“The style of the King, which in the First Seal of his reign was ‘Rex Magna Brittanniæ’ is now ‘Rex Angliæ Scotiæ,’ &c.”
From the year 1200 downwards very many seals have borne the device of a horse, and invariably one of the Great Horse type.
FROM THE COMMONWEALTH TO WILLIAM III.’s TIME.
During the Commonwealth (1649-1659) three seals were in use, each of which shows on the reverse side a Great Horse of well defined character. To prove the use of the breed at this period we may, however, take evidence from Vandyke, whose equestrian portrait of Oliver Cromwell, in the heroic attitude orthodox for so many generations, is here reproduced. The charger upon which the Protector, partially clad in armour, is
THE PROTECTOR ON A GREAT HORSE; after the Picture by Vandyke.
represented, has all the Great Horse character. Stress must be laid on the fact that from about this period the term Black Horse is used as synonymous with Great Horse. The following brief note from Cromwell to Auditor Squire, which we take from Carlyle’s Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell, has value in this connection, as also in showing the cost of troop horses at the time:
“Stilton, Jan. 31, 1643.
“Dear Sir,—