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ECLIPSE ^O'KELLY 
 
 BEING A COMPLETE HISTORY SO FAR AS IS 
 KNOWN OF THAT CELEBRATED ENGLISH 
 THOROUGHBRED ECLIPSE (1764-1789) OF HIS 
 BREEDER THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND & OF 
 HIS SUBSEQUENT OWNERS WILLIAM WILDMAN 
 DENNIS O'KELLY & ANDREW O'KELLY NOW 
 FOR THE FIRST TIME SET FORTH FROM THE 
 ORIGINAL AUTHORITIES & FAMILY MEMORANDA 
 
 By THEODORE ANDREA COOK m.a. f.s.a. 
 
 AUTHOR OF "A HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH TURF" ETC. ETC 
 
 WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS PEDIGREES AND 
 REPRODUCTIONS OF CONTEMPORARY DOCUMENTS 
 
 NEW YORK : E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 
 
 MCMVII 
 
la 
 
 Copyright 
 
 AH rights reserved 
 
TO 
 
 GENERAL 
 
 HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS 
 
 PRINCE CHRISTIAN OF SCHLESWIG HOLSTEIN, 
 
 K.G.. G.C.V.O., P.C, 
 AIDE-DE-CAMP TO THE KING 
 
 AND 
 
 RANGER OF WINDSOR GREAT PARK, 
 
 AS THE RESPECTFUL TRIBUTE OF A SINCERE GRATITUDE 
 
 TO ONE WHO LIVES WHERE LIVED THE BREEDER 
 
 OF SPILETTAS FOAL, AND GUARDS THE 
 
 PASTURES WHERE THE SON 
 
 OF MARSKE WAS BORN 
 
 THIS HISTORY OF ECLIPSE 
 
 IS DEDICATED 
 
 BY 
 
 THE WRITER 
 
PREFACE 
 
 ^is mihi tribuat ut scribantur sermones met ? ^tis mihi det ut 
 exarentur in Ubro ? 
 
 M 
 
 Y readers may be glad to learn that the circum- 
 stances of the race in which Hiero, King of Syra- 
 cuse, won the Olympic crown with his good horse, 
 Phrenicits, are not sufficiently well known to enable 
 me to enlarge on the antiquity and development of horse- 
 racing. But the description of the owner is worth recalling. 
 " August he was in his converse with citizens, and he upheld 
 the breed of horses after the Hellenic wont." No other poet 
 save an Englishman could have so written ; and of no other 
 king save of an English king, could Pindar's ode hold true. 
 England has yet another parallel with ancient Greece. It 
 was a matter of vital importance to Alcibiades, over two 
 thousand years ago, to win that Olympic crown himself. 
 He entered seven, and almost equalled the record of 
 M. Edmond Blanc by owning the winner and the second. 
 An English Prime Minister has done even better ; for 
 Lord Rosebery has won the Derby thrice, and the origin 
 of that historic race has never been more tersely described 
 than in Lord Rosebery's words : 
 
 " In the last quarter of the eighteenth century a 
 roystering party at a country house founded two races, and 
 named them gratefully after their host and his house — the 
 * Derby ' and the ' Oaks.' Seldom has a carouse had a 
 more permanent effect." 
 
 It is chiefly with this eighteenth-century beginning of 
 England's classic races that these pages will deal ; for it 
 was Dennis O'Kelly's son of Eclipse who won the second 
 Derby, and out of the 127 races, including the first, 
 Eclipses descendants have furnished eighty-two winners 
 
 vii 
 
PREFACE 
 
 up to 1906. No complete study of this remarkable horse's 
 career has ever been published, and since the valuable essay 
 of Vial de Saint Bel in 1791, no monograph has been 
 devoted to his history. He was sold as a yearling for less 
 than a hundred guineas. Of his direct descendants, a 
 yearling filly has lately been sold at 10,000 guineas ; a 
 racehorse in training has fetched ;^39,375 at public auction ; 
 two sires have each produced stock winning over half a 
 million sterling ; and other horses tracing to him in direct 
 male line have won the " Triple Crown " nine times out of 
 ten, and hold the record for the pace at which the Two 
 Thousand, the Derby, and the Leger have been won. 
 These are hard facts, and they explain why it is worth 
 while to pay so much attention to a single animal ; for 
 there is probably no other in the history of the world which 
 has been the prime cause of so much money changing 
 hands. 
 
 But let us not be sordid. If our legislators go on as 
 they have begun, there will probably be no Derby or 
 St. Leger for our descendants to admire, and no more 
 lists of winning stallions for our breeders to contemplate 
 with envious eyes. Newmarket, Ascot, and Epsom will 
 be abolished, with the Stock Exchange, as the haunts of 
 the immoral gambler, and betting will be adding fresh 
 offences to the calendar in directions hitherto unknown. 
 While I hasten, therefore, to use the statistics that exist 
 before they pass into oblivion or are added to the 
 growing stock of information that is subject to criminal 
 proceedings, I cannot refrain from emphasising that there 
 are wider themes in such an essay as I have attempted 
 than merely the money made by other people out of racing. 
 Eclipses breeder, the Duke of Cumberland, and the two 
 O'Kellys, uncle and nephew, who owned him, are all three 
 most interesting people, and each in an entirely different 
 way. The mention of their names leads me to an apology 
 which should have been made with my first line. 
 
 This book was written and ready for the printer some 
 eight months before it was offered to an indulgent public. 
 
 viii 
 
PREFACE 
 
 To my readers and my publisher alike I owe an explanation 
 of this apparently inexcusable delay, and I confidently 
 believe that both will pardon me. I had just completed a 
 study based on what seemed to be all the available 
 evidence, when from Major Philip Langdale in Yorkshire, 
 and from Sir Thomas Grattan Esmonde in Ireland, I 
 received a large number of the papers and memoranda con- 
 nected with the career of Dennis and Andrew O' Kelly on 
 the Turf. They revealed Andrew to me for the first time ; 
 and I think they will materially change the verdict hitherto 
 passed on Dennis. Apart from that, they present details 
 of racing and social life from 1770 to 1820 which I have 
 never seen elsewhere ; and by the kindness of their owners 
 I have reproduced several of the more important manu- 
 scripts in facsimile. To take one example of their value : 
 this is the first book that will reproduce both the portraits 
 and the handwriting of Dennis O'Kelly and his heir. 
 Apart from the Stud-book of Cuthbert Routh of Yorkshire, 
 (1718-1752), discovered by Mr. J. S. Fletcher, I know no 
 older memoranda of a racing stud which have been 
 published. 
 
 It will be as well to say, here and at once, what has to 
 be said about the rest of the illustrations. The dedication of 
 this essay to H.R.H. Prince Christian is no mere formal 
 recognition of the interest so appropriately taken in its 
 subject by the tenant of the house where Eclipse s breeder 
 lived, and by the guardian of the historic paddocks where 
 Eclipse was born. It is my only way of expressing my 
 sincere thanks for valuable help given by His Royal 
 Highness in many essential details of this work, and for the 
 use of several pictures now in Cumberland Lodge which 
 are reproduced in these pages. To Sir Walter Gilbey, for 
 whose portrait I am indebted to the skill and kindness of 
 Mr. William Nicholson, I owe the possibility of printing 
 here the two finest portraits of Eclipse ever painted by 
 Stubbs. Mr. Hargreaves, of Pendleton, sent me the 
 painting of Spiletta, and from Mr. Parsons, of Alsager 
 
 in Cheshire, I received the portrait of Waxy. I believe 
 
 ix h 
 
PREFACE 
 
 neither of these latter have been seen before. To Lady 
 Dorchester I owe a fine portrait of the horse by Sartorius. 
 Mr. J. Jeffery sent me the map of Epsom showing Clay 
 Hill, O'Kelly's racing stables. Mr. Max Beerbohm very 
 kindly gave me his delightful drawing of the Prince Regent 
 and Beau Brummell. Mr. Julius Sampson was good enough 
 to let me reproduce his paintings of Gimcrack and Eclipse 
 by Sartorius. I have to thank the Stewards of the Jockey 
 Club for kindly allowing Mr. Hailey to photograph their 
 Eclipse foot for me. Mr. Ducros, the present occupant of 
 Cannons, permitted me to photograph O'Kelly's house. 
 Messrs. Virtue & Co., the publishers of my " History of the 
 English Turf," have generously allowed me to reproduce 
 some pictures that originally appeared in that publication. 
 To Mr. Ridewood, of the British Museum of Natural 
 History, I owe my hearty thanks for most kindly superin- 
 tending Mr. W. E. Gray's admirable photographs of 
 Eclipses bones, and to the Royal College of Veterinary 
 Surgeons in Red Lion Square I must express my sincere 
 gratitude for allowing their precious relics to be photo- 
 graphed. 
 
 The proper illustration of a monograph on Eclipse is 
 a very difficult problem ; and, as will have been realised, it 
 has only been made possible at all by the kindness of many 
 sympathetic correspondents. Something of what is in- 
 volved may be imagined from the fact that Lord Rosebery 
 possesses the following paintings of Eclipse in his wonder- 
 ful collection at The Durdans : 
 
 (i) By F. Sartorius 1770, a picture very like the Stubbs 
 type, but without the jockey and a different back- 
 ground. 
 
 (2) By Stubbs, showing the horse cantering at exercise in 
 
 his clothing, not very successful. 
 
 (3) The original of the well-known engraving by Stubbs, 
 
 of the horse standing saddled near a stable. 
 
 (4) A sketch for this original, showing only the jockey. 
 
 (5) A somewhat impossible Sartorius, depicting the 
 
 animal "at full stretch," with his jockey. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 (6) A better Sartorius, in repose. 
 
 (7) Another by J. N. Sartorius. 
 
 (8) Eclipse beating Corsican at Newmarket on October 3, 
 
 1770, by F. Sartorius. 
 
 The permission to examine this collection some years ago 
 has been of the greatest value to me now. The portrait (3) 
 by Stubbs (39 by 49 ins.) was painted in 1770, and shows a 
 chestnut with a white face and the off hindleg white from 
 just below the hock to the fetlock joint. All the hoofs are 
 brown. The short bang tail is chestnut brown, and the 
 mane is of the same colour, plaited with lead. Saddled 
 with a blue saddle-cloth, the animal faces to the right and 
 is held by a groom, close to whom stands a jockey with a 
 whip, looking at the horse ready to mount, and speaking to 
 the groom. The jockey wears white buckskin breeches, 
 white stockings, black highlow boots, scarlet jacket and 
 white cuffs, a white neckcloth, and a soft black cap with 
 a soft brim all round. The groom has a long blue coat 
 with red collar and cuffs, white breeches, black stockings, 
 buckle shoes, and a soft black felt hat. The background is 
 a flat landscape with low trees in the distance, grassy fore- 
 ground, a blue sky with big clouds, and the light from the 
 left. The figures are near a square building of grey stone, 
 like a stable with a high-pitched roof. I have described 
 this at length because it is probably the original done for 
 Dennis O'Kelly from which the prints most commonly 
 known were made. 
 
 The most valuable portrait of Eclipse, in existence is in 
 the possession of Sir Walter Gilbey, at Elsenham Hall. It 
 is the careful measured study done from life by Stubbs, and 
 probably the only one so painted. It faces to the right 
 with the light from the left, and forms the type from which 
 all the best portraits of Eclipse by Stubbs and other artists 
 were taken. I have reproduced it in my seventh chapter, 
 and in my fifth is Sir Walter's other Stubbs, showing Mr. 
 Wildman and his sons with the horse. The first was bought 
 from the collection of Mr. Munro of Novar, and the second 
 was sold at Christie's by a descendant of Mr. Wildman. 
 
 xi 
 
PREFACE 
 
 George Stubbs, R.A., was born in 1724 and died in 
 1806, being almost exactly a contemporary of Reynolds and 
 Gainsborough. His father was a leather-dresser ; but the 
 boy soon began to study painting at Wigan, Leeds, and 
 York ; and afterwards worked at anatomy and engraving. 
 In 1754 he visited Rome, but returned to England and 
 began " The Anatomy of the Horse," a work of marvellous 
 industry and skill, in Lincolnshire. This was published in 
 1766, when Stubbs was living at 24, Somerset Street, Port- 
 man Square. He did several hunting pictures for the Duke 
 of Richmond at Goodwood, and for Lord Grosvenor at 
 Eaton. In 1771 he tried enamel painting at Cosway's 
 suggestion, and in 1780 he was elected an Associate of the 
 Royal Academy, but the catalogues do not print the full 
 R.A. till 1805. After 1790 he did sixteen portraits of cele- 
 brated racers for the Turf Gallery in Conduit Street, from 
 the Godolphin Arabian onwards ; and we know that before 
 1787 Dennis O'Kelly had commissioned him to paint 
 Marske, Eclipse, and others of his stud for Cannons. 
 When he was 79 he was able to walk the sixteen miles 
 from Somerset Street to Lord Clarendon's house in Hert- 
 fordshire, and he died quite suddenly, alone in his arm- 
 chair, on July 10, 1806. He was evidently a little 
 embittered by the neglect of the public in his last years, 
 and justifiably so, for he was the best animal painter of his 
 day, and his skill was only equalled by his industry. 
 
 Mr. Frink, of Thurlow, has kindly informed me of a 
 fine engraving, by Hunt, of Eclipse, in his possession from 
 the painting by F. Sartorius in 1770. The horse is stand- 
 ing without a saddle, and a groom stands by holding his 
 reins. Another groom appears to be brushing him down 
 ready for a race. The horse faces to the left. 
 
 Captain Price, of Paignton, possesses a coloured engrav- 
 ing by Hunt (published in 1839) from a painting by Stubbs. 
 He has been kind enough to describe it for me. The 
 chestnut is standing, saddled, with head to the right, and a 
 white surcingle over a very dark green saddlecloth bordered 
 with gold. A groom stands at his head holding a rein in 
 
 xii 
 
PREFACE 
 
 each hand ; a snaffle bridle and single rein, twisted. He 
 wears a red frock coat, light-coloured knee breeches, black 
 silk stockings, buckle shoes, and a black velvet cap. The 
 coat is embroidered with gold rings round the collar and 
 cuffs, and the man wears short white frills round his wrists. 
 The background shows the angle of a stable. 
 
 M. Jean Stern, the owner of Canard, has a charming 
 painting by Sartorius of Eclipse galloping over the Beacon 
 course, in an attitude that may be anatomically impossible, 
 but gives an excellent idea of the horse's characteristic 
 action and of his bright chestnut colour. Oakley is riding 
 him in O'Kelly's colours, red coat and black cap. 
 
 Mr. Tattersall's albums contain what is probably the 
 best collection of racing prints in the world, for they are 
 nearly all proofs in first-rate condition, and have been well 
 cared for ever since they were first published. It has been 
 of the greatest use to me in selecting the best types of 
 various pictures, and I am most grateful to its owner. 
 
 A large number of correspondents, who had heard of the 
 preparation of this work, have very kindly come forward 
 with help and information of very various kinds, and if I 
 do not name them all, I am none the less grateful for every 
 bit of such assistance. Mrs. Haig-Brown, widow of the 
 late Master of the Charterhouse, lent me the lithograph of 
 Cannons and sent her memories of the grave of Eclipse s 
 remains. Mr. John D. Cradock, of Quorn, wrote concern- 
 ing one of the horse's hoofs. Mrs. E. J. Roper wrote from 
 Jamaica concerning another. When I had almost despaired 
 of the fourth, the King most kindly informed me through 
 Lord Knollys that it was in His Majesty's possession. 
 
 Lord Howard de Walden sent me ZiiifatideP s measure- 
 ments. Mr. Arthur Langridge gave me most interesting 
 information about his great grandfather, the celebrated 
 Bracy Clark. Mr. R. O. Burnett told me all he knew of 
 his ancestor, Mr. Wildman. Mr. George Elkington wrote 
 me details about the Cumberland Farm at Plaistow. 
 Mrs. D'Arcy Hutton gave me various facts about Marske. 
 Details of different pictures and engravings were sent in by 
 
 xiii 
 
PREFACE 
 
 Mr. Arkell of Fairford, Mr. Martin of Londonderry, 
 Mr. Wintringham Stable of Wanstead, and the landlord of 
 the "Eclipse" at Epsom. Books were either lent or 
 described by Mr. Rixon of Cookham, Mr. Gregg of Barnes, 
 Mr. Thomas Johnson of Dudley, and Mr. F. Styan of 
 Creaton. Mr. J. E. Vincent of Drayton, Berkshire, wrote 
 concerning Eclipse's birthplace, which he believes (in 
 " Highways and Byways of Berkshire," p. 204) to have 
 been at Kate's Gore in East Ilsley, apparently because it is 
 recorded that here " were large stables built by William, 
 Duke of Cumberland, for his running horses." This, 
 however, I have shown (in my fifth chapter) to be impro- 
 bable, on the facts as we know them. Nor is there any 
 greater likelihood that Shakespeare was the famous chest- 
 nut's sire. Mr. Charles Newton Robinson and Mr. 
 Laurence Binyon gave me valuable information about some 
 of my illustrations. The Rev. William Hunt kindly 
 answered many questions concerning details of Georgian 
 history with which I was unfamiliar. Mr. Arthur W. 
 Coaten, of " Horse and Hound," has not only compiled 
 several very interesting and novel tables for my Appendix, 
 but has taken the trouble to correct my proofs in the matter 
 of those racing details of which he is a master. To 
 Professor E. Ray Lankester, of the British Museum of 
 Natural History, and to Mr. Lydekker I am greatly indebted 
 for most valuable assistance and advice ; the facts about 
 thoroughbred skulls, and the development of the race, given 
 me by Mr. Lydekker, being of special interest to every one 
 who cares for breeding. 
 
 The Museum in the Cromwell Road has now an exhibit 
 of horses which deserves the careful attention of every 
 racing man. Here you may inspect the bronze statuette of 
 Zinfaitdel beside the plaster model of Persimmon, and see 
 how like is son to sire. Here are the skulls of Stockwell, 
 Bend Or, Donovan, Royal Hampton, and Ormonde. Here 
 you may wonder at the clumsy skeleton of the extinct 
 Hippidium neogaeum, 12^ hands high, with a 23-inch skull, 
 and compare it with the English cross-bred, close beside, of 
 
 xiv 
 
PREFACE 
 
 14^ hands and a 23-inch head. Here are the four-toed 
 Protorohippus, and the three-toed Mesohippus, and 
 Hipparion gracilis (from the Pliocene tertiary strata of 
 Attica) with the cavity for the face-gland on which Mr. 
 Lydekker has based such interesting arguments on the 
 derivation of our thoroughbreds. Here too are exquisitely 
 modelled and accurately reduced statuettes of various breeds 
 of horses, together with diagrams and exhibits of equine 
 teeth and bones so plainly labelled that even a visitor with 
 such scanty skill of science as myself may understand 
 them. This is an admirable, nay, an unequalled beginning. 
 It compels me to ask for more. 
 
 When will the young biologist arise, with time enough 
 to spare, and sympathy enough with the large majority of 
 his fellow-countrymen who may be reasonably intelligent 
 and yet know no biology, to put his science at the service 
 of his country, and take a few measurements of bones 
 and living animals on a method every one can accept 
 and understand. No such opportunity as the thoroughbred 
 horse exists in the kingdom of nature except in the case of 
 the Brocklesby Kennel ; but the racehorse affords better 
 data than the foxhound, for his breeding has been kept 
 before 1746, the date of the earliest Brocklesby list; and 
 more details are known about the performances and con- 
 formation of his ancestors than is the case with any other 
 living creature, man included. Yet the simplest facts about 
 horses remain to be explained. Was Admiral Rous right, 
 for instance, in saying that thoroughbreds averaged 13 
 hands 3 inches in 1700, and have increased an inch every 
 twenty-five years for a century and a half? If so, when 
 will they stop ? Is A nibergris (by Hermit out of Frangi- 
 pani) the limit, at 18 hands, or are we to get bigger giants 
 still? Does height have any effect on pace? Prince 
 Charlie (17 hands) was the best miler ever seen; was he 
 too big for longer distances ? Are big horses more likely 
 to " roar " than little ones ? Would Abd el Kader{\s hands) 
 who won in 1850, have any chance in the next Grand 
 National ? Before the Lords' Committee in 1873 the Earl 
 
 XV 
 
PREFACE 
 
 of Stradbroke said there were "not four horses in England 
 now that could run over the Beacon course (4 m. i fur. 
 138 yds.) within eight minutes, which in my younger days 
 I used to see continually done." Granted that the Earl 
 was correct in his times (which I doubt), has the increasing 
 height of racehorses affected their endurance ? It would 
 seem not, for the 4 miles 856 yards was run by Ascetic s 
 Silver in 9.34I, with thirty fences, in the Grand National 
 of 1906. Has it then affected their speed ? If so, how is it 
 that Pretty Polly holds the record for the Derby course 
 with 2.33* for the Coronation Cup of 1905? Think what 
 a field that young biologist has got ! 
 
 Then as to colour, why has the Derby been only once 
 won by a black : Sir Charles Bunbury's Smolensko, who 
 was one of nine black sons of JVowski ? Would it be true 
 to say that: (i) greys and blacks have good stamina; (2) 
 chestnuts have speed and excitability ; (3) bays and browns 
 being considered intermediate, bays have more characteris- 
 tics of the chestnut, and browns of the blacks and greys ? 
 Have blacks and greys decreased because we have given 
 up four-mile racing, and chestnuts increased because we 
 prefer short distances ? Has the original black of the Shire 
 Horse faded out because he is no longer used for the battle- 
 field and the armoured knight, where endurance was his 
 value, and because he needs more energy and action in his 
 new pursuits ? Are hackneys nearly all chestnuts because 
 the qualities kindred to excitability and speed are wanted 
 by the hackney-breeder ? It would be possible to go on 
 asking a great many more questions ; but the need of the 
 young gentleman I suggested is clear enough. Let him 
 remember Stubbs and Vial de Saint Bel, and go ahead. 
 His chances are much greater and his knowledge incom- 
 parably keener than were theirs. Let him begin by trying 
 to do for us about half what either of them did for their 
 own generation, and his future is assured. 
 
 The value of the horse to any nation is a subject so 
 threadbare nowadays that we have ourselves long ago for- 
 gotten all about it. Having produced the best horse in the 
 
 xvi 
 
PREFACE 
 
 world, we do a very great deal less than any other nation in 
 encouraging our countrymen to breed him. The disastrous 
 shortage of horses in the South African Campaign was 
 driven home so hard in 1900 that we have now apparently 
 decided that all wars in which we engage in the future 
 must be horseless wars. That is just as well, considering 
 the attacks that have lately been made upon the fountain 
 of all good stock in this country : I mean, of course, the 
 Turf. The Government recognises the value of the Turf 
 in this respect by asking for the racing records of animals 
 entered for the King's Premiums ; and then proceeds to 
 distribute the munificent sum of ;^i5o each to only twenty- 
 eight stallions who are selected at the Islington Show to breed 
 good stock in England, Scotland, and Wales. No special 
 department of officials bothers about the matter at all, after 
 the Royal Commission have done what they can with their 
 ;^4200. Nobody hindered the exportation of our best brood 
 mares to the world at large at the moment we were mounting 
 our cavalry on Argentines and buying our carriage-horses 
 from America and France. Private initiative has, indeed, 
 founded a Brood Mare Society ; but no farmer can afford to 
 breed remounts at the prices suggested by the authorities. 
 Finally, it seems that the Turf itself, the last stronghold of 
 good blood bred and tested regardless of expense, is to be 
 destroyed without any commensurate benefits being pro- 
 mised for the evils done. France gets a good deal more 
 than half a million sterling out of French racing for the 
 encouragement of French horse-breeding. Even little New 
 Zealand has _;^8o,ooo to apply to the same admirable ends. 
 It is a curious position, and no one who has just completed 
 an essay concerned with English thoroughbreds can avoid 
 considering it. But it is characteristic of our usual methods, 
 and this is no place to offer any remedies. I would only sug- 
 gest that the authorities seem wantonly to be throwing away 
 the possibilities of an enthusiasm and an affection for horse- 
 flesh which no other country has had in equal measure with 
 our own since ancient Hellas. 
 
 The letters that have reached me from all over the Eng- 
 
 xvii 
 
PREFACE 
 
 lish-speaking world are a proof that this spirit is as strong 
 as ever. No petrol-motor and no flying-machine can ever 
 kill it. From Canada an unknown friend writes as vividly 
 as if he had seen Eclipse himself. " There was a noticeable 
 kink in his tail," he says, "as some evidence of the base 
 blood that ran in a dozen lines of his pedigree. He had 
 such pace that he could run his opponents off their legs and 
 go on alone. But he was a bit flash, depend on that. . . . 
 I am an old man, and this is a subject to which I once 
 gave unlimited attention. Saint Bel's print of him going 
 from you is just like any Orlando two-year-old going to 
 the post in the fifties. I let Lord Rosebery have my print 
 of PotSos, and I have not been able to get one since. He 
 was his best son, I used to hear from people who knew, 
 quite independent of his being sire of Waxy. That little 
 Racing Calendar, when Eclipse was running with i2st. up 
 as a five-year-old for King's Plates, you no doubt have. It 
 looked like a number of the ' British Essayists,' brown 
 calf with a red label ; and the cockfights were interspersed 
 with the races. O Lord ! I should like to have a talk 
 with you." 
 
 I only hope so keen a sportsman will do me the kindness 
 of writing again. 
 
 From Mr. W. Osborn Boyes of Barnet, Herts, I have 
 received much interesting information, and an authenticated 
 portion of Eclipse s skin. 
 
 A word as to the arrangement of this book, and I have 
 done with these preliminaries. 
 
 The first two chapters deal with the origin of the Eng- 
 lish thoroughbred and the pure Arabian. I then pass to 
 Eclipses breeder, the Duke of Cumberland, and his racing 
 friends ; which leads me to the description of Eclipses two 
 seasons on the Turf. I have taken the two O'Kellys, uncle 
 and nephew, separately ; and as Eclipse died just after 
 Dennis O'Kelly, the sketch of Saint Bel's analysis of the 
 horse's measurements comes in between the pair. The book 
 closes with a brief note on the effect of Eclipse blood in 
 modern racing stock. 
 
 xviii 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The Appendix I can particularly recommend, having 
 written so little of it myself. It is not, in this case, either 
 the refuge for dry details that might have terrified a hasty 
 reader of the text, or a mere rehearsal of the original sources 
 from which earlier conclusions have been drawn. At the 
 end of it I have placed a few considerations on the theory 
 of breeding known as the " Figure-System." The earlier 
 sections contain a good deal of information about both the 
 O'Kelly family and their famous horse which has never 
 appeared before, and may be welcomed by any one who cares 
 for eighteenth-century racing. O'Kelly's description of the 
 burial of Nelson, and the fragment of diary in which that 
 occurs, have a distinct value that needs no further 
 emphasis. 
 
 T. A. C. 
 
 XIX 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I. ARABIAN ORIGINS i 
 
 Value of Eclipse and his Descendants to the English Turf — Meaning of 
 the Phrase " English Thoroughbred " — Special Peculiarities of the English 
 Breed — Authorities on the Biology and History of the Horse — Earliest 
 Records of Riding — The first Jockey — Hellenic Horses — Importations of 
 Southern and Eastern Horses to Europe and England — The Markham 
 Arabian — The Ancestry of the Shire Horse — The Darley Arabian and 
 the Royal Mares — The Keheilan Breed of Najd — Difference between 
 Barbs or Turks and Arabs — Primeval Race of Najd — Important geo- 
 graphical Position of Arabia — The Horse in War. 
 
 II. ARABIAN AND THOROUGHBRED i6 
 
 Questions of Colour — Points of the True Arab — The Face-gland in 
 Skulls of Arabs, Thoroughbreds, and Shires — Mr. Wilfrid Blunt's Arabs 
 — The Problem of Breeding — Why England Succeeded where other 
 Nations Failed — Famous Mares — Arguments from Eclipse's Pedigree — 
 Pure and Impure Strains of Blood — Predominance of Eclipse Blood — 
 Breeding of our Derby Winners — Spearmint — Steeplechasing — Effects 
 of Climate — Effects of Re-importing Exported Stock — The Year of the 
 Great Eclipse. 
 
 III. THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND 31 
 
 English Life from 1745 to 1765 — Its Strength and Colour in Literature, 
 Politics and Art — "The Duke" — Marshal Saxe — Fontenoy — "Damn 
 my Commission ! " — The English Infantry — Culloden — Ranger of Wind- 
 sor Park — Too Much Politics — Gambling and Racing — The Jockey 
 Club — Gentlemen Riders — Exclusive Membership — Mr. D'Arcy Hutton 
 and Yorkshire Racing. 
 
 IV. THE DUKE'S FRIENDS AND THEIR HORSES ... 48 
 
 A Royal Racing Stable — Newmarket in 1757 — The Duke's Racing up 
 to the Week of his Death — Racing Colours in 1762 — The Younger 
 Duke a different Man — Resignation of Military Duties — George II. 's 
 Funeral — Schomberg House — The Duke's Death — His Papers De- 
 stroyed — Lord Rockingham — The Duke of Queensberry — Charles James 
 
 xxi 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 IV. THE DUKE'S FRIENDS AND THEIR HORSES— (conlmued) 
 
 Fox — Results of a Wager — Defeat of the Government — " Equant 
 Memento . . . " — Lady Sarah Lennox — Gtmcrack — Lord Grosvenor — 
 Lady Susan O'Brien — The Reverse Side of the Picture. 
 
 V. "ECLIPSE FIRST AND THE REST NOWHERE" ... 65 
 
 Authentic ReUcs and True Stories — The Birthplace of Eclipse — The 
 Cumberland Papers — Cranbourne Tower Paddocks — Cumberland Farm 
 — Eclipse's Sire — Mr. Tattersall's Idea — Marske's Performances — Spiktta 
 — " Colonel O'Kelly's Groom " — Hautboy Blood — Sale of Eclipse — Mr. 
 Wildman — His Racing Stable — Education of Eclipse — The First Trial — 
 O'Keily at Epsom — The First Victory — Placing the Horses — His 
 Jockeys — Marske's Reward — Descriptions of Eclipse in Training — Fifteen 
 Hands Two — Eye-witnesses Describe Eclipse — Winning Races in 1769 
 and 1770 — Purchase by Dennis O'Keily — Ten to One on — York Races 
 — Goldfinder — Lincoln Heath — Colours in 1771 — Long-distance Racing 
 — ^25,000 at the Stud — A Mile a Minute — Conclusive Evidence. 
 
 VI. DENNIS O'KELLY 
 
 Part I. EARLY DAYS 89 
 
 Family Papers — Miniature by Lochee — Characteristic Features — The 
 O'Kellys of Tullow — The Grattans, Harveys, and Esmondes — Early 
 Days — Barry Lyndon and Tregonwell Frampton — The Sedan Chair — 
 Dr. Johnson — Irishmen on the Turf — Buck Whaley — The Prince's 
 Stakes — Early Days in Town— The Fleet Prison — The "Count" — 
 Charlotte Hayes — Blacklegs on the Turf — Gambling Hells — Betting — 
 Sixteen New Offences — Chances of Breeding — Dennis in 1766 — Pur- 
 chases in 1769 — Clay Hill — The Racing Stud — "Cross and Jostle" — 
 Retaining a Jockey — " The Blacklegged Fraternity " — Hospitable Gather- 
 ings — Good Points in the Character of Dennis— The Militia Title — Did 
 he Fight in America? — The Two "Colonel O'Kellys." 
 
 VI. DENNIS O'Y^EIAN— (continued) 
 
 Part .II. A GOOD FINISH 112 
 
 The Tartar Mare — The O'Keily Stud — Two Derby Winners — Eclipse's 
 Sons — Weatherby's Bill — Lord Abingdon's Bill — Tattersall's Sale — 
 Famous Sales after it — Charlotte in the Marshalsea — Her Annuity — Her 
 Remarkable Parrot — The Royal Family in Church — The Parrot's Death 
 — The Drive to Edgeware — The Estate of Cannons — The Duke of 
 Chandos — Whitchurch or Stanmore Parva — Handel's Anthems — 
 Cannons Park — Particulars of the Sale — Dennis O'Kelly's Will — His 
 Character. 
 
 VII. DEATH OF ECLIPSE 131 
 
 Saint Bel's Dissection of the Horse's Body — " Cakes and Ale " — A 
 Funeral Ode— The Eclipse Hoof— The other Three Hoofs — The Whip — 
 
 xxii 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 VII. DEATH OF ECLIPSE— {continued) 
 
 Eclipse's Skin — His Skeleton in Red Lion Square — Bracy Clark — Sale of 
 the Bones to Professor Gamgee — Gift to the Museum — Charles Vial de 
 Saint Bel — The First Veterinary College — Saint Bel's Examination of 
 Eclipse's Bones — The Difficulties of Exact Measurement — Proportions of 
 Eclipse — Various Details of his Framework and Anatomy — Extent of his 
 Stride — Sir John Hills on the Points of a Racehorse — Heights of Race- 
 horses — Comparison of Ormonde, St. Simon, and Eclipse — -Comparison 
 of Zinfandel and Sampson — Horses steadily Growing Taller — Value 
 of a Long Femur and Humerus — Persimmon a Direct Descendant of 
 Eclipse. 
 
 VIII. ANDREW O'KELLY, THE HEIR 
 
 Part I. AT THE RACES 159 
 
 Mares sent to Dungannon from 1788 to 1798 — Colours on the Turf 
 from 1764 to 1820 — The Prince of Wales's Bill — The Prince's Stud — 
 Lord Belfast, afterwards Lord Donegall — His Letters — His Purchases — 
 His Complicated Financial Transactions — His Bills — William Whaley — 
 Loans, Drafts, and Agreements — Dispute as to Sales — O'Kelly's Stud in 
 1790 — Lord Egremont — Sir F. Standish — Mr. Concannon — Letters 
 from Brighton Races — Stable Accounts — Horses at Wycombe — Trifle 
 and Wrangler — Sam Chifney's Annuity — The Escape Incident — Chifney's 
 Letter — Vivaldi and Water — Schedona—Ca.^t3.m Marston — Major St. 
 Paul — General Lake — O'Kelly's Horses in 1805. 
 
 VIII. ANDREW O'YiELLY— {continued) 
 
 Part II. AT HOME 191 
 
 Portrait of Andrew by Alexander Pope — "The Prince's Set" — Duns 
 and Bailiffs — Servants — Demand for an Apology — Andrew's Account- 
 books — Mrs. O'Kelly's Furnished Houses — Letter from Mr. Higgins — 
 The Irish Regency — The Militia Colonelcy — Philip O'Kelly's Letter — 
 The Clay Hill Property — Stable Bills— Blacksmith's Bills— Garrard's 
 Painting — Bills from Jewellers and Bootmakers — Venison at Cannons — 
 Lord Ranelagh — Churchwarden and Minister — The Duke of Sussex, 
 Lord Donoughmore, and Lord Moira — Mr. Michell's Letters to Dublin 
 — Letter from his Son Charles — Andrew's Will — Philip Whitfield 
 Harvey — The Grattans — Celbridge — Nelson's Burial. 
 
 IX. ECLIPSE'S DESCENDANTS 220 
 
 PotSos — Spearmint — Troutbeck — Touchstone — Flying Fox — King Fergus 
 — Blacklock — Donovan — Emma — Lily Agnes — Matchem — Record Times 
 — Record Performances — Conclusion. 
 
 xxiii 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 APPENDICES 
 
 A. The Adventure of the Sedan Chair 
 
 York Races, Dick England, and Dungannon 
 
 The Militia Regiment .... 
 
 " L' Affaire Rochfort " .... 
 
 Cannons Estate ..... 
 
 Sam Chifney ...... 
 
 Lord Donegall's Encumbrances . 
 H. The Twopenny Post ..... 
 J. O'Kelly's Diary and the Buiial of Nelson 
 
 A Newgate Confession .... 
 
 The O'Kelly Pedigree .... 
 
 Eclipse s Pedigree ..... 
 
