I have somewhere seen it stated that these Acts were repealed by Edward VI., but they were not. They were developed by William and Mary, and further developed by Elizabeth. Upon each occasion the renewal and development of these statutes caused bad blood and brought forth threats of retaliation, but the latter were not carried out.
That the obvious injustice of laws so arbitrary should have created friction, is not to be wondered at; yet the benefit that subsequently accrued to the country through passing them was enormous.
Indeed it is more than likely that if Henry VIII., William and Mary, and Elizabeth had given way to the demands of a great body of their subjects between three and four hundred years ago, England would not have become famous above all other countries for its horses, as it is to-day.
It was in the reign of Henry VIII. that riding matches first began to acquire popularity, and to attract the attention of the “bloods” of about that period. Several descriptions of the way in which such matches were arranged and carried out are in existence, and perhaps a brief account of rather a famous match that was ridden by Richard de la Pole, the third Duke of Suffolk, against Seigneur Nicolle Dex, will here prove of interest.
The Duke of Suffolk—“Blanche Rose” as his intimate friends called him—was the third son of John de la Pole, his mother being the Lady Elizabeth Plantagenet, Edward IV.'s and Richard III.'s sister.
In the year 1517, soon after the Duke had returned to Metz, the popularity of the turf began suddenly to increase, and thus it happened that the Duke presently became the possessor of a horse said to be “very swift and of extreme value,” of which he boasted that it could beat all comers. It was while talking thus in Metz one day that Blanche Rose was taken at his word by the Seigneur Nicolle Dex, who declared without hesitation that he could and would himself produce and ride a horse against the Duke's “from the Elm at Avegney to within St Clement's Gate,” for the sum of eighty crowns “and win easily.”
At once Blanche Rose accepted the challenge, promising at the same time that he too would ride his own horse, and forthwith the stakes were handed to “an independent and neutral person” by each of the contestants.
Arrangements having been made that the match should be run early in the morning of St Clement's Day, May 2nd, we read that, “a ce jour meisme que l'on courre l'awaine et le baicon au dit lieu St Clement,” the two riders, accompanied by many of their friends, went out through St Thiebault's gate, which had been opened before the usual time to suit their convenience, “and so passed into the field for the race.”
There was much wagering on the result, and, as we should to-day express it, the Duke's mount was hot favourite. That Seigneur Nicolle was no novice in race riding is made manifest by the statement that he had taken the precaution to have his horse shod with extremely light shoes, also that “he came into the field like a groom, in his doublet and without shoes, and with no saddle but with a cloth tied round the horse's belly,” whereas the Duke wore comparatively heavy clothing and rode in a heavy saddle.
The Duke's horse, however, jumped away with the lead and retained it during the first half of the race, “but when they were near St Laidre his horse lagged behind, so that the Duke urged him on with 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.”