansion
houses or on their father's estates. The household
books exhibit, to some extent, the rural sports and
pastimes pursued by Lord Howard's family in the
North of England, which need not be recapitulated
here. Unfortunately, the references to the turf con-
tained in those quaint volumes are rather few and far
between, yet in the absence of fuller information they
must be received with welcome. " Belted Will " died
at Naworth Castle on the 7th of October, 1640, in
the seventy-seventh year of his age.

352 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book VI.

" On Thursday [April 3] thear was a great Horse-
race on the Heath for a cupp, where his Majesty was
present, and stood on a scaffold the Citie had
Lincoln. caused to be set up,* and withall caused the
race a quarter of a mile longe to be raled
and corded with rope and hoopes on both sides, where-
by the people were kept out, and the horses that ronned
were seen faire.

"On Friday there was a great Hunting, and a Race
by the horses which rid the seat for a golden snaffle ;
and a race by three Irishmen and an Englishman, all
which his Majesty did behold. The Englishman
wonne the race." f

The following entry occurs under date March 6,
16 1 6-1 7 in the MS. archives of the City of Salisbury,

y^y^ from which we learn that the old regulations
Salisbury. fQj- the races there were duly observed at
this time, and that this sporting corporation had insti-
tuted coursing on their famous Plain and gave a gold
bell to the winning dog : —

" March 6. Mr. Mayor hath received the golden
horse bell, the golden dog bell, the golden snaffle, and

* If the city of Lincoln erected the royal stand, it seems the king had
to pay for it : —

" For makinge ready at Lincolne for his ma"" eighte dayes, a dyn-
ninge roume there for the lordes twoe dayes, the Church there three
several! tymes sixe dayes, the Bishoppes house for his ma"° to dyne at
twoe dayes, for a Cockfightinge there twoe dayes, for a ffencynge there
twoe dayes, for twoe playes there fower dayes, for a staudinge to
see the horserace twoe dayes ; in all by the space of xxviij dayes mensbz
marcij et Aprilis 1616 & 1617 xxvij" x" viij''." — Exchequer L.T.R., Ward-
robe Aces. Treasurer of the Chamber, series I., box G., bundle 5, m. 5,
MS., P.R.O.

t MS., Bodleian Lib., Oxon.

1619.] THE LANCASHIRE MEETINGS. 353

a box, given by Mr. Harwell, late Mayor, to put the
aforesaid bonds."

In 1619 William, Earl of Pembroke, and "divers
noblemen and sundrie knights and gentlemen of
quality," raised a sum of money to provide
"a silver cup gilt with gold " for ever after
to be run with horses at the " general " races on Salis-
bury plain. This cup was to supersede the golden bell
and snaffle formerly run for there — the latter trophies
to be sold and the value to be added to other con-
tributions " for the maintenance of the said race for
ever. *

Horse-races are mentioned as occurrino- in Lanca-

o

shire in the year 161 7, at Whalley Abbey,

•^ ^ ' ^ •^' 1617—1618.

Liverpool and Walton. Lancashire;

The following entries are found in the T^f^^^

^ Abhey,

" Journal of Nicholas Assheton " ^-'^ : — " 1617. Liverpool,
July 16. Sir Ric.^'" with all the rest of
the gents, to Whalley Abbey, ^"® self, cum aliis, to
John Lawes ; back to th' abbey. All but two ould
knights to Salburie ; then had one course and missed.
East Bradford. Ther Mr. Townely,^^^ Car, cum al.
from London; made merrie. . . . July 18. Sir Ric.
and Mr, Assheton made a match, dunngelding against
a dunn nagg of Sir Ric at Lirplo, for 20 pieces a side ;
Sir Ric. and my Cooz ^^"^ to ride light as they can, so as
Sir Ric. be ten stone. . . . 16 18. Jan. 26. Self, Jo.
Braddyll, Cooz. Assheton w"' others went to Walton ^^^

* Seepos/. sud anno 1654. James I. was at Salisbury in August, 1 61 3,
when " standings " were erected for the king and queen " to see the foote-
ball playe." — Wardrobe Ace, Treasurer of the Chamber, bundle 4, m. 10,
dorso.

VOL. I. 2 A

354 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book VI.

to see Sir Ric. horses that stode ther. (Here follows
a long account of an horse-race.)" ^^^ — Chetham Society,
vol. xiv., Journal of Nicholas Assheton, edited by Rev.
H. R. Raines, M.A., F.S.A., etc.