 Eclipse's Produce .'.... 
 
 Pedigrees of Blacklock, Emma, Lily Agnes, Bend Or, and 
 
 Derby Winners and their Blood . 
 
 Derby and Oaks Runners in 1906 
 
 Eclipse's Advertisement .... 
 
 The Figure System ..... 
 
 B. 
 C. 
 D. 
 E. 
 F. 
 G. 
 
 K. 
 L. 
 
 M. 
 N. 
 O. 
 P. 
 
 Q. 
 R. 
 
 S. 
 
 
 • 233 
 
 
 • 235 
 
 
 • 239 
 
 
 242 
 
 
 . 244 
 
 
 • 251 
 
 
 • 255 
 
 
 262 
 
 
 . 264 
 
 
 • 273 
 
 
 . 274 
 
 
 • 275 
 
 
 . 276 
 
 r, and 
 
 Donovan . 278 
 
 
 . 283 
 
 
 . 287 
 
 
 . 289 
 
 
 291 
 
 INDICES 
 
 Index of Horses 
 General Index 
 
 297 
 303 
 
 XXIV 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Tojace 
 page 
 
 Portrait of Dennis O'Kelly Frontispiece 
 
 Enlarged from the cameo by Lochee 
 
 Sir Walter Gilbey 6 
 
 From the original drawing by W. Nicholson 
 
 An Arabian imported for Lord Grosvenor in the Eighteenth 
 
 Century 12 
 
 From an engraving in the possession of Mr. Tattersall after the painting 
 by Stubbs 
 
 Stockwell 18 
 
 From a print in the " Sporting Magazine," Vol. cxx. 
 
 Skull of Stockwell 18 
 
 In the British Museum of Natural History 
 
 Cannon-Bones of Shire Horse 20 
 
 In the British Museum of Natural History 
 
 Bend Or 28 
 
 From the painting by E. Adam in the possession of the Duke of 
 Westminster at Eaton 
 
 Skull of Bend Or 28 
 
 In the British Museum of Natural History 
 
 XXV c 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 7.,^,,, 
 
 page 
 
 The Duke of Cumberland 34 
 
 Breeder of Eclipse 
 
 Sword and Baton of the Duke of Cumberland ... 34 
 
 Preserved at Cumberland Lodge, in Windsor Great Park 
 
 The Stables of Cumberland Lodge, Windsor Great Park . 40 
 
 Matchem 44 
 
 From a print in the possession of Mr. Somerville Tattersall 
 
 Herod 46 
 
 From an engraving after the painting by Gilpin 
 
 Gimcrack 52 
 
 From the painting by Sartorius in the possession of Julian Sampson, 
 Esq. 
 
 The Young Duke of Cumberland 54 
 
 By Gainsborough 
 
 Sharke (by Marske out of a Snap Mare) 56 
 
 From an engraving in the possession of Sir Walter Gilbey after the 
 painting by Stubbs 
 
 The Well-Gap at Newmarket 56 
 
 From an engraving in the British Museum 
 
 Lady Bunbury 60 
 
 By Reynolds 
 
 Match between Gimcrack and Bay Malton at York in 1769 . 62 
 
 Reproduced from the painting by Best in the possession of H.R.H. 
 Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein 
 
 Cranbourne Tower, in Windsor Great Park .... 66 
 The paddock where Eclipse was foaled 
 
 xxvi 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ^o/ace 
 
 page 
 
 Marske, Sire of Eclipse 70 
 
 From the engraving by G. F. Stubbs in the British Museum after the 
 painting by G. Stubbs 
 
 Plate recording Eclipse's Birth 70 
 
 Set up in Windsor Great Park by H.R.H. Prince Christian of 
 Schleswig-Holstein 
 
 Spiletta, with Eclipse at Foot 72 
 
 From the original painting in the possession of Mr. Hargreaves 
 
 Eclipse, with Mr. Wildman, his First Purchaser ... 74 
 From the painting by G. Stubbs in the possession of Sir Walter 
 Gilbey, Bart., of Elsenham 
 
 Eclipse .... 78 
 
 From the painting by Sartorius in the possession of Lady Dorchester 
 
 Eclipse 82 
 
 From the engraving in the British Museum by Burke after the painting 
 by G. Stubbs 
 
 Eclipse Galloping over the Beacon Course .... 86 
 
 After the painting by Sartorius, in the possession of M. Jean Stern, 
 Chantilly 
 
 The Start page 93 
 
 By Rowlandson 
 
 Eclipse 94 
 
 From the painting by Sartorius in the possession of Julian Sampson, 
 Esq. 
 
 Eclipse at Full Gallop 94 
 
 From a print in the possession of H.R.H. Prince Christian of Schleswig- 
 Holstein after the painting by Sartorius 
 
 Tricks of the Turf 100 
 
 By Rowlandson 
 
 xxvii 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS y,^,„ 
 
 page 
 
 The Betting Post page 102 
 
 By Rowlandson 
 
 Highflyer (by Herod) 104 
 
 From an engraving after Gilpin's picture 
 
 Letter from Andrew O'Kelly concerning the Speed of 
 
 Eclipse . 108 
 
 Eclipse 114 
 
 From a painting in the possession of H.R.H. Prince Christian of 
 Schleswig-Holstein 
 
 Mr. Weatherby's Memorandum to Lord Abingdon . . .116 
 Map of Epsom Race Course in 1823 118 
 
 Showing the O'Kelly Stables, Clay Hill 
 
 Letter from Charlotte Hayes (known as Mrs. O'Kelly) in 
 
 1802 120 
 
 Letter from Philip O'Kelly to his son Andrew concerning 
 
 THE parrot's death 122 
 
 Cannons . 126 
 
 The residence of Colonel O'Kelly, near Edgeware, from the lithograph 
 in the possession of Mrs. Haig-Brown 
 
 Eclipse at the Stud . . . 128 
 
 From a print after the painting by Garrard 
 
 The Eclipse Hoof 132 
 
 From a photograph taken by permission of the Jockey Club 
 
 The Skeleton of Eclipse 134 
 
 Photographed by W. E, Gray from the original in the possession of the 
 Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, Red Lion Square, London 
 
 xxviii 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ^oface 
 
 page 
 
 Eclipse 140 
 
 From the sketch in oils made from life by George Stubbs, A.R.A., in 
 the possession of Sir Walter Gilbey, Bart., of Elsenham 
 
 The Skeleton of Eclipse 140 
 
 Photographed by W. E. Gray from the original in the possession of 
 the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, Red Lion Square, London 
 
 Saint Bel's Geometrical Study of Eclipse . . . .148 
 Saint Bel's Anatomical Study of Eclipse 150 
 
 Skull of Eclipse 152 
 
 Eclipse's Skeleton — Hind Legs, Side, Back, and Front View , 154 
 From photographs taken by W. E. Gray, by permission of the Royal 
 College of Veterinary Surgeons, Red Lion Square, London 
 
 Eclipse's Skeleton — Fore Legs, Side, Front, and Back View . .156 
 From a photograph by W. E. Gray, by permission of the Royal College 
 of Veterinary Surgeons, Red Lion Square, London 
 
 Letter from Andrew O'Kelly 160 
 
 Jupiter (by Eclipse) 162 
 
 From an engraving by Ward in the British Museum after the painting 
 by Gilpin 
 
 A Racing Scene in the Early Nineteenth Century . . .164 
 From a lithograph in the possession of H.R.H. Prince Christian of 
 Schleswig-Holstein 
 
 Letter from Lord Belfast, 1794 168 
 
 Dungannon (by Eclipse) 172 
 
 From a print in the British Museum after the painting by G. Stubbs 
 
 xxix 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ^^^^^ 
 
 page 
 
 Soldier (by Eclipse) 174 
 
 From the engraving in the possession of Mr. Somerville Tattersall 
 
 Thunderbolt (by Eclipse) 174 
 
 From an engraving in the possession of Mr, Somerville Tattersall 
 
 Receipt from Mr. Henwood, Clerk of Brighton Races in 
 
 1799 180 
 
 Sam Chifney 182 
 
 From an engraving after a contemporary oil painting 
 
 Letter from Sam Chifney to Andrew O'Kelly .... 186 
 
 Philip O'Kelly's Bill to General Lake 190 
 
 Portrait of Andrew Dennis O'Kelly 192 
 
 From the painting by Alexander Pope in the possession of Sir Thomas 
 Esmonde 
 
 Beau Brummell 194 
 
 From the original drawing by Max Beerbohm 
 
 Letter from the Duke of Sussex to Andrew O'Kelly . . 208 
 Signature of Dennis O'Kelly 208 
 
 Cannons, Edgeware 210 
 
 The residence of Colonel O'Kelly 
 
 Cannons, Edgeware 210 
 
 Window near which the remains of Eclipse were buried 
 
 Waxy by PotSos (by Eclipse) 220 
 
 From the original painting by Sartorius, discovered by Mr._ G. H. 
 Parsons of Alsager, and now in the possession of R. C. Blencowe, Esq. 
 
 XXX 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 To face 
 page 
 
 Touchstone (1831-1860) 222 
 
 From the painting by J. F. Herring in the possession of the Duke of 
 Westminster at Eaton 
 
 Donovan at Ten Years Old 224 
 
 From a photograph lent by the Duke of Portland 
 
 Ormonde 226 
 
 From the painting by E. Adam in the possession of the Duke of 
 Westminster at Eaton 
 
 Cup won by Waxy and engraved with the Match between 
 
 gimcrack and bay m alton 228 
 
 From a photograph by Mr. Parsons of Alsager 
 
 His Majesty the King's Persimmon, a direct descendant of 
 
 Eclipse 230 
 
 From the photograph by Mr. G. H. Parsons of Alsager, 1 906 
 
 P0T80S (by Eclipse) 230 
 
 From the engraving in the possession of Mr. Somerville Tattersall 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 ARABIAN ORIGINS 
 
 Eduxit eos per abysses quasi equum in deserto non impingenUm 
 
 Value of Eclipse and his Descendants to the English Turf — Meaning of the 
 Phrase "English Thoroughbred" — Special Peculiarities of the English 
 Breed — Authorities on the Biology and History of the Horse — Earliest 
 Records of riding — The first Jockey — Hellenic Horses — Importations of 
 Southern and Eastern Horses to Europe and England — The Markham 
 Arabian — The Ancestry of the Shire Horse — The Darley Arabian and the 
 Royal Mares — The Keheilan Breed of Najd — Difference between Barbs or 
 Turks and Arabs — Primeval Race of Najd — Important geographical Posi- 
 tion of Arabia — The Horse in War. 
 
 T UST as no one can ever beat Sir Charles Bunbury's 
 I record on the Turf, owing to the accident that he won 
 I the first Derby, so it is impossible for any other race- 
 •I horse to possess quite the reputation achieved by 
 Eclipse, owing to the fact that he lived from 1764 to 1789, 
 perhaps the most momentous years in the history of horse- 
 breeding. His fame arises not so much from the unbeaten 
 record of his two short years upon the Turf as from the 
 fact that his blood, transmitted through the more famous of 
 his sons, has proved to be the most valuable of any horse 
 on record. It would not, indeed, be too much to say, 
 knowing what we do know, that the son of George II. had 
 bred the most valuable animal in the world when the colt by 
 Marske out of Spiletta was foaled in Windsor Park. 
 Faster horses there have been since, without a shadow of 
 doubt ; but in the reason of things it is impossible that 
 even Ormonde or St. Siuwn can ever hold quite the place in 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 history which is consecrated to O' Kelly's celebrated chestnut 
 thoroughbred. 
 
 None of Eclipse s performances were ever timed, and 
 I have the written testimony of his last owner to prove 
 that he was never run against the watch. But every- 
 thing points to the fact that pace nowadays is far greater 
 than it was in 1770 over anything up to two miles, partly, 
 of course, because we now run our races out from end 
 to end, instead of waiting at the start, and the speed 
 at which the Grand National Steeplechase was run last 
 March is sufficient to show that if we cared to train our 
 animals for four miles on the flat we could produce a 
 pace that would show an equivalent improvement over 
 1770 at all distances. Caimmts 1.33^ for the mile was 
 done in 1900. But Spearniinfs 2.36* for the Derby course, 
 and Ascetic Silver's 9.34I for the 4 miles 856 yards, with 30 
 fences, of the Grand National, were both done in 1906 ; all 
 three are faster than the distance has ever been done before ; 
 and not one could be approached in 1770 or in 1790, or 
 even in 1810. It is certain, however, that Eclipse was 
 himself a very great advance both in speed and stamina on 
 everything known up to his time. The high class of 
 Ormonde is shown in the fact that he had such extraor- 
 dinarily good company to race against when he beat Mint- 
 ing, Bendigo, Melton, St. Mirin, The Bard, Saraband and 
 Kilwarlin; the excellence of St. Simon is seen by the 
 smashing style in which he won his victories. Eclipse, 
 unbeaten like both of his celebrated successors, not only beat 
 the best that England had to send against him for two 
 years, but actually beat it by something over a couple of 
 hundred yards, after making the running all the way ; and, 
 again like St. Simon and (in a less degree) Ormonde, he 
 showed the invaluable power of being able to transmit his 
 racing qualities to his descendants. 
 
 This means not only that his own framework was espe- 
 cially calculated for high speed and prolonged effort, but 
 that it was animated by a vitality sufficiently strong and 
 sufficiently persistent to transmit his qualities through an 
 
ARABIAN ORIGINS 
 
 ever-widening circle of descendants for a period of time that 
 already extends over one hundred and thirty years of the 
 chronicles of their success. How was it, then, that so 
 extraordinary a result was produced for the first time ? 
 What was the marvellous blend of blood that at a given 
 moment, under auspicious circumstances, produced this 
 English Thoroughbred ? Are we to give most of the credit 
 to the Darley Arabian, or to the Royal Mares, or to the 
 English climate ? A share, I think, must be allotted to all 
 three ; and, above all, we must not forget to give its due 
 share also to that subtle and baffling process of slow im- 
 provement in English horseflesh which had been produced 
 by English racing ever since 1618 — a date for which my 
 reason will become clear later on. 
 
 It will be seen that I do not here use the word " tho- 
 roughbred" in the same way as some authorities have used it, 
 to signify a pure and proved and undiluted strain of Eastern 
 (or of Southern) blood. The only "thoroughbred" in the 
 world, on this definition would be the pure Arabian mare 
 from Najd. The " English.Thoroughbred " (a phrase usually 
 shortened, in racing parlance, to the single word " Tho- 
 roughbred ") is by no means of pure extraction, as may be 
 seen from the single consideration that the blood of the 
 Byerly Turk, the Godolphiii Barb, and the Darley Arabian, 
 are transmitted to modern racing stock through Matchem, 
 Herod and Eclipse, whose genealogies are by no means 
 purely Arabian even when they can be said to be Eastern 
 (or Southern) ; and it is my belief that the success of these 
 three imported Eastern (or Southern) sires was greater in 
 England than that of similar (and sometimes better bred) 
 sires in any other part of the world, for the very reason 
 that their blood achieved precisely the best blend possible 
 when their three great descendants were foaled. 
 
 In other words, whatever we may call the English horse 
 that was gradually being produced between 1624 and 1764, 
 he possessed certain qualities, resulting partly from climate, 
 partly from the habit of racing, and partly from the gradual 
 infusion of imported blood for fifteen centuries ; and these 
 
 3 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 qualities happen to be exactly the ones best suited for cross- 
 ing with the Arab strain. It is difficult to determine what 
 they were ; for the Arab blood never produced the same 
 result in any other place or at any other time, in spite of 
 the fact that most of the civilised world has for centuries 
 endeavoured to produce that result by what they considered 
 to be the same process. Evidently, therefore, that process 
 is either indefinable or undiscoverable. I would liken its 
 search to that of him who would define exactly how much 
 English blood flows in the veins of the best Englishmen. 
 In these days of extended travel and easy communication, 
 marriages between different races have grown common, and 
 each race involved may have a very mingled origin. In 
 what proportion are we to say the various strains are 
 mixed ? The matter is not simplified if we go back to 
 simpler centuries ; for long before Burke was heard of or 
 Debrett was born there was an aristocracy in these islands. 
 What was its origin ? Was it pure Norman, pure Saxon, 
 or pure Dane ; Celtic, Teutonic, or of what unmixed race ? 
 Of none, for it is better than any. Our most representative 
 families spring from the happiest blend ever concocted in 
 the great laboratory of Nature : the composite result of 
 various strains known as the " English." 
 
 Much the same holds good of the " English Thorough- 
 bred." He was no more produced by the calculations of 
 scientific breeding than our best English families have 
 been to-day. I do not say that, after the type had once 
 arrived, due care in using various strains, or in neglecting 
 various individual sires and dams, may not be of supreme 
 importance ; but I am certain that Matchem, Herod, 
 and Eclipse owed very little to their breeders and nearly 
 everything to the fortunate combination of environment 
 and descent ; and I am still more convinced that even 
 nowadays it is impossible to label certain sires and dams 
 with various figures, treat them like four-legged multipli- 
 cation tables, and sit down to wait with confidence for the 
 result. 
 
 We have, of course, far more excuse for some such 
 
 4 
 
ARABIAN ORIGINS 
 
 system as this latter than had the breeders of 1764, because 
 we enjoy not only more experience but far more scientific 
 knowledge. The whole field of inquiry has, for instance, 
 been altered by the life of one man, Darwin. In our special 
 knowledge of the horse, which was begun by the anatomical 
 studies of Eclipse published by Vial de Saint Bel, we can 
 now point to the monumental researches of two other 
 Frenchmen, Sanson and Pietrement, who have practically 
 produced every scrap of evidence about a horse in history. 
 Mr. Lydekker has made several valuable additions to 
 scientific theory on the subject, which can be seen, better 
 than has ever been the case before, in the beautifully 
 arranged exhibits of the natural history of the horse to 
 which Professor E. Ray Lankester, Director of the Natural 
 History Branch of the British Museum, has given so much 
 successful attention. The writings of Mr. Wilfrid Scawen 
 Blunt are a mine of information about the Arab he loves so 
 well, and breeds so carefully at Crabbet Park. The late 
 Captain M. H. Hayes has put more about the subject of 
 which he was a master into his one volume on " Points of 
 the Horse " than could previously be obtained in a whole 
 veterinary library. Major-General Sir John Hills has still 
 further specialised the most valuable portion of the inquiry 
 in " Points of a Racehorse." Professor James Cossar Ewart 
 has carried us more deeply into the secrets of Nature by 
 his patient and accurate experiments in breeding than we 
 ever went before. Major-General Tweedie's researches into 
 the history of the Arabian have distinct value. Messrs. 
 Bruce-Lowe and William Allison have elaborated a whole 
 theory of breeding, based on the value of certain families of 
 mares, to which I have referred in the Appendix. Sir Walter 
 Gilbey has probably done as much for various kinds of 
 horse-breeding as any man alive, both by precept and 
 example. Finally, Professor William Ridgeway has just 
 published a volume which reveals a curious blend of 
 scholarly research and highly speculative theory, and, when 
 taken in conjunction (for instance) with Pidtrement, leaves 
 little unprinted that is either discovered or discoverable 
 
 5 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 in quotations from ancient literature or monuments which 
 bear upon the question. 
 
 I mention these prominent names not so much that I 
 may announce they have succeeded in their fascinating 
 quest, not even to safeguard myself by proclaiming my 
 agreement with them, but merely to express my profound 
 gratitude for their marshalling of countless facts which I 
 shall proceed to use without any further specific acknow- 
 ledgment of their authority. This is as much as to say 
 that while I recognise the industry and accuracy of each and 
 every one, I am unable wholly to accept the conclusion of 
 any single writer among those just named ; and since I 
 owe to my reader at least that amount of trouble which 
 consists in assuring him I have good reason for my various 
 statements, I prefer to divide the credit for most of my 
 facts among all the writers mentioned, and to assume 
 myself the responsibility for conclusions to which none of 
 them are wholly liable. I do not profess to be that perfect 
 blend of biologist, historian, racing man, and scholar which 
 can alone produce the ideal historian of Eclipse, O'Kelly, 
 and the modern thoroughbred ; but I have at least tried to 
 deny to either of these four essential qualities a prepon- 
 derating influence in what I have to say. 
 
 I shall begin, then, by sketching the natural history of 
 the horse so far as is necessary for determining whether 
 there was any special breed which has been a dominating 
 factor in the development of Eclipse ; and, if there was, I 
 shall try to describe it and its place of origin ; so that when 
 a pure and undoubted specimen of that breed comes into 
 England we shall know with a little more accuracy what is 
 involved. It will be necessary also to say something of the 
 kind of horse with which this imported animal (whether 
 stallion or mare) was meant to breed, and to add a few- 
 words on climate. After this we can begin to appreciate a 
 little better the essential meaning and value of the appear- 
 ance of Eclipse, the heir of so many ages, and the author 
 of so many victories to come. After this great sire himself 
 has passed away, and the best of his descendants have been 
 
 6 
 
SIR WALTER GILBEV, 
 From the original drawing h^f William Nicholson. 
 
ARABIAN ORIGINS 
 
 described, it will be possible to consider what the effect of 
 his existence has been upon the modern turf as we know it. 
 This latter point I propose to treat of only in my last pages, 
 and only with the brevity natural to a subject which is far 
 better known than the rest of my material. Yet it was 
 impossible to omit it in any monograph on Eclipse with the 
 least pretensions to completeness, just as it would be impos- 
 sible to omit, in the same chapters, those considerations of 
 the Duke of Cumberland, his breeder, or of Colonel O'Kelly, 
 his owner, or of others in that vastly interesting society of 
 racing men and women before whose eyes the miracle of his 
 actual life was passed. 
 
 There is no record of any horse having been ridden 
 before looo B.C., and I find it quite natural to consider that 
 nearly three thousand years of human development were 
 necessary to produce such horsemanship as Archer's. But 
 chariots have been traced back almost two thousand years 
 before that. And in both cases I am giving the extremest 
 limit suggested. It is, at any rate, certain that the horse 
 was used for driving a very long time before he was ever 
 ridden ; and this again is natural, for you can drive a much 
 smaller animal than is able to carry you, and the earliest 
 known riding-horses have barely reached 14 hands. People 
 who consider that the period assigned by Oppert to the 
 Accadian Kings is too dark and backward an abysm of 
 time for chariots, may take it as proved that chariots were 
 known in Babylon at any rate by 1500 b.c, and were not 
 known in Egypt before that date. They are carved upon a 
 tombstone at Mycenae in about 1400 B.C., and they were the 
 chief instruments in the great Egyptian campaigns of the 
 next century. Of course they are a prominent feature in 
 the Homeric Battles, which brings us to about 850 B.C., 
 and while the date of the lowest stratum of the Temple of 
 Artemis, just discovered by Professor Bosanquet, remains 
 uncertain, we may agree that the earliest four-horse chariot 
 surviving in Greek art is the quadriga carved in an ancient 
 metope at Selinus, in Sicily, in 628 B.C. No doubt this is 
 far from the earliest made, for there was a chariot-race at 
 
 7 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 the Olympic Games of 680 b.c, and there I may confidently 
 leave the subject, for in another generation Greek horses 
 had grown big enough to ride, and Archer's prototype 
 appeared in the first Greek jockey at the Olympic Games 
 of 648 B.C. 
 
 That appearance no doubt presupposes a good deal of 
 riding previously ; but as far as possible, in a subject so 
 admittedly speculative, I am struggling to get at facts. For 
 this reason I cannot accept any argument derived from 
 Greek pottery discovered at Defenneh, the ancient Daphnae, 
 on the eastern side of the Nile Delta. Upon it are the 
 figures of a man and horse, coloured dark, with a white 
 dog and a woman (also white) riding the horse. The whole 
 hindquarters of the animal have unfortunately disappeared, 
 so that it is difficult to speak accurately of his breed ; and, 
 though the origin of the discovery points to the pottery 
 having been made for people east of the Nile, the only 
 thing I should consider it to suggest would be that women 
 are depicted riding in the seventh century before Christ (to 
 which the pottery is assigned), and therefore that men had 
 begun to ride some time before the Olympic Games of 
 648 B.C., which is undoubtedly correct. 
 
 The horses carved upon the Parthenon show that the 
 breed, though still smaller than a polo-pony, had un- 
 doubtedly assimilated a good deal of the southern strain ; 
 and in the refined cheek and jaw, the large and promi- 
 nent eye, the lovely nostril, they exhibit the points we are 
 accustomed to associate with Arab blood, though they also 
 show the added length of head (in proportion to the body) 
 which is observable to-day in any cross between an Arab 
 and a coarser breed. By 359 b.c. we find a jockey on horse- 
 back on the coins of Philip II. of Macedon, and we know 
 that Alexander's famous Bucephalus was bred by Philonicus 
 of Pharsalus, in Thessaly. Now the Thessalian horses 
 of about that age have been described, and they show that 
 the cross between southern strains and the old, dun, abori- 
 ginal stock of Greece had been improved since the Parthenon 
 was built. The phrase . . . "vestigia primi Alba pedis, 
 
 8 
 
ARABIAN ORIGINS 
 
 frontemque ostentans arduus albam " almost exactly fits 
 'Eclipse, and shows that the breed of the Darley Arabian, 
 dark bay with a white forehead and one or more white feet, 
 had already begun to make its mark. 
 
 An inscription found in the castle of St. Angelo, at Rome, 
 gives the names of forty-two winners driven in the second 
 half of the first century a.d. by Avilius Teres, a celebrated 
 charioteer. Out of this total no less than thirty-seven are 
 called Libyan, and another is described as Mauretanian. 
 The use of stock from the southern side of the Mediter- 
 ranean littoral was evidently spreading. The Britons who 
 faced Julius Caesar's invading legions do not yet appear, 
 however, to have discovered the strange improvement 
 wrought upon the Continent by these southern importa- 
 tions ; for their horses were still so small that they were 
 chiefly used in chariots when it came to fighting. It is 
 difficult to form any notion of what our small aboriginal 
 horse was like, though it was at Newmarket, appropriately 
 enough, that a coin of Cunobelin was discovered, used by 
 the Iceni whom Boadicea led against the invader, on which 
 the trained eye of Sir Walter Gilbey has discovered cardinal 
 points in common with Shire, Clydesdale or Suffolk breeds 
 of the present day. Whether the animal depicted had any 
 affinity with the stock beloved by the men who fought 
 under the banner of the White Horse and carved their 
 totem on the Berkshire Downs, I cannot say. But it is 
 certain that the Emperor Severus imported horses of a 
 southern breed to Netherby, in Yorkshire ; and as I know 
 of none before his time, it is to them I must assign the dim 
 beginning of that magical transmutation of our stock which 
 was eventually to result in Eclipse. 
 
 Athelstan and Alfred had gifts made to them of southern 
 horses. The first Briton who actually brought one to these 
 shores was Alexander, King of Scotland, in 1121 ; and from 
 that time onwards animals of a similar breed were either 
 given to royalty or imported by them in small quantities ; 
 but the first one whose value for breeding racers was 
 publicly acknowledged was the Mark/mm Arabian, which 
 
 9 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 King James I. purchased in 1618, with the deliberate object 
 of improving the breed. The lesson had been learnt at 
 last ; but it was not quite the right blood yet, though near 
 it, for the Duke of Newcastle (in a book published in 1667) 
 says of him, " I never saw any but one of these horses," a 
 curious admission which seems to show that the Markhain 
 Arabian at least justified his title so far as to appear 
 different from the Turks and Barbs and half-breeds which 
 preceded him. Yet he cannot have been right, for the 
 same excellent judge describes the animal " which Mr. John 
 Markham brought over and said he was a right Arabian. 
 He was bay, but a little horse, and no rarity for shape. , . . 
 V/hen he came to run, every horse beat him." The Duke 
 was undoubtedly prejudiced in favour of the big black 
 English breed, the "great horse" of Charles I.'s statue in 
 Trafalgar Square ; but he knew what he was talking about. 
 The Markham Arabiaiis failure on the racecourse was, 
 with the knowledge we have now, only natural. His com- 
 parative failure at the stud is a more damning fact, though 
 I have no doubt he "prepared the way" through many 
 channels which are unknown to us, and improved the breed 
 without leaving much record of his services. As appears 
 from the Exchequer Receipt in the Record Office, he cost 
 ^iS\ ^"d £^\ I to his groom. 
 
 The age of heavy armour had kept the " great horse " 
 fashionable in England much longer than his speed alone 
 would ever have warranted. His size was no doubt the 
 result of such importations as those of Henry VHI. from 
 the celebrated Gonzaga stud in Mantua, a stud full of 
 southern crosses ; and he was without doubt the ancestor 
 of the shire-horse of the present day. But the final dis- 
 appearance of the heavy-armoured knight, and the rise of 
 such light cavalry as Cromwell's, necessitated pace as well 
 as mere endurance ; and the heavy black horse was either 
 relegated to the plough, the waggon and the family coach, 
 or he was crossed (later on) with the thoroughbred to pro- 
 duce the chargers of the Household Cavalry. The shire- 
 horse, who descends from him, has not wholly beaten his 
 
 10 
 
ARABIAN ORIGINS 
 
 sword into a ploughshare, and so room is still found for him 
 on a modern battlefield. But no man rides him. He pulls 
 the batteries of 4.7 guns which did such good service in 
 South Africa. 
 
 From all this it follows that England, before 1700, had 
 only imported Turks, Barbaries, or their derivatives, with 
 very rare exceptions, such as a few of the Royal Mares or 
 the Markham Arabian; and it is clear that no startling 
 result had yet been reached. The experience of the Conti- 
 nent, that all other aboriginal breeds were improved by 
 being crossed with animals from regions to the south and 
 east of the Mediterranean, had indeed been followed. But 
 the exactly right blood had not been tapped. Even if the 
 Markham Arabian had been right, the conditions of 16 17 
 were evidently not yet ripe to produce the victorious blend 
 required. They were not perfect even when, in 17 10, the 
 right sire did at last arrive. And he was himself no good 
 on the racecourse, but that he brought the right blood his 
 extraordinary and immediate successes at the stud are on 
 record as a proof. 
 
 The Darley Arabian was imported in 17 10, and he is 
 the only authentically pure-bred "Anazah" horse in the 
 General Stud Book. He was the property of Mr. Darley, 
 of Buttercramb, near York, whose brother was a merchant 
 abroad and sent the horse from Aleppo to England. The 
 position of Aleppo (Haleb) is of some importance, for Aleppo 
 is still one of the regular markets for the horse dealers of 
 Najd. It is on the 36th degree of longitude east of Green- 
 wich, between the seacoast of Northern Syria (opposite the 
 north of Cyprus) and the right-hand bank of the river 
 Euphrates ; and it was probably not far from here that the 
 animal was bred. He was a bay with a white star on his 
 forehead and four white feet, of the breed called by the 
 Arabs " Keheilan," and he is sometimes spoken of as " Ras- 
 el-Fedawi." The word " Keheilan " is a derivative o 
 " Kohl," which is the name given by the Arabs to the only 
 breed of true Arabian, because the skin of these horses, not 
 only on the face, but all over the body, shows the blue-black 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 tint of the human skin when dyed with the mineral pecu- 
 liarly affected by Eastern women. The Darky Arabimi 
 has been called an "Anazah" horse, from the name of the 
 tribe which bred him. They live in the district called 
 Shammar or Shamiya by the Arabs, and the Palmyrene or 
 Syrian desert by Europeans, between the 40th and 45th 
 degree of east longitude, and from the 25th to the 30th 
 parallel of latitude. The name " Aneisa" will be found, in 
 most good atlases, almost exactly on the 45th degree of east 
 longitude, in the country to the east of the Red Sea. To 
 this district the Anazah tribe have migrated from Najd, 
 which is a little further to the south-east in Central Arabia ; 
 and, by common consent of both Bedouins and Europeans, 
 they still possess the best horses, which are usually about 
 i4-3> generally bay, and constantly with a white star or 
 blaze on the face and one or more white feet, as was the case 
 with the Darley Arabian, Flying Childers, and Eclipse. 
 
 Of the Keheilan horses Mr. Blunt, writing from per- 
 sonal observation, says that they are " the most numerous 
 and, taken generally, the most esteemed. They contain a 
 greater proportion, I think, of bays than any other strain. 
 They are the fastest, though not perhaps the hardiest 
 horses, and bear a closer resemblance than the rest " — Mr. 
 Blunt is writing, of course, in the nineteenth century — " to 
 English thoroughbreds," a resemblance which would quite 
 naturally strike an Englishman of the present day, since 
 the majority of our modern racing stock is derived from the 
 Djo^rley Arabian through Eclipse. 
 
 It has been proved that cross-bred horses are taller and 
 stronger than the pure Keheilans, whether the mate chosen 
 for the Arab is taller than the eastern animal or not, and 
 irrespective of sex on either side. This is important with a 
 view to the results of breeding in England ; and it may be 
 added that the horses now used for breeding by the Anazah 
 tribes are not chosen for size and shape, or for any quality 
 of speed or stoutness, but only for their blood, so that all 
 their stock is related in the closest degree of consanguinity, 
 and must have somewhat degenerated ; for, when a stallion 
 
 12 
 
15 ^ 
 
ARABIAN ORIGINS 
 
 was brought to Mr. Blunt to see, owing to his unexceptional 
 blood, that unprejudiced and accurate observer thought him 
 " a mere pony without a single good point." This reminds 
 me irresistibly of the Duke of Newcastle's verdict on the 
 MarkJiam Arabian, and it suggests that, while the animal 
 bought by James I. in 1618 may have shown the same 
 signs of degeneration observed by Mr. Blunt in the " pony" 
 of a few years ago, the horse picked out by Mr. Darley at 
 Aleppo in 17 10 was of the finest fibre of a strong race at its 
 best. Whether this hypothesis be right, or whether the 
 "Royal Mares" imported between 1618 and 1710 had 
 altered the situation, the fact remains that the Darley 
 Arabian, when mated with mares resident in England, 
 produced an offspring which was better than either of its 
 parents, and did what the Markham Arabian has never 
 been recorded as having shown any signs of doing. I must 
 add my own opinion that the blood of the Darley Arabian 
 proved itself so potent for yet another reason : he was a pure 
 representative of the oldest and best indigenous breed of 
 horses in the world. 
 
 It has been suggested by the latest writer on the subject 
 that this indigenous breed (which Professor Ridgeway calls 
 equits caballus libycus) came originally from the Mediter- 
 ranean littoral of North-West Africa and the plains imme- 
 diately south of the Atlas, the very regions, in fact, inhabited 
 by the modern Barb, whose special characteristics are a 
 convex forehead line (giving him a ramsheaded profile), and 
 a tail set low down and carried trailing between his hocks. 
 But not only was the Atlas region quite cut off from the 
 rest of Africa, in primitive times, by the geography of the 
 country, but the type of the Barb is as different from the 
 true Keheilan form of the Darley Arabian as the Turk is 
 from either. As a matter of much greater probability, the 
 Keheilan, or Arabian, was the original type from which both 
 Barb and Turk were early derivatives, and it was from the 
 East, and not from the West, that ancient Egypt took her 
 best breed, as eighteenth-century England took it later on. 
 
 The elevated plateau of Najd rises some 4000 feet above 
 
 13 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 the sea in Central Arabia, buttressed by mountains that 
 may be higher still. Water was formerly much more 
 plentiful there than it is now, says an experienced traveller 
 and eye-witness, and still exists in quantities sufficient for 
 sober feeders on the high ground, while there is plenty of 
 grass and shrubs for pasture, and in earlier centuries this 
 may well have been as great a district for horse-breeding in 
 the animal's natural and wild state, as it is now that they 
 are bred and cared for by the Arabs. It is not at all impos- 
 sible that horses should have lived here before man ; but it 
 certainly is impossible in the Sahara. Najd offers, in fact, 
 very much the same facilities for horse-forage as are found 
 on the principal horse-breeding plateaus of Central Asia, 
 where they run wild to this day ; and it may well be that a 
 variety of the wild horse of Southern Asia, wandering south- 
 wards by the higher line of hill country which joins Syria 
 to the central plateau of Arabia, reached Najd, remained 
 there, and, in the increasing dryness, became specialised 
 into a breed which may be called indigenous, which is 
 certainly different from every other in the world, which has 
 certainly preserved its characteristic excellencies longer than 
 any other in the world, and which has had more influence 
 than any other breed upon the improvement of horses all 
 over the world. The primeval horse left behind in Central 
 Asia by these more hardy and adventurous wanderers may 
 be typified by the small wild variety known as " Prej- 
 valsky's horse " to-day, and it is this coarser breed which 
 furnished the aboriginal stock of Europe which successive 
 importations of Arabian, Turk and Barb improved. 
 
