FROM THE STUART PERIOD TO THE PRESENT DAY
CHAPTER I
Arrival of the Markham Arabian, the first Arab imported into England—Newmarket village founded by James I.—Decline of the “great horse”—The Royal Studs—James I. organises a race meeting on the frozen River Ouse—Superstitious beliefs concerning horses—James I. meets with a grotesque riding mishap—Prosperity of the Turf—Riding match between Lord Haddington and Lord Sheffield—The Turf vigorously denounced as “an evil likely to imperil the whole country's prosperity”
“KING JAMES I.'s love of racing,” writes a trustworthy chronicler of the movements at the court of James I. and Charles I. “was due to the importation into England of the first Arab horse ever seen here.”
That simple statement records one of the most important incidents that has occurred in the development of the horse in this country, an incident that subsequently proved to be of great moment in connection with the history of Great Britain. For though the assertion has many times been controverted, careful research proves beyond doubt that until the arrival in England of the Markham Arabian—which in after generations was to become so greatly renowned—no Arab of any sort had been brought into this country.