^^^ The Asshetons derived their surname from the town of
Ashton-under-Lyne, where, according to the heralds of
former times, they were seated shortly after the Norman Con-
quest. Leaving the ancestors of the author of the " Journal "
at peace in their tombs for twenty generations, we find that
Nicholas Assheton was born in 1590, and that he died on
April 16, 1625. The Rev. H. R. Raines, in a brief memoir,
wrote as follows of this rustic Turfite : —

"The utility of such a Journal to the writer is somewhat
doubtful, although its interest to posterity is unquestionable.
Why he should have recorded, without deploring, so many
deviations from propriety, and have condemned himself for
so much flagrant dissipation, without any expression of regret
for the past or intention of amendment for the future, is one
of those curious phenomena which admits of no explanation.
. . . Incessant amusements, or to adopt the phrase of a con-
temporary, ' huntings and such like journeys,' occupied so
large and extravagant a proportion of time tliat more impor-
tant matters would most invariably glide out of his mind, and
render him essentially and habitually a mere man of the
world, living within a circle of fox-hunters and rejoicing in
the possession of 'leathern lungs and nerves of iron.' Had
his lot been cast in times when Newmarket and Ascot were
places of fashionable resort, and the St. Leger and Dee
Stakes popular objects of ambition, it is tolerably clear that
the Turf would have ranked him among its brightest orna-
ments. His indisputable skill in hunting, shooting, racing,
coursing, hawking, fishing, and other kindred pursuits (in all
of which he was clearly ipse agmeii), must have been acquired
by laboriously converting the amusements into the business of
his every-day hfe." The reverend editor is wrong in many of
his deductions and an unfair critic. Mr. Harrison Ainsworth's

1621.] THE LANCASHIRE TURFITES. 355

well-known delineation of Nicholas Assheton's character is
in every respect more reliable and honest (see " The Lanca-
shire Witches," bk. ii. ch. iii.).

John Bruen, of Bruen Stapelford, in Cheshire, a con-
temporary writer and a rigid Puritan, remarks anent this
subject : " Mee thinkes these gentlemen's horses being so
grosly abused should likewise rebuke the fiercnes and foolish-
ness of their masters, if not by man's voice yet by the voices
of their grievous grones which they may heare from them,
when being over-rid, past their strength and breath, their
hearts are ready to breake and to burst under them (!). . . .
A good rul for our horse-racers, rank riders, and hot-spurre
hunters (if they have grace to follow it) in all their recreations
and pursuits of their pleasures, to measure their actions and
moderate their passions by ; that as they may and ought to
have a care to charge no burden upon their children but such
as they may well beare, so they may not over-draw, nor over-
drive their beasts for one day, nor put them to any toyle or
travell, but that which they are well able to indure."

^^^ Sir Richard Molineux, created Viscount Mary-
borough, December 22, 1628, in which year he had been
returned knight of the shire for the county palatine of
Lancaster, and died in 1632. His descendant in the fifth
generation was Charles William, the 9th viscount, created
Earl of Sefton, November 30, 1771, and great-grandfather of
William Philip Molyneux, the present Earl of Sefton.

128 Whalley Abbey : the seat of the Asshetons at Down-
ham.

^^^ Mr. Town ley of Carr was Richard, eldest son of
Lawrence Townley. He died in 1630, without issue by his
wife, Alice, daughter of John Braddyll, of Portfield, Esq.
This lady afterwards married Christopher Townley, Esq.,
who, in conjunction with Dr. Kuerden, projected, but never
finished, a history of the county palatine of Lancaster. He
was the son of Richard Townley, Esq., of Townley, born

356 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book VJ.

there January 9, 1603, and buried at Burnley, August, 1674.
His MS. collections were until recently preserved at Townley.
He died intestate, and on February 24, 1674, an inventory of
his goods was made, when his collection of manuscripts
was valued at eleven shillings ! Well might Dean Raines
exclaim: "The labours of a life valued at i\s.\ Alas for
literary pursuits ! '' Times have altered ; a portion of these
manuscripts were recently sold by auction in London, when the
sale realized over i^Sooo. Richard Townley's descendants,
during the latter end of the seventeenth and the whole of the
eighteenth century, were, in consequence of their religion,
patrons of the Turf under assumed names, the family barber
being the ostensible owners of their horses. The late Colonel
Townley (the last of his race) was well known as a Turfite,
but better as a genial country gentleman and breeder of
shorthorns.

1^° Richard Assheton, Esq., styled " cozen" of Sir Ralph
Assheton, of Whalley, Bart.