 That the horses who had domiciled themselves in Najd 
 were not starved out for want of water before the first men 
 who reached the district discovered them, is clear from what 
 followed ; and the process of the gradual survival of the 
 fittest, which was necessitated by increasing aridity, only 
 improved the material when it was discovered. No doubt 
 the first tribes who came in contact with the breed, after- 
 wards to be known as " Keheilan," used camels as their 
 chief form of locomotion. The Arabs living on the same 
 
 H 
 
ARABIAN ORIGINS 
 
 spot now have camels still. But riding-horses very pro- 
 bably came into fashion when the decay of the Roman 
 Empire, about 120 a.d., gave an opportunity for the founda- 
 tion of the two Arab kingdoms of Hira and Ghassan on 
 the banks of the Euphrates and on the Syrian frontier 
 respectively. This, in Pidtrement's opinion, gave Central 
 Arabia its opportunity for supplying light cavalry during 
 the next six centuries. With the arrival of Mahomet the 
 position of the Arab horse was fixed for all time. 
 
 Najd, it will be noticed, occupies a very important 
 geographical position with reference to the movement of 
 early trade and population. To the north-east, beyond the 
 frontier-hills of Persia, lie Meshed and Teheran. Along 
 the northern horizon lies the Euphrates valley, with Basra 
 and Bagdad. To the north-west are Aleppo, Palmyra, 
 Damascus and Beyrout. Across the Nile delta is Alexan- 
 dria. The Persian Gulf extends its waters to the east of 
 the Arabian Peninsula, the Red Sea laves its western 
 boundaries, and close to this coast-line lies Mecca. 
 
 It was the doctrines which spread from Mecca that first 
 gave its real impetus to careful breeding from the indi- 
 genous Arabian horse of Najd, produced as I have just 
 indicated and improved as Pi^trement suggests many a 
 century before the Koran was ever written. " Thou shalt 
 be to a man a source of happiness and wealth," wrote 
 Mahomet of the horse, and it was of the Anazah breed 
 that he was writing ; the breed which (through its Barb 
 derivatives) had made Pindar sing of Gyrene, "the city of 
 fair steeds and goodly riders ; " which gave Carthage, in 
 400 B.C., the crest of a horse's head upon her coins ; which 
 furnished those Numidian steeds that helped Hannibal to 
 teach the Romans the value of good cavalry. It was by 
 the constant and religious use of the fountain-head of this 
 the best blood in the world, that the Mahomedan cavalry 
 spread the faith of the Prophet so widely and victoriously 
 over the face of the earth. It was the southern blood in his 
 best horses which gave William the Conqueror his victorious 
 cavalry at Hastings. 
 
 15 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 ARABIAN AND THOROUGHBRED 
 
 Equi rufi qui erartt robustissimi exierant et qutsrehant ire et dUcurrere per 
 omnem terram . , . ecce qui egrediuntur in terram aquilonis 
 
 Questions of Colour — Points of the True Arab — The Face-gland in Skulls 
 of Arabs, Thoroughbreds, and Shires — Mr. Wilfrid Blunt's Arabs — The 
 Problem of Breeding — Why England Succeeded where other Nations Failed 
 ■ — Famous Mares — Arguments from Eclipse's Pedigree — Pure and impure 
 Strains of Blood — Predominance of Eclipse Blood — Breeding of our Derby 
 Winners — Spearmint — Steeplechasing — Effects of Climate — Effects of Re- 
 importing Exported Stock — The Year of the Great Eclipse. 
 
 IT is easier to imagine what the typical, pure breed of 
 the old Arab looked like than is the case with any 
 other animal ; for its points are so persistent through- 
 out the artistic record of its life-history that there is 
 probably very little difference in the best of Mr. Wilfrid 
 Blunt's Arabs in the Crabbet Park pastures of to-day, from 
 their far-off progenitors who carried the first horsemen of 
 the Prophet on their military Evangel throughout Africa, 
 Asia, and Europe. In colour the Keheilan foals are always 
 bay, chestnut, or dark brown ; none are ever foaled white, 
 and those that turn white later on preserve the dark, 
 " kohl " skin distinctive of their breed. The produce of 
 two chestnuts in the Keheilan is always a chestnut ; but no 
 other colour is so persistent, not even bay, which may 
 possibly indicate ihdl Eclipse s vivid chestnut coat is appro- 
 priate to his first-rate strain of Eastern breeding. It is 
 curious that in early days from 1700 onwards, English race- 
 horses ran in all colours, as will be seen from my extracts 
 
 16 
 
ARABIAN AND THOROUGHBRED 
 
 from Yorkshire racing-cards later on ; and for a long while 
 greys remained good, though the only one I ever saw in the 
 Derby was the ill-fated Holocauste ; in Australia they were 
 common for much longer. But since 1836 colours have 
 gradually become much more uniform. In the thirty years 
 following, for example, the Derby was won by sixteen bays, 
 seven chestnuts and seven browns. The same proportion 
 (with two less chestnuts) hold good in the Oaks and 
 St. Leger. From 1870 to 1899 inclusive, taking the three 
 first horses in the Derby, Oaks, and St. Leger, we find that 
 132 were bay, 78 were chestnut, 46 brown, and 4 black. 
 Of the others, nine were of the indeterminate shades 
 between black and brown, and between brown and bay. 
 The bays are not only more numerous at the end, but have 
 steadily increased all the time. The result is that English 
 thoroughbred stock is slowly becoming all bay, and it 
 would be difficult to deny that this has some connection 
 with the precisely parallel growth in the establishment of 
 the Darky Arabiaiis blood, a growth which I shall show 
 in greater detail directly. It is probable, therefore, that 
 bay colouring may be taken to be as distinctively typical of 
 Keheilan ancestry as conformation, and it is interesting to 
 note how often the white blaze on the face, and the one or 
 more white feet are still repeated in the famous descendants 
 of Eclipse that have made their mark in English racing. 
 How long distinctive colour-marks may endure can be seen 
 at Newmarket to-day ; for a yearling has just made his 
 appearance there with the exact mark upon him which 
 suggested a name for the Bloody-shouldered Arabian in 
 the eighteenth century. It is significant that the Arabs 
 always set great store upon such marks, and others of a 
 like kind. 
 
 Throughout the whole frame of the Keheilan, observers 
 in his own country are unanimous in praising the extreme 
 natural appearance of the horse, the balance of his power, 
 the symmetry of his form, the proportion of his lines. The 
 head is peculiarly beautiful, and is more nearly divided into 
 equal parts by the centre of the eye than is the case with 
 
 17 B 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 other breeds ; it tapers very much from eye to muzzle and 
 the nostril is peculiarly long, running upwards towards the 
 face and set up outwards from the nose, so that in moments 
 of excitement it expands beyond the outline of the nose 
 when seen in profile. The ears are beautifully shaped, well 
 placed, and point upwards in a manner that is an un- 
 doubted sign of the blood. The throat is particularly 
 large, loose, and pliant. The shoulders slope a great deal, 
 and are deep and strong by the withers. Standing in front 
 of him you see the swell of his barrel expanding beyond 
 his breast and shoulders, as was the case with Eclipse, 
 though I have seen very few modern stayers of that build. 
 Big heart-room nowadays seems more associated with high 
 speed over a short distance. An Arab's back ribs, seen 
 from behind, have just as great a swell ; and this also will 
 be noticeable in my photograph of Eclipses skeleton. He 
 has a symmetrically curved neck, with high and well- 
 developed withers, and a short back just big enough for a 
 saddle and no more. His stride is longer in proportion to 
 his size than that of any other horse, which is chiefly 
 owing to his knee being set on low and his sloping pas- 
 terns. The feet are wide, and open at the heels, the hocks 
 large, clean and well- formed, and the quarters both long 
 and deep. 
 
 Such, if we may believe an unvarying tradition in 
 accurate artistic presentments of him throughout the 
 centuries, was the original Keheilan, when his type had 
 once been fixed upon the table-land of Najd ; and such was 
 the Darley Arabian of 1710 when he was brought into this 
 country. You might have seen the exact type, still persist- 
 ing from the same locality, in Lord Roberts' famous 
 charger at the Jubilee Procession of Queen Victoria. You 
 may see it now in Mr. Blunt's pastures at Crabbet Park. 
 
 A most interesting confirmation of these historical facts 
 is suggested by the biological argument drawn from the 
 seriesof horses' skulls now exhibited in the Natural History 
 Branch of the British Museum. In those of thoroughbreds 
 (of which I have reproduced Bend Or, Stockwell, and others) 
 
 18 
 
STOCKWKLL 
 
 From a jtrint in the " Sporting Magazine," Vol. CXX. 
 
 SKILL OF STOCKWELL 
 
 In the lin'tish MuMum of Xaturai Histi-rg 
 
ARABIAN AND THOROUGHBRED 
 
 you will observe a slight depression in the bone of the face 
 in front of the socket for the eye. This was first pointed 
 out by Mr. R. Lydekker. A similar depression occurs in 
 the skulls of Arabs, which are further distinguished by the 
 sinuous outline of the profile, a feature very noticeable in 
 descendants of that famous thoroughbred King Tom. It is 
 quite evident that this depression corresponds to a some- 
 what deeper one occurring in the skull of the extinct Indian 
 Eqmis sivalensis ; and it is difficult to believe that the latter 
 does not represent a still larger cavity found in the three- 
 toed Hippaviou. This has been explained as the cavity for 
 a face-gland like the " larmier " of deer, and the " crumen " 
 of many antelopes ; and it is a natural inference that the 
 faint depression noticeable in Arabs and thoroughbreds is 
 the last vestige of this face-gland. It appears, however, 
 that in thoroughbreds it serves as the point of origin for 
 the muscle which elevates the outer side of the nostril — a 
 muscle which has a specially strong action in Arabs, who 
 have much greater power of raising the rim of the nostril 
 than other breeds. 
 
 Whatever may have been the original function of the 
 depression, it seems practically certain that the vestige 
 occurring in Arabs and thoroughbreds represents the 
 deeper one in Equiis sivalensis and the distinct pit in 
 Hippaviou. As a rule, this vestige is absent in the ordinary 
 horses of North-Western Europe, which are believed to be 
 derived from the dun Equtts caballns przevalskii type ; and 
 hence arises the inference that Arabs and thoroughbreds 
 carry proofs in their structure of descent from a different 
 stock. Can it be that, as I suggested a few pages back, the 
 original Arabian who developed his own type at Najd, was 
 a wandering offshoot of the Indian Eqmts sivalensis, and 
 therefore retained (throughout all his other changes in 
 Arabia) the original face-gland, or whatever we may call 
 the structure, later than was the case with the ancestral 
 stock of the dun breed that populated the north-western 
 continent. 
 
 Somewhat curiously, a very large pre-orbital depression 
 
 19 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 is observable in the two skulls of pedigree shire-horses in 
 the Museum, Blaisdoii Cotiqtieror and Prince William. 
 Shires are known to have been crossed with Barb blood 
 when used as war-horses in mediaeval times ; and to this, it 
 is suggested, is due the facial depression. The question is 
 naturally still undecided ; but Shires are interesting from 
 another point of view. The foot-bones of Prince William, 
 also displayed in the Museum, exhibit a remarkable develop- 
 ment of the splint-bones in each foot, which carry at their 
 lower ends an enlargement certainly representing the lateral 
 phalangeal bones of the three-toed Hipparion. This identi- 
 fication has made it possible to correlate the very small 
 terminal expansion sometimes found at the lower end of the 
 splint-bones of other horses — Slockwell, for instance, with 
 the lateral phalanges of Hipparion, their extinct cousin. 
 
 I may add, in passing, that no lover of the horse can 
 now neglect the Museum in which Professor Ray Lankester 
 has done as much for the thoroughbred as for any animal 
 in the vast establishment over which he so ably presides. 
 I have given a few photographs to illustrate what has just 
 been written ; but in the Museum you may now see exqui- 
 site models to scale of Persimmon, Zinfandel, and the Arab 
 Jenghis Khan, which are of the greatest interest for pur- 
 poses of comparison, as the different skulls and skeletons 
 are set up and labelled to show the development of various 
 breeds and types from the fossils found in the lower Eocene 
 tertiary strata to those of the present day. 
 
 The development possible in pure Arabian stock un- 
 mixed with other breeds may be best seen in the imported 
 animals and home-bred foals under the care of Mr. Wilfrid 
 Blunt, at Crabbet Park. But it must always be remembered 
 that the pure Arab has never been any use for racing on an 
 English course, and never will be. The English thorough- 
 bred he helped to make was not only faster than anything 
 known in England before ; he was also much better than 
 anything seen before in the Eastern home of the finest and 
 purest Arab stock ever bred. It has over and over again 
 been proved, since the eighteenth century, that for sheer 
 
 20 
 
CANXOX-liONES OF SHIRE HOKSE 
 
 /// the lin'fislt Masctnit of Xiitaral Histonj 
 
ARABIAN AND THOROUGHBRED 
 
 pace the thoroughbred can give the Arab several stone and 
 a beating over anything up to two miles and a half in this 
 country. It is only for long distances, and for hard work 
 involving stamina alone on a fairly soft surface, that the 
 pure-bred Arab may still be useful. It has also been incon- 
 testably proved that modern thoroughbred stock cannot 
 possibly be improved by the direct infusion of fresh blood 
 from a pure-bred Arab sire. So soon, indeed, was this last 
 point discovered that he has been left alone by all racing 
 men in his native deserts almost since the days oi Mate hem, 
 Herod, and Eclipse. Writing in 1827, Mr. Nicholas 
 Hanckey Smith says in his "Observations" that "from 
 about the year 1768 up to the present period it appears the 
 Arabian and foreign stallions have not been much resorted 
 to" ; and this is far from being the only evidence. If the 
 Arab had been loved for himself alone, or for any further 
 proved good he could have done, a steady stream of Arabs 
 would have begun far earlier and gone on increasing up to 
 the present time. But at a given moment — a moment which 
 almost exactly coincides with the lifetime of the breeder of 
 Eclipse — a blend of blood was achieved which promised 
 rapid perfection both in speed and staying-powers. Why 
 it was discovered just then it would be hard to say. Why 
 no one else discovered it, when the Arab was within far 
 easier reach of other nations, it is equally difficult to explain. 
 Yet I must try to indicate some reasons for a phenomenon 
 which remains so true that all the best racing stock in the 
 world to-day is descended not from the Arab directly, but 
 through the English thoroughbred. 
 
 The Arabs themselves trace the pedigree of their horses 
 through the mares, and not through the stallions, as with 
 us ; and this reminds me that in any description of the state 
 of English racing-stock from 1618 to 1710 it would be most 
 unfair to give the whole credit for future improvement to 
 the Markhani Arabian and the Darley Arabian alone. 
 Indeed, the difference in the value of the results produced 
 by these two sires may very possibly be largely explained 
 by the fact that in the interval between the dates of their 
 
 21 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 arrival Charles II. had sent Sir John Fenwick to the Levant 
 and imported the first mares ever seen in this country which 
 are even likely to have been of pure Arabian origin. An 
 Arab will rarely part with a blood-mare even when he is 
 starving. " Equam memento rebus in arduis Servare " has 
 been his motto, as it was Lord North's when that witty 
 minister heard his son had sold the whole stud farm. Sires 
 had been comparatively easy to import, but mares, even of 
 the Turk or Barb persuasion, were always most difficult to 
 get ; and in the case of the Keheilan of the Anazah tribes, I 
 should think them so hard to obtain that more evidence is 
 necessary to convince me that any reached England. Still, 
 one or two may have done so, considering the royal master 
 who had sent Sir John ; and at any rate the mares of less 
 exalted breeds would probably be much better than the 
 stallions. 
 
 However that may be, the Royal Mares (as they are 
 called) which appear so frequently in Eclipse's pedigree, no 
 doubt had a great deal to say in the making of his excel- 
 lence ; and the debt which future historians will owe to 
 Messrs. Bruce Lowe and William Allison is that they were 
 the first to lay special stress on the early mares recorded 
 to be Eastern, and to calculate their value on a basis of 
 the winners and sires that can be traced to them from the 
 present day right back. I believe the horse usually called 
 the Godolphin Arabian was actually a Barb, and when the 
 difficulty of getting pure Arab mares is properly taken into 
 account, it will be better understood why so many of these 
 early matrons were actually Barbs. The authors just 
 mentioned have calculated that if the results of all the 
 races for the One Thousand, Two Thousand, Derby, Oaks, 
 St. Leger, Ascot Cup, Goodwood Cup and Doncaster Cup 
 be all calculated together, 98 winners can trace their 
 pedigree in direct female line to Mr. Tregonwell's Natural 
 Barb mare, 81 to Burton's Barb mare, 85 to Mr. Bowes' 
 Byerly Turk mare, who was dam of the two True Blues, 
 66 to the Layton Barb mare and 53 to the daughter of 
 Massey's Black Barb, who was granddam of Old Ebony. 
 
 22 
 
ARABIAN AND THOROUGHBRED 
 
 In the first of these families the percentage of winners 
 to runners, in a branch that has not been the most prolific, 
 is so high that its vitality may be said to be particularly 
 marked, and among the ten Derby winners it can claim, 
 who are also descended from Eclipse in the male line, are 
 IVaxy Pope (1809), Whalebone (1810), Whisker (18 15), 
 Cossack (1847), Lord Lyon (1866), Blue Gown (1868), Silvio 
 (1877), Bend Or (1880), Ladas (1894), and Jeddah (1898). 
 Of these Silvio and Lord Lyon also won the St. Leger. 
 Of other Derby winners also descending in female line 
 from Tregonvvell's Natural Barb mare, through Sir W. 
 Ramsden's Byerly Turk mare, who was her great-grand- 
 daughter, are four tracing in male line to Herod, namely, 
 RJiadamanthus (1790), Daedalus (1794), Middleton (1825), 
 and Bay Middleton (1836), the last of whom was the sire 
 of Flying Dutchman (Derby and St. Leger 1849), and 
 Andover (Derby 1854). The only descendant of Matcheni 
 in the same list is Tiresias (18 19). 
 
 I need only add that of the winners who trace both to 
 this mare and to Eclipse, Whalebone was also sire of 
 Caroline (Oaks 1820), Lapdog (Derby 1826), Spafiiel (Derby 
 1 831) and Moses (Derby 1832) ; but the latter has also been 
 claimed as a son of Seymour. Whisker is another, and he 
 was sire of two St. Leger winners in Memnon (1825) and 
 Colonel (1828). Cossack is a third, for he was sire of 
 Gamester (St. Leger 1859). Lord Lyon is a fourth, being 
 sire of Placida and Minting ; and Bend Or closes this little 
 list of specially bred animals, renowned both as performers 
 and sires, for he was the sire of Ormonde, which is enough 
 for any one. 
 
 Some theories attribute Eclipses excellence almost wholly 
 to the Darley Arabian; others almost wholly to the Royal 
 Mares ; but as I have already indicated, I should consider 
 these as only two potent factors in a very remarkable blend. 
 To my mind they by no means exclude a third, and that 
 is the English cross-bred already in existence. Horses 
 saturated with Southern blood had existed in these islands 
 from the days of the Roman occupation onwards, and the 
 
 23 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 excellent English hunters spoken of before 1618, no doubt 
 derived their blood from the Turkish and Barb impor- 
 tations so common in the sixteenth century ; and though 
 the Darley Arabian himself was undoubtedly a better sire 
 than either the Godolphin Barb or the Byerly Turk ; though 
 he was greatly assisted by his predecessors, the Markham 
 Arabian, and the Royal Mares ; yet I still venture to 
 describe Eclipse as the result of a very fortunate mixture of 
 the Eastern animal, improved by residence in this climate, 
 with the English animal who had already reached a very 
 considerable value before the results of such unions had 
 been scientifically appreciated. 
 
 Let us see if there is any confirmation for this in a 
 closer examination of Eclipses pedigree, apart from his 
 descent as great-great-grandson in direct line of the Darley 
 Arabian. Taking the Southern strains first, Sqtiirt goes 
 back (through his dam) to the Lister Turk, who also gave 
 much (through Coneyskins and Blackleg's daughter) to 
 Marske, besides being the great-great-grandsire of Spiletta. 
 The Eastern and Southern strains in this glorious co-opera- 
 tion may be summed up concisely as follows : Lister Tnrk 
 (5), UArcy Yellow Ttirk (5), DArcy IVhite Turk (5), 
 Helmsley Turk (2), Byerly Turk, Oglethorpe Arabian, 
 Pulleines Arabian, Ancaster Turk, St. Victor Barb, 
 Fenwick Barb, Huttons Grey Barb, Huttons Bay Barb, 
 Godolphin Barb, and various " Royal Mares," who are 
 usually supposed to have been of pure Eastern blood. It 
 should also be noted that through his sire, Marske, he 
 inherited the blood of that Bustler mare who was fourth 
 dam of the Coneyskitis mare on p. 7 of the General Stud 
 Book, vol. i., from whose family came Orville, Sultan, 
 Newfninster, Ayrshire and St. Serf. Through his dam, 
 Spiletta, Eclipse traced back to that Royal Mare from 
 whom came the Montagu mare, on p. 13 of the same 
 volume, in whose line occur Saltrani, Voltaire, Weatherbit, 
 Adventurer, Sterling and Springfield. Regulus, maternal 
 grandsire of Eclipse, is descended from the Ledbury Royal 
 Mare who was the dam of Miss DArcy's Pet Mare, (p. 15, 
 
 24 
 
ARABIAN AND THOROUGHBRED 
 
 op. cit), in whose line are Ornie, Birdcatcher, Royal 
 Hampton and St. Simon. But it is when we turn to 
 those factors which cannot be proved to be Eastern or 
 Southern at all that we reach the really interesting result 
 about Rclipse. 
 
 What an Arabian purist would call the " flaws " begin as 
 far back as the Barley Arabians grandson, for Squirt, the 
 son of Bartletfs Childers, was out of the sister to Old 
 Country IVench, who was the daughter of Snake and Grey 
 IVilkes, and there is no record either of Snakes granddam 
 or of Miss DArcys Pet mare, the dam of Grey IVilkes; 
 though it may be considered as certain that if their pedigree 
 had been Eastern it would have been specifically so stated. 
 Again, the maternal grandsire of Marske was Blacklegs, 
 whose dam was by Coneyskins out of the Old Clubfoot 
 Mare, and though the sires of these two were the Lister 
 Turk and Hautboy respectively, neither of their dams is 
 traceable. It should be further remembered that what has 
 just been said with regard to the gtrvQ^Xogy oi Marske holds 
 equally good in the case of Spiletta, in so far as Snake and 
 the sister to Old Country IVench occur in her pedigree 
 as well. 
 
 It is most improbable that, if any of the mares I have 
 described as " unknown " had really been of Eastern, or even 
 Southern, descent, the fact would not have been mentioned, 
 especially as so many well-known cases are authenticated in 
 which precisely that fact of origin has been most carefully 
 preserved. That the fact of their being " unknown " does 
 not militate against their excellence is clear enough from 
 the typical example of the Vintner Mare, owned by 
 Mr. Curwen, of Workington, early in the seventeenth 
 century. Now Mr. Crofts has left a valuable memorandum 
 about this very mare, whom he saw race, to the effect that 
 she was a brood mare before she raced, and was the best 
 bred as well as the best racer of her day in the North. It 
 is not likely that he would have omitted the important fact 
 of Eastern descent could it have been proved. It is clear 
 to me that she was exactly the kind of breed of which I 
 
 25 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 have already spoken, the English animal improved by such 
 casual Southern importations as were habitual in the 
 Lovvther stud. Her excellence, at any rate, is beyond 
 question ; from her are descended, in direct female line, 
 Partner, Crab, Soldier, Mtiley Moloch, Niitwith, Bendigo, 
 Tertius, and many other winners down to Kilwarlin 
 (St. Leger, 1887). 
 
 If the pedigree of Eclipse be compared with that of 
 Herod, or of Matchem, it shows another interesting point 
 in support of the theory I venture to advance, entirely 
 apart from any intrinsic excellence of the Darky Arabians 
 blood over the Godolphin Barb's, or the Byerly Turk's; 
 for it will be seen that Matchem has the most Eastern 
 blood of any of the three, while Herod has considerably 
 less than either of his rivals. Neither of these were such 
 good racehorses as Eclipse, and he has long ago established 
 his predominance over both as a sire ; indeed, I am tempted 
 to conclude, if this predominance is referable to the exact 
 blend of his blood, that Herod vjsis less successful because 
 he had too much of the cross-bred strain and not suffi- 
 cient Eastern ; but that Matchem was far the least suc- 
 cessful of all because there was too much Eastern blood in 
 him, and it had not been sufficiently strengthened by the 
 English breed produced in the manner I have already 
 several times described. 
 
 But apart from any arguments based on mares, it is 
 worth noting that almost the only theory in horse-breeding 
 which every one must admit to-day is the predominance of 
 Eclipseh\oo6. on the modern turf; and there is the still more 
 extraordinary fact that (as will be seen from the tables 
 in my Appendix) all the Derby winners except four, from 
 the institution of the race until now, trace in direct male 
 line to Eclipse, to Herod, or to Matchem ; and out of these 
 four exceptions, two trace to the sire and the paternal 
 grandsire of Eclipse, these being Sir Thomas (1788) and 
 Assassin (1782) respectively. The remaining two out of 
 the four exceptions named are Lord Clermont's Aimwell 
 (1785), who traces to Spectator and Crab, and Lord Egre- 
 
 26 
 
ARABIAN AND THOROUGHBRED 
 
 mont's Hannibal (1804), who traces to Trent ham and 
 Sweepstakes. These exceptions show, I think, that 
 Matcheni, Herod, and Eclipse were not merely used 
 because they were " fashionable." They asserted a vital 
 superiority owing to natural causes that were far more 
 lasting ; and the supremacy, among these three, of the one 
 line of Eclipse is a still more telling example of "the sur- 
 vival of the fittest," though biologists would hardly agree 
 with me if I spoke of the breeding which produced it as 
 " natural selection." 
 
 It is to Science, however, that I must perforce leave the 
 explanation of the strange truth that out of all the Derby 
 winners tracing to the three sires named, Matcheni can 
 only claim 3, Herod only 35, and Eclipse no less than 82. 
 This, again, was by no means due to mere " fashion ;" for 
 in the first fifty years of the Derby Herod had 20 winners 
 to Eclipse s 23, which might well be taken to be a merely 
 accidental inferiority ; but in the next fifty years Herod idiWs 
 to 15 and Eclipse claims 33, which is far more suggestive ; 
 and in the last twenty-seven years Herod drops out alto- 
 gether and Eclipse blood wins every time save one, which 
 fairly clinches the argument. For half a century, in fact, 
 Eclipse and Herod started fairly level as far as stud chances 
 were concerned, and did almost equally well ; but after that 
 the Eclipse line began to strengthen its position so enor- 
 mously that at last it carried all before it, with the single 
 exception of Sir Vistds score for Matcheni in 1895. 
 Matchem's other winners, it may be added, are Didelot 
 (1796), Smolensko (1813), Tiresias {iSig), West Australian 
 (1853), and Blink Bonny (1857). 
 
 The tables in the Appendix, in which all this is set out, 
 should provide a trustworthy test of the value of the blood for 
 all those who would agree that, taking one season with another, 
 the Derby winner is the best of his year. Instances here 
 and there will occur to every one in which this has obviously 
 not been the case. But the generalisation holds good if 
 it is made for the whole records of the race, and the 
 choice of any other animal would invariably lead to argu- 
 
 27 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 ment that would be as unending as it is unprofitable. The 
 value of the Derby, not only to thoroughbred-stock but to 
 hunting and to the army, is enough to make the race a 
 national asset of more importance than sport alone might 
 (in some minds) justify. The most famous trotting families 
 in America began with Diomed, the first Derby winner. 
 France and Germany, through such sires as Flying Fox or 
 Galtee Move and Ard Patrick, draw their best blood from 
 the same source. When our own colonies take our best 
 horses and send back their sons, the value of the change of 
 climate is stamped for all time on such a sire as Carbine, 
 when his son Spearinint wins the classic race. 
 
 Spearmint (the Derby winner of 1906) is an excellent 
 example to bring us back to the value of Eclipse, for to the 
 son of Marske and Spiletta he traces in direct male descent, 
 though by an unusual line ; being by Carbine, by Musket, 
 by Toxophilite, by Longbow, by Ithuriel, by Touchstone, by 
 Camel, by Whalebone, by Waxy, by PotSos, by Eclipse; 
 and the point of this is that Lord Clifden and Hermit had 
 hitherto been the two sons of Touchstone who had chiefly 
 strengthened his branch of the Eclipse line ; whereas new 
 life has been infused into the Ithuriel family by the impor- 
 tation from Australia of such sires as Carbine, whose value 
 is now proved by Spearminfs success ; but whether that 
 value is due (as I believe) to the transportation of stock to 
 the limestone pastures of Australia, I must leave more 
 learned biologists and men of science to decide. 
 
 Let me add, before continuing, that Spearmint is by 
 Carbine out of Maid of the Mint, by Minting out of Warble 
 by Skylark ; and that SirTatton Sykes bought Maid of the 
 Mint from Sir James Duke (who bred her) when she was 
 already in foal to Carbine. Major Loder bought Spearmint 
 as a yearling for only 300 guineas ; and it is most interesting 
 to note that the Touchstone blood he so worthily represents 
 is also represented in successful steeplechasing sires like 
 Trenton (through Ithuriel), Hackler (through Petrarch and 
 Newminster), and Timothy, Britannic and Ascetic (through 
 Hermit and Newminster). It would, indeed, be difficult to 
 
 28 
 
KEND Ol; 
 From the paintinff by E. Adam tn the possrssinti i*/ the /)u/:e of IJ'estmiuster at Kafon 
 
 SKULL UF BEXD OK 
 //( //ie Drifish Museum of Xatural Histcrij 
 
ARABIAN AND THOROUGHBRED 
 
 find any better steeplechasing sire than Ascetic in all the 
 records of the sport ; and though the strain could be traced 
 out in other lines, this will be a quite sufficiently striking 
 example of the way in which Eclipse blood has shown its 
 potency not merely on the flat, but in steeplechasing as 
 well ; and soldiers will remember that the Duke of Welling- 
 ton's famous Waterloo horse, Copenhagen, was by Meteor, 
 a son of Eclipse. The Army has had many another share 
 since then. 
 
 As I have spoken of the value of Tonchstone blood, a 
 curious detail is worth noting here about his skeleton, which 
 is carefully preserved at Eaton. It has an extra rib in 
 addition to the eighteen usually seen ; and it is a posterior 
 rib, as Youatt pointed out was customary in cases where the 
 additional bone is found. Touchstone certainly went very 
 wide behind, and threw his hind legs very much as is 
 described oi Eclipse ; but his extra rib seems to have been 
 rather a help than otherwise, and I am not aware how he 
 became possessed of it or whether it was transmitted to any 
 of his descendants. Scientific inquirers have satisfied them- 
 selves that horses whose ancestors have long been bred in 
 Ireland are nearly always distinguished for their great 
 development of bone, and for their clean, flat, hard legs. 
 In spite of their proverbial ill-luck in the St. Leger, recent 
 events on the English Turf have attracted great attention 
 to the suitability of Ireland as a breeding place for thorough- 
 breds. Whether it will eventually give them an extra rib 
 or not I do not know, but the good effect of Irish climate 
 on bone is established. In fact, good horses are heard of in 
 Ireland before they appear in English records. This is not 
 merely a matter of blood. It may largely depend on the 
 Irish limestone subsoil, to the excellence of which Sir Walter 
 Gilbey has often drawn attention ; and if he is correct, the 
 very interesting fact of the improvement of Ithuriel blood 
 by the residence of Carbine and Musket in Australia may 
 very possibly be referred to the value of Australia's limestone 
 pastures. 
 
 No other country has ever shown the improvement in 
 
 29 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 imported English thoroughbred stock which has been shown 
 in Ireland and Australia; and, of course, the value of Ire- 
 land has been discovered far more certainly, and for a much 
 longer time, than in the case of Australia. This may be 
 because it is damper. I can only think of the fact of rain 
 and grass being plentiful in these islands as a real reason 
 for our being able not only to breed the first fast horses for 
 the Turf, but also to go on breeding the best horses, in spite 
 of the fact that other countries enjoyed facilities precisely 
 similar in every point except climate. Some countries are 
 definitely known to be bad for breeding ; and a mediaeval 
 Persian, quoted by Professor Ridgeway, expresses his 
 astonishment at the birth of a young elephant in Teheran 
 by exclaiming that " never till then had a she elephant 
 borne young in Iran, any more than a lioness inRoum, a tabby 
 cat in China, or a mare in India." Captain Hayes always 
 said that Indian stock could never be kept up even at the 
 present day but for constant importations. Breeding there 
 is still as precarious as Marco Polo found it long before. 
 The whole question of wild animals breeding in captivity is 
 full of interest, and has no doubt considerable bearing on 
 the breeding of Arab stock, whether pure or crossed with 
 other blood. Some countries suit it not at all ; other 
 countries suit it even better than its ancestral Najd. Among 
 these last England may most happily be numbered, and she 
 stands apparently alone with Ireland. 
 
 That climate helped to produce Eclipse is certain. But 
 how delicate was the combination of complicated factors 
 necessary for his perfection may be gathered from the 
 curious fact that another colt [Hyperion, later Garrick), bred 
 by the same sire out of the same dam, turned out compara- 
 tively useless. It is therefore possible that the year when 
 Marske was mated to Spiletta was itself propitious ; and it 
 may certainly be significant that their famous colt was 
 named after the sympathetic disturbance of the heavenly 
 bodies which took place at his birth in the Home Park of 
 our English Kings. 
 
 30 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND AND THE ENGLISH 
 TURF IN THE LAST HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH 
 
 CENTURY 
 
 Numquld praehebis equo fortitud'mem ? . . . procul odoratur helium 
 exhortatlonem ducum, et ululatum exercitus 
 
 English Life from 1745 to 1765 — Its Strength and Colour in Literature, 
 Politics and Art — " The Duke " — Marshall Saxe — Fontenoy — " Damn my 
 Commission ! " — The English Infantry — Culloden — Ranger of Windsor 
 Park — Too much Politics — Gambling and Racing — The Jockey Club — 
 Gentlemen Riders — Exclusive Membership — Mr. D'Arcy Hutton and 
 Yorkshire Racing. 
 
 W ^CLIPSE was born in 1764, and died in 1789 ; and it 
 At would be difificult to pick out twenty-five years in 
 -* — ' the whole history of the Turf which were more 
 important for the future development of racing, and more 
 pregnant with those possibilities which resulted in the 
 supremacy of the English Thoroughbred as the best horse 
 in the world. That development was due not only to 
 certain fortunate accidents in breeding, which even the 
 keenest of modern biologists is unable wholly to explain, 
 but also to the fact that these occurrences took place in 
 various racing studs in England at a moment when English 
 Society was peculiarly fitted to take advantage of them, 
 owing to conditions of life and manners which had never 
 been seen before and are never likely to be reproduced 
 again. 
 
 There are many wonderful things about Eclipse, and 
 
 31 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 not the least extraordinary is a persistence of his excellent 
 qualities in the blood of his descendants which implies that 
 the gratitude of owners in 1906 to the breeders of 1764 is 
 no vain sentiment. The fifty years from about 1745 
 onwards will therefore be the legitimate object of our early 
 inquiries in any consideration of the real meaning and 
 value of Eclipses life. 
 
