RACES.
Goodwood Races are held once a year in Goodwood Park, the property of the Duke of Richmond; Ascot Races, on Ascot Heath, in Berkshire, and Epsom Races, on Epsom Downs, near London. The Derby Stakes, at Epsom, were named after Edward Smith Stanley, twelfth Earl of Derby, who founded them in 1780, the year after he established the Oaks Stakes; so called from an inn known as “Lamberts’ Oaks,” originally erected by the Hunters’ Club and rented by a family named Lambert upon land which subsequently passed into the possession of the Derby family. The St. Leger Stakes, otherwise the Doncaster St. Leger, annually run for at Doncaster, were established by Colonel Anthony St. Leger in 1776.
A Hurdle Race is one in which hurdles are placed at different points along the course. A Steeplechase is confined to thoroughbred hunters whose riders are bound to make for the winning-post straight across the country, guided by flags displayed on the highest points along the line, and to clear whatever ditches, fences, walls, or other obstacles that may lie in their course. The term originated from the incident of an unsuccessful hunting-party agreeing to race to the village church, of which the steeple was just in sight; and he who touched the building first with his whip was to be declared the winner. A Scratched Horse is one whose name has been struck out of the final list of runners in a particular race. A Sweepstake is a term used to denote the whole amount staked by different persons upon one race, and cleared literally “at one sweep” by the fortunate individual who has backed the winner.
LONDON CHURCHES AND BUILDINGS.
In all probability the name of Westminster Abbey would never have come into existence had it not been necessary to distinguish the Abbey Church lying to the west of St. Paul’s (founded by Ethelbert in 610) from another Abbey Church that stood upon the rising ground now known as Tower Hill. Consequently, the one was described as the West Minster, the other the East Minster; and when, in course of time, the latter was swept away, the western edifice not only retained the description of “The West Minster,” but gave its name also to the district around. The earliest mention of West Minster occurs in a Saxon charter dated 785.
The Temple comprised the chief seat in this country of the Knights Templars after their return from the Holy Land. The Savoy Chapel is a modern edifice built by the Queen to replace the original, destroyed by fire July, 7, 1864, which formed the only remaining portion of the old Savoy Palace erected by Peter of Savoy, the uncle of Eleanor, queen of Henry III., in 1249, on land granted to him by that monarch.
The Church of St. Clement-Danes owes its compound title to the fact of being dedicated to St. Clement, and of Harold, a Danish king, together with several other Danes lying buried within its walls. The Church of St. Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside, otherwise Bow Church, was so denominated because it was the first church ever built upon bows or arches. The Church of St. Mary Woolnoth, at the corner of Lombard Street and King William Street, is supposed to be a corruption of St. Mary Woolnough, so called by way of distinction from a neighbouring church of “St. Mary of the Wool,” that stood beside the beam or wool-staple. The Church of St. Mary-Axe, now vanished, received this name from its situation opposite to a shop that displayed an axe for its sign. The Church of St. Catherine Cree, Leadenhall Street, is properly St. Catherine and Trinity, being originally a chapel dedicated to St. Catherine in the churchyard of the priory church of Holy Trinity, afterwards merged into the parishes of Christ Church, St. Mary Magdalen, and St. Michael. The Church of St. Catherine Coleman, Fenchurch Street, dedicated to St. Catherine, is so designated because it was built in a large garden belonging to a person named Coleman. The Church of St. Margaret Pattens, Rood Lane, did not receive its denomination from the patten-makers who congregated in this neighbourhood, but because its roof was formerly decorated with gilt spots or patines; a patine being the name of a small circular dish of gold used to cover the chalice at the altar. Lovers of Shakespeare may recollect the passage in the Merchant of Venice where Lorenzo, referring to the stars, says:—
“Sit, Jessica: Look how the floor of heaven