131 Walton-le-Dale, situated at the south-western parish of
Whalley, and near Whalley Abbey.

1^^ Only a portion of this Diary was printed by -Dr. Whitaker
in his " History of Whalley." The original manuscript — which
is, unfortunately, lost — is said to have consisted of a few leaves,
which the doctor intended to have bound together, but
whether this judicious care was extended to the manuscript
appears to be no less doubtful than its present existence.

" The horse-races occasioned disturbance here, and
ig2o caused letters to be sent from the privy
Thetford. council to Suppress them." * — " The Hist, of
Thetford," by Thomas Martin, F.A.S., p. 293.

"Sir Simon D'Ewes, in his Journal, makes inci-

* The Registers of the Privy Council preserved at Downing Street
contain no reference to this transaction.

1620.] LINTON — BRACK LEY. y^-j

dental mention of a horse-race in Cambridgeshire, in
the reign of King James I. near Linton, at jamesi.
which town most of the company lay on the Linton,
night of the race (Top. Brit, No. xv., p. ii)."* —
Lyson's " Magna Britanica," vol. iii., pt. i., p. 240,
note. Lond., 1808.

Linton is a small town and parish, having a station on
the Cambridge and Sudbury branch of the Great Eastern
Railway, thirteen miles south-west from Newmarket. At the
time of the Domesday survey, there were two manors in
Linton, both of which belonged to Alan, Earl of Britanny ;
these manors were united as early as the reign of Henry VI.
in the Paris family, of which they were purchased in 1675, by
Sir Thomas Scalter, Bart., who dying in 1684, bequeathed the
estate to his great-nephew, Thomas Scalter, Esq., then a
student in Trinity College, Cambridge : he afterwards assumed
the name of Bacon, and was at the time of his death, in 1734,
M.P. for the town of Cambridge. In 1768 Mr. Thomas
Scalter King, to whose family the estate had been devised by
Mr. Bacon, sold them to Lord Montfort, of whom they were
purchased three years afterwards (when his lordship " got
broke " by bad investments on the Turf) by Dr. Keene, Bishop
of Ely, ancestor of Col. Edmund Buck Keene, the present
lord of the manor.

The following primitive agreement of a match, to be
run for at Brackley, was made July 13, 1612, between
two gentlemen of the same family in North- jamesi
amptonshire : "It is agreed on between c. 1612.
Henry Throgm'ton [Throgmorton] and Northampton-
Thomas Throgm'ton, the daye and yeare ^^^®"
above written, that the above named are to meete

* See ante., p. 322. It was at this meeting James I. became acquainted
with George ViUiers, Duke of Buckingham.

358 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book YI.

together the Twesday after Michehnas next at Brackley
Cwoorse, and thether to bringe a graye mare and gray
shorne mane nadgge, and each of them to ridde the
same coursse uppon equal wate in there parsones, for
X quarter of oates '' (Signed) "Henry Thockm'ton,
Thomas Throckmorton," *

Horse-racing at Derby is mentioned by Beaumont
c. 1621. ^""^ Fletcher, in their play "Monsieur
Derby. Thomas," acted about 1621 : —

Sebastian. Tom, when is the horse-race ?

Thomas. I know not, sir.

Seb. Will you be there ?

Tho. Not I, sir ;

I have forgot those journeys.

Seb. Spoil'd for ever ! —

The cocking holds at Derby, and there will be
Jack Wild-oats and Will Purser.

Tlio. I am sorry, sir,

They should employ their time so slenderly ;
Their understandings will bear better courses.

Mons. Thomas, Act ii. sc, 3.

"In 1607, during a protracted and severe frost,
the river Ouse was completely frozen over, and the
1607. ^^^ ^^^ ^^ strong, that various sports were
York. practised upon it. Drake observes, that
even a horse-race was run on the frozen element from
the tower at the end of Marygate, under the great
arch of the bridge, to the crane, at Skeldergate
Postern." — Hargrove, " History and Description of the
Ancient City of York," vol. i., p. 136.

* Baker, " Northamptonshiie," vol. i., p. 573.

1608-1620.] DERBY — YORK — PAISLEY. 359

" Paisley fairs were celebrated markets in olden
times, and very much frequented by dealers in horses
and cattle, tradesmen with articles of utility, leos— 1620.
packmen with merchandize, bagpipers, bal- Paisley,
lad-singers, and a long list of attendants and mendi-
cants, all endeavouring to turn a penny. The rural
population from the country parishes of the country
and neighbouring shires, flocked to the fair to make
their purchases, and to enjoy a general holiday. The
horse-race, instituted in 1608, by the Town Council of
Paisley, called the ' Bell Race,' from their presenting
' Silver Bells,' to be run for annually, was an attraction
for drawing crowds of people to the fair. These
fairs and races have both been celebrated in song and
elegy. In a song ascribed to John, Duke of Argyll,
titled ' Argyll is my name,' there is the following
verse respecting the fair : —

' I'll buy a fine present to bring to my dear,
A pair of fine garters for Maggie to wear,
And some pretty things else, I do declare,
When she gangs wi' me to Paisley fair.'