 There must have been some prodigious spirit of 
 fecundity in the air during that full-blooded period ; and 
 Eclipse s pre-eminence in the life-history of the horse is 
 but a reflection of the enormous store of vital energy that 
 seems to have animated and transfused the whole field of 
 human activity in England and elsewhere during that 
 fruitful epoch. I am not aware that any other animal, 
 except the champion hound at Peterborough, can furnish a 
 tenth part of the accurate knowledge as to the ramifications 
 of descent and ancestry which is the common property of 
 the English public concerning the horse which wins the 
 Derby. Certainly very few human beings can trace their 
 pedigrees back to so many generations without a possibility 
 of error, and fewer still are the men whose upbringing and 
 education has either cost so much or brought so widespread 
 and satisfactory a return as may be observed in a first-rate 
 and successful thoroughbred. We know all this well 
 enough nowadays, even if we rarely realise it ; but it is 
 only possible for us at all because the racing men of 1750 
 saw their opportunity and took it, with a whole-heartedness 
 that does as much credit to their foresight as to their 
 sportsmanship and courage. 
 
 They were not men who were on the Turf for what they 
 could make out of it. The gallant splendours of the 
 Restoration had been shortlived, and occasionally 
 unsavoury ; but they set a fashion that never faded among 
 a certain set, the set which went racing because it went 
 everywhere, and raced hard because they lived hard every 
 minute of their lives. No big fortunes had hitherto been 
 made on the Turf. The gains of a Tregonwell Frampton 
 would not have proved attractive to men who were utterly 
 
 32 
 
ENGLISH TURF OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 
 
 disinclined to use Tregonwell Frampton's means of making 
 them. The men of 1750 betted on horses because they 
 betted on everything, and they soon found that as an 
 instrument of gambling the racehorse was admirably suited 
 to their inclinations. Their passion for mere wagering was 
 no doubt occasionally purified by the nobility of the 
 animal which was its chief occasion. But we must not 
 credit them with too high motives. They cared little for 
 biology, and they knew less. Each meant to have a better 
 horse than his neighbour, and they were as astonishingly 
 in earnest about getting it as they were about every other 
 form of gentlemanly dissipation. 
 
 It would be difficult to conceive a more exhilarating 
 atmosphere than that of England in those days for a man of 
 rank and fortune. The keenness of his enjoyment, and his 
 thorough zest in life, are reflected in well-nigh every form 
 of his activity that we can still admire. It was the age in 
 which the influence of Samuel Johnson appropriately 
 recalls the most typically English characteristics of all 
 our men of letters, with the brilliant circle of his friends 
 from Edmund Burke to Fanny Burney. Fielding's last 
 years just reached it. Sterne wrote his "Tristram Shandy" 
 for its somewhat bewildered roysterers. Richardson and 
 Smollett were its novelists. " She Stoops to Conquer " 
 revealed the wit of Goldsmith, and gave promise of the 
 brilliancy of Sheridan so soon to come. Horace Walpole 
 was delicately chafiing his contemporaries. Junius was 
 mercilessly scourging their shortcomings. 
 
 In politics the great names of William Pitt, of Fox, of 
 Burke, were in the mouths of all men. Those were the 
 days when Lord Rockingham could win the St. Leger or 
 form a Ministry with equal enthusiasm ; when Lord North 
 and Wilkes and Thurlow were making their mark deep 
 in English history. Under the personal command of 
 George II., Dettingen was won, and under his son, the 
 Duke of Cumberland, the English infantry had given the 
 first taste of their terrible quality in the defeat of Fontenoy. 
 The string of victories at Minden, Lagos, Quiberon Bay, 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Guadaloupe, Ticonderoga and Quebec, the genius of Wolfe 
 and Clive, the great siege of Gibraltar, held by Elliott, the 
 heroic sea-fights of Anson, Boscawen, Hawke and Rodney, 
 had lent their various lustre to the English flag. Art had 
 its full share in this outburst of prolific energy. Upon the 
 canvases of Reynolds, Gainsborough and Romney, its 
 great men and its lovely women are immortalised. In the 
 very year before Eclipse first raced upon the English Turf 
 the first meeting of the Royal Academy was held. Before 
 the century was finished the English across the Atlantic had 
 made themselves into a new nation, and the French across 
 the Channel had marched through rapine and slaughter to 
 the disintegration of their ancient forms of government. 
 The whole earth seemed groaning and travailing with new 
 births ; and the population of England, so infinitely less in 
 numbers than it is to-day, seemed infinitely more full of all 
 that sturdy and robust enthusiasm which needs a fresher 
 air and greater space for its expansion than our anaemic 
 crowds can ever claim again. 
 
 The art and literature of the time faithfully reflect the 
 politics and life of which they were so gorgeous a develop- 
 ment. The world seemed made for the enjoyment of that 
 brilliant aristocracy which had reached the culminating 
 zenith of its vigour. Strongly entrenched within limits of 
 its own devising, the best society could be absolutely 
 reckless both in thought and speech ; for every one knew 
 everybody else, and every shot went home. Numerous 
 enough to argue that their own desires were the best 
 interests of the State, yet privileged enough to get the best 
 of everything, its soldiers, writers, politicians, racing men 
 held an opinion of themselves which is inconceivable in 
 days when money counts for more than blood, and when 
 the most desirable acquaintance is he who makes the fewest 
 errors. Without any immediate necessity for making its 
 living, society was content to gamble for it ; and philosophic 
 foreigners might well have imagined that this fair realm of 
 England was little better than a vast casino from one end 
 of the country to the other. 
 
 34 
 
Til 10 DIKE OF CUMBEKLAM) 
 
 llni drr of Kt'lip^ie 
 
 SAVOED AXD BATON OF THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND 
 
 Pi-eserred at Cumberland Lodye, in IVhidsor Great Park 
 
ENGLISH TURF OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 
 
 Among the best of them, the breeder of Eclipse, the 
 owner of almost the finest racing stud in England, held a 
 characteristic position that is significant of much. William 
 Augustus, Baron of Alderney, Viscount Trematon, Earl of 
 Kensington, Marquis of Berkhamstead, and Duke of 
 Cumberland was the third son of George II. (then Prince 
 of Wales) by Caroline, the daughter of John Frederic, 
 Margrave of Brandenburg Anspach. He was born in 
 Leicester House, at the north-east corner of Leicester 
 Square, whither George I.'s son had gone from St. James's 
 Palace after the quarrel with his father ; and in July 1726 
 he was made the first Knight Commander of the Bath on 
 the revival of the order, receiving the Garter four years 
 afterwards. Since the death of Queen Anne, whose horses 
 were winning on the course at York on the very day she 
 expired, the Duke of Cumberland was the first member of 
 the Royal Family to distinguish himself in what was to take 
 the lead in all English sports for many a year to come ; and 
 in this he foreshadowed not merely the somewhat spasmodic 
 successes of George IV., as Prince of Wales, but the more 
 lasting and meritorious triumphs of our present King 
 Edward VII., the owner oi Persimmon. 
 
 The Duke, as he was known in Horace Walpole's set, 
 just as Wellington and no other was " the Duke" of later 
 days, has been misunderstood and misrepresented for far 
 too long, and it is high time that a more general appre- 
 ciation of his real merits should take the place of ill-founded 
 and prejudiced abuse. He soon made up his mind that 
 the navy was no profession for an active man, after lying 
 windbound for several weeks in the English Channel at the 
 beginning of an expedition; and in 1740 he became a 
 Colonel in the Coldstreams, attaining the rank of Major- 
 General when he came of age. There was not much 
 waiting about in the army in those days, and by the next 
 year he had received a ball through the calf of his leg 
 (which troubled him for the rest of his life) in the first line 
 of the infantry at Dettingen. In 1744-5 he was the first 
 soldier since the great Marlborough to be appointed 
 
 35 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Captain-General of the British land forces at home and in 
 the field, and the comparison suggested is perhaps unfortu- 
 nate ; for, without the genius of the conqueror of Ramillies 
 and Blenheim, he had to meet a foe'worthy of Marlborough's 
 own masterly generalship ; and all his undoubted personal 
 courage could not quite fill up the fatal gap. 
 
 The name of Marshal Saxe was chiefly known to racing 
 men in England, not only because he was the natural son 
 of the lovely Aurora Konigsmarck, sister of the murderer 
 of poor Tom Thynne, but also because he once hurled an 
 insolent scavenger into his own muck-cart on the road to 
 Newmarket. On the steps of a throne, yet separated from 
 it by an impassable gulf, Maurice de Saxe showed all the 
 bold and enterprising ambition so often associated with the 
 bar sinister, and combined great physical resources with the 
 subtle intellect of the dreamer, and the sound knowledge of 
 a trained general. The young English Duke, so suddenly 
 called upon to oppose the flower of the French army under 
 one of its greatest leaders, had little to depend upon save 
 his own intrepid valour and his constant belief in the bull- 
 dog staunchness of the British infantry when led by men 
 they trusted and fed with regularity. Steadfast, honest and 
 just, it was recognised that he was unsparing both of his 
 soldiers' lives and of his own efforts for their welfare. His 
 general orders resemble those of Wellington's in their 
 burning intolerance of faults in discipline or loyalty ; in 
 their full-mouthed appreciation of the faithful soldier ; and 
 though his military career was short and far from fortunate 
 he had lasting claims upon the gratitude of Englishmen for 
 his large share in forming that incomparable infantry which 
 is the backbone of our military strength. 
 
 This is no place to tell again the oft-told tale of 
 Fontenoy. But there are a few incidents typical alike of 
 the hard brutality of that age and of its inexhaustibly 
 reckless courage. The Duke was fortunate in having so 
 useful (and so different) a friend beside him as John 
 Ligonier, the courtly and valiant Huguenot, who had 
 fought all through Marlborough's battles, and who made 
 
 36 
 
ENGLISH TURF OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 
 
 the yth' Dragoon Guards the most efficient regiment in the 
 cavalry. There were blunders in the strategy and tactics 
 of Fontenoy ; but there was some glorious fighting, and it 
 was one of the most murderous battles of the murderous 
 eighteenth century. A dragoon in Ligonier's, after losing 
 his charger, carried a firelock with the Royal Welsh 
 Fusiliers, and fought, under the Duke's eyes, in his jack- 
 boots all day long. A private of the Black Watch slew 
 nine Frenchmen with his broadsword, and the Duke saw 
 his arm carried off by a round shot while he was attacking 
 the tenth. The same spirit animated all ranks. When Sir 
 Robert Munro was parading his men at dawn, he observed 
 their chaplain in the ranks with a drawn broadsword, and 
 ordered him back on pain of losing his commission. 
 " Damn my commission ! " shouted the militant churchman, 
 and fought in the front rank all day. It was the Black 
 Watch again, who, when the Duke marked his appreciation 
 of their services by bidding the men ask any favour they 
 pleased, begged for a free pardon for two of their comrades 
 who were to be flogged for letting some French prisoners 
 escape. Saxe, himself, confessed that he had no infantry 
 who could push into open ground in the teeth of a great 
 body of cavalry without being once shaken by charges or 
 once relaxing their discharge of musketry. 
 
 In these sombre days, when one khaki-clad army rarely 
 sees its foes at all throughout a long engagement, we can 
 scarcely imagine the splendour of the old scarlet lines glit- 
 tering with flags. " We are the English Guards," shouted 
 Lord Charles Hay, as his battalion emerged on the ridge 
 crowned by the Redoubt d'Eu and held by the French 
 Household Infantry, "and we hope you will stand till we 
 come up to you," and his men gave three cheers with a will. 
 The Due de Brion, the Comte d'Anterroches, and other 
 French officers hurried to the front, saluted, and called for 
 counter cheers ; they were given in a dazed way, and the 
 French volley rang out. While the smoke cleared away 
 our majors were seen coolly levelling the men's pieces with 
 their spontoons. Then they poured in so terrible a hail of 
 
 37 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 lead that the entire front rank of the French was swept 
 away, and 700 men lay on the field wounded or dead. The 
 huge English square remained invincible till every available 
 French cannon was brought up and cut lanes through its 
 solid mass with grape-shot ; and at the crucial moment 
 Saxe poured in his whole strength upon the reeling mass. 
 Retreat was inevitable. The Duke exposed his life freely 
 in rallying scattered units. Ligonier arranged the with- 
 drawal with the greatest skill. We lost 7,500 officers and 
 men. Even Voltaire confesses that the French casualties 
 were over seven thousand. 
 
 One immediate consequence of Fontenoy was Prince 
 Charles Edward's attempt to oust the Hanoverian dynasty. 
 At Culloden the Duke of Cumberland crushed it with 
 appalling thoroughness. " I had much rather," he told the 
 regiments just before the action, " be at the head of one 
 thousand brave and resolute men than ten thousand among 
 whom there are some who, by cowardice or misbehaviour, 
 may dispirit or disorder the troops." The battle began at 
 one on the afternoon of April 16, 1746, and was over in an 
 hour. The Highlanders were beaten, and on both sides the 
 motto of the fight was " Vae Victis." Lord George Murray 
 had issued a general order, under Prince Charles Edward's 
 instructions, "to give no quarter to the Elector's troops on 
 any account whatsoever." The spirit of the times was not in 
 favour of weak measures, and the humanitarian doctrines, 
 which preferred three years of protracted misery to one 
 short and sharp campaign, had not yet proved acceptable. 
 By filial affection, by dynastic interest, by his characteristic 
 fury at all forms of insubordination, the Duke was un- 
 doubtedly inclined towards severity ; and he was naturally 
 blamed for much barbarity consequent on the rebels' defeat 
 for which he was not responsible. Like .Cromwell in Ire- 
 land, he was convinced that " mild measures won't do ; " 
 and he was far from mild. His discipline was as stern to 
 friends as foes. " It is H.R.H. orders," he wrote on 
 April 19 at Inverness, "that no man go above a quarter of 
 a mile out of camp, several outrages and disorders having 
 
 38 
 
ENGLISH TURF OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 
 
 been committed which he will not permit on any account." 
 When his own men disobeyed he ordered them " 1200 
 lashes at the head of each brigade at five different times 
 for marauding and stealing of meal," a horrible punish- 
 ment, to which the fate of many a Highlander was pre- 
 ferable. War is a terrible business, and civil war is its 
 worst form. But it was not till the political party opposed 
 to his influence was using every dirty card in the pack that 
 "the Duke" was called "the Butcher." 
 
 At first he was hailed as his country's saviour. In 
 after years he used good-humouredly to set the exaggerated 
 praise he received for Culloden against the exaggerated 
 blame he got for Kloster Seven, and thought he had 
 secured rough justice after all. In 1746 all England was 
 in a blaze of loyalty. By next spring Horace Walpole 
 was writing to H. S. Conway, who was in Flanders with 
 the Duke : "I observed how the Duke's head had 
 succeeded almost universally to Admiral Vernon's, as his 
 head left but few traces of the Duke of Ormond's." A 
 more permanent record of enthusiasm was the change 
 of the name of Tyburn Gate to Cumberland Gate, in 
 Hyde Park. 
 
 "I must own," wrote the conqueror of Culloden, "that 
 you have hit my weak side when you say the honour of our 
 troops is restored. That pleases beyond all other honours 
 done me." His men knew it, as they always understand a 
 leader who loves them ; and they had barely wiped their 
 sabres on the heather before they were shouting, " Now, 
 Billy, for Flanders ! " He had a short interval at home 
 before going abroad again. Part of it he spent in 
 arranging details of dress and discipline in the army, for- 
 bidding that any posts should be applied for except through 
 himself. Part of it he spent at Windsor, where " he goes 
 to races," writes one of Walpole's friends, " and they make 
 a ring about him as at bear-baiting." Besides other rewards, 
 including grants of money, colonelcies, chancellorships, and 
 oratorios, he was made Ranger of Windsor Great Park 
 on July 12, 1745, where, nineteen years afterwards, his 
 
 39 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 fame as a breeder of thoroughbreds was to be imperishably 
 connected with Eclipse. 
 
 In 1747 he was in the Low Countries again, and Marshal 
 Saxe was again too much for him. That July Walpole was 
 writing to Sir Horace Mann that "the Duke was very 
 nearly taken, having, through his short sight, mistaken a 
 body of French for his own people. He behaved as bravely 
 as usual, but his prowess is so well established that it grows 
 time for him to exert other qualities of a general." By 
 1748 the Duke was back in England, living sometimes at 
 Cumberland Lodge, in Windsor Park, and sometimes at 
 Cranbourne Lodge, close to the paddock where Eclipse was 
 to be born later on, and where it may be suspected he spent 
 some of the most contented hours of his life. 
 
 The death of the Prince of Wales removed certain 
 elements of jealous opposition ; but the refusal of the 
 Regency (should such a post be necessary) mortified the 
 Duke, and he cannot have been happy in politics, even 
 with the friendship of Sandwich, Albemarle, Bedford and 
 Henry Fox ; for Newcastle was against him, and Pitt was 
 with the Princess of Wales. But the Duke loved a good 
 fighter. " I don't know him," he wrote once, " but by what 
 you tell me Pitt is what is scarce, he is a man." Many 
 absurd accusations were made about the Duke's using mili- 
 tary power to usurp his brother's rights ; but the King knew 
 better. " He has a head to guide, to rule, and to direct," 
 said George II., and made him one of the Lords Justices 
 while the King himself was in Hanover. 
 
 Gossiping Horace gives us a few pleasant sidelights on 
 the sporting side of the Duke's character about this time. 
 At the Richmond Fireworks, for instance (May 1749), 
 " the Duke had the music into the garden and himself, 
 with my Lady Lincoln, Mrs. Pitt, Peggy Banks and Lord 
 Holdernesse, entertained the good subjects with singing 
 ' God save the King ' to them over the rails of the terrace." 
 There was cricket at Richmond, too, and it is a noteworthy 
 coincidence that the "Star and Garter" in Pall Mall, where 
 the Jockey Club held its first meetings in 1752, was also the 
 
 40 
 
ENGLISH TURF OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 
 
 scene of a revisal of " the laws of cricket " in 1774. Lord 
 Mountford was an enthusiastic pioneer, if Walpole be 
 correct in telling us of his "making cricket matches and 
 fetching up parsons by express (in 1749) from different 
 parts of England to play on Richmond Green ; of his 
 keeping aides-de-camp to ride to all parts to lay bets for 
 him at horseraces, and of twenty other peculiarities." 
 The fact is that there was more gambling going on than 
 has ever been the case before or since. I must not 
 digress too much on other forms of sport, or I should like 
 to speak of the Duke's patronage of prize-fighting, and 
 especially of Broughton, whose name has so often been 
 connected with early records of Doggett's Coat and Badge, 
 as well as with the old P. R. But typical examples must 
 be here sufficient. Horace is again our authority for a 
 significant little hunting-scene (Jan. 1750): "As the Duke 
 has taken a turn of gaming. Sandwich, to make his court — 
 and fortune — carries a box and dice in his pocket, and so 
 they throw a main whenever the hounds are at fault, upon 
 every green hill and under every green tree." A year or 
 two later, the same excellent correspondent, who has far 
 too little (for my own taste) to say about racing, speaks of 
 " Newmarket, where the Duke of Cumberland is at present 
 making a campaign, with half the nobility and half the 
 money of England attending him, they really say that not 
 less than a hundred thousand pounds have been carried 
 thither for the hazard of this single week. The palace has 
 been furnished for him." 
 
 "The palace" is probably "Palace House," where 
 Mr. Leopold de Rothschild lives to-day when he actively 
 carries on those great family traditions on the Turf which 
 his own successes have done so much to illustrate. 
 Beneath the level of the present entrance you may still see 
 the arches Evelyn admired, and the great iron-studded 
 door that opened for the jovial courtiers of Charles II. In 
 1753, the date of the last letter I quoted, the Jockey Club 
 had already been for twelve months the tenants of 
 Mr. Errall, in a " Coffee- Room " at Newmarket, and the 
 
 41 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 first public mention of the new association, which is to be 
 found in Mr. John Pond's " Sporting Kalendar," evidently 
 presupposes its familiarity to his readers, for he makes the 
 simple announcement for 1752 of "a contribution free 
 plate by horses the property of noblemen and gentlemen 
 belonging to the Jockey Club," and by the May Meeting of 
 1753 two "Jockey Club Plates" were being regularly run 
 for. The list of members revealed by these and similar 
 races run for between this year and 1773, the date when 
 the " Racing Calendar " Avas first produced by James 
 Weatherby, " Keeper of the Matchbook," gives a very 
 significant indication of the aims and purposes of a club 
 whose actual foundation has escaped the vigilance of all 
 subsequent historians. 
 
 Man had discovered he was a sociable animal in the 
 reign of Queen Anne ; and the Clubs of the early Georges 
 were but the logical consequence of the friendly but less 
 formal meeting-places of Steele and Addison. Racing 
 men who met each other at White's or Brooks's were 
 naturally inclined to reproduce in Newmarket the advan- 
 tages they had enjoyed in St. James's. On the Turf, 
 indeed, in those early days, the necessity for some form of 
 union was but a prudent course of self-defence under 
 conditions far more open to the incursion of " the 
 undesirable " than was any house near Piccadilly. The 
 indifference to racing which distinguished the throne after 
 the death of Oueen Anne made it even more essential to 
 reproduce those social safeguards which had existed under 
 the Stuarts, when Sir John Carleton had the Royal 
 authority to remove undesirable persons from " those 
 places which the King reserves for his own sport." The 
 briefest reference to the archives of Charles II., when 
 the State-papers are as full of racing as they are of 
 diplomacy, will establish the important fact that he not 
 only went to Newmarket to look on, but also to ride his 
 own horses, which the Duke of York and the Duke of 
 Monmouth did as well. It is therefore most probable that 
 some informal arrangement had long existed by which 
 
 42 
 
ENGLISH TURF OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 
 
 appropriate "jockeys" were provided to ride against such 
 illustrious owners ; and the pleasant habit was not likely 
 to die out when such capital horsemen existed as the 
 Duke of Queensberry, the Duke of Hamilton, the Duke of 
 Grafton, Lord Wilton, Sir Henry Featherstonhaugh, Mr. 
 Brand, Mr. Jenison, Mr. Shafto and many more. It is 
 certain, at any rate, that for the first few years of the Jockey 
 Club "Cup" or " Plate " or "Subscription," owners rode 
 their own horses. With their presence the accepted tradi- 
 tions about keeping the course clear of unwelcome intruders 
 would naturally survive in their full strength ; and 
 neither authority nor precedent would be wanting, in case 
 of awkward questions, when the details of so much racing 
 could be referred to among the National Records. It is, at 
 any rate, possible to discover both an origin and a justifi- 
 cation for the Jockey Club in Royal racing ; and it is 
 significant that the Duke of Cumberland was among its 
 earliest adherents, and that it has never been without a 
 member of the Royal Family upon its rolls from that day 
 to this. 
 
 Far more important objects than the merely formal 
 details of organisation at Newmarket soon emerged as the 
 Club grew in strength and realised the personality and 
 powers of an association of men of wealth and distinction 
 animated by a common love of sport. It seems, indeed, as 
 if the machinery of the Turf had been just got into working 
 order in time to make the best use of the greatest horse 
 ever bred in this or in any other country. The twenty- 
 five years of Eclipses life just coincide with the all- 
 important years of the Jockey Club's expansion, and with 
 the dates when those classical races (the Derby, Oaks and 
 St. Leger) were founded to set the seal of the highest 
 racing honours on Eclipses descendants for six score 
 years and more to come. For the breeding of bloodstock 
 became the greatest bond of union between the sportsmen 
 of the North and South who met in the Jockey Club, and 
 the proceedings of that organisation became more and 
 more influential in every form of racing just at a time 
 
 43 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 when England was ripe for the crystallisation of the 
 numerous efforts towards sport of every kind that were 
 visible all over the country. Based upon such traditions, 
 founded upon respect for precedent in obedience to the 
 dictates of experience, the power of the Club grew slowly 
 but strongly wherever racing was beloved. Its rulings 
 were quoted, its decisions were accepted. The gradual 
 development of its importance and possessions at New- 
 market followed the lines of equity and common sense so 
 carefully that the " warning-off," once sufficiently established 
 by Royal precedent, was by 1827 legally recognised in the 
 case of the Duke of Portland v. Hawkins, when a man to 
 whom they objected was successfully proceeded against 
 for trespass on the freehold property of the Club. 
 
 Whatever criticisms might be prompted by the envy of 
 such successful outsiders as, I fear, Colonel O'Kelly, the 
 constitution of the Club cannot fairly be called in question. 
 They rightly determined to raise at least one barrier which 
 wealth alone could not surmount ; and if their composition 
 in these early days be analysed it will be found that their 
 members were chiefly drawn from both Houses of Parlia- 
 ment and from all the great owners of the best thoroughbred 
 stock which is now the foundation of the English Stud 
 Book. It is enough to say that, at one time or another, 
 the owners of Matcheni, Herod and Eclipse were all 
 members of the Jockey Club ; and it is the chief distinction 
 of the Duke of Cumberland's racing career that to him 
 belonged Herod and Eclipse, two out of those three great 
 sires from whom all our racehorses have since descended, 
 and that he owned Eclipse s sire and dam, and the dam of 
 Herod as well. No man can fairly be said to have done 
 more for English Racing. 
 
 In 1752 the race, in which I detect the beginnings of 
 the Jockey Club, was won by Sir John Moore, who beat 
 Captain Vernon, Lord Byron and Lord Chedworth, owners 
 up. The Jockey Club vindicated its name once more in 
 the same way when Captain Vernon won again (R.C. I2st., 
 best of three four-mile heats) in 1754, against Lord March, 
 
 44 
 
ENGLISH TURF OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 
 
 Lord Orford, Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Shafto, with owners up 
 as before. On that same day the Duke of Cumberland 
 won the first race I can find to his name at Newmarket, 
 against Lord Gower's colt by Shock (8st. gibs., 4 miles over 
 the B.C. for 300 guineas) with his famous brown horse 
 Marske, which he bought from that celebrated Yorkshire 
 squire, Mr. John D'Arcy Hutton, from whose estate, near 
 Richmond, this hardy son of Squirt was named. His 
 great-grandsire, on the dam's side, was Hutton s Bay Barb 
 (imported), and further back in his pedigree occur the 
 names of the UArcy Yellow Turk, the UArcy White 
 Turk, Miss UArcy s Pet Mare, Huttoiis Grey Barb, and 
 Hutton s Royal colt. So the Yorkshire family, which still 
 owns the same estate, has a very large share in the 
 breeding of the most famous thoroughbred of all time, for 
 Marske was sire of Eclipse. The Marske stables have a 
 fine record in the early years of the Chester Cup ; and in 
 Yorkshire races, of which details are preserved in Orton's 
 "Turf Annals," the name of Mr. Hutton occurs very 
 frequently between 1742 and 1770, in which latter year 
 Eclipse appeared at York. I find it, for instance, at York 
 in 1 742 (gr. h. Hussar and gr. h. Phantom by Hobgoblin) ; 
 York, 1743; York, 1744 (ch. c. Partnership hy Partner); 
 York, 1745 (b. h. IVormwood by Blacklegs); York, 1746, 
 winner of the ^^50 plate for four-year-olds (gr. c. Merry man 
 by Spot); Malton, 1747, winner of His Majesty's 100 
 guineas for five-year-old mares (b. Mab by Hobgoblin) ; 
 York, 1749 (gr. h. Peeper); Hambleton, 1754 (ch. m. by 
 Mogul); York, 1754 (b. h. Steady by Spot); York, 1755, 
 winner of a sweepstakes of 500 guineas, for five-year-olds at 
 9st., 4 miles (ch. m. Stately by Bolton Mogul) ; York, 1756 ; 
 York, 1757 (b. h. Orphan by Tartar, gr. h. Speedwell hy 
 Spot, b. f. yixen by Regulus and gr. h. Bustler by Tartar) ; 
 York, 1758; Doncaster, 1758 (gr. c. Careless 2.ViA gr. h. 
 Bustler by Rib); York, 1759, winner of the Great Sub- 
 scription of ;^234 \os. for five-year-olds, lost., 4 miles 
 (br. h. Silvio by Cade); York, 1760; Hambleton, 1761 
 (b. m. Daphne by Regulus); York, 1761 (b. c. by Cade); 
 
 45 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 York, 1762 (br. f. Portia by Regzihis); Hambleton, 1763; 
 York, 1763; York, 1764 (b. c. Lofty by Regtihis, b. h. 
 Foxhunter by Reguliis, ch. h. Ranger by Regulus, and b. c. 
 Hazard by Devonshire Steady). 
 
 At this last meeting, in August, the Duke of Cumberland 
 made the only appearance I can trace on a northern race- 
 course, when the br. h. Dumpling by Cade (aged) ran last 
 for the great Subscription of ^^311 10^. for six-year-olds, 
 8st. 7lbs., aged Qst., 4 miles, which was won by Mr. 
 Stapleton's b. h. Beattfremont by Tartar (6 years). At 
 York, in 1748, is also recorded the first appearance of Lord 
 March, the famous Duke of Queensberry, who was to gain 
 great notoriety as " Old Q." in later years. He rode his 
 own JVhipper-in to victory in a match for 80 guineas (lost.), 
 4 miles, and was also in the saddle when his br. g. Smoker 
 won the Hunters Sweepstakes two days later. At this 
 meeting the;i^50 Plate was won by Mr. Coatesworth's ch. h. 
 Partner, who afterwards became famous as the Duke of 
 Ancaster's Tartar (by Crofts' Partner out of Meliora by 
 Fox\ the sire of Herod, and of O' Kelly's famous mare, the 
 dam of Volunteer, Queen Mab, and many of Eclipse s best 
 descendants. On the same course, in 1753, Mr. Fenwick's 
 br. h. Matchem (by Cade) won the Great Subscription 
 Stakes. He was bred by Mr. John Holme of Carlisle, sold 
 to Mr. Fenwick of Bywell, and lived till 1781 (33 years) 
 after making a handsome sum in stud fees for his owner. 
 Here, too, ran the last of the immortal trio, Herod (by 
 Tartar), who broke a blood-vessel in his head in the last 
 mile of the Great Subscription of 1766 (4 miles), which Bay 
 Malton (by Sampson) is said to have won in the fast time 
 of 7 mins, 43^ sees. At that time Herod had passed into 
 the possession of Sir John Moore, after the Duke of Cum- 
 berland's death, at the same sale which passed Eclipse on 
 to "the astute meat-salesman," Mr. Wildman. 
 
 Completing Mr. Hutton's Yorkshire racing record up 
 to the year when Eclipse himself was astonishing the 
 Tykes, I find Mr. Hutton's name again at York in 1765 ; 
 York, 1768 (b. m. Betty-0 ! by Matchless) at the same 
 
 46 
 
ENGLISH TURF OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 
 
 meeting in which Sir Charles Bunbury's famous little grey, 
 Gimcrack, ran for the Great Subscription ; and Doncaster 
 1769 (ro. h. Navigator by Adolphus). I have given 
 Mr. Hutton's entries in some detail for two reasons : they 
 show very clearly the beginnings of that friendly rivalry 
 between North and South which the Jockey Club did so 
 much to foster ; and they reveal a very curious preference 
 for grey horses in the Marske Stud. 
 
 47 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE DUKE'S FRIENDS AND THEIR HORSES 
 
 Equi ama tores et emissarii fact'i sunt. Unusquisque ad uxor em proximi sui 
 
 hinniebat. 
 
 A Royal Racing Stable — Newmarket in 1757 — The Duke's Racing up to 
 the week of his Death — Racing Colours in 1762 — The Younger Duke a 
 different Man — Resignation of Military Duties — George II. 's Funeral — 
 Schomberg House — The Duke's Death — His Papers destroyed — Lord 
 Rockingham — The Duke of Queensberry — Charles James Fox — Results of 
 a Wager — Defeat of the Government — ^'■Equant memento . . . " — Lady 
 Sarah Lennox — Gimcrack — Lord Grosvenor — Lady Susan O'Brien — The 
 Reverse side of the Picture. 
 
 IN the last chapter I spoke of the victory of the Duke of 
 Cumberland's Marske at Newmarket in 1754. It is 
 obvious from Walpole's Letters that he had raced there 
 a good deal before ; but before the foundation of the 
 Jockey Club the records are both scanty and uncertain. In 
 1755, however, it is certain that Lord Sandwich got back a 
 little of those loyal losses to which Horace referred by the 
 victory of his Snap over Marske, for 1000 guineas, over 
 four miles of the Beacon Course at lost. in April, and by 
 repeating exactly the same performance in May for the 
 same bet. It will be convenient to add here examples 
 of other races in which the Duke took part from this time 
 until his death in October 1765. Queen Anne's horses 
 were winning in Yorkshire on the day of her death, and 
 news of George IV.'s favourites were brought to him from 
 the course as he lay dying ; so it is well in accordance with 
 royal traditions that the Duke of Cumberland should have 
 
 48 
 
THE DUKE'S FRIENDS AND THEIR HORSES 
 
 raced at Newmarket up to within the last week of his life ; 
 and it is only natural that we should find him owning such 
 capital animals as Ditnipling and Dapper (by Cade), Dori- 
 niondi^y Dormouse), Star, Cato (by Regulus), Miss Windsor, 
 Miss Godolphin, Milksop (by Crab), Herod, and many more. 
 The entries which follow will all refer to Newmarket unless 
 otherwise stated. 
 
 In April 1757 the Duke's colt by the Ciillen Arabian 
 was last in a match for 600 guineas (8st. B.C.) against Lord 
 Orford and Lord Granby ; and another black colt of his was 
 beaten under the same conditions by a bay son of the 
 Godolphin Arabian, belonging to Mr. Panton. In May he 
 lost another match of 500 guineas (gst. B.C.) to Lord Rock- 
 ingham, who ran a bay son of Regulus called Remus. In 
 1758 he was again rather unlucky, for he only won one 
 match. Lord Granby beat him in the sweepstakes of 1200 
 guineas (4 years, gst., R.C.), and he also lost 500 guineas to 
 Lord Gower, the same to Lord Portmore, and 1000 guineas 
 to Lord Rockingham, all in matches over the Beacon Course 
 in the spring. His only consolation, in October, was beat- 
 ing the Duke of Bridgewater's b. h. Cracker with his black 
 Moro (9st., B.C., 500 guineas). In 1759 his bay filly Sylvia 
 (by the Godolphin Arabian) and his Rib were both beaten ; 
 but he won with Moro, who gave Lord Marsh's Rose ist. 4lbs. 
 over four miles for 500 guineas, and with Dapper, who 
 received i61bs. from Lord Gower's Shock, over the Beacon 
 Course for the same amount. Moro tried Rose again with 
 a pound less difference, and was beaten. 
 
 In 1760 the Duke won with a Regulus colt against Sir 
 James Lowther (Qst., B.C., 500 guineas), but lost everything 
 else, including a match with Dapper against Mr. Shafto's 
 Squirrel; with Moro against Lord Gower's Pharaoh; with 
 Jolter2ig2Jix\s\. Lord Bolingbroke's Luster ; and with a Keppel 
 Barb filly against the Duke of Devonshire's filly by his 
 Arabian. All but the last were over the Beacon Course. 
 In 1 76 1 his only victories were with Cato (by Reguhts) 
 against Mr. Shafto's Alcidesi^y Babraham, gst., 4 miles), for 
 1000 guineas, and Lord March's Galleni, Bst. 7lbs., B.C., 500 
 
 49 D 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 guineas ; but the same animal was beaten over the Beacon 
 Course by Lord March's Skim filly, carrying a feather, and 
 by the same owner's Creanipot (by Biiffcoaf). His unsuc- 
 cessful horses that year were a colt by the Hampton Court 
 Childers, Dapper (who paid forfeit), and his colts by Regulus 
 and the Keppel Barb. Next year his Dorimond, a fine bay 
 by Dormouse, began the Spring Meeting by beating the 
 Duke of Grafton's Arab, and in May his Horatms (by 
 Blank) 6 years, won a match against Sir John Moore's son 
 of Slouch, and another against Lord Grosvenor's Leeds, 
 both over the Beacon Course. But a colt he entered for the 
 sweepstakes, by his own Arabian, came in last, and seven 
 other of his horses were beaten in one race or another, 
 including such good ones as Dapper (by Cade) and Dump- 
 ling, who also lost the King's Plate at the First Spring 
 Meeting of 1763, and a match for 1000 guineas over the 
 Beacon Course in October, carrying Qst. against theyst. lolb. 
 of Lord Rockingham's Prospero. But the Duke certainly 
 had better luck this year ; for Dumpling beat Mr. Shafto's 
 Crimp and son of Snap, both over the Beacon Course, for 
 a good wager ; and the Duke also beat Sir James Lowther's 
 colt by Wilson's Arabian, Lord Gower's sister to Pharaoh, 
 the Duke of Ancaster's Blank filly (a sweepstakes of 500 
 guineas, over the Beacon Course, which the Duke won with 
 his famous Tartar filly), Sir James Lowther's colt by the 
 Wilson Arabian, and the Duke of Ancaster's colt by Blank. 
 He lost with the Tartar filly (against Lord March) and the 
 Regulus colt. 
 
 It will be interesting to add here that on October 4 
 1762 the following colours were registered at the meeting 
 of the Jockey Club at Newmarket : 
 
 H.R.H. Duke of Cumberland 
 
 . Purple 
 
 Duke of Grafton 
 
 . Sky blue 
 
 Duke of Devonshire . 
 
 . Straw colour 
 
 Duke of Northumberland . 
 
 . Yellow 
 
 Duke of Kingston 
 
 . Crimson 
 
 Duke of Ancaster 
 
 . Buff 
 
 Duke of Bridgewater 
 
 . Garter blue 
 
 50 
 
THE DUKE'S FRIENDS AND THEIR HORSES 
 
 Marquis of Rockingham . 
 
 . Green 
 
 Earl of Waldegrave . 
 
 . Deep red 
 
 Earl of Orford . . , , 
 
 . Purple and white 
 
 Earl of March . . . . 
 
 . White 
 
 Earl of Govver . 
 
 . Blue 
 
 Viscount Bolingbroke 
 
 . Black 
 
 Lord Grosvenor 
 
 . Orange 
 
 Sir John Moore, Bt. . 
 
 . Darkest green 
 
 Sir James Lowther, Bt. 
 
 . Orange 
 
 Mr. R. Vernon . 
 
 . White 
 
 Hon. Mr. Greville 
 
 . Brown trimmed with yellow 
 
 Mr. Jenison Shafto 
 
 . Pink 
 
 No doubt these were the most prominent owners against 
 whom the Duke of Cumberland raced all his life. In 1764 
 he signalised the year of Eclipse s birth by beginning well 
 at the Spring Meeting by winning with a son of Young Cade 
 and a bay horse by Tartar, who beat his brother, owned 
 by Sir James Moore, over the Beacon Course. At Ascot 
 on June 25 that celebrated stallion, King Herod, carried 
 the Duke's colours in first in a four-mile match against 
 Lord Rockingham's Tom Tinker, 8st. ylbs., 1000 guineas ; 
 and at Newmarket in October, where the first race was won 
 by the Duke's Babrahani filly, which meant a thousand 
 guineas out of Mr. Panton's pocket, King Herod beat the 
 Duke of Grafton's Antinons, giving him 3lbs., over the 
 Beacon Course, for 500 guineas, the betting being 6 to 4 on 
 Antinons. The only horses from the Duke's stables that 
 lost were the unlucky Dumpling (beaten by Mr. Greville's 
 Exotic) and \ht Babrahani filly. In 1765 the Duke's colours 
 were seen for the last time ; and while he had breath left he 
 raced. The year began ominously with the defeat of Z)«;;//- 
 ling (by Mr. Shafto's Fly/ax), Selim, and Favourite. But at 
 the May Meeting King Herod, giving away gibs, this time, 
 again beat Antinous over the B.C. for double the stakes, 
 and again the betting was 7 to 4 on the Duke of Grafton's 
 horse. But Gift was unsuccessful ; apart from Herod s vic- 
 tory the meeting was chiefly notable for Lord Bolingbroke's 
 success with the celebrated Gimcrack, 5 years, 7st. 4lbs., over 
 
 51 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Mr. Panton's Rocket, 8st. ylbs., B.C., looo guineas. Giin- 
 crack won again in July against Sir J. Lowther's Ascham, 
 by Regiihts, yst. lolbs. ; but was beaten in a match which 
 roused a great deal of interest in October, when he failed 
 to give ylbs. over the Beacon Course to Lord Rockingham's 
 Bay Malton. The excellence of AscJiam may be judged 
 from the fact that at the Second October Meeting he beat 
 King Herod, who, it is true, had to give him a stone over the 
 Beacon Course, but even then started with 3 to i betted on 
 him. On October 23, the Duke of Cumberland's last day of 
 racing, in the last week of his life, his bay colt Clmidius 
 lost to the Duke of Ancaster's Trophy, but his Sultan, by 
 Regulus, won a match at Qst., B.C., 500 guineas, against the 
 Duke of Bridgewater's Boreas. 
 
 Unfortunately the Duke of Cumberland was not wholly 
 able to divide his vigorous enthusiasms between soldiering 
 and racing. Before his short life ended he was to have far 
 more "politics" in it than he liked. 
 
 It is as well to warn those who are not professed his- 
 torians that many stories are told of him which should 
 properly be referred to a very different person, Henry 
 Frederick, Duke of Cumberland, born the fourth son of 
 Frederick, Prince of Wales, in 1771. This is the young 
 reprobate against whom Lord Grosvenor (who was as un- 
 lucky as Sir Charles Bunbury in his marital relations) had 
 to bring an action for criminal conversation, and of whom 
 it is told that he explained the attitude of a high dignitary 
 of the Church in the following words to a meeting of the 
 Tory peers : " It's all right, my lords ; the Archbishop says 
 he will be damned to hell if he doesn't throw out the bill." 
 It was also chiefly due to this man's marriage with 
 Mrs. Horton that the Royal Marriage Act was passed, 
 which was to have so grave an influence on the fortunes of 
 his friend the Prince of Wales and Mrs. Fitzherbert. 
 
 Duke William Augustus, ''the Duke," as he was rightly 
 called, with whom I am at present dealing, though by no 
 means immaculate, was a far finer man ; for he was "gentle- 
 manlike without affectation and accomplished without being 
 
 52 
 

THE DUKE'S FRIENDS AND THEIR HORSES 
 
 vain." He took the praises after Culloden and the execra- 
 tion after the Mutiny Act with equal calmness. He only 
 betrayed some feeling when his name was omitted from the 
 Regency Bill. To the common people he was invariably 
 indifferent, and they were his sincerest mourners after he 
 was dead. But I cannot think that the worries of Cabinet 
 intrigue were congenial to him. He was certainly physi- 
 cally unfitted for them, and Horace Walpole does not fail to 
 make merry over the corpulence which eventually killed 
 him, and was largely owing to the wound he got at Det- 
 tingen. The Duke's nickname among the smart set in 1754 
 was " Nolkejumskoi," probably for the same ephemeral and 
 absurd reasons which will make editors of our memoirs (in 
 the next century) wonder what polite society in 1905 meant 
 by their constant references to " Little Mary." Horace 
 mentions the Duke at a supper in Bedford House : " He 
 was playing at hazard with a great heap of gold before him. 
 Somebody said he looked like the prodigal son and the 
 fatted calf both." A kinder observation appears in the 
 same correspondence a year or two later : " The humours 
 that have fallen upon the wound in his leg kept him lately 
 from all exercise. Can one but pity him ? . . . How he 
 must envy his cousin of Prussia, risking his life every hour 
 against Cossacks and Russians." 
 
 The Duke had been unlucky in the field ever since 
 Culloden, and the fatal spell first felt at Fontenoy was 
 exercised again as soon as he returned to the Low Countries 
 and Germany. Being sent against Marshal D'Estrdes 
 who threatened Hanover, he was beaten by an army double 
 as large as his own at Hastenbeck, and retired in good 
 order. After this the King told Newcastle he should " get 
 out of it ; " but after the Duke had acted on the Royal 
 orders and the Convention of Kloster Seven was signed, 
 " Here is my son," said George II., "who has ruined me 
 and disgraced himself." The Duke was deeply wounded 
 and withdrew to Cumberland Lodge after resigning all his 
 military offices. Walpole at least appreciated all that this 
 involved ("Memoirs of George II."): "A young prince, 
 
 53 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 warm, greedy of military glory, yet resigning all his 
 passions to the interested dictates of a father's pleasure, and 
 then loaded with the imputation of having acted basely 
 without authority ; hurt with unmerited disgrace, yet never 
 breaking out into the least unguarded expression ; pre- 
 serving dignity under oppression and the utmost tenderness 
 of duty under the utmost delicacy of honour — this is an 
 uncommon picture." 
 
 When the Duke could tear himself away from his ruling 
 passion, the army, we may judge how deeply his father had 
 wounded " the best son that ever lived." 
 
 Three years afterwards he was following his father's 
 body to the grave. Walpole gives a pathetic picture of the 
 scene in a letter to George Montagu : " The real serious 
 part was the figure of the Duke of Cumberland heightened 
 by a thousand melancholy circumstances. He had a dark 
 brown adonis and a cloak of black cloth with a train of five 
 yards. Attending the funeral of a father could not be 
 pleasant ; his leg extremely bad, yet forced to stand upon 
 it near two hours ; his face bloated and distorted with his 
 late paralytic stroke, which has affected, too, one of his 
 eyes ; and placed over the mouth of the vault into which in 
 all probability he must himself so soon descend ; think how 
 unpleasant a situation ! He bore it all with a firm and 
 unaffected countenance . . . sinking with the heat, he felt 
 himself weighed down, and turning round found it was 
 the Duke of Newcastle standing on his train to avoid the 
 chill of the marble." 
 
 The Duke gave up his share in his father's bequest to 
 his sisters, and took Schomberg House in Pall Mall. It is 
 a curious and interesting coincidence that H.R.H. Prince 
 Christian of Schleswig Holstein, who now holds the Duke's 
 position as Ranger of Windsor Park, and lives in Cumber- 
 land Lodge, has also Schomberg House in Pall Mall for 
 his town house, though his present residence is only a part 
 of that large mansion built in Pall Mall for the favourite of 
 William III., the Duke of Schomberg, who was killed at 
 the battle of the Boyne in 1690. From his son-in-law, the 
 
 54 
 
THE VOUXO DUKE OF CUMRERLAXD 
 
 Bij Gainshorougli 
 
THE DUKE'S FRIENDS AND THEIR HORSES 
 
 Earl of Holdernesse, the Duke of Cumberland leased it, 
 and it then passed on to " Beau Astley," the portrait 
 painter, who married the rich Lady Daniell and set up the 
 bas-relief oi " Painting" over the porch with the Caryatides, 
 which was part of the old War Office in 1906.. The 
 symbol was significant ; for though Dr. Graham desecrated 
 the site with " Temples of Hymen " and " Celestial Beds," 
 in 1781, in 1786 the Prince of Wales was calling on 
 Cosway there (by a private door from the garden of Carlton 
 House), and from 1774 till 1788 Gainsborough lived in the 
 west wing. Then the place housed a " Collection of 
 Miniatures" which were finally sold by lottery, and Tom 
 Payne the Bookseller, who came in 1806, was the last 
 tenant before the War Office. 
 
 The Duke of Cumberland soon found that politics were 
 thrust upon him. With the new King, his nephew, he was 
 on the best of terms ; and he remained a warm friend to 
 Lord Albemarle, whose wife he almost kissed in the 
 Drawing Room after the Royal congratulations on the 
 victory of Havannah. But he found himself obliged to 
 break with Fox and to oppose Bute and Greville, leaning 
 rather towards the side of Pitt, "who is at least a man." 
 His negotiations with Pitt, who had the gout, at Hayes, 
 resulted in the formation of the Rockingham Ministry, 
 which held its Cabinet Councils at the Duke's new house in 
 Upper Grosvenor Street. His health, unfortunately, con- 
 tinued to grow worse. He held the candle while the 
 surgeon cut out abscesses from his wounded leg ; and 
 during the Newmarket October Meeting, when Herod beat 
 Antinous, he had two fits. But next February he was 
 seen at the new Assembly Rooms at Almacks, " built with 
 hot bricks and boiling water," and he had held a levde and 
 gone to the opera before that. On the last day of October, 
 1765, he died suddenly, from a clot of blood on the brain, 
 in Lord Albemarle's arms, just as a Cabinet Council was 
 about to be held in Upper Grosvenor Street. 
 
 " His profound understanding," wrote Walpole 
 ("Memoirs of George III.") "had taught him to profit of 
 
 55 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 his mortifications ; and though he never condescended to 
 make himself amiable but to very few, he became as much 
 respected, though deprived of power, as if his heroism had 
 been victorious. ... In London his death was deeply felt 
 . . . the middling and lower people almost universally went 
 into the closest mourning with weepers, and wore it for the 
 whole time that had been customary before the contraction 
 enjoined in the late reign." 
 
 In his " Life of Rockingham," Lord Albemarle records 
 that " with the exception of a few letters in my possession 
 all the Duke's papers were burned " by the Princess Amelia, 
 to whom most were sent. The Cumberland Papers in the 
 library of Windsor Castle refer only to military matters, so 
 that much that would be of interest concerning Eclipse is 
 unavoidably lost. But the Duke's name is preserved in 
 that Lodge in Windsor Park which is now filled with 
 pictures of the racehorses he loved ; and his memory is 
 almost equally cherished upon the Berkshire Downs, where 
 in a Manor House library I have seen the old oak writing- 
 desk, as solid as its first master, in which the Duke may 
 have kept his racing memoranda. If they had not been 
 long ago in ashes I should have had a more interesting 
 tale to tell. I must add here, also, that Cumberland Farm 
 at Plaistow, Essex, still stands in a rather dilapidated 
 condition among fields where tradition says that Eclipse 
 was once stabled, and the connection is still further 
 emphasised by the names of Cumberland Road and Eclipse 
 Road in the same vicinity, which has for many years been 
 the property of the Worshipful Company of Coopers. Into 
 the vexed question of the actual birthplace of Eclipse I 
 shall enter in the next chapter. For the present I have 
 only to complete that picture of the racing world into 
 which Eclipse was born, and in which Eclipses owner bore 
 a brilliant and characteristic part. 
 
 This was a period when statesmen were just as much 
 in earnest about racing as about diplomacy ; and we may 
 be sure that Lord Rockingham was as delighted with Ala- 
 bacitlias victory at Doncaster in 1776 as with any of his 
 
 56 
 
THE WELL-GAT AT XEWMAKKET 
 
 From an ciif/rnviuf/ in flu- lirtdsh Mtfsium 
 
 SHAIUCE (BY MARSKE OUT OF A SXAP MAUE) 
 
 From fin <ni(jrariiu( in ihv possession of Sir Walter Gilhen after the paintintj by Stnhbs 
 
THE DUKE'S FRIENDS AND THEIR HORSES 
 
 Ministerial successes. The mare won the Sweepstakes that 
 year which were afterwards to be known under the famous 
 name of the St. Leger, and the rest of the field were owned 
 by Mr. St. Leger himself, Mr. Wentworth, and Mr. 
 Foljambe. It was the first stake ever run for three-year- 
 olds at Doncaster, and on its third renewal, in 1778, Lord 
 Rockingham named it after the gentleman with whom it 
 had originated. Lord Rockingham's name appears on the 
 Jockey Club's first public document, in 1758. He owned 
 Sampson and Solon, and beat Cardinal Puff for the Whip 
 at Newmarket with Bay Malton in 1768. Some years 
 before he was beaten himself by another Yorkshire member, 
 Sir Charles Turner, over the Beacon Course for 500 guineas ; 
 and he very likely suggested the name of Lord Barrymore's 
 Rockingham, who won the Jockey Club Plate of 1788. 
 Another early member of the Club was the Hon. Richard 
 Vernon, owner of Woodpecker ; and one of the few manu- 
 scripts remaining that refers to the Duke of Cumberland's 
 racing is the memorandum of the wager Mr. Vernon laid at 
 Windsor, in June 1762, with the Duke's Dapper, one 
 four-mile heat against his own nomination, over Harleydon 
 Course, at 8st. 7lbs. 
 
 Among the most original and eccentric characters who 
 ever astonished a racecourse, I suppose " Old Q." must 
 easily take the first place, as he usually managed to do in 
 most things until he was buried beneath the high altar in 
 St. James's, Piccadilly. He is typical of the utter disregard 
 for public opinion common in the aristocrat of that time, 
 who knew he would be understood by his own set and cared 
 nothing for anybody else. But what made the Duke of 
 Queensberry peculiar, even in his young days as Lord 
 March, was not the persistent pursuit of pleasure, in which 
 he only imitated the majority of his intimates, but the cold- 
 blooded reasonableness and hard commonsense with which 
 he pursued and attained his ends : a quality which is rather 
 r^e in your merely reckless voluptuary. His coldness was 
 that of the business man, not of the selfish profligate ; for 
 he often quietly pulled a friend out of a financial difficulty ; 
 
 57 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 and Alcibiades Jennings, even after he had been ruined by 
 gambling, acknowledged that " Queensberry was always 
 honourable in his bets, only he was a far better jockey than 
 any of us ; " and " Old Q." enjoyed beating a friend over a 
 wager until the very end of a long life, which lasted till he 
 was eighty-six, in 1810. His celebrated carriage-match to 
 run nineteen miles in sixty minutes, or his conveyance of a 
 letter fifty miles in an hour — which he managed by enclosing 
 it in a cricket-ball that four and twenty players threw to 
 each other round a measured distance — and other feats of a 
 more eccentric kind, concerned with what were tolerantly 
 called the " Fine Arts," have somewhat obscured his real 
 racing excellences by emphasising the extravagances of a 
 career that would be impossible under modern conditions, 
 and is almost incredible even in his days. 
 
 Far more sympathetic to the merely human reader is the 
 character of Charles James Fox, another racing politician 
 of this picturesque epoch, who passed at once, by right of 
 personality and birth alike, beyond barriers across which 
 even Burke and Sheridan never stepped. He was part of 
 the highest circle from the first, and " Charles " to the 
 Prince of Wales and all the rest. Remembering his extra- 
 ordinary superiority in intellect, you will realise how much 
 this means ; and if his marvellous " genius for friendship " 
 is added to it, you will understand still better what a man 
 this was who could strain nearly all his friendships long 
 past the point where lesser men would long ago have lost 
 them. He half ruined every one connected with him, and 
 their love never lessened, for his qualities were those not of 
 intellect only, but of temperament as well. Enjoying to the 
 full all that London or Paris could afford ; deep in a classic, 
 and loth to leave its pages ; moving the House of Commons 
 or an illiterate mob with equal triumph ; betting at Brooks's 
 or keeping a bank at Faro at Lord Foley's ; content either 
 to " pot partridges " or to go to Newmarket, either to move a 
 resolution against the Ministry or to drink claret until every 
 one else was under the table — much of it was unwise, but 
 " Damme ! it was Life " indeed ! 
 
 58 
 
THE DUKE'S FRIENDS AND THEIR HORSES 
 
 Fox raced as hard as he did everything else, and there 
 is a little sketch of a few days out of his life at this time, 
 which I have reconstructed from various sources, to give 
 some idea of what men could do in those days. When they 
 slept I know not. 
 
 There was some little wager in St. James's, it appears, 
 about a waistcoat which could only be procured in Paris. 
 Off went Charles in the middle of the night to Dover, caught 
 the mail-packet, and posted hard to Paris. On his return 
 to Calais he suddenly remembered that Pyrrhus and 
 Trent/mm, two capital animals owned by Lord Foley and 
 himself, had been backed to beat another horse at New- 
 market. He leapt into a fishing-smack, steered for the 
 Eastern Counties, just got to Newmarket in time, sent for 
 his grooms, and took up a good place about a quarter of a 
 mile from the finish. An eye-witness describes what fol- 
 lowed, and it must be remembered that Fox usually looked 
 on from horseback. " He eyed the horses advancing with 
 the most immovable look ; he breathed quicker as they 
 accelerated their pace, and when they came opposite to him 
 he rode in at full speed, whipping, spurring, and blowing, 
 as if he would have infused his whole soul into his favourite 
 racer." The instant they were past the post he was talking 
 of something else, and as he posted back to London with 
 his friends that afternoon they stopped on the way, probably 
 to look up some one else at Hockerel. Dinner was ready 
 in a moment, and out came the cards after the port. Minor 
 considerations about time and space had long ago vanished, 
 and there was a total of some four or five thousand on the 
 table as the sun rose and they heard a horse galloping up 
 the drive, and a loud knock at the door. It was a luckless 
 Special Messenger who had been chasing Charles over half 
 England to remmd him that he was expected to speak in 
 the House of Commons on the Bill to correct the old 
 Marriage Bill. Fox swept the empty bottles off the table, 
 threw the dice the last time for the pool, and rushed to the 
 stables for his horse. It was yet early on the Spring morn- 
 ing of a yth of April, and Horace Walpole, "curious to 
 
 59 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 know what Fox would do," went down to the House to find 
 out. Let him complete the picture. 
 
 " Fox made his motion for leave to bring in a Bill to 
 correct the old Marriage Bill. Burke made a fine and long 
 oration against the motion. Charles Fox, who had been 
 running about the House talking to different persons and 
 scarce listening to Burke, rose with amazing spirit and 
 memory, answered both Lord North and Burke, ridiculed 
 the arguments of the former, and confuted those of the 
 latter. . . . Burke was indefatigable, learned and versed in 
 every branch of eloquence. Fox was dissipated, idle beyond 
 measure. He was that very morning returned from New- 
 market . . . had sat up drinking all night ; and had not 
 been in bed when he came to move this Bill, which he had 
 not even drawn up. This was genius — almost inspiration. 
 The House dividing, Lord North was beaten by sixty-two 
 to sixty-one — a disgraceful event for a Prime Minister." 
 
 When you come to remember all that had happened 
 since the matter of the silk waistcoat, it is indeed amazing 
 to consider how Fox was able to wind up the episode as he 
 did. There is a blank in the chronicles after the Govern- 
 ment defeat, and I only hope it means that some kind 
 friend at last put Charles to bed. Lord North's misfortune 
 reminds me that he is the author of one of the wittiest 
 things ever said about a mare, which is just what might be 
 expected at this time. His son, it seems, had been obliged 
 to sell a mare owing to sudden financial difficulties. Lord 
 North forgave him, but advised that in future he should 
 always keep his mares whatever else he sold. " Equam," 
 said the Prime Minister, " Equam memento rebus in arduis 
 Servare." 
 
 One of the most delightful ladies "on the Turf" in 
 those days was Charles James Fox's aunt, who was about 
 his own age. Lady Sarah Lennox, youngest daughter of 
 the second Duke of Richmond, was the most beautiful 
 woman in England, and though the best-known thing about 
 her is that George HL wanted very much to marry her, 
 she has even greater claims to fame as having eventually 
 
 60 
 
LADY BUNBURY 
 
 /.'// lirifnolds 
 
THE DUKE'S FRIENDS AND THEIR HORSES 
 
 become the mother of the Napiers. But racing men 
 remember her for yet a third reason, scarcely less important. 
 Her first husband was Sir Charles Bunbury, owner of the 
 first winner of the Derby, the man who carried on in the 
 Jockey Club those noble traditions of the Turf which were 
 handed on from Bernard Howard, through him, to Lord 
 George Bentinck and to Admiral Rous. I have mentioned 
 the wife before the husband because Lady Sarah's letters, 
 and the memoirs of her life-long friend. Lady Susan 
 Fox-Strangeways (whom Reynolds painted with her and 
 Charles Fox in a celebrated picture), give a most fascinating 
 insight into the racing life of the time. 
 
 " I must now tell you," she writes in 1762 from Barton 
 to Lady Susan, " about Newmarket, while it is in my head. 
 The Duke of Cumberland won two matches and the Duke of 
 Grafton a plate with a vile horse. Magpie ran, and was beat. 
 I saw him and his horses in the morning, 'tis a dear soul ; 
 I lost my money." Ten days later she wrote again : " Lord 
 Ossory is with us, and went to the Assembly, he is an 
 agreeable sensible man and I like him vastly. ... I danced 
 with Lord Petre, and he is a nasty toad. . . . Pray now, 
 who the devil would not be happy with a pretty place, a good 
 house, good horses, greyhounds and fox-hunting, so near 
 Newmarket, what company we please in the house, and 
 ;^2000 a year to spend ? . . . Newmarket was charming ; 
 all the charming men were there (1763). Dear Mr. Meynell 
 lost sums of money on a horse of my brother's, beat by the 
 little mare Hermione, of Mr. Calvert ; its name was 
 Goodwood and got by Brilliant ; but I hear he has made 
 up all his losses again by cards at Euston, where the Duke 
 of Cumberland and all the Newmarket folks are ; he, a fat 
 wretch, has won everything on earth ; poor dear Mr. Greville 
 has lost ; Sir John Moore has lost near ;i{^5ooo between 
 quinze and horses. Lord Orford has taken to hawking 
 larks . . . poor Lord Rockingham was there. . . . There 
 was a meeting of two days at Newmarket this time of year 
 (1765) to see the sweetest little horse run that ever was ; 
 his name is Gimcrack, he is delightful. Lord Rocking- 
 
 61 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 ham, the Duke of Grafton and General Conway kissed 
 hands the day Ginicrack ran. I must say I was more 
 anxious about the horse than about the Ministry." 
 
 Lady Bunbury's sentence reminds me of the last great 
 Turfite of this time whom I have space to mention, in whom 
 Horace Walpole notices a similar preference for horses to 
 the formalities of the Court. When Sir Richard Grosvenor 
 should have kissed hands on the elevation to a Barony in 
 March 1761, "he was gone to Newmarket to see the trial 
 of a racehorse." The owner of Malton, Gmicrack, Sweet 
 IVilHam and Bandy could perhaps have scarcely done 
 otherwise ; for he won the Derby with Rhadamant/ms and 
 his own brother Daedalus (a record that only King 
 Edward VI L has ever equalled) and \N\i\i Johtz Btill ; 2ind 
 the Oaks with Faith, Ceres, Maid of the Oaks, Nike and 
 Bellina. He also owned PotSos, the best son of Eclipse, 
 and to find anything like his full record on the Turf, you 
 must go to a later member of his own family, the first 
 Duke of Westminster. In breeding, Lord Grosvenor's only 
 rivals were such friends as Lord Clermont, Lord Egremont, 
 the Duke of Cumberland and Sir Charles Bunbury, Avhose 
 connection by marriage. Lady Susan Fox-Strangeways 
 (wife of O'Brien, the actor) left a few lively records of racing 
 society between 1760 and 1818 with which I will close this 
 abbreviated view of the Turf to which Eclipse was born. 
 
 Few are better qualified to give a hint from behind the 
 scenes than the lady who heard Charles Fox's " C'est ^gal," 
 as a consolation for her disappointment of the Birthday 
 Ball when George II. died, and who could make compari- 
 sons with Waterloo year, when "assemblys are become so 
 numerous that two or three of a night it is common to go . . . 
 if it is not quite crowded it is not thought good or agreable. 
 No cards are admitted. Music in which all are proficients 
 has taken their place. . . . No one can now say ' breeding ' 
 or 'with child' or 'lying-in.' 'In the family way' and 
 ' confinement ' have taken their place. ' Cholic ' and 
 ' bowells ' are exploded words. ' Stomach ' signifies every- 
 thing. ' Fair Cyprians ' and ' tender,' or ' interesting con- 
 
 62 
 

THE DUKE'S FRIENDS AND THEIR HORSES 
 
 nexions' have succeeded to 'women on the town' and 'kept 
 mistresses.' " This was a change indeed from her early 
 days, when a crowd was rare except at Bedford House, 
 Northumberland House, Norfolk House, Lady Hils- 
 borough's, or Lady Shelburne's, and when the intimate 
 circle, in which everyone was intimately known, only asked 
 enough guests to make themselves thoroughly comfortable 
 over the cards. Lady Susan observes, too, that " 100,000 
 bibles were given to the people, and salons at the same 
 time built at our theatres for the reception and entertain- 
 ment of prostitutes and their attendant swains. This one 
 may call neutralising." The bad effect it had at first on 
 fashionable attendance at the playhouses she notices very 
 strongly. 
 
 On the whole the character of the life she knew has 
 changed but little ; only its outward forms and symbols 
 altered. The difference is that men like "Old Q." or Lord 
 Barrymore threw themselves with greater energy and pub- 
 licity into the life of pleasure than their successors, and 
 much more so than any one can do now. The tone was 
 louder, the colours brighter. It was also a more friendly 
 society, because it was closer connected and more inti- 
 mately acquainted than now. Some men went because 
 they loved horses and sport ; others because they hoped to 
 win money ; others because Lady Sarah flirted at New- 
 market. They probably made more noise and cut a gayer 
 dash. But the great, joyous, good-humoured, open-air 
 spirit of the best people on the Turf was the same we know 
 to-day. 
 
 I must now turn to the reverse side of the picture. 
 Lights are never valuable without the shadows that can 
 throw them up, and any sketch of the racing life of the last 
 half of the eighteenth century would be incomplete without 
 the rascals and the horse-copers who have never been wholly 
 eliminated from the Turf from its beginnings until now. It 
 is quite possible, too, that if Wildman and O'Kelly had 
 never bought Eclipse after the Duke of Cumberland's 
 death, the whole story of the English thoroughbred would 
 
 63 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 have been entirely altered, and not for the better. The Irish 
 adventurer has, in fact, as great a claim on the gratitude of 
 the modern Turf as the royal owner who was son and uncle 
 to two successive English kings. We shall find, before I 
 have done with them, that there is a great deal more to be 
 said for Wildman and O'Kelly than my readers may expect ; 
 for the family papers, so kindly submitted to me for the 
 preparation of this book, have resulted in a very different 
 portrait of Eclipse s owner from that hitherto accepted. He 
 was no saint. I have no desire to make him out one. But 
 he was very far from being the unredeemed blackguard 
 which tradition has so unfairly pictured in the absence of 
 the facts before me. A thoughtful consideration of Eclipses 
 career upon the Turf is almost sufficient alone to disprove 
 the worst stories told about O'Kelly. 
 
 64 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 ''ECLIPSE FIRST AND THE REST NOWHERE" 
 
 Exivit alius ecjuus rufus ; et ijui sedebat super ilium datum est ei 
 
 ut sumeret pacem de terra, et ut invicem se interficiant ; et 
 
 datus est ei gladius magnus 
 
 Authentic Relics and True Stories — The Birthplace of Eclipse — The Cum- 
 berland Papers — Cranbourne Tower Paddocks — Cumberland Farm — 
 Eclipse's Sire — Mr. Tattersall's idea — Marske's Performances — Spiletta — 
 " Colonel O'Kelly's Groom " — Hautboy Blood— Sale of Eclipse— Mr. Wild- 
 man — His Racing Stable — Education of Eclipse — The first Trial — O' Kelly 
 at Epsom — The first Victory — Placing the Horses — His Jockeys — Marske's 
 Reward — Descriptions of Eclipse in Training — Fifteen Hands Two — Eye- 
 witnesses Describe £'c/z^s(; — Winning Races in 1769 and 1770 — Purchase 
 by Dennis O'Kelly — Ten to One on — York Races — Goldftnder — Lincoln 
 Heath — Colours in 1771 — Long distance Racing — ^25,000 at the Stud 
 — A Mile a Minute — Conclusive Evidence. 
 
 WHEN I had first determined to try and set 
 down the truth, as far as it is now discover- 
 able, with regard to the most remarkable 
 animal ever bred, I little realised the difficul- 
 ties that lay before me. Six "undoubted" skeletons of 
 Eclipse claimed my bewildered attention. No less than 
 nine "authentic" feet were apparently possessed by this 
 extraordinary animal. The "genuine" hair out of his tail 
 would have generously filled the largest arm-chair in the 
 Jockey Club. The "certified" portions of his hide would 
 together have easily carpeted the yard at Tattersall's. The 
 disposal of his remains after death it was a comparatively 
 easy task to discover, owing to the hints of Saint Bel, the 
 surgeon who performed the autopsy ; but I was baffled for 
 
 65 E 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 a long while by the insistent claims of various localities to 
 the honour of his birth. " Smyrna, Rhodos, Colophon, 
 Salamis, Chios, Argos, Athenae," were nothing to this 
 competition ; and the shade of Homer may hide its dimin- 
 ished head before the anxiety of horse-loving Englishmen 
 to prove that Eclipse was foaled in their own district. As 
 it is, I have not settled all these points to my own satisfac- 
 tion. I do not believe that some of them ever can be 
 settled. But I shall not weary my readers with too 
 many reasons for the conclusions at which I have 
 arrived. I will only ask you to believe that the state- 
 ments which follow are the result of careful search 
 in every possible direction, and of the kindest assistance 
 rendered me by known and unknown correspondents in 
 every part of the United Kingdom, sometimes as far 
 afield as Canada, Australia, or the West Indies ; and 
 ranging in importance from His Majesty King Edward VII. 
 to gentlemen of leisure who, for the trifling sum of 
 half a sovereign, were prepared to draw me up the genea- 
 logy (and occasionally provide the portrait) of any horse 
 that ever breathed. 
 
 It would be curious, indeed, if out of all this generous 
 help I had not been able to produce something " not gene- 
 rally known " ; and as a matter of fact it is quite probable 
 that I shall be my own severest critic, for only those who 
 have ever tried to write about a horse that died over a 
 century ago can know how many gaps there were to fill up 
 in the history of the most trivial matters. Yet it is con- 
 soling to remember that even in the year of grace 1880 the 
 famous inquiry about Bend Or revealed the extraordinary 
 fact that very few breeders of thoroughbred stock kept a 
 register containing the dates of the birth, with the marks 
 and colouring of the foals ; and that even in so renowned 
 an establishment as that of the first Duke of Westminster 
 it was possible to raise the serious question whether a 
 particular colt was really the son of Doncaster and Rouge 
 Rose, or whether he was Tadcaster. The Duke himself was 
 perfectly satisfied, and subsequent history confirmed his 
 
 66 
 
I 
 
 
 CRAXBOURNE TOWER, IN WINDSOR GREAT PARK 
 
 Thr paddock where Eclipse icas foaled 
 
''ECLIPSE FIRST AND THE REST NOWHERE" 
 
 opinion ; but it seems very strange that any uncertainty 
 should ever have existed. 
 
 In the matter of Eclipse s birth I was at first faced with 
 a somewhat similar doubt ; and this at first seemed more 
 difficult to dispel because the enormous importance of 
 Eclipse in racing history did not appear until many years 
 after his royal owner's death ; and though the Duke of 
 Cumberland owned both Marske and Spiletta, the previous 
 records of neither sire nor dam warranted any particularly 
 high hopes about their progeny. Pictures of Marske are, 
 of course, well known. But Spiletta (by Regitlus) never 
 did anything on the racecourse in spite of her stout ancestry; 
 and until Mr. Arthur Hargreaves most kindly wrote to me 
 from Eccles and told me of the beautiful picture by Sar- 
 torius in his possession, I did not know she had ever been 
 painted. Then the relentless way in which all papers 
 belonging to members of the royal family in the eighteenth 
 century were invariably destroyed has cut off another avenue 
 of knowledge. As I have already related, on the authority 
 of the Lord Rockingham in whose arms Eclipses owner 
 died, the Duke of Cumberland's papers were all sent by 
 him to Princess Amelia, and by her were burnt. 
 
 The so-called " Cumberland Papers," in the custody of 
 the Royal Librarian in Windsor Castle, though very volu- 
 minous on the subject of the Duke's various campaigns, 
 contain nothing about the matters on which we are at 
 present engaged. His Royal Highness Prince Christian of 
 Schleswig-Holstein, successor to the owner of Eclipse as 
 Ranger of Windsor Great Park, and now living in Cumber- 
 land Lodge and Schomberg House, both former residences 
 of the Duke of Cumberland, has most kindly made inquiries 
 for me on the Continent, in case any racing memoranda 
 might have been preserved among the papers of the House 
 of Hanover, but without result. Nor does Captain Campbell, 
 of Holly Lodge, in Windsor Park, know of any such records. 
 There is no doubt, however, that documentary evidence did 
 at some time or other actually exist; and though I am not 
 able at the present moment to produce it, I am at least 
 
 67 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 empowered to say that H.R.H. Prince Christian has satis- 
 fied himself that the paddock near Cranbourne Tower, of 
 which I have reproduced a picture, was the actual place 
 where Eclipse was foaled in 1764. 
 
 Cranbourne Lodge was one of the houses the Duke of 
 Cumberland loved. The stables for his carriage and 
 riding horses were at his formal residence, Cumberland 
 Lodge, and a view of them appears in these pages by the 
 kind permission of their present royal tenant. But his 
 brood mares were kept at the paddocks near Cranbourne 
 Lodge, and this is the place given as the birthplace in a 
 contemporary account of Eclipses performances which I 
 reproduce in the Appendix. The event is now recorded for 
 future generations in the tablet made for Prince Christian 
 by a Windsor tradesman named Wellman, and set up by 
 him on this spot on March 7, 1879 ; and Captain Campbell 
 informs me that he has never found any reason to discredit 
 the information it conveys. It is worth noticing in this 
 connection that one of Stubbs' paintings in His Majesty's 
 collections shows George III. looking at the Duke's 
 thoroughbred mares and foals in the Long Walk. Mr. 
 Bracy Clark's theory (in 1835) was ih^it Eclipse was " foaled 
 in Sussex, in the stud of the Duke of Cumberland." No 
 such stud existed there in the year 1764. 
 
 The Duke's horses in training were kept at Kate's Gore, 
 near Ilsley ; and Mr. J. E. Vincent, who lives at Drayton, 
 is inclined to support Mr. J. M. Falkner's theory, pro- 
 pounded in Murray's "Berkshire," ihdX Eclipse was born 
 at East Ilsley on April i, 1764. But I cannot think it 
 likely that, when the eclipse occurred from which the colt 
 was named, Spiletta was among the " running-horses." 
 She is not likely to have been taken from the brood mares' 
 paddocks near Cranbourne Chase at so interesting a time. 
 The only reason I can find for connecting Eclipse with the 
 Berkshire Downs at all is that in 1770, the year of his 
 most brilliant victories, his owner, O'Kelly, ran a mare 
 called Dairymaid at Wantage in a ;i^5o race for five-year- 
 olds, four-mile heats, 8st. 7lbs., which was won by Steady. 
 
 68 
 
"ECLIPSE FIRST AND THE REST NOWHERE" 
 
 Nor is there any other evidence for her celebrated foal 
 having first seen the light under Sir Francis Doyle's thorn- 
 tree at Mickleham, near Dorking, except in the fact that 
 Mr. W. Wildman, who bought the yearling, kept his 
 thoroughbreds there. 
 
 The same misleading argument from names is probably 
 responsible for the idea that Eclipse was foaled at what is 
 still called Cumberland Farm, extending from New Barnet 
 to Prince Regent's Lane, at Plaistow, Essex. The legend 
 is no doubt preserved by the name of Eclipse Road, close 
 by. But by the kindness of their surveyor I am enabled 
 to state that " Cumberland Farm " was bought (under that 
 name) by the Coopers Company in 1706. It is therefore 
 probable that the Eclipse legends were attracted to the 
 place after 1770 because the name of Cumberland had 
 become very popular after 1745; and it is unfortunately 
 the fact that " Eclipse Road" has only lately been laid out 
 through part of the old farm lands, and therefore its name 
 is quite recent. The earliest tenant of the farm whose 
 name can so far be traced is Mr. Richard Hudson in 1825. 
 If either the Duke of Cumberland or Dennis O'Kelly had 
 had the land their names would certainly have occurred in 
 the Coopers Company's records. If Eclipse was ever there 
 at all, it could only have been because his first purchaser, 
 Mr. William Wildman, of Leadenhall Market, had desired 
 to take advantage of a quiet out-of-the-way place to 
 keep the colt until he was broken in. But a man who 
 owned paddocks at Mickleham was hardly likely to take 
 the colt he had picked out of the Duke's sale to Plaistow, 
 especially when we consider the difficulty with which 
 Eclipse was even taught his business in his youth. I must 
 adhere to this in spite of the fact that so good an authority 
 as Sir Walter Gilbey (in speaking of Stubbs' pictures) 
 mentions " the Duke of Cumberland's stud farm on the 
 Isle of Dogs " as the birthplace of Eclipse, for I think this 
 is only a reflection of the " Cumberland Farm " legend. 
 
 Having said this much of his birthplace, in which I am 
 glad to find "The Druid" agrees with my conclusions, I 
 
 69 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 pass on to the question of Eclipses sire. Many will wonder 
 nowadays that such a question ever existed, and when I 
 find that " Old Q." never had a bet on it, I am almost 
 inclined to think that the question never became serious 
 during the horse's lifetime. They often betted on just this 
 sort of problem at Brooks's, and in 1773 Lord March is 
 recorded there to have wagered that the Godolphin Arabian 
 and not Bay Bolton was the sire of Mogul, and that Bay 
 Bolton was not the sire of Whistle Jacket. He evidently 
 remembered that Bay Bolton (by Grey Hautboy) was 
 foaled in 1705 and died in 1736, whereas the Godolphin 
 Arabian (1724 to 1753) had a son called Mogztl who was 
 the sire of Whistle Jacket (1749). 
 
 There is not so much doubt now possible, with all the 
 records before us, as to the sire of Eclipse ; still it must be 
 chronicled that in Mr. Tattersall's first album, the owner of 
 Herod's great son Highflyer (1774 to 1793) records his 
 opinion that Eclipse was not by Marske but by Shakespeare ; 
 " for Shakespeare waj a large and strong chestnut with 
 white legs and face who got chestnuts and was a good 
 runner. Marske was a bad runner, a brown, who got 
 brown or bay. Mr. O'Kelly's groom says Eclipse s dam 
 was covered by both, and first by Shakespeare." If this 
 were true Eclipse would trace back through Shakespeare to 
 Hobgoblin and Aleppo, instead of through Squirt to 
 Bartletfs Childers, own brother to Flying Childers by the 
 Darley Arabian. As was seen when we analysed the 
 accepted pedigree oi Eclipse, the line through Shakespeare 
 might perhaps be thought the purer of the two, for Shake- 
 speare's dam was the little Hartley mare, and his grandsire 
 was by the Darley Arabian out of a daughter of Hautboy. 
 But the argument for colour does not amount to much 
 in those days. If Eclipse (a chestnut) was by Shakespeare, 
 a chestnut, his grandsire was a brown and his great- 
 grandsire was a bay ; if he was by Marske, a brown, his 
 grandsire was a chestnut, and his great-grandsire a bay. 
 In either case his great -great -grandsire, the Darley 
 Arabian, was a bay, and his dam {Spilettd) was bay by a 
 
 70 
 
MARSKE, SIKE OF ECLIPSE 
 
 h'nim thi iugrarivg htj G. F. Sfuhhs in tlo' Urittsfi Musiinii n/ter thi: jtrn'iifhi;/ />// G. StiihfiS 
 
 ■^■« 
 
 ^^ByTvI ARSKE OUT OF SPILETTA^ 
 WASVOALEO IN THIS PADDOCK 
 i764, HE WAS BRED BY 
 
 Of COMBt 
 
 ^^- 
 
 PLATE KECoKLUXG ECLIPSE'S BIKTH 
 Set fip in IJ'intfsor Gi-f'rt Pari: O;/ li.Ii.H. I'liuo christian of Sclifcstn'g-Ho/stcin 
 
" ECLIPSE FIRST AND THE REST NOWHERE " 
 
 bay son of a dark brown bay Arabian. There is not much 
 to be got out of the colours. 
 
 Then as to performances, there seems to be equally 
 little in it ; for Mr. Tattersall's note does not give any 
 races won by Shakespeare equal to Marskes Jockey Club 
 Plate in 1754 ; and the poem written at Marskes death (a 
 tribute I have not found given to Shakespeare) does not 
 support Mr. Tattersall's views. It begins as follows : 
 
 "Ye sportsmen for a while refrain your mirth, 
 Old Marsk is dead, consigned to peaceful earth. 
 The king of horses now alas ! is gone, 
 Sire of Eclipse who ne'er was beat by one. . . . 
 Thousands no doubt will wish one day to lie 
 As safe as Marsk beneath an angry sky." 
 
 The first time he appeared at Newmarket in 1754 was 
 when he received forfeit in April from Mr. Cornwall's grey 
 colt by his Arabian. But a month afterwards his victory 
 for the Jockey Club Plate of 100 guineas (four-year-olds, 8st., 
 one heat over the Round Course of 3 miles, 4 furlongs, 187 
 yards) involved beating Mr. Panton's Pythos, Mr. Croft's 
 Brilliant, Lord Gower's Ginger, and Mr. Vernon's Bear ; 
 and in October, carrying gst., he beat Lord Trentham's 
 Stringer (by Shock) over the Beacon Course of 4 miles, i 
 furlong, 138 yards for 300 guineas. Brilliant had his 
 revenge in 1755; but Marskes match, for 1000 guineas, 
 with that good horse Snap (by Snip, son of Flying Childers) 
 was perhaps his best performance, for he lost by so little 
 that the Duke challenged again in a fortnight, and only 
 sent Marske to the stud after Sjiap had beaten him twice. 
 
 Colonel O'Kelly owned a large oil painting of Marske 
 at the age of twenty, which eventually came to the owners 
 of Celbridge Abbey in Ireland, and a correspondent kindly 
 informs me it still hangs on the wall there. My own 
 illustration is taken from the fine engraving after Stubbs in 
 the British Museum. 
 
 Marske was given as a colt by his breeder, Mr. John 
 Hutton, of Marske, in Yorkshire, to the Duke of Cumber- 
 
 71 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 land in exchange for a chestnut Arabian. He won his best 
 race as a four-year-old, and evidently never had a chance of 
 the Arab mares at the Duke's stud until he was thirteen. 
 Then came the fortunate mating with his noble owner's 
 beautiful daughter of Regulus, a mare whom the Duke 
 bought from Sir Robert Eden, who bred her in 1749, and 
 she was sent to the stud after she had lost her only race at 
 Newmarket, in 1754. She died in 1776, and was the dam 
 of H.R.H.'s bay filly Ariadne, by Crab; the Duke of 
 Ancaster's bay filly Proserfine ; Lord Abingdon's chestnut 
 colt Hyperion (afterwards Garrick), by Marske ; the Duke 
 of Ancaster's chestnut filly Briseis, by Chrysolite ; and of 
 BelleropJwn, Montesquieii, Hebe, Coelia, Luna, and Falcons 
 dam, by Marske. 
 
 Up to 1763 Marske had only served farmers' mares at 
 Cranbourne Lodge for half a guinea and half a crown to 
 the groom, and he was bought by a Dorsetshire farmer for 
 very little at the Duke's sale. But when the real value of 
 his son. Eclipse, became evident, the Earl of Abingdon 
 bought him for 1000 guineas, and he stood at Rycot, in 
 Oxfordshire, at 100 guineas a mare until his death in 1779, 
 having then produced 154 winners, of a total of ;^7 1,806, 
 among whom were Desdeinona, Hephestion, Leviathan, 
 Masquerade, Narcissus, Sharke, Young Marske, and many 
 more. His good luck did not come until comparatively 
 late, and it was only by the merest chance that he was 
 foaled at all ; for his sire. Squirt (by Bartletfs Childers 
 from a daughter of Snake), was being led to Sir Harry 
 Harpur's kennel, when the groom begged him off, and he 
 became the sire of Marske, Syphon, the sire of Pumpkin, 
 Mr. Pratt's Purity, and other good ones. Our history of 
 breeding is full of providential accidents of the same kind. 
 
 It is only fair to add that Mr. John Lawrence, who saw 
 Eclipse, and published a " History and Delineation of the 
 Horse," in 1809, says : ''Eclipses dam was covered both by 
 Shakespeare and Marske, and she came to Marske s time, 
 so the honour was awarded to him. If I recollect right, 
 she had missed by him the previous year. . . . Great stress 
 
''ECLIPSE FIRST AND THE REST NOWHERE" 
 
 was laid upon the supposed likeness of Basilms, one of the 
 earliest sons of Eclipse, to Marske, and, indeed, the resem- 
 blance appears to me strong ; but I could discover no common 
 family resemblance between Eclipse and his presumed 
 full brother, Garrick. On the other hand, I think Eclipse 
 strongly resembled the family of Shakespeare in colour and 
 in certain particulars of form and temper." But when we 
 get down to any real evidence, we find Mr. Lawrence's 
 witness is the same as Mr. Tattersall's : " I was frequently 
 in the habit," writes Mr. Lawrence, " of visiting Eclipse at 
 Epsom, on which occasions I often discoursed the subject 
 of the disputed pedigree with Colonel O'Kelly's then groom, 
 who assured me that the mare was covered hy Shakespeare." 
 
 I cannot accept " Colonel O'Kelly's groom" as an authority 
 of what went on at the Duke of Cumberland's stud-farm 
 some time before any one knew the Duke's horses were 
 likely to be sold, and six years before Eclipse turned out to 
 be a flyer. Nor is it likely that Marske, good as his pro- 
 duce became as soon as he was given a chance, would have 
 been bought for looo guineas by Lord Abingdon (who sub- 
 sequently bred Eclipses loveliest son, Pottos), unless all 
 doubt about the pedigree had been set at rest. It is equally 
 certain that no one would have paid lOO guineas in those 
 days for Marske s services unless they had been reasonably 
 certain that he had sired Eclipse. 
 
 I have already pointed out certain "flaws" in Eclipses 
 pedigree in my second chapter. I think we may neglect the 
 Shakespeare legend. But I am unable to say with certainty 
 whether Spilettas granddam (called the Old Montague 
 Mare) was by Old Montague, whose breeding is unknown, 
 or by Woodcock, who was by Bustler, by the Helmsley 
 Turk, and therefore better blood. Apart from the out- 
 standing facts that the Darley Arabian was his great-great- 
 grandsire, and that the grandsire of his dam was the Godol- 
 phin Barb, what strikes any one who examines Eclipses 
 pedigree is the preponderance of the blood of Hautboy, who 
 was the son of the UArcy White Turk, out of a royal 
 mare, and who brings the third element into that perfect 
 
 73 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 blend of " Arabian, Barb, and Turk " which was so successful 
 in Eclipse. 
 
 So having settled, as accurately as we can ever settle 
 them, the birthplace and the sire of Eclipse, we must 
 imagine the brilliant chestnut colt being put up to auction 
 when the Cumberland stud was sold in 1765. He had a 
 very ugly head, and it must have taken a good judge to see 
 racing possibilities in the leggy yearling which the auc- 
 tioneer knocked down before the right time for the sale had 
 come. But Mr. William Wildman had evidently had a look 
 over the lots beforehand ; and he arrived determined to get 
 hold of the Spiletta colt, which of course he never bred 
 himself, as some authorities have suggested. 
 
 The contemporary record oi Eclipse s performances, which 
 I have reproduced, says that he was " sold as a foal for 
 ;j^45." But the accepted version of the facts runs that he 
 had been knocked down for 70 guineas (a good price for 
 those days) before Mr. Wildman's arrival, and that when 
 Mr. Wildman objected that the sale had begun before the 
 advertised time, the lots were put up again, and the meat 
 salesman got the chestnut for a sum recorded by Whyte as 
 75 guineas, and by John Osborne as 80 guineas. 
 
 Whatever the exact total, the colt undoubtedly passed 
 from the Duke's executors to Mr. Wildman, and this gen- 
 tleman's personality immediately becomes of so much 
 interest that I regret having found out so little to say of 
 him. Sir Robert Heron, in his " Memoirs," mentions a 
 Wildman in Nottinghamshire who began by being agent 
 to an estate and wound up by owning it. But I do not 
 think this is our man. 
 
 A most interesting portrait of Mr. Wildman, with his 
 two sons and Eclipse, painted by George Stubbs, was sent 
 to Christie's for sale in 1902, by the executors of Mr. J. R. 
 F. Burnett, a great-great-grandson of Wildman's, and was 
 most appropriately bought by Sir Walter Gilbey. The 
 horse is of the type Stubbs made familiar, after the mag- 
 nificent sketch from life of which I shall have more to say. 
 Mr. Wildman, who points proudly to his horse, looks a 
 
 74 
 
<: = 
 
"ECLIPSE FIRST AND THE REST NOWHERE" 
 
 well-to-do and well-dressed gentleman of middle age, in a 
 wig and three-cornered hat, and a plain but good dress with 
 the knee-breeches of the period, seated under a fine old tree 
 in what may well represent his Surrey park. Ruston is the 
 name of another of his thoroughbreds which George Stubbs 
 painted. I also find " Wildman's Squirrer' in the pedigree 
 written beneath an old Eclipse engraving, which may give 
 us a valuable hint as to his interest in the unknown Spiletta 
 colt; and " Mr. Wildman's Pain" ran four heats with the 
 Duke of Grafton's Havannah over a four-mile course at 
 Salisbury in 1763, which suggests that he was racing in 
 good company just before the Duke of Cumberland's death. 
 In the same year I find that a black mare belonging to Mr. 
 Wildman was used on three days during the wager which 
 Mr. Shafto won from Mr. Meynell that Mr. John Wood- 
 cock would ride a hundred miles a day for twenty-nine days 
 with not more than twenty-nine horses. As a matter of fact, 
 only eight horses and six mares were used. Mr. Woodcock 
 began at i a.m. on May 4, 1761, and finished on June i, at 
 6 P.M. Mr. Shafto lent him two horses, and all the others 
 must have been fine stayers. In 1770 Mr. Wildman's 
 Duchess, by Slouch, was beaten at the Newmarket First 
 Spring Meeting by Mr. Walton's grey horse Steady, who 
 also beat O'Kelly's bay colt at Ascot in June of the same 
 year, the season of Eclipse s most decisive triumphs. In 
 October, 1774, Mr. Wildman's Emma, hy Snap, \v2ls beaten 
 by Dart, at Odiham, in a maiden plate of £s^ for four-year- 
 olds, 8st., five-year-olds, 8st. i2lbs., three heats once round 
 the course ; and at Epsom, a fortnight afterwards, Mr. Wild- 
 man's Cantab, by Marske, was beaten again by the same 
 horse in four three-mile heats for £^0. Lastly, it is recorded 
 that at the same meeting Mr. Wildman had another horse 
 running at Epsom named Wanton, who was beaten by 
 Nestor. 
 
 His business was that of a meat salesman in Leaden- 
 hall Market, and of a grazier on a large scale at Havering- 
 atte-Bower ; and no doubt his pleasure was breeding 
 thoroughbreds in Surrey, and racing them on various 
 
 75 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 courses. From the few indications that remain I get the 
 impression of a prosperous City merchant with a sporting 
 turn, married, and in easy circumstances ; and the only 
 thing I cannot understand about him is his sale of Eclipse 
 to O'Kelly. 
 
 Evidently Mr. Wildman not only knew his business, 
 but soon recognised he had got a good thing in the late 
 Duke's yearling. Being in no hurry to realise, and having 
 made no large outlay of capital for which it would be neces- 
 sary to recoup himself as soon as possible, he conferred an 
 inestimable benefit on posterity by allowing the colt to 
 mature before he raced him, and by taking great pains to 
 find him a jockey he liked in 1769. At one time Eclipses 
 temper seemed so bad that a hasty owner might have 
 thought it impossible to send him to the post except as a 
 gelding. But everything was tried. He was sent for some 
 time to a rough-rider named George Elton, or Ellers, near 
 Epsom, who almost worked him to death by riding him 
 about all day, and sometimes kept him out all night on 
 poaching expeditions. But nothing hurt that iron consti- 
 tution and magnificently balanced framework, and nothing 
 broke the magnificent spirit of Spilettds fiery son. At last 
 patience and forbearance won the day. Jack Oakley, who 
 rode him in nearly all his races, never attempted to hold 
 him, but sat quietly in his saddle and let him go as he 
 pleased, with the result that he cut down his field at the 
 start and kept on increasing his lead ; for the further he 
 went the more he seemed to enjoy himself, so that he must 
 have had a combination of speed, stride, endurance, and 
 weight-carrying ability over a distance, which can never 
 have been surpassed in the history of the horse before or 
 since ; for the animals he beat were good ones, and there 
 was not one in existence during his short racing career 
 which could extend him. 
 
 That such proof of Eclipse s capacity was forthcoming 
 at all is largely owing to Mr. Wildman. Had he been born 
 in this twentieth century of enlightment and grace, there is 
 every probability that he would have been raced off his 
 
 76 
 
''ECLIPSE FIRST AND THE REST NOWHERE" 
 
 legs for all the two-year-old prizes in sight, and so " treated " 
 for " vice " that he would never have had any posterity at 
 all. It is not always that the jeers of modern scientific 
 sportsmen at the rough days of Dennis O' Kelly are wholly 
 justified. 
 
 It was natural that Mr. Wildman should give him his 
 first taste of racing at Epsom, and it was necessary to try 
 him first over the course. It is not often realised that 
 O' Kelly had begun to race before he owned Eclipse at 
 all, as may be inferred from the fact that his Caliban, by 
 Brilliant, was one of the horses distanced by the famous 
 but still unknown chestnut at Winchester on June 13, 1769. 
 He was able, therefore, to advise Wildman as to the proper 
 course to pursue, if advice were needed, in those weeks of 
 April that same year, when Eclipses real racing prepara- 
 tion began. The Mickleham stable naturally said very little 
 of their plans ; but the touts got to know, as they usually 
 do, that one of Mr. Wildman's lot was to have an important 
 trial over the Epsom Downs against a good horse which, I 
 suspect, was lent for the occasion by O'Kelly. The touts 
 arrived too late, but they found out what they wanted, as 
 they generally will. An old woman on the Downs was asked 
 whether shehad seen anything like a race. She replied thatshe 
 did not know whether it was a race or not, but she had just 
 seen a horse with a white leg " running away at a monstrous 
 rate," and another horse a great way behind trying to race 
 after him ; but she was " sure he never would catch the 
 white-legged one if he ran to the world's end." The news 
 had reached Medley's Coffee House by the afternoon, and 
 we may be sure that more of O'Kelly's friends than he 
 quite anticipated had put their money on the right horse in 
 Eclipses first race at the Epsom meeting on May 3, 1769. 
 
 It was a fifty-guinea plate for horses that had never won 
 ;^30, matches excepted. As a five-year-old Eclipse carried 
 8st. ; six-year-olds had 9st. 3lbs. ; four-mile heats. In this, 
 ridden by John Oakley, he beat Mr. Fortescue's bay Gower 
 (five years), by Sweepstakes, an exceptionally good one ; Mr. 
 Castle's bay Chance (six years), by Yoimg Cade; Mr. 
 
 77 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Jenning's chestnut Trial (five years), by Blank ; and Mr. 
 Quick's Plume (five years), by Feather. So much news 
 about the previous trial had got about that the betting was 
 four to one on Eclipse at the start, but O' Kelly had got on 
 a large amount previously at more remunerative odds. 
 Desirous of adding to his gains, and being perfectly confi- 
 dent, after the first heat, that this great horse could race as 
 well as he could gallop, he made a heavy wager (which was 
 naturally taken up with considerable eagerness) that he 
 would place all the horses in the second heat. When 
 asked to name their order, he pronounced the famous 
 sentence : ''Eclipse first, and the rest nowhere," as he was 
 sure that all the other horses would be " distanced " {i.e., 
 beaten by over 200 yards), and therefore would not be 
 "placed" by the judge. This proved to be more correct 
 than most racing prophecies have ever been ; for John 
 Oakley only had to sit quite still, and though all the horses 
 were close together at the three-mile post, Eclipse sailed 
 away so easily from there that he beat the rest, hard held, 
 by more than the margin required, and his jockey could 
 not have stopped him if he had wanted to. The painting 
 by Sartorius of the horse galloping with his head down 
 shows how completely he could master his jockey when he 
 liked. It was nearly always Oakley who rode him, but 
 Fitzpatrick was sometimes given the mount ; and at York 
 in 1770 he was ridden by S. Merriott, according to Orton's 
 "Turf Annuals," and by John Whiting at Lewes, according 
 to Bracy Clark ; but I can find no proof that John Singleton 
 (i 732-1826), who won on Alabaculia in 1776, ever rode 
 Eclipse, as has been suggested. It was probably Oakley 
 with whom O'Kelly made the arrangement described in our 
 next chapter, which is about the earliest instance of a 
 "retaining fee" upon the Turf; and the colours were red 
 with a black cap, which are reproduced in the binding of 
 this volume. 
 
 Mr. Wildman himself must have been as much impressed 
 as was O'Kelly by this performance at Epsom, and he took 
 a characteristic step in consequence of it without delay ; for 
 
 78 
 

''ECLIPSE FIRST AND THE REST NOWHERE" 
 
 he at once hunted M'^Marske from the Dorsetshire farmer who 
 had bought him so cheaply at the Duke's sale, and soon made 
 a good deal more than the purchase price {£20) out of his 
 fees at Mickleham. When those fees had risen to thirty- 
 guineas, and after he had raced others of Marskes get under 
 his own colours, he sold the stallion to Lord Abingdon, as 
 has been already mentioned, who promptly raised them to 
 a hundred guineas, a very large sum for those days. 
 
 It is also right to mention that some authorities refer 
 the famous anecdote about O'Kelly's placing the horses to 
 the King's Plate at Newmarket in 1770, when ten to one is 
 said to have been freely betted against the Irishman per- 
 forming the feat. It is certainly true that after this he had 
 a walk-over for nearly every race in which he entered, and 
 was withdrawn from lack of competition at the end of that 
 season. But I expect that there was a very general belief 
 in his extraordinary excellence by that time, and that few 
 people would have laid so confidently against O'Kelly, 
 whose astuteness was equally a matter of common know- 
 ledge, even in a wager that appeared (to the uninitiated) 
 almost impossible for any one to win. Fields were smaller 
 in those days, and it would be perfectly well known by any 
 one betting with O'Kelly at Newmarket in 1770 both that 
 distanced horses were unplaced and that Eclipse was capable 
 of distancing his field. This latter fact, at any rate, would 
 not seem very probable on the horse's first appearance ; and 
 therefore I agree with those authorities who refer the bet to 
 the race at Epsom just described. 
 
 It would be curious to consider how many people 
 realised what they were looking at when Eclipse registered 
 his first victory. What they saw was a horse with a very 
 ugly head, a blaze face, and one white stocking on the off 
 hind leg. Stubbs must have hit him off to the life in the 
 beautiful sketch, now the property of Sir Walter Gilbey at 
 Elsenham Hall, which formed the type from which most of 
 the best portraits were taken. His colour was the most 
 brilliant chestnut, and in Lord Rosebery's wonderful 
 collection at the Durdans, where there is an undoubted 
 
 79 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 portion of Eclipses skin, which came to him through 
 Matthew Dawson, who got it from Colonel O' Kelly's 
 nephew, I have seen the Epsom sunlight shining on it, 
 with that extraordinary iridescent effect which makes a 
 true chestnut the loveliest colour in the world. 
 
 It has been said that Eclipse was what is called a "thick- 
 winded " horse, and puffed at his exercise so as to be heard 
 at a considerable distance. But he can never have been 
 a " roarer " at any time, for his wind was as sound as a 
 bell, both during and after his racing career, so that the 
 postponement of his first appearance on a course cannot 
 have had anything to do with any physical weakness. 
 
 I shall have more to say about his actual measurements 
 later on ; but, judging from his skeleton, he cannot have 
 been under 15.2 — a big height for his day and generation ; 
 and this measurement is confirmed by Bracy Clark. 
 
 "When I first saw hitn," says Mr. John Lawrence, who must have 
 visited him at the stud, "he appeared in high health, of a robust con- 
 stitution, and to promise long life. I paid particular attention to his 
 shoulder, which, according to the common notion, was in truth very 
 thick, but very extensive and well placed. His hindquarters and 
 croup appeared higher than his forehand ; and in his gallop it was 
 said no horse ever threw his haunches with greater effect, his agility 
 and stride being on a par, from his fortunate conformation in every 
 part and his uncommon strength. He had considerable length of 
 waist and stood over a great deal of ground, in which particular he was 
 of the opposite form to Flying Childers, a short-backed, compact horse, 
 whose reach laid in his lower limbs. . . . Eclipse was thick-winded, 
 and breathed hard and loud in his exercise. . . ." 
 
 " He was a big horse," wrote Mr. Percival, the veterinary surgeon, 
 " in every sense of the word, tall in stature, lengthy and capacious in 
 body, and large in his limbs. For a big horse his head was small and 
 partook of the Arabian character ; his neck was unusually long ; his 
 shoulder was strong, sufficiently oblique, and although not remarkable 
 for, not deficient in depth. His chest was circular ; he rose very little 
 on his withers, being higher behind than before ; his back was lengthy 
 and over the loins roached ; his- quarters were straight square and 
 extended ; his limbs were lengthy and broad, and his joints large ; in 
 particular his arms and thighs were long and muscular, and his knees 
 and hocks broad and well formed." 
 
 80 
 
'' ECLIPSE FIRST AND THE REST NOWHERE" 
 
 Bracy Clark, the famous veterinary surgeon, who had 
 his skeleton soon after it was dissected, and whose brother 
 was present at that operation, records that Eclipse had "a 
 particularly high croup, owing to the length of his hind 
 limbs ; and his thigh-bones were, for a blood-horse, of an 
 enormous size. In his gallop his hindlegs were very wide 
 and separated" . . . (which is just what "The Druid" 
 noticed in his descendant, Touchstone) ..." the width of 
 the haunch bones and pelvis would account sufficiently for 
 this appearance, the hindlegs being parallel columns from 
 the haunch, and not approaching upwards, as do the fore- 
 limbs." 
 
 We must remember also that the first Earl of Strad- 
 broke (father of Admiral Rous) said that he had often seen 
 Eclipse, and that the horse " resembled a sixteen-stone 
 hunter." 
 
 From such descriptions as this, combined with 
 paintings by Stubbs or Sartorius, and with Saint Bel's 
 careful measurements and analysis of his skeleton, we can 
 get somewhat nearer to realising what Eclipse was like 
 than might have been imagined. His performances on the 
 Turf were so limited by his own excellence that he is 
 somewhat in the position of St. Simon ; we shall never know 
 how good he really was ; and in the same way we have to 
 judge of his excellence a good deal by the high form of his 
 get, and the influence of his blood. But it is useless to 
 depreciate the only animals he ever had a chance of beating 
 merely because he beat them all without ever needing to 
 extend himself. I have mentioned some of them already. 
 The story of his other races will complete the refutation 
 of the fable that " he never had anything to beat." 
 
 After his victory at Epsom early in May 1769, he went 
 on to Ascot where, on the 29th of the same month, he won a 
 £^0 Plate (9st. 3lbs., two-mile heats) beating Mr. Fettyplace's 
 b. h. CrSine de Barbade (by Old Snap), very easily in both 
 heats. It must have been soon after this further confirma- 
 tion of his excellence that O'Kelly bought a half-share in 
 him from Wildman for 650 guineas ; for he was part owner 
 
 81 F 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 when, on June 13, Eclipse won the King's Purse of 100 
 guineas at Winchester (i2st., four-mile heats, six-year-olds) 
 giving away a ^^ear and a sound beating to Mr. Turner's 
 b. h. Slouch (by Othello) ; the Duke of Grafton's gr. h. 
 Chigger ; Mr. Gott's b. \v. Juba (by Regiclus) ; Mr. O' Kelly's 
 b. h. Caliban, by Brilliant ; and Mr. Bailey's b. h. Clanville 
 (by Bajazet), the last two being distanced in the first heat. 
 At the same meeting Eclipse walked over for the Fifty 
 Guinea Plate. 
 
 At Salisbury, on June 29, he again walked over for the 
 King's Purse of a 100 guineas, and won 30 guineas and the 
 City Bowl (lost., four-mile heats) against Mr. Fettyplace's 
 gr. h. Sulphnr (by Spectator) and Mr. Taylor's Forrester, a 
 bay six-year-old. At Canterbury he walked over the course 
 for the King's Purse of 100 guineas. At Lewes he won the 
 King's Plate of 100 guineas (i2st., four-mile heats) against 
 Mr. Strode's b. h. Kiitgston (six years), by Sampson. At 
 Lichfield he only had one horse to beat for the King's Purse 
 (8st. ylbs., three-mile heats), which he won from Mr. Freeth's 
 Tardy (by Matchless). Before the year was over O' Kelly 
 had managed to persuade Wildman to sell him the other 
 half interest in Eclipse for iioo guineas, and no better 
 bargain in horseflesh was ever made. 
 
 His triumphs began again in 1770, at the Spring Meet- 
 ing at Newmarket, where he was matched on April 17 over 
 the Beacon Course (at 8st. 7lbs.) against Mr. Wentworth's 
 fine chestnut Bucephahts (by Regulus), both being six years 
 old. Regulus was the sire of Eclipses dam ; but rarely can 
 a nephew have given his uncle so decisive a beating, for 
 though Bucephalus was well known as one of the best 
 horses of the day, both for speed and stoutness of heart, 
 nothing availed him ; and he has secured a place in history 
 as the only horse who ever made Eclipse gallop for even 
 part of any race. But his effort broke his heart, and he was 
 never fit to race again. Mr. Wildman's confidence was 
 unabated, and he bet 600 guineas to 400 on his favourite at 
 the start. In winning the 400 guineas for the King's Purse 
 on April 19 (Round Course, two heats of 2k miles, i2st.) 
 
 82 
 
=£ «5 
 
"ECLIPSE FIRST AND THE REST NOWHERE" 
 
 Eclipsehf3X Mr. ¥&n\\\c\^s Diana i^ny Reguhts), Mr. Stroud's 
 bay horse Pensioner (by Matchless, a son of the Godolphin 
 Arabian), and the Duke of Grafton's grey horse Chigger. 
 Ten to one were bet on Eclipse at the start, and after the 
 first heat (in which Diana was second, Pensioner third, and 
 Chigger fourth), large sums were wagered, at odds of six 
 and seven to four, that he would distance Pensioner in the 
 second heat, which he did with the greatest ease. " The 
 rest," in fact, were, as usual, "nowhere." Before leaving 
 Newmarket, Eclipse also walked over the course twice for 
 lOO guineas each time ; and exactly the same thing happened 
 in the King's Plate when he went on to Nottingham. 
 
 The monotony of the proceedings was slightly varied at 
 York, as is recorded not only in Orton's "Annals," but in 
 a little book called " Historic York," which contains races 
 on the Knavesmire from 1709 to 1783. 
 
 In 1770, at York, Captain O'KtWys c\\. h. Eclipse i^y 
 Marske, son of Squirt, out of Spiletta, by Regulus) did 
 indeed walk over for His Majesty's 100 guineas for six- 
 year-olds (i2st. 7lbs.), four-mile heats. But he also beat Mr. 
 Wentworth's b. h. Tortoise, by Snap (aged), and Sir Charles 
 Bunbury's b. h. Bellario, by Brilliant (aged), for the great 
 subscription of ;^3i9 los. for six-year-olds 8st. 7lbs., and 
 aged 9st., four miles. The betting was 20 to i on Eclipse, 
 and in running 100 to i on. He led at the start, and had 
 distanced the others in two miles, winning very easily. 
 O'Kelly paid 50 guineas entrance. Snap, the sire of the 
 second in the race, ran under Mr. Routh's colours on the 
 same course in 1756, and was never beaten, becoming after- 
 wards the sire of many famous horses before he died in 
 1777 at the age of twenty-five. His son Goldfinder was 
 also unbeaten, and was supposed to have had some chance 
 against Eclipse, but broke down in exercise. But I suspect 
 he would not have done better than Bucephalus (the son of 
 Regulus, a sire especially affected by Mr. Hutton), who gave 
 Eclipse the only semblance of a contest ever seen, but 
 never recovered from his heart-breaking efforts. The 
 Belldrio and Tortoise mentioned above were of very high 
 
 83 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 class, and probably as fast as any of their day ; and the ease 
 with which Eclipse disposed of them is one of the great 
 tests of his transcendent merits. 
 
 Racing was begun on Lincoln Heath, near the village 
 of Waddington, in 1765, according to the " Lincoln Date 
 Book," and was not seen on the Carholme, the present 
 course, until September 1771. The last time there was 
 racing on the Heath, Eclipse walked over for the King's 
 Plate, i2st., 100 guineas. At Guildford he had the same 
 easy task. At Newmarket he made his last appearance on 
 the Turf at the October meeting, where he won 150 guineas 
 (Beacon Course, 8st. lolbs.) against Sir Charles Bunbury's 
 b. h. Corsican (by Swiss, a son of Old Snap), who was five 
 years old, and, as the betting shows, was not thought to 
 have a chance. O'Kelly paid 100 guineas entrance fee, and 
 the betting was 70 to i on Eclipse ; so this can hardly be 
 called a profitable race ; and no one ventured to oppose the 
 chestnut next day when he walked over the Round Course 
 for the King's Plate. 
 
 An interesting indication of the most prominent owners 
 on the Turf at this moment may be derived from the fact 
 that on February 10, 1771, the following colours were 
 registered at the meeting of the Jockey Club at the Star 
 and Garter, in Pall Mall. 
 
 Duke of Kingston 
 Duke of Ancaster . 
 Duke of Grafton . 
 Duke of Northumberland 
 Marquis of Rockingham 
 Viscount Bolingbroke 
 Lord Carlisle 
 Lord Grosvenor . 
 Lord Farnham 
 Lord Ossory 
 Sir Charles Bunbury, Bt. 
 Rt. Hon. C. J. Fox 
 Mr. Thos. Foley . 
 Mr. Pigott . 
 Mr. Patrick Blake 
 
 84 
 
 Crimson. 
 
 Very light buff. 
 
 Dark blue, black cap. 
 
 Gold. 
 
 Green, black cap. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Scarlet and grey stripes. 
 
 Orange, black cap. 
 
 Sky blue. 
 
 Pea green. 
 
 Pink and white stripe, black cap. 
 
 Green and white stripe. 
 
 Green and white stripe. 
 
 Pompadour. 
 
 Black and white. 
 
''ECLIPSE FIRST AND THE REST NOWHERE" 
 
 Mr. C. Blake .... Grey and white. 
 
 Mr. Burlton Yellow. 
 
 Mr. Ogilvy Harlequin. 
 
 Mr. R. Vernon .... White, black cap. 
 
 Mr. P. Wentworth . . , White satin. 
 
 There must have been quite a sigh of relief from most of 
 these gentlemen when it was known that Eclipse had defi- 
 nitely been taken out of training, and I can imagine many 
 more exciting seasons on the English Turf than those of 1769 
 and 1770, when one animal could beat everything in sight. 
 Their significance, however, was enormous ; for though we 
 should now consider it rather a bad sign if a single horse 
 were to prove itself far and away better than all the rest, in 
 those early days it meant a development of the thorough- 
 bred which was to alter the whole character of English 
 racing for nearly a century and a half afterwards. Eclipse, 
 as Mr. Lawrence finely says, " was never beaten, never had 
 a whip flourished over him, or felt the tickling of a spur, or 
 was ever for a moment distressed . . . outfooting, out- 
 striding, and outlasting every horse which started against 
 him." That is the real value of a racing record which only 
 brought in 2149 guineas in prize-money, though it included 
 eleven King's Plates out of about eighteen victories that 
 are recorded, and these races were nearly all run under con- 
 ditions calculated to try the best horses as high as possible. 
 I have myself only seen one race over as long a distance as 
 three miles six furlongs, and that was the " Prix Gladiateur," 
 Avhich was run at Chantilly on October 23, 1906, instead of at 
 Longchamps, where a crowd of roughs had wrecked the 
 racecourse and plundered the totalisators on the previous 
 Sunday. It was won by Clyde, a daughter of Childwick, 
 carrying 8st. lolbs., and the pace was very good throughout. 
 I never saw a mare less tired after so trying a course ; a nd 
 I believe there is no longer one in Europe, for when Lord 
 Ellesmere's Kroonstad walked over for the Whip at New- 
 market, less than a fortnight before, the course (Ditch In) 
 was only 2 miles 118 yards; but the weight was lost., and 
 it is this last point which makes Eclipse, s performances so 
 
 85 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 remarkable. As I shall show later, his speed, though better 
 than any of his day, could probably be easily beaten by the 
 modern cracks that are breaking records every year ; but 
 there is hardly one alive now that could race for four miles 
 under list, or i2st. as Eclipse habitually did; and the 
 reason may well be that he was nearer the original Arab, 
 and that there had not yet been time to break down stamina 
 by breeding for flashy sprints or by racing two-year-olds 
 before they were mature. It has been shown since his time 
 that the pure Arab can outlast anything on four legs at his 
 own pace ; but that, for sheer speed, the worst plater on the 
 Turf to-day can give him two stone and a beating over a 
 mile course. 
 
 But I must not yet enter into comparative questions of 
 speed or deterioration, which almost deserve a volume to 
 themselves. It will be sufficient to repeat that " O'Kelly's 
 gang," who are supposed to have fleeced the Turf at large 
 during 1769 and 1770, made very little in prizes, and had to 
 pay so highly for the privilege of betting that only the capi- 
 talists among them could have ever speculated much. One 
 point, too, must always be given in their favour, for it shows 
 they resisted as strong a temptation as any racecourse 
 blackguard ever had. They never " stopped " the favourite. 
 Eclipse was never beaten " by an accident." 
 
 O'Kelly's real fun began when Eclipse had stood a 
 year or two as a stallion at Clay Hill, Epsom ; and the 
 engraving in the British Museum, after the picture Stubbs 
 painted for the lucky Irishman, is dated October 1773. It 
 was doubtless done, as were so many of those in the superb 
 collection of Mr. Tattersall's albums, as a kind of advertise- 
 ment in the first instance, though that was little wanted for 
 so famous an animal ; for Eclipse s fee at first was 50 
 guineas. In 1772 it fell to 25 ; after 1774, by subscription, 
 forty mares, besides his owner's, at 30 guineas ; and this 
 the same to all in 1779. In 178 1 it had fallen to 20, but 
 from 1785 till his death he could command 30. 
 
 O'Kelly was not a modest man ; but he saw no use in ex- 
 aggeration ; and _;;^25,ooo is the total of the gains he admitted 
 
 86 
 
« a I 
 
''ECLIPSE FIRST AND THE REST NOWHERE" 
 
 from his good horse at the stud. Mr. Fenwick cleared 
 ;!^i 7,000 by Matchem, and Mr. Martindale a good deal less 
 by Regulus ; so that Eclipses gains are comparatively heavy, 
 and his get secured the enormous sum (for those cautious 
 days) of _;!^i58,047 between 344 winners in 23 years, 
 besides various other victories by PotSos, Etnpress, Young 
 Eclipse, Dungamion, Gunpowder and Meteor, chiefly at 
 Newmarket, between 1779 and 1789. Of course this will 
 not stand comparison with such modern records as that of 
 St. Simon ; but there was far less money to be run for a 
 hundred years ago, and the total has usually been mis- 
 printed to read ^518,047, apparently with the object of 
 equalling St. Sinioifs extraordinary results. These latter 
 are worth recording here, as a comparison, in the dozen years, 
 for which I can quote the stud-groom's figures. Without 
 including place-money or races abroad, the figures of 
 St. Simons winning stock are as follows : 
 
 1889 
 
 •• ;^24,286 
 
 189s . 
 
 £2,oa(>9 
 
 1890 
 
 ;^32,799 
 
 1896 
 
 ;^59-740 
 
 I89I 
 
 ;^25,890 
 
 1897 . 
 
 £22,S^l 
 
 1892 
 
 ;£56,i39 
 
 1898 
 
 ;£lS,2I0 
 
 1893 
 
 ;i36,3i9 
 
 1899 
 
 ;fi7.505 
 
 1894 
 
 ^^42,092 
 
 1900 
 
 ;^54,46o 
 
 This means an annual average (for twelve years) of 
 ;^34,2i2 won in prizes by animals of which the undefeated 
 St. Simon was the sire ; and the Duke of Portland's famouj 
 horse traces back through Galopin, Vedette, Voltigenr, 
 Voltaire, Blacklock, Whitelock, Hambletonian and King 
 Fergus, in direct male line to Eclipse. 
 
 But questions of breeding I must reserve till later. The 
 appropriate ending to this chapter on Eclipses racing record 
 is the letter written by his owner's nephew and heir con- 
 cerning his pace, which, it will be seen, had reached pro- 
 portions as legendary and as exaggerated as the total of his 
 stock's winnings by so early a date as 1814. They were 
 still betting about it in Admiral Rous's day. The letter, of 
 which I reproduce the original, runs as follows : 
 
 87 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Endorsed. — To Mr. Cross, St. Mildred's Court, Poultry, respecting 
 Eclipse's having run a mile in a minute. May lO, 1814. 
 
 Lt.-Col. O'Kelly presents his compts to Mr. Cross and in answer to 
 hisQ. 
 
 Did the celebrated horse Eclipse ever run over a mile of 
 ground within the space of one minute ? 
 begs leave to inform him that Eclipse never having been tried against 
 time it is impossible to say whether he ever did accomplish a mile 
 within this time, altho' he was reputed the fastest horse that was ever 
 bred in England. 
 
 Half Moon St., May 10, 18 14. 
 
 The Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Dennis O'Kelly who 
 wrote this was not the man who bought and raced 
 Eclipse; and it is to his uncle, to the unknown Irishman 
 whose bulldog physiognomy adorns my frontispiece, that I 
 must now turn. Eclipses owner was a remarkable man, as 
 befitted one whose name is linked for all time with the most 
 celebrated horse in the history of racing. 
 
 88 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 DENNIS O'KELLY 
 
 Risus do/ore misabitur et extrema gaudii luctus occupat 
 
 Part I.— EARLY DAYS 
 
 Family Papers — Miniature by Lochee — Characteristic Features — The 
 O'Kellys of Tullow — The Grattans, Harveys, and Esmondes — Early Days 
 — Barry Lyndon and Tregonwell Frampton — The Sedan Chair — Dr. John- 
 son — Irishmen on the Turf — Buck VVhaley — The Prince's Stakes — Early 
 Days in Town — The Fleet Prison — The "Count" — Charlotte Hayes — 
 Blacklegs on the Turf — Gambling Hells — Betting — Sixteen New Offences 
 — Chances of Breeding — Dennis in 1766 — Purchases in 1769 — Clay Hill 
 — The Racing Stud — " Cross and Jostle " — Retaining a Jockey — " The 
 Blacklegged Fraternity " — Hospitable Gatherings — Good Points in the 
 Character of Dennis — The Militia Title — Did he Fight in America ? — The 
 Two " Colonel O'Kellys." 
 
 ONE of the greatest revolutions in the verdicts 
 passed by my predecessors, which was created 
 by the appearance of the manuscript memoranda 
 of the O' Kelly family mentioned in my preface, 
 was the entire revision of the character and personality of 
 the owner of Eclipse as it has hitherto been accepted. 
 Before these papers were put into my hands, my only 
 authorities consisted of scattered references in various books 
 on racing, a few contemporary newspapers and magazines, 
 and some scurrilous memoirs printed soon after Dennis 
 O'Kellys death, which I have now found reason to use 
 with great caution. Of these latter the larger part has been 
 relegated to my Appendix for the edification of the curious 
 and the avoidance of all scruple and doubtfulness. 
 
 89 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 It will be realised that with one part of the family- 
 papers in Ireland and another in Yorkshire, it was only- 
 owing to the generosity- and forbearance of their respective 
 owners that I have been able to select what few surviving 
 traces of O'Kelly's life can be deciphered among a mass of 
 documents which had not been searched for this purpose 
 before. There are, therefore, gaps in my narrative of facts 
 which I can only fill by those conjectures which appear 
 most probable after a careful consideration of the subject 
 and of the new material before me. Those who criticise 
 this method will perhaps be charitable enough to remember 
 that, faulty as it may be, it should produce results con- 
 siderably superior to any that have not been based on the 
 assistance so fortunately rendered to the present writer. 
 To take one point only: I doubt whether the general public, 
 or even the world of racing, has before seen an authentic 
 portrait of Dennis O'Kelly. 
 
 My frontispiece is an enlarged autotype from a beautiful 
 little cameo mounted in gold now in the possession of 
 Major Langdale, who inherited it from his mother, the 
 daughter of Mary O'Kelly Harvey. It very probably 
 formed part of a mourning-ring made, according to the 
 fashion of those days, to be given to Dennis O'Kelly's 
 relatives and friends after his funeral, or perhaps to be kept 
 only by his heir. I deduce this from the appearance 
 in an account-book kept by Andrew Dennis O'Kelly, 
 nephew and heir of Eclipses owner, of the item 
 
 " To Lochee, Limner, ^^5 5 o." 
 
 which is dated July 2, 1788. Dennis O'Kelly died in 
 December 1787. Further, in Tassie's list, number 14,334 is 
 " Cameo, A bust of Count O'Kelly modelled by Lochee." The 
 title of " Count " is one that is frequently given to Dennis, and 
 we shall see later the reason for which his contemporaries 
 thought he held it. I never find it used of his nephew, or 
 of any other member of the family. Lochee (whose name 
 may have been derived from the northern suburb of 
 Dundee) lived in the Haymarket, and was " portrait- 
 
 90 
 
DENNIS O'KELLY 
 
 modeller to the Royal Princes." He was employed by 
 Wedgewood in the second half of the eighteenth century, 
 and was an exquisite craftsman in small things. He is 
 known to have been working at Stowe in December 1787, 
 and again in the following March (four months before his 
 name appears in the young O' Kelly's account-book) when 
 he was accompanied by an assistant named Plast, and 
 obtained copies of the finest gems in the Duke of Buck- 
 ingham's possession, made after the same style as the 
 O'Kelly cameo. Several examples of his modelling may 
 be seen in the British Museum. 
 
 The face is an undoubted and very characteristic 
 portrait. It is not that of a common man of unknown 
 origin, for there are traces of good blood in it as well as of 
 hard bone. The eye is well set, and there is breeding 
 about the lines of the nose. The length of the upper lip 
 may be an Irish feature. The bulldog jowl and the re- 
 treating brow are its worst points. They show great 
 strength of purpose combined with lack of imagination ; 
 and the sturdy neck and bulging back of the head indicate 
 similar qualities of dogged virility. The lips are thin, 
 with little humour in them, and for the completion of the 
 analysis it is a pity that the ears are hidden. The man, as 
 Lochee thus reveals him, is the very mixture of good and 
 evil which most of us are, a mixture which only accentuates 
 the contradiction of its elements in a man who lives 
 hard, who has had to fight his way up in the world, 
 and who possesses the qualities — both physical and 
 temperamental — requisite for success in a rough struggle 
 against very varying kinds of opposition. No hindrance 
 stopped O'Kelly ; and you can see that in his face. 
 But he drew the line at some things ; and you can see 
 that too. He reminds me, in character, of a greater man 
 I have already mentioned, of the opponent of Eclipses 
 breeder on the field of Fontenoy, of that Marshal Saxe 
 who had all the daring of a man of breeding with none of 
 the highest prerogatives of birth — the courage that has to 
 suffice, not for the son only, but the unacknowledged father 
 
 91 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 too. That O'Kelly, when he came to England, was " lord 
 of his presence and no land beside," is true enough : that 
 he was as ready to hang a calfskin on the recreant limbs 
 of any soft-hearted opponent, is true enough as well. But 
 as far as I can find out he was the legitimate son of Philip 
 O'Kelly, of Tullow, in County Carlow, a poor squireen of 
 an old house, whose boys had to fend for themselves, and 
 left for England, at a fairly early age, to do it. The 
 O'Kellys of Grange and Ballymurchoe have died out, and 
 of the direct line of Eclipse s owner, there are none, for he 
 was childless and succeeded by his nephew, who survived 
 his children. 
 
 But the O'Kelly genealogy is full of interest, and the 
 marriages that occurred in it soon after the death of Dennis 
 prove pretty conclusively that he cannot have been the 
 blackguard he has hitherto been thought. I shall have 
 more to say of these collateral descendants of his when I 
 describe his nephew's career upon the Turf, so it will be 
 sufficient to say now that his sister Mary married Whitfield 
 Harvey, who gave a name to Eclipse s daughter, Miss 
 Harvey, granddam of Sir Joshua. Mary Harvey's son 
 was Philip Whitfield Harvey, who was the real creator of 
 Freeman s Journal, and married Frances Tracy, the 
 heiress. Their daughter, Mary O'Kelly Harvey (of 
 Glenwood, Co. Wicklow) married Henry Grattan, M.P. 
 (b. 1787) who brought into this family the Celbridge 
 property which had come to the Grattans from Dean 
 Marlay, afterwards Bishop of Waterford. This Henry 
 Grattan, whose brother married Lord Dysart's sister, and 
 died at Waterloo, was the son of the great Henry Grattan, 
 who was buried in Westminster Abbey, and of Henrietta 
 Fitzgerald. Mary O'Kelly Harvey (who became, as we 
 have seen, Mrs. Grattan) had six children, and the eldest 
 daughter married a Langdale of Houghton in Yorkshire, 
 whose son lent me the portrait - cameo of Dennis 
 O'Kelly and many racing memoranda for this book. 
 The fourth of the Grattan sisters, Louisa, married Sir 
 John Esmonde, M.P., and their son, the present Sir 
 
 92 
 
DENNIS O'KELLY 
 
 Thomas Grattan Esmonde, M.P., lent me the charming 
 painting of Andrew Dennis O'Kelly and a very large 
 quantity of manuscripts relating to the family. Even 
 if I had not said enough already, these manuscripts, 
 to which I shall from time to time refer, would be 
 alone sufficient to show that the owner of Eclipse was 
 
 THE START. BY ROWLANDSON 
 
 very far from being the graceless ruffian of obscure 
 origin he has till now been pictured ; and that he had 
 learnt a good Italian hand is evident from the signature 
 to a document drawn up in 1769, which I reproduce in this 
 book. 
 
 Dennis O'Kelly was born about 1720, and it seems 
 likely that his elder brother Philip (who later on looked 
 after the stud farm at Epson) was obliged to work at some 
 trade or another to assist in supporting the family during 
 the early days of their life in Ireland. Dennis seems to 
 have grown restless first, and went over to England at 
 about the age of five-and-twenty to make his fortune. 
 Apart from the miniature reproduced here, it would be 
 
 93 
 
'^^^^Hjp; 
 
 ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 very difficult to get any idea of his personality, though he 
 no doubt appears in Rowlandson's drawing of the Betting 
 Room of the Jockey Club, and there is a strong tradition 
 that his figure is again introduced in the same artist's 
 charming sketches of the " Betting-Post " and the " Start ; " 
 but it must be remembered that these latter are rather 
 caricatures than portraits. His broad shoulders and deep 
 chest may have somewhat detracted from his height, which 
 one writer, in the year of O'Kelly's death, puts at 5ft. i lins. 
 while another calls him " a short, thick-set, dark, harsh- 
 visaged, ruffian-looking fellow," yet admits that he could 
 display " the ease, the agrdmens, the manners of a gentle- 
 man, and the attractive quaintness of a humorist." 
 
 His features [writes another eye - witness] were neither irregular 
 nor unpleasing, though strongly marked with the varnacitlar ; but his 
 voice (the very reverse of melody) not only assailed but wounded the 
 ear. It was what migbt be termed the broadest and most offensive 
 brogue his nation ever produced. 
 
 The resultant ima^e is something between Barry 
 Lyndon in fiction and Tregonwell Frampton in fact, with a 
 dash of practically successful and hard-headed ambition 
 possessed by neither. The more I have read of the 
 O' Kelly papers, which have been certainly unknown to 
 most people since the beginning of the nineteenth century, 
 the more amusement I find in recalling the details of two 
 of Thackeray's most successful literary creations : Catherine 
 Hayes and Barry Lyndon. Barry, you will remember, was 
 very friendly with a gamekeeper who talked of " Fontenoy 
 nd Marshal Saxe and the opera-dancers ; " and in the 
 "ys when' he was no longer "bitter poor," he once asked 
 r. Johnson what horse will win at Epsom Downs next 
 week, or could he shoot the ace of spades ten times without 
 missing ; nor was the doctor as unsympathetic as might 
 have been imagined. Barry's father, too, might have been 
 drawn from life not far from old O'Kelly's birthplace, for 
 did he not keep seven racehorses while he was attorney's 
 clerk and hunt regularly with the Kildare and Wicklow 
 
 94 
 
ECLIPSE 
 
 From the pniutinf/ bi/ Sartorius in the 2)ossetisiou of .luHan Sampson, Eaq. 
 
 ECLIPSE AT FULL GALLOP 
 
 From (I print in the })osses$ion of H.li.H. Prince Christian of Schh'sn-ii/-J{olstvin, after the 
 
 painting/ by Sartoritis 
 
DENNIS O'KELLY 
 
 hounds ? Did he not win the Plate at Newmarket with 
 Endyinion and attract the attention of his sovereign ? Did 
 he not live (and this is perhaps the strangest coincidence of 
 all) " in a fine house in Clarges Street where gentlemen 
 lost a few pieces at play? " And did he not drive his coach 
 and six like a man of fashion and die at Chester Races ? 
 It is strangely like O'Kelly, without the manly fibre and 
 resolute determination of Eclipses owner. 
 
 This temperament was harmoniously welded to an iron 
 constitution, with a keenly retentive memory and a sur- 
 prisingly universal faculty of intuition ; so that it was only 
 a very short time before the youthful Dennis O'Kelly learnt 
 his way about town and made up his mind about the 
 various opportunities and personalities of London. It 
 may well be true that the young Irishman had so hard a 
 struggle to make his way at first that he was once com- 
 pelled to take the front shafts of a sedan-chair, in which he 
 cut so good a figure that one of his fares gave him the 
 opportunity and the means to get a start in life and be 
 imprisoned for debt like a gentleman, pr The details of this 
 adventure, according to the memoirs of the time, must be" 
 read in my Appendix ; but I need only say here that such an 
 employment would not necessarily have done him much 
 harm either in racing circles or in society about town later 
 on. Richard Barrymore, for instance, known to his friends 
 as " Hellgate," married the daughter of a sedan-chairman 
 who was also niece of the notorious Lady Lade. This 
 lively young person, who begun her career as the mistress 
 of " Sixteen-string Jack," was the wife of Sir John Lade, 
 the ward of Thrale and the friend of the Prince of Wales. 
 In spite of all his faults. Sir John was a member of that 
 aristocratic " Whip " Club which laid the foundation of the 
 present " Four-in-Hand." 
 
 I may note, in passing, that Thrale's friend. Dr. 
 Johnson, did not take his views of the turf entirely from 
 the justly reprobated career of Sir John Lade ; for it is a 
 curious fact that, at the great lexicographer's funeral, one 
 of his pall-bearers was a racing-man so distinguished in the 
 
 95 
 
ECLIPSE AND OKELLY 
 
 history of Newmarket and Epsom as Sir Charles Bunbury. 
 Besides this, the story of Dr. Johnson's visit to Atlas is 
 well known, after that stout horse's match with Mr. 
 Warner's Careless had been celebrated in enthusiastic 
 rhymes. When the Doctor had examined this splendid 
 animal at Chatsworth, he said he would rather own him 
 than all the rest of the Duke's possessions. 
 
 If a sedan-chair, then, was not a bar to subsequent 
 success, imprisonment for debt most certainly was not. Sir 
 John Lade was, of course, imprisoned, and if we confine 
 ourselves to Irishmen in society, there was George Hanger, 
 the Prince's equerry, who had precisely the same experience, 
 and Lord Belfast (afterwards Marquis of Donegal), who was 
 a kind of racing partner with Dennis O'Kelly's nephew, and 
 ran through something like half a million of money, as will 
 be seen in later pages. Buck Whaley, or " Jerusalem 
 Whaley," as he was usually known, is another well-known 
 example of Hibernian extravagance. He was born in 
 Dublin in 1766, only two years after Eclipse, and was son 
 of the Member of Parliament for County Wicklow, who 
 lived at 77 (now 87) St. Stephen's Green, so he was 
 probably known to the O'Kellys, and to the Harveys later 
 on. Young Whaley certainly went the pace as long as he 
 had money left, both in Paris and elsewhere ; and after 
 emerging from the inevitable debtor's prison he retired for a 
 space to the Isle of Man, where he built the house now 
 known as the Fort Anne Hotel. He brought back from 
 the Eastern travels, which earned him his nickname, a fine 
 Arabian stallion which unfortunately died. He did a little 
 racing at Brighton, and at Newmarket, where he lost 2000 
 guineas to Charles James Fox, and 6000 to the Duke of 
 York on the gambling-table ; and he once detected a player 
 using false dice, which he forthwith seized and sent to Sir 
 Charles Bunbury, the racing Dictator of his day. Being the 
 brother-in-law of Lord Clare, and certainly for a short time 
 in the Prince of Wales's set, he was elected a Member of 
 Parliament when such ambitions seemed hopelessly out of 
 reach of a man whose fortune had been squandered. But 
 
 96 
 
DENNIS O'KELLY 
 
 his career is smirched by the acceptance of a bribe of ;^2000 
 to vote in favour of the Union, and he died at the early age 
 of thirty-four, exactly four months after the Treaty was 
 signed between Great Britain and Ireland in 1800. 
 
 No such blot ever stained the record of Dennis O'Kelly. 
 But there must have been something against " the Colonel " 
 which I have been unable to discover, or otherwise the 
 Jockey Club, in days of very considerable laxity, would 
 almost certainly have elected the owner of Eclipse. The 
 point gains in importance when it is realised that his 
 nephew and heir, Andrew Dennis O'Kelly, was elected to 
 the Jockey Club almost immediately after the uncle's death. 
 But I am not inclined to exaggerate the villainy which 
 severer censors might deduce from these hard facts. The 
 Jockey Club has always been, and always will be, a society 
 which elected the men it liked without much reference to 
 claims which the outside public might consider as con- 
 clusive. Such considerations may have more weight nowa- 
 days when the Club's jurisdiction is immeasurably wider in 
 every manifestation of racing activity. But in its earliest 
 days, from 1752 to the date of O' Kelly's death, thirty-five 
 years later, such questions had not arisen, and elections 
 were no doubt largely determined by private reasons into 
 which it may be just as well that the historian is prevented 
 from entering by complete lack of all material. 
 
 The manuscript draft still exists of the " Prince's 
 Stakes," which was drawn up in 1784, and placed in the 
 rooms of the Jockey Club, for "colts 8st. 3lbs., fillies 8st., 
 New Flat. To be run at the first and second Spring 
 Meetings of 1785, 6, and 7. Sweepstakes of 200 guineas. 
 Half-forfeit." The list of entries is headed by " George P. 
 (3)." After him are written " Bolton, Earl of Abingdon (3), 
 Foley (i), Thos. Bullock (2), Tho. Douglas (i), Grosvenor (3), 
 Chartris (2), Wm. Davis (i), Derby (2), D. O'Kelly (3), Sher- 
 borne (3), Boringdon (i), M. Lade (i), Tho. Panton (3), 
 T. Charles Bunbury (i), Grafton (i), F. Dawson (i), Cler- 
 mont (2), Egremont (3), and Charles Wyndham (2)." 
 This is a good epitome of the racing-men of 1784, and its 
 
 97 G 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 chief interest for these pages is the inclusion of the name of 
 Dennis O' Kelly, who died on December 28, 1787, and who 
 had just won the Derby for the second time when this 
 paper was put up at Newmarket for signatures. It shows, 
 at any rate, that Dennis had done nothing which would 
 prevent Sir Charles Bunbury, Lord Grosvenor, or Lord 
 Clermont racing their horses against his ; and it was 
 impossible to say as much as this for the Prince of Wales 
 himself in 1791 ; but of this I shall have more to say later 
 on, and it must not be imagined that there is any more 
 evidence for the verdict of Sir Charles Bunbury, which 
 drove the Prince from Newmarket for ever, than there is 
 for the reasons which excluded Dennis O' Kelly from a club 
 whose members were content to race with him. 
 
 The consideration of the legendary sedan-chair has 
 carried us on a little too fast in the description of our hero's 
 life, but I need only return to that adventure to say that the 
 dashing young Irishman, whose fortunes began in the 
 romantic manner sketched in my Appendix, was speedily 
 enabled to start life on his own account soon after the 
 divorce of his too impressionable patroness had deprived 
 them both of their chief source of income. We can imagine 
 him spending his savings with a fine freedom at Vauxhall, 
 or at the playhouses, the tennis-courts, the gambling-tables 
 and billiard-rooms of London's sporting set. He never 
 forgot business in the pursuit of pleasure, and by this time 
 he had already made the acquaintance of such men as the 
 young Duke of Richmond or Sir William Draper ; but he 
 cannot be said to have bought his experience cheaply, for he 
 was soon reduced to marking games he once had played, 
 and shortly afterwards the doom he could avoid no longer 
 fell upon him. Where such fortunes as those of Lord Foley 
 or "Alcibiades" Jennings were insufficient, it was not 
 likely that the restricted total acquired by the poor Irish 
 squireen's son would last the strain. He found himself in 
 debt and penniless. The turn of the tide did not come till 
 he had been imprisoned in the Fleet. 
 
 Even here his high spirits and determination never 
 
 98 
 
DENNIS O'KELLY 
 
 forsook him. According to the custom of the place, his 
 utter lack of money led to the necessity for work of some 
 kind. He threw himself into whatever had to be done with 
 so much vigour and success that his fellow-prisoners are 
 said to have gratified him with the courtesy-title of "Count " 
 by the mandate of the " king" they elected to preside over 
 that strangely-assorted company. The title, in any case, 
 stuck to Dennis all his life, even in such sedate publications 
 as Tassie's list of medallions, from which I have already 
 quoted ; and I think it is hardly probable that he ever 
 wasted money in purchasing it abroad, as was sometimes 
 the custom then. He knew very well that a military flavour 
 to his name would suit the case much better, and no doubt 
 it was on the colonelcy he certainly obtained that he 
 expended whatever sums he considered advisable for the 
 adornment of his patronymic. 
 
 But something else of a far more real and lasting nature 
 resulted from his sojourn in the Fleet Prison ; for there he 
 met Charlotte Hayes, who has sometimes had the reputation 
 of being more like Thackeray's " Catherine" than I think is 
 probable, though I fear I cannot go further than a warning 
 against exaggeration. She immediately realised O'Kelly's 
 qualities, and, whatever she may have been before, she was 
 certainly faithful to him ever afterwards, from the moment 
 when they matured their plans in prison for the freedom 
 that came sooner than they thought. Her name occurs as 
 "Charlotte Hayes, called Mrs. O'Kelly, who now lives and 
 resides with me " in the will of Dennis, who left her an 
 annuity of ;^400, secured on his estate of Cannons, which 
 was left to her use for life ; and whenever there was any 
 question of this property changing hands, that annuity is 
 invariably and most carefully safeguarded. As is the habit 
 of annuitants, she lived long and died at over eighty-five in 
 the second decade of the nineteenth century. Her position 
 is recognised in numbers of legal documents. In 1808, 
 for instance, a lawyer's draft contains the statement that 
 the Cannons estate stood charged with " the payment of an 
 annuity or rent charge of four hundred pounds a year to 
 
 99 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Mrs. Charlotte O'Kelly, widow of the late Dennis O'Kelly, 
 Esq." ; and in the auctioneer's catalogue of Cannons in i8i i 
 the annuity is again mentioned, and the lady's age stated 
 at " about 85 years." 
 
 It was the death of George II. in London, on October 25, 
 1760, that liberated Dennis O'Kelly and his Charlotte from 
 their durance. She may not have been in the front rank of 
 " those pervading Phrynes whose charms the painters de- 
 lighted to honour": Kitty Fisher, Nelly O'Brien, who 
 entertained "this side the Star and Garter" in Pall Mall; 
 Polly Kennedy, whose attractions were persuasive enough 
 to save her brothers from the hangman ; Annie Elliott, 
 posing as Juno, or Nancy Parsons, whom Horace Walpole 
 describes as "the Duke of Grafton's Mrs. Horton, 
 the Duke of Dorset's Mrs. Horton, everybody's Mrs. 
 Horton." But Charlotte seems to have had the great 
 merit of a sincere fidelity which made every one forget 
 her origins, and the affection undoubtedly felt for her by 
 Dennis was shared by the rest of his family before he 
 died. It is probable that when they began their freedom 
 together in London, he divided his time chiefly between 
 the equally fashionable pursuits of gambling and horse- 
 racing. 
 
 A contemporary admirer of the Duke of Cumberland 
 (who died in October 1765) describes that His Royal High- 
 ness's efforts to improve racing were not effected •" without 
 an immensity of expense and an incredible succession of 
 losses to the sharks, greeks and blacklegs of that time, by 
 whom H.R.H. was surrounded, and of course incessantly 
 pillaged." The common adventurer had no doubt an easier 
 time then than he has now. One reason may have been 
 that the professional bookmaker had not yet arisen in his 
 vociferous (but mainly honest) glory ; and the professional 
 backer was as yet only sketched in the universal brain of 
 Charles Fox, who once, at a late sitting in White's, " planned 
 out a kind of itinerent trade " (Selwyn is writing to Lord 
 Carlisle) " which was going from horse-race to horse-race, 
 and so by knowing the value and speed of all the horses in 
 
 100 
 
TRICKS OF THE TURF 
 By Jioirlaiidson 
 
DENNIS O'KELLY 
 
 England to acquire a certain fortune." Unfortunately, the 
 horse was by no means the only " instrument of gambling" 
 among gentlemen of that day. They betted on anything 
 with the greatest recklessness and unanimity. Whist and 
 casino were taught in many of the girl-schools of 1797. 
 People played cards all their lives, and, as an irreverent 
 wag observed, they died in joyful expectation of the last 
 trump. The organisation of a gambling hell has been 
 excellently reconstructed by Besant. 
 
 First came the Commissioner who audited the accounts, 
 with a Director under him to superintend the Rooms, and 
 an Operator to deal cards. Then there were Croupiers 
 who gathered money for the bank ; Puffs to decoy the 
 players ; a Clerk to check the Puffs ; a Flasher to " swear 
 the Bank was broke ; " a Dunner to get losses out of needy 
 gentlemen ; a Captain to fight any discontented player ; 
 a sharp Attorney to draw up any necessary deeds whenever 
 wanted ; Waiters for the candles and refreshments ; Ushers 
 to conduct the company up and down ; Runners who got half 
 a guinea every time they warned the Porter that there were 
 Constables without, and a whole gang of unattached ruffians 
 in the shape of link-boys, coachmen, chairmen, drawers, 
 common bail affidavit men, and bravoes of the lowest type. 
 Hogarth adds a characteristic touch in the highwayman, 
 whose pistols peep out of his pocket, waiting by the fireside 
 till the heaviest winner goes, so that he may recoup his 
 own losses in the speediest fashion. Rowlandson and 
 Gilray have left numbers of pictures of the scene to which 
 such men as Dick England, Tetherington, Hall, and others 
 formed a background. At John Medley's (sometimes called 
 Jack Munday) who kept the coffee-house in Round Court, 
 Strand, it was always possible to get a bet, from five 
 pounds to five hundred. On Sundays there was a " play 
 or pay " dinner at 45. a-head, calculated for the return of 
 riders from Rotten Row. John Lawrence (who wrote a 
 good book on the horse) often visited it ; and the strange 
 thing is that aristocrats, from Princes of the royal blood 
 downwards, were quite content to lose money there as well. 
 
 lOI 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 The Turf had its blacklegs too. Quick and Castle are 
 probably the earliest examples known of " undesirable 
 persons "who were "warned off" by the public (in 1773) 
 before the Jockey Club had time to take action of its own. As 
 a matter of fact the connection of the Jockey Club with 
 betting is too delicate a question for these pages, which are 
 meant to be a record rather than a criticism ; but the 
 attitude of the Duke of Portland to the whole matter may 
 be taken as that of common sense and justice. He no 
 
 i^^^ 
 
 THE BETTING POST. BY ROWLANDSON 
 
 doubt recognises that without betting of some kind or 
 another there would be very little racing — a result that 
 would be deeply deplored by many who are loudest in 
 attacking the evils of " the Ring." But he also sees that 
 betting has, owing to various modern developments, 
 reached a stage very different from that known at any 
 period of its history. 
 
 In the old days people used to bet with other men of 
 their acquaintance. By degrees owners found their own 
 circle rather too restricted, and as they were naturally more 
 ready to support their own horses than to decry their 
 friends', they were glad enough to find a class of persons 
 ready to bet against anything. That class had been 
 supplied to meet the inevitable demand. The Jockey Club 
 
 102 
 
DENNIS O'KELLY 
 
 very possibly never realised what the result of toleration in 
 the early days would be. In any case they not only tolerated 
 but encouraged the bookmaker. Their one real objection 
 seemed to be the tout, his natural and inevitable corollary. 
 They ought now to go a little farther, and if they do not 
 do so themselves, unnecessary and exaggerated legislation 
 will slip in and do incalculable damage. Before it is too 
 late, the gentlemen responsible for the good conduct of the 
 Turf must devise some means for stopping the widespread 
 loss and misery caused by people betting who never saw the 
 horse they back, would not know him if they did see him, 
 and know nothing about his powers or preparation. Some 
 system of licensing bookmakers seems necessary. Unless 
 the Jockey Club ceases its transparent legal fiction about 
 " taking no cognisance of betting," disorder of the most 
 serious kind is sure to follow ; for damage cannot fail to be 
 inflicted on the sport they exist to foster and improve, if 
 legislation interferes too far with the liberty of the subject. 
 
 Already a Bill has been passed (Dec. 1906) by which 
 a man can be walked off to prison like a common felon 
 because he makes a bet, and can be arrested without a 
 warrant after a fashion unknown to any Irish Coercion Act 
 passed by Parliament during the last twenty years. If 
 these drastic and painful provisions be sufficiently enforced 
 to suppress betting on horse-races, the gambling spirit will 
 take much less excusable forms. " Naturam expellas 
 furca. ..." It has been found before, that the undue 
 repression of certain forms of natural instinct only results in 
 fresh and far less desirable complications. If this should 
 happen in the case of betting, there will soon be a heavy 
 price to pay for the privileges of an autocratic policeman 
 who may not be wholly aware of all the facts he has to 
 face, and for the addition of sixteen hitherto unknown 
 offences to our criminal law. It may be questioned whether 
 the remedy will not prove worse than the disease. 
 
 O'Kelly's friends were innocent of " S. P." wires, or 
 " sporting tipsters " in a morning paper, or telephones, or 
 many a modern means of backsliding. They were exploit- 
 
 103 
 
V^'^ 
 
 ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 ing what was practically a new country discovered about 
 1750 ; and they found something more exciting than cock- 
 fighting, less dangerous than loaded dice, and sometimes 
 as lucrative as either : — " the high-mettled racer." The 
 Turf was just beginning to get that organisation which 
 is typified by the "classic" races, by such names as 
 Weatherby and Tattersall, by the first regular judge at 
 Newmarket (John Hilton, appointed in 1772), by other such 
 officials as a Clerk of the Scales (John Hammond), and a 
 starter (Samuel Betts). It only needed such support as 
 that given by the Duke of Cumberland and the Prince of 
 Wales (afterwards George IV.) to establish racing not merely 
 as a fashionable pursuit, but as an organised amusement. 
 And from all this O'Kelly and his friends knew well how 
 to make their profit. 
 
 They soon realised that fortune, if not fame, was possible 
 even to a man who, far from having no royal blood in his 
 veins, had no handle to his name at all. It must have been 
 a strain to some members of the Jockey Club to admit even 
 so good a sportsman as John Pratt of Askrigg. They could 
 never swallow Mr. Martindale, though Regulus had long ago 
 wiped out the blemish of the saddler's shop. When two 
 St. Legers could be won by an ex-stable boy, the Mr. 
 Hutchinson who bred Hambletonian as well, it was difficult 
 to remain wholly exclusive; and the toast of "The 
 Hammer and Highflyer" was cheered by many a man whose 
 father would never have entered the dining-room of an 
 auctioneer. The accidents of breeding assisted the same 
 process of slow but steady democratisation ; for a first-rate 
 mare may suddenly turn up in the possession of any owner 
 of good blood-stock. Penelope, who won eighteen races for 
 the Duke of Grafton, was the dam of Whalebone, IVeb, 
 IVoful, and Whisker. Out of another mare, who Avas so 
 crippled that she could never race, was born a common- 
 looking son who was never in perfect health and was very 
 often lame ; and his name was Gladiateur. The famous 
 Tartar mare, to prove the point still further, was sold so 
 cheaply to O'Kelly that she turned out to be worth as many 
 
 104 
 
DENNIS O'KELLY 
 
 thousands after she was twenty as she had cost sovereigns 
 to her clever purchaser. But of course none of these 
 instances come up to the combination of foresight and good 
 fortune which resulted in the possession of Eclipse ; and I 
 should like to think that this good horse worked a kind of 
 gradual regeneration, wherever it was necessary, in his 
 owner which completed the possibilities of Dennis as good 
 company both for my readers and for Sir Charles Bunbury's 
 friends. In any case it is all to his credit that a certain 
 ingrained virility of nature enabled him to triumph over 
 the undoubted drawbacks of the beginning of his career, and 
 to own, before its close, not merely the finest horse, but the 
 best stud, and one of the best estates in England. 
 
 There are just a few traces of Dennis before Eclipse 
 brought his name into prominence, which must be men- 
 tioned here, for they show that he reached a certain measure 
 of prosperity before the son of Marske and Spiletta com- 
 pleted his good fortune, whether he obtained it by keeping 
 a gambling-room, which several well-known members of the 
 aristocracy had done as well, or whether — as has sometimes 
 been darkly hinted — he profited by less excusable invest- 
 ments on the part of Charlotte, of which we have no proof 
 whatever. 
 
 The first manuscript referring to him which I have been 
 able to discover shows that he had bought a house near 
 Willesden by 1766. It runs as follows : 
 
 May 15, 1766. — Received from Dennis O'Keily, Esq., the sum of 
 seventy-one pounds as part of the consideration for the freehold estate 
 in the parish of Willesden in y<^ County of Middlesex which I promise 
 to have conveyed and executed for him in ten days from the date 
 hereof. The conditions of this is that Mr. Benjamin Browne is to 
 have one hundred and ten pounds for the aforesaid estate 
 
 By me, Benj. Browne. 
 Witness : R. Byrne. 
 
 ]. M. Halsy. 
 
 The next document is the one from which his signature 
 is reproduced, and that alone shows a man of education 
 whose handwriting was better than that of most of his 
 
 105 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 friends. It is the grant of annuity arranged by an indenture 
 drawn up on December ii, 1769, between " Dennis O'Kelly, 
 of the Parish of St. James's, Westminster, in the County 
 of Middlesex, Esquire, of the one part, and John Sherwood, 
 of Shadwell, in the said County of Middlesex, Esquire, of 
 the other part." By this instrument Sherwood lends O'Kelly 
 _;;^I500 in consideration of an annuity of ;^ioo a year for life, 
 secured by O'Kelly's house in " Clergy " (? Clarges) Street, in 
 the Parish of St. James's, in which Robert Tilson Jean was 
 living, and his house in Marlborough Street, where he lived 
 himself, and also his house at Clay Hill, near Epsom, " in 
 the parish of Ebbisham, in the county of Surrey," then 
 in his occupation. On the back of the indenture is the 
 receipt for the repayment of the ;;^i5oo in 1775. 
 
 Several interesting facts appear from this document. 
 To begin with, it is clear that before Eclipse ever raced 
 upon " the scented turf of Epsom Downs," O'Kelly had a 
 house and grounds there not far from the site of Sherwood's 
 establishment to-day. This was convenient, both for what 
 was then used as the saddling enclosure, and for the betting 
 ring, which were on opposite sides of the course near the 
 start, and I shall have more to say of the Clay Hill property 
 later on. For the present the indenture just quoted is 
 conclusive evidence that, when William Wildman tried 
 Eclipse over this course in 1769, O'Kelly had a house close 
 by, and probably had racing stables too ; for there were 
 certainly all the appurtenances of a regular stud farm there, 
 managed by his brother Philip, for some years after the 
 death of Dennis. Eclipses first race was in May 1769. 
 Before 1770 was over, O'Kelly had bought him. Even if 
 the 1750 guineas cash, which has been mentioned, was 
 "without contingencies," the purchase shows that O'Kelly 
 was already a man of substance, and it stands in racing 
 history as bold a deal as M. Blanc's sensational purchase of 
 Elying Fox, with the additional virtue that it was based on 
 far less trustworthy statistics. It also involved far less 
 possibilities of recouping the original outlay. But O'Kelly 
 proved himself quite equal to the task, and in fulfilling it 
 
 106 
 
DENNIS O'KELLY 
 
 he laid the English Turf under immortal obligations to him 
 from the very moment when the first of Eclipse s get, the 
 grey colt Horizon (out of Clio, by Yotmg Cade,) won 390 
 guineas as a two-year-old at Abingdon in 1774. That good 
 sire's blood was in three winners of the Derby (1781, 3, and 
 4) and one of the Oaks (1787), and through such splendid 
 sons as PolSos, King Fergus, Joe Andrews, Mercnry and 
 Alexander, it appears in the pedigree of all the best English 
 winners on the turf to-day. 
 
 O'Kelly's subsequent transactions showed alike his good 
 sense and his diplomacy. He bought Scaramouch (by 
 Snap) at the Duke of Kingston's sale in 1774. He sold 
 Gmipowder (by Eclipse) to the Prince of Wales, who won 
 the Jockey Club Plate with him in 1788. He bought 
 Herod mares whenever he could get them, with the same 
 persistency as Mr. Tattersall searched for the Eclipse mares 
 which, in his opinion, only existed to provide mates for 
 Highflyer. In Brutus, Badger (or Ploughboy), Young 
 Gimcrack, Atom, Bamboo (by Scrub), Tiny, Milksop, and 
 others, he owned some of the best horses of the day, trained 
 them at his stables near Epsom, and won nearly all the 
 Royal Plates and " give and take " races in every part of the 
 country. Though not able to make very much out oi Eclipse s 
 actual races, he cleared at least ^^25,000 over him as a sire, 
 and he got so good a start that he never once looked back. 
 His success on the turf, in fact, was even greater than it 
 had been at the gaming-tables ; and both paid him well. 
 
 "There was a good deal of crossing and unfair work among the 
 inferior jockeys in old times" — writes "The Druid" — "which would 
 be more heavily noticed now, and in fact it was often thought rather 
 a good joke than otherwise. Captain O'Kelly, whose definition of 'the 
 blacklegged fraternity ' took such a very sweeping range, expressed 
 his sentiments on the point at the Abingdon race ordinary (1775) when 
 the terms of a 300 gs. match were being adjusted, and he was requested 
 to stand half. ' No,' he roared ; ' but if the match had been made 
 cross and jostle as I proposed, I would have stood all the money ; and 
 by the powers I'd have brought a spalpeen from Newmarket, no higher 
 than a twopenny loaf, that should have driven His lordship's horse into 
 the furzes and kept him there for three weeks.' " 
 
 107 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 " His natural shrewdness," says an eighteenth-century 
 historian, in words which explain " the Druid's " allusion, 
 combined with indefatigable industry and constant atten- 
 tion, "enabled him to counteract the various and almost 
 incredible deceptions then in constant practice in the 
 sporting world." His originality and penetration were 
 also responsible for much of what was put down too exclu- 
 sively to luck ; as will be seen from the following anecdote, 
 which displays, in passing, the one great grievance he must 
 have cherished to the end, about the persistent refusal of 
 the Jockey Club to admit him : 
 
 The better to expedite his own superiority, and to carry his well- 
 planned schemes into successful execution, and in order to render 
 himself less dependent on the incredible herd of necessitous sharks 
 that surrounded every newly initiated adventurer, he determined to 
 retain, exclusive of sudden and occasional changes, when circumstances 
 required it, one rider, at a certain annual stipend, to ride for him 
 whenever ordered so to do, for any plate, match or sweepstakes, but 
 with the privilege of riding, for any other person, provided he (O' Kelly) 
 had no horse entered to run for the same prize. Having adjusted such 
 arrangement in his own mind, and fixed upon the intended object of 
 his trust, he communicated his design, and entered upon negotiations ; 
 when the monied terms being proposed, he not only instantly 
 acquiesced, but voluntarily offered to double them, provided the party 
 would enter into an engagement, and bind himself, under a penalty, 
 never to ride for any of the black-legged fraternity. The consenting 
 jockey saying, ' he was at a loss to know who the captain meant by 
 the black-legged fraternity ; ' he instantly replied with his usual energy, 
 
 ' O my dear, and I'll soon make you understand who I mean by the 
 
 black-legged fraternity ! there's the Duke of Grafton, the Duke of 
 Dorset, &c. ; ' naming the principal members of the Jockey Club, 'and 
 all the set of thaves that belong to the humbug societies, and bug a boo 
 clubs, where they can meet, and rob one another without fear of 
 detection.' 
 
 He was in the habit of carrying a great number of bank notes in 
 his waistcoat pockets, crumpled up together with the greatest indiffer- 
 ence. On one occasion being at a hazard table at Windsor during the 
 races, a person's hand was observed by those on the opposite side of 
 the table, just in the act of drawing some notes out of O'Kelly's pocket. 
 On the alarm being given, the delinquent was seized, and the company 
 were anxious that the offender should be immediately taken before a 
 
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DENNIS O'KELLY 
 
 magistrate : but O'Kelly very coolly seizing him by the collar, kicked 
 the fellow downstairs, exclaiming, ' 'Twas sufficient punishment to 
 be deprived the pleasure of keeping company with jontlemen.' 
 
 "Keeping company" was one of O'Kelly's chief de- 
 lights, and with the help of the faithful Charlotte Hayes 
 he made Clay Hill at Epsom renowned for its hospitality, 
 as may be seen from the " Memoirs " already quoted : 
 
 The dispositions of Charlotte and the Count's, were in most 
 respects congenial, but in nothing did they more entirely vibrate, than 
 in hospitality and good living. They kept open house during the time 
 of every public meeting ; and the Count, possessing, among other 
 happy talents, that of reconciling apparent opposites, contrived to 
 entertain the Peer and the Black Leg at the same table. The Duke of 
 Cumberland and Dick England ; the Prince of Wales and Jack 
 Tetherington ; Lord Egremont and Ned Bishop ; Lord Grosvenor and 
 Monsieur Champreaux ; the Duke of Orleans and Jack Stacie ; 
 Messieurs Leech, Piggot, Davis, Twycross, &c., &c., &c., &c., were 
 frequently seen at the same table, and circulating the same bottle with 
 equal familiarity and merriment. It must, however, be remarked, to 
 the honour of the host, that he never, on any account or pretence 
 whatsoever, permitted play or bets of any kind to be made at his table 
 or in his house. 
 
 There were good points about Dennis, as may be seen. 
 I do not think his refusal to bet in his own house was 
 merely the sanctimonious parade of a virtue no one would 
 suspect to be sincere. It was the result of a genuine effort 
 to be as hospitable as possible to guests in a higher station 
 of life than his own, an effort to put away for the moment 
 everything connected with his former career which might 
 have proved a legitimate hindrance to the harmony of the 
 proceedings. He realised, in fact, that he had risen in the 
 world, and had a natural wish to avoid reminding his new 
 friends of his beginnings ; and for the same reason he put 
 the famous proviso about his nephew's betting in his will, 
 a place where its publicity was never likely to be of 
 advantage to himself, and where its enforcement was meant 
 to emphasise that the member of the Jockey Club (as his 
 
 109 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 nephew and heir eventually became) was a very different 
 person from the old " flashman " of Charlotte Hayes. 
 Had he been merely reckless, his motto, after the Jockey 
 Club's refusals, might have been " Flectere si nequeo 
 superos Acheronta movebo." He might have played the 
 king among the rascals. It is to his credit that he re- 
 frained, and took his own line steadfastly towards con- 
 tinuous improvement. 
 
 Besides this, he was always ready to contribute to 
 charities, without distinction of country and religion. He 
 helped his friends in their necessities. He called his family 
 over to share in his good fortune, and appointed his brother 
 Philip superintendent of the Clay Hill stables. The chosen 
 heir was sent abroad to make the Grand Tour in Europe 
 and accustom himself to that refined society to which his 
 uncle's money was one day to lead him. 
 
 I have already explained that Dennis O'Kelly was 
 occasionally given the title of " Count." His various 
 military prefixes originated in a militia regiment of so 
 extraordinary a character that no sketch of the Irishman's 
 career would be complete without some mention of it. 
 He was astute enough to see that "Count" would not do 
 in the set where he meant to make his money. " Colonel " 
 sounded better. The women liked a soldier. A colonel, 
 therefore, he became ; but only after a regular rise from the 
 position of ensign in a most irregular corps, which is 
 described in my Appendix. 
 
 In any case we may be sure that O'Kelly was glad to 
 wear a uniform in town, if only as a change from the " old 
 round hat and short striped Orleans coat " in which he 
 was seen posing as the oracle of the betting-ring at Epsom 
 in 1779. 
 
 A memorandum written and signed by Mary O'Kelly 
 Grattan, the granddaughter of Dennis's sister Mary, men- 
 tions some facts, as she knew them, concerning " Colonel 
 Dennis O'Kelly of Cannons, Co. Middlesex, Clay Hill, 
 Surrey, and Half Moon Street, London. . . . He was a 
 captain in the English army and served in America. His 
 
 no 
 
DENNIS O'KELLY 
 
 commission which I have, as Colonel in the Middlesex 
 militia, bears date 1782." 
 
 The date seems appropriate enough, as it is the year 
 after Cornwallis's surrender practically ended the inglorious 
 campaign necessitated by the American Revolution which 
 began in 1775; and in 1783 we have one of O'Kelly's colts 
 called Vohmteev, a name he changed to Cornet in the 
 Derby. But I have definite traces of Dennis O'Kelly being 
 in England so often between 1775 and 1781 that I can 
 scarcely imagine how he fitted in a campaign across the 
 Atlantic, where George Hanger, a compatriot of his, and 
 brother to Lord Coleraine, served with the Landgrave of 
 Hesse Cassel's Hessian Jaegers, and with Tarleton's Light 
 Dragoons in 1782. The "Affaire Rochefort," mentioned in 
 my Appendix, is one of the proofs that Dennis was not 
 often absent at that time : and if he did really serve in 
 America (which I am inclined to doubt) it may have been in 
 the more satisfactory fighting of the French and Indian 
 War which ended with the cession of Canada to England 
 at the Peace of Paris in 1762. It seems to me more 
 likely — with every deference to his collateral descendant's 
 memorandum — that his service began and ended in the 
 Middlesex militia which gave him his military prefix, whether 
 the " Memoirs " quoted in the Appendix are correct or not, 
 in the astonishing description they give of the regiment. His 
 heir, Andrew, was a captain in the Westminster militia, and 
 his purchase of the Lt. -Colonelcy is dated 1795, while the 
 Prince interests himself in his change of regiment in 1796. 
 This is another reason why mistakes have been concerning 
 the two persons called " Colonel O'Kelly." It was with the 
 younger man, for instance, that all the trouble about Lord 
 Donegal should be connected which is usually put down to 
 the uncle. 
 
 Ill 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 DENNIS O'KELLY {continued) 
 
 A Dan auditus est fremitus equorum ejus ; a voce hinnituum pugnatorum ejus 
 
 commota est omnis terra 
 
 Part II.— A GOOD FINISH 
 
 The Tartar Mare — The O'Kelly Stud— Two Derby Winners— Eclipse' s Sons 
 — Weatherby's Bill — Lord Abingdon's Bill — Tattersall's Sale — Famous 
 Sales after it — Charlotte in the Marshalsea — Her Annuity — Her Remark- 
 able Parrot— The Royal Family in Church — The Parrot's Death — The 
 Drive to Edgeware — The Estate of Cannons — The Duke of Chandos — 
 Whitchurch or Stanmore Parva — Handel's Anthems — Cannons Park — 
 Particulars of the Sale — Dennis O'Kelly's Will — His Character. 
 
 'T~pCLIPSE was not the only sensible purchase Dennis 
 hi O'Kelly made ; and his possession of the celebrated 
 — Tartar mare shows that his racing stud was chosen 
 with very remarkable sagacity. Among his racing memo- 
 randa is a very interesting manuscript setting forth her 
 merits. The youngest of the ten chestnuts (five colts 
 and five fillies, with Jupiter and Mercury among them) 
 which she threw to Eclipse from 1772 to 1785 was Queen 
 Mab who was in Lord Strathmore's stud from 1795 to 1808, 
 tended by John Smith, who gave her history at Streatlam 
 to " the Druid." The contemporary memoranda about her 
 dam are as follows : 
 
 " From the Old Tartar Marc Col. O'Kelly bred four colts by Eclipse 
 sold as follows : 
 
 Antiochus to Sir John Lade for 1500 gs. 
 
 Jupiter io Mr. Douglas 1000 gs. 
 
 112 
 
DENNIS O'KELLY 
 
 Adonis to Sir John Lade looo gs. 
 
 Mercury to Lord Egremont 2500 gs. 
 
 Besides this, Mr. Graham offered the Colonel 5000 
 
 guineas for Volunteer. 
 Of her daughters^ rt'Mifs was sold to Lord Egremont for . 1200 gs. 
 
 and produced from 1782 to 1797 five colts and seven 
 
 fillies. 
 The dam of Crazy was sold to Mr. Broadhurst for . 300 gs. 
 
 and a Herod mare, and produced from 1786 to 1792 
 
 two colts and two fillies. 
 Lily of the Valley was sold to the Duke of Bedford for 700 gs. 
 
 and produced from 1785 to 1799 five colts and six 
 
 fillies. 
 Boniface was sold to Mr. Bullock for .... 250 gs. 
 
 and a Herod mare, and produced from 1790 to 1799 
 
 four colts and five fillies. 
 Queen Mab was sold to the Hon. George Bowes for . 650 gs. 
 
 and produced from 1790 to 1803 ten colts and three 
 
 fillies. 
 This Qjieen Mab was the last foal the Old Tartar Marc ever had, pro- 
 duced when she was thirty-six years of age, and she lived two year 
 after and died at Cannons in 1787." 
 
 Among the rest of O'Kelly's racing stable, I have already 
 mentioned Scaramouch (by Snap, out of sister to Mirza) 
 who won the great subscription £,2>¥^ \os., 5 yrs., Qst., 4 
 miles at York in August 1773. O' Kelly bought him at the 
 Duke of Kingston's sale at Newmarket in July 1774, but 
 won nothing more with him. The first of the classic races 
 in which I find O'Kelly's name is the Oaks of 1779, so he 
 began as soon as it was possible ; but his sister to PotSos, by 
 Eclipse, ran unplaced. In 1780 his b. c. Botidrow, brother 
 to Vertimimts, by Eclipse, ran second to Sir Charles Bun- 
 bury's Dioined in the first Derby, and his ch. f. Lily of 
 the Valley, sister to Vetius, by Eclipse, was fourth in the 
 Oaks. In 1781 O' Kelly won the Derby with Young 
 Eclipse, by Eclipse, out oijuno, by Spectator, and in 1 784, 
 at York, the same horse ran third to Recovery and Monk, 4 
 miles, 8st., six-year-olds, for His Majesty's hundred guineas, 
 after which his fetlock-joint was dislocated. In 1782 
 
 113 H 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 O'Kelly's ch. c. Confederate, by Conductor, was unplaced for 
 the Derby, but he bred a famous mare afterwards known as 
 the Confederate filly. In 1783 he had two colts in the 
 Derby, which was full of Eclipses ; for his b. c. Dungannon, 
 by Eclipse, out of Aspasia, was second ; his ch. c. Cornet 
 (generally known as Volunteer) was fifth ; and the race was 
 won by Mr. Parker's Saltrani, by Eclipse, out of Virago, by 
 Snap. In the same season O'Kelly's Primrose, by Eclipse, 
 ran third for the Oaks. I may add that Dungannon ran 
 second to Phenomenon in the Doncaster Cup next year. 
 
 In 1784 O'Kelly won his second Derby with Serjeant, 
 by Eclipse, out of Aspasia, by Herod ; and I have seen 
 Garrard's bill for the painting of that celebrated winner 
 which is reproduced in these pages from a contemporary 
 engraving. Chaunter and Clarinet, both by Eclipse, ran 
 fourth and unplaced in the Derby of 1785, and Bonny 
 Face, a sister of Mercury, was fourth for the Oaks that 
 season. In 1786 O'Kelly's Beau Clincher was unplaced in 
 the Derby, as was his famous bay filly Scot a, by Eclipse ; 
 but she ran third for the Oaks. Two seconds were his 
 record in the last year of his life, when Attgusta, hy Eclipse, 
 was beaten for the Oaks, and his good chestnut. Gunpowder, 
 by Eclipse, was second for the Derby on May 24, 1787. 
 Before that December was over Death had beaten their 
 owner too. 
 
 These are only some of the successes which illustrated 
 Dennis O'Kelly's career upon the Turf, and as I find a bill 
 from his brother Philip to the Prince of Wales, which begins 
 in 1788, we may fairly argue that Dennis had several deal- 
 ings before that time with the Prince, who was very intimate 
 with his nephew Andrew, if the number of Royal I.O.U.s 
 he bestowed upon him may be taken as an indication. It 
 is also more than likely that the Irishman would be well 
 acquainted with such habituds of Carlton House as Hanger 
 or MacMahon ; and it is also significant that Eclipse s 
 jockey raced in scarlet and black cap, which were O'Kelly's 
 colours to the end, and were singularly like the colour of 
 dress affected by the royal party. It may be added that 
 
 114 
 
■s. 
 
 ■s 
 
DENNIS O'KELLY 
 
 the Prince was his own master by 1781, and opened 
 Carlton House in 1784, the year when the list for the 
 " Prince's Stakes " was put up in the Jockey Club at 
 Newmarket, with O'Kelly's name following that of" George 
 P." among all the aristocracy of the Turf. 
 
 I have reproduced one of Weatherby's receipts to 
 O'Kelly. Here is another which shows that he was subscrib- 
 ing to the Coffee House at Newmarket down to the end of 
 his life. 
 
 1786 
 
 1787 
 
 To Dennis O'Kelly, Esq" 
 
 Subs" to Coffeehouse July Meeting 
 do. to do. Octo. mgs- 
 
 do. to do. Spring Mgs. 
 
 do. to Calendar 1786 
 do. for P. O'Kelly Esq. 84 & 85 
 advertg. Stallions as per Bill 
 
 23 Articles 
 
 By Cash . 
 J.W. 
 
 . 
 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 . 2 
 
 12 
 
 6 
 
 . 2 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 
 
 . I 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 • 3 
 
 14 
 
 6 
 
 ;£" 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 . 2 
 
 17 
 
 6 
 
 ;£H 
 
 7 
 
 
 • 14 
 
 7 
 
 
 Another of these racing papers that shows O'Kelly's 
 prominence on the Turf at this time is connected with that 
 Lord Abingdon who bought Marske. It runs as follows : 
 
 Endorsed .— " The Earl of Abingdons Bill due for Stakes won at 
 Newmarket from 1780 to 1786 — 
 
 ;£475 2 6 
 
 Aplication to be made to Lord Abingdons Executors." 
 
 Stakes won at Newmarket by Col' O'Kelly, due from the Earl of 
 Abingdon. 
 
 Gn« 
 
 1780 Monday 2'' Ocf meet=. Forfeit for Colt by Marske . 95 
 
 1781 Thursday i^' Spring Meet- 4th yr of a Subscription . 25 
 Monday i'"^ Ocf Meet= Forfeit for the 1400 G' . . 95 
 
 115 
 
ECLIPSE AND OKELLY 
 
 Gn» 
 
 1785 Tuesday 1 ' Spring Meet^^d" for 1200 G' . . .95 
 
 1786 Monday 1=' Spring Meet^ d" for i"^ Class of the Prince's 47^ 
 Tuesday d° d° for 1200 G^ . . .95 
 
 4S2|- 
 
 ;^475 26 
 James Weatherby. 
 
 But the most interesting document of all, perhaps, in this 
 connection, is the Catalogue of the Sale at Tattersall's after 
 O'Kelly's death. Here it is, textually reprinted : 
 
 TO BE SOLD BY AUCTION, BY MESSRS. TATTERSALLS, 
 
 Near Hyde-Park Turnpike, On Monday the nth of February, 1788. 
 
 Late the PROPERTY of COLONEL O'KELLY, Deceased, 
 
 Precisely at Twelve o'clock. 
 
 Lot 
 
 1. SOLDIER, a Chesnut Horse, eight years old, got by Eclipse, dam 
 by Omar, grand dam by Sterling, great grand dam by the Godolphin 
 Arabian, gt gt grand dam by Stanier's Arabian, gt gt gt grand dam by 
 Pelham's Barb, gt gt gt gt grand dam by Old Spot, gt gt gt gt gt grand 
 dam by the White-legged Lowther Barb, out of the Old Vintner Mare. 
 
 2. CHAUNTER, a Bay Horse, five years old, got by Eclipse, dam by 
 Herod, out of an own sister to the dam of Highflyer. 
 
 3. Scota, a Bay Mare, four years old, got by Eclipse, out of Chaunter's 
 dam. 
 
 4. AUGUSTA, a Chesnut Mare, three years old, got by Eclipse, out of 
 Hardwick's dam. 
 
 5. GUNPOWDER, a Chesnut Horse, three years old, own brother to 
 Soldier. 
 
 6. TROY, a Chesnut Colt, two years old, got by Vertumnus, dam by 
 South, grand dam by Lord Godolphin's White Nose, great grand dam 
 by a full brother to Mixbury. 
 
 7. KING HEREMON, a Chesnut Colt, two years old, got by Eclipse, 
 dam by Herod, grand dam by old Snap, great grand dam by Regulus, 
 gt gt grand dam by Old Partner, gt gt gt grand dam by Woodcock, gt 
 gt gt gt grand dam by Croft's Bay Barb, gt gt gt gt gt grand dam by 
 
 116 
 
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 85 
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DENNIS O'KELLY 
 
 Makeless, gt gt gt gt gt gt grand dam by Brimmer, gt gt gt gt gt gt gt 
 grand dam by Dodsworth out of the Burton Barb Mare. 
 
 8. A BAY FILLY, two years old, own Sister to Scota. 
 
 9. A CHESNUT FILLY, two years old, got by Eclipse, dam by Tartar, 
 grand dam by Mogul, great grand dam by Sweepstakes, gt gt grand 
 dam by Bay Bolton, gt gt gt grand dam by the Curwon Bay Barb 
 gt gt gt gt grand dam by Old Spot, out of the Vintner Mare. 
 
 This Filly is own Sister to Volunteer and Mercury. 
 
 ID. A CHESNUT COLT, one year old, got by Eclipse or Vertumnus, 
 out of Dungannon's dam. 
 
 11. A CHESNUT COLT, one year old, got by Eclipse, and is own 
 Brother to King Heremon. 
 
 12. A CHESNUT COLT, one year old, got by Eclipse, dam by Antinous 
 which is an own Sister to Euston. 
 
 13. A BAY COLT, one year old, got by Eclipse, dam by Spectator, 
 grand dam by Blank, great grand dam by the Godolphin Arabian, gt gt 
 grand dam by Snip, out of the famous Witherington Mare. 
 
 14. A BAY FILLY, one year old, got by Jupiter, dam by Herod. 
 
 This sale was attended by Mr. Edmund Bond, the 
 famous veterinary surgeon, of whom I shall have more to 
 say in speaking of the death and dissection of Eclipse in 
 the next chapter. I have before me the catalogue with Mr. 
 Bond's signature at the top, and the prices fetched for each 
 lot marked on the margin in his handwriting, together with 
 the valuation made by a certain Dr. Chitticks, and the 
 reserve price he placed on each. As far as I can make out, 
 Dr. Chitticks valued the fourteen at about 5000 guineas, 
 and put on a reserve of nearly 3000. The total they fetched 
 was _;^832i, and the biggest prices were : 
 
 No. 5. Gunpowder ...... 1400 gs. 
 
 No. 12. Chesnut colt 1150 „ 
 
 No. II. Chesnut colt 1120 „ 
 
 No. 7. Ki)ig Heremon 750 „ 
 
 No. 13. Bay colt 680 „ 
 
 No. 3. Scota 550 » 
 
 No. I. Soldier 500 „ 
 
 117 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Probably few businesses have made such strides during 
 the last fifty years as Tattersall's. A five days' sale of 
 bloodstock realising upwards of 120,000 guineas would have 
 sounded as impossible to old "Highflyer" as the single 
 bids of 10,000 guineas for a yearling, 12,600 for a brood- 
 mare, or 37,500 for a horse in training. But money is not 
 always the test of lasting value, and if blood is to count for 
 anything there has been no sale since those of O'Kelly and 
 his nephew which has had so great an effect on the sub- 
 sequent history of racing until we come to Lord Londes- 
 borough's at Grimston, in i860, when Stockwell, IVest 
 Australian and Warlock were to be seen in the same ring, 
 and the total was 20,489 guineas. Even the disposal of 
 the royal stud when Queen Victoria came to the throne in 
 1837 only reached 15,692 guineas, and Colonel was the 
 only one that fetched four figures. Mr. Edmund Tatter- 
 sall's greatest sale was that of Lord Falmouth's stud in 
 1884, including Spinaway and Wheel of Fortune, when 
 75,640 guineas were realised. But prices like this had 
 never been heard of in 1788. 
 
 After some years of dispensing hospitality to racing 
 men at Clay Hill, the Epsom property, Charlotte Hayes 
 seems to have left it entirely to the care of Philip O'Kelly, 
 and lived in the house at the corner of Half-Moon Street 
 and Piccadilly, which also belonged to Dennis. A docu- 
 ment of 1777 shows that, up to this date at any rate, she 
 had not quite succeeded in producing order and economy 
 in her expenditure. 
 
 From a warrant and declaration taken out, it appears 
 that the assignees of " James Spilsbury, late of the parish 
 of St. Paul, Covent Garden, in the County of Middlesex, 
 haberdasher and warehouseman, being a bankrupt," com- 
 plain of " Charlotte Hayes, being in the custody of the 
 Marshal of the Marshalsea of our Lord the now King before 
 the King himself," concerning the debt which she acknow- 
 ledged at Westminster on August i, 1776, "for the use and 
 hire of certain Cloaths and Garments ... let to hire to 
 
 the said Charlotte at her special interest and request . . . 
 
 118 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
 o & 
 
DENNIS O'KELLY 
 
 and also for work and labour before that time done per- 
 formed and bestowed ... in making fitting adorning 
 and trimming divers Cloaths Garments and Masquerade 
 Dresses," and for other work at divers times beforehand ; 
 and whereas " the said Charlotte not regarding her said 
 several promises and undertakings so made as aforesaid 
 but contriving and fraudulently intending craftily and 
 subtilly to deceive and defraud . . . hath not yet paid the 
 said several sums of money or any part thereof ..." the 
 assignees of the haberdasher assess " their damage of fifty 
 pounds and thereupon they bring their suit. 
 
 Michaelmas Term in the seventeenth year