And Robert Tempill, one of the Betrees' poets, in his
* Elegy on Habbie Simson,' the piper of Kilbarchan,
has a verse on the races : —

' And at horse races many a day,
Before the black, the brown, the gray,
He gart his pipe, when he did play,

Baith skiral and skreid ;
Now all such pastime's quite away

Sen' Habbie's deid.'

"Act anent the Silver Bell, April, 1608. — Item —
It is concluded that one silver bell to be made of four-

36o THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book VI.

ounces weight, with all diligence, for one horse-race
yearly, to be appointed within this burgh, and the
bounds on the day of the running thereof to be set
down by advice of my Lord Earl of Abercorn, Lord
Paisley and Kilpatrick/^^

" Act setting downe ane horse-raise. Apud Paisley
decimo tertio de mensis Maij, 1620.

" The quhilk day Andro Crawfurde, and Jon. Algeo,
younger baellies of ye burghe thereof, with the coun-
selle of the samyn, being convenit in the tolbuith of
the said burghe, for ordour taking with sundrie thingis
concerning the commone will of the samyn and manelie
anent the conclusion of their bell-race and efterschot
quhilk was of auld set downe and not effectual. Thar-
foir, It is now concludit and ordainit be the saidis
baillies ane counsell with advyse and consent afore-
said. That yeirlie in the time cuming thair bell raice
sal be rune on the saxt day of Maij in mander follow-
ing, viz. : To be start at the Gray Stane callit St.
Connalis Stone, and fra that rich eist to the by till
house at the calsay end of Renfrew, and fra that the
till Kingis way to the Walnuik of Paislaye, and quhat
horse first comes over a score at . . . Renfrew sail
have ane dowbill aingell, and the horse and mister
yairof that first comes over the scoir at the said
Walnuik of Paislaye sail have the said bell with the
said burghes airmes yair oponn for yat zeir." *

^^^ Lord Claud Hamilton — third son of James Hamilton,
2nd Earl of Arran, Duke of Chatelherault, and Lady Margaret

* "Saint Miiin : an Historical Account of Paisley," by David Temple,
P 154-

i608-1620.] PAISLEY. 361

Douglas, eldest daughter of James, 3rd Earl of Morton— having
been amongst the most zealous partisans of Mary, Queen of
Scots, obtained from her son, King James, July 29, 1587, a
grant of the whole barony of Paisley, with the dignity of
Baron Paisley. His brother John was created Marquis of
Hamilton, April 17, 1599. Lord Paisley married Margaret,
only daughter of George, Lord Leyton, and had issue James,
Earl of Abercorn, Sir Claud, Sir George, and Frederick.
Lord Paisley died in 1621, and was succeeded by his grand-
son, James, 2nd Earl of Abercorn.

" It has been seen that horse-racing was, from an
early time, practised as a public amusement at various
places in Scotland. One of these not for- igos— 1620.
merly noticed was Paisley. A silver bell Paisley.

• 1 1 • /- o May.

of four ounces weight was made in 1600 to
serve as a prize for the Paisley race. Such was in
those days the accustomed prize at a race, giving rise
to the proverbial expression, ' He bore off the bell.'
It may be remarked, however, that a winner of a silver
bell at a race did not obtain it as a permanent property,
but only for a year's keeping, as it is customary the
silver arrows and silver clubs now played for by
archery and golfing societies.

" At the date noted, the Town Council of Paisley,
under the guidance of their provost, the Earl of Aber-
corn,^'^^ arranp^ed that their annual horse-race ,„„^

' =» 1620.

should be run on the 6th of May, ' to be
start at the gray stane called St. Connel's Stane, and
frae that the king's highway to the Wall-neuk of Ren-
frew, and frae that the king's highway to the Wall-neuk
of Paisley ; and what horse first comes over the score
at . . . Renfrew, sail have ane double angel ; and the

362 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book VI.

horse and master thereof that first comes over the
score at the Wall-neuk of Paisley, sail have the said
bell with the said burgh's arms thereon, for that year,
together with the rest of the gold that sail be given
with the said bell . . . except ane double angel that
sail be given to the second horse and his master that
comes next over the score to the foremost.' . . . The
horses and their owners to gather at Paisley in good
time before the race, and the riders to be weighed at
the Tron of the burgh. It was also arranged that
there should be ' an aftershot race . . . frae ane score
of the slates of Ellerslie to ane other score at the
causehead of the burgh of Paisley, by horse of the
price of ane hundred marks . . . for ane furnished
saddle, whilk sail be presented by the said bailies of
Paisley present and to come at the score of the said
causey-head' (Maintland, 'Misc.,' p. 195)." — " Dom.
Ann. Scotland," vol. i., p. 514.

'^^ Probably James Hamilton, son and heir of James, 2nd
Marquis of Abercorn, who died March 2, 1625. "The Earl
of Abercorn" was subsequently 3rd Marquess and ist Duke
of Hamilton.

The following proclamation prohibiting the race

meeting at Peebles in May, 1608, was issued on the

28th of the precedinor month : " Forsameikle

1608. r t,

Peebles. as the Lords of Secret Council are informit

^^' that there is ane horse-race appointit to be

at Peblis the of May nextocome, whereunto grit

numbers of people of all qualities and ranks, intends

to repair, betwixt whom there being quarrels, private

1608.] PEEBLES. 363

grudges, and miscontment, it is to be feirit that at their
meeting upon fields, some troubles and inconvenients
sail fall out amangs them, to the break of his Majesty's
peace, and disquieting of the country without remeed
be providit ; Therefore the Lords of Secret Council
his dischargit, and be the tenor hereof discharges, the
said horse-race, and ordanes that the same sail be
nawise halden nor keepit this year ; for whilk purpose
ordains letters to be direct, to command, charge, and
inhibit all and sundry his Majesty's lieges and subjects
by open proclamation at the marcat-cross of Peblis and
other places needful, that nane of them presume nor
tak upon them to convene and assemble themselves to
the said race this present year, but to suffer that
meeting and action to depart and cease, as they and
ilk of them will answer upon the contrary at their
hedchest peril, &c."

" In the reign of James I. public races were established ;
and such horses as had given proofs of superior abilities, became
known and celebrated. Their breed was cultivated, and their
pedigree, as well as those of their posterity (in imitation,
perhaps, of the Arabian manner) were preserved and recorded
with the most minute exactness. — Gateley, in Yorkshire,
Theobalds, on Enfield Chase, and Croydon, near London,
were then the usual places for exhibitions allotted for the
fleetest racers." — Garrow, " Hist, of Croydon," (1818), p. 204.

"We have been told, but I know not upon what authority,
that King James I., the first institutor of regulations relating
to horse-racing, held Croydon and Enfield Chase in the
greatest estimation as resorts for this his favourite pastime."
— Steinman's " Hist, of Croydon" (Lond., 1833), p. 14.

" Public races began to have their present arrangements
established in the reign of James I., and all the rules for

364 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book VI.

carrying weights, physicking, &c., being the same very nearly
as now. Charles II. altered the bell upon which the exploits
and pedigree of the horse to a bowl, were engraved." — Fosbroke,
"Encyclopedia of Antiquities," p. 691. Lond., 4to, 1840.

" Popular sports and games were less pursued now than
formerly, from the various changes in the mode of living.
James I., indeed, delighted in hawking, which kept that sport
in a little longer. His son Henry and most of the courtiers
spent much time in tennis and the new game of pall-mall,
which consisted of striking a ball through a hoop at some
distance from the ground. Billiards were also growing very
fashionable, but the old rough sports of bull and bear-baiting
and cock-fighting remained for the stern hands of Cromwell
and his officers to put down. In order to encourage the
people in their games, and vex the Presbyterians, who had
annoyed him by their rigid observance of the Sabbath, James
put forth a Book of Sports allowable to be used on Sundays
and holidays after prayers, which was read throughout the
parish churches of the kingdom, and was afterwards revived
by Charles I. under the advice of Archbishop Laud. . . .
Horse-racing was now very much extended, and the breed of
horses very greatly improved in consequence ; furious riding
and driving were reckoned, indeed, among the characteristics
of an Englishman. The amusements of the citizens chiefly
consisted in bowling, dancing, cards and dice, billiards, plays,
balls, &c. The lord mayor kept a pack of hounds, which had
the privilege of hunting in Middlesex, Herts, and Kent. The
lower classes of Londoners enjoyed themselves with foot-ball,
wrestling, cricket, nine-pins, quoits, bull and bear-baiting, &c."
— Eccleston, p. 437.

END OF VOL. I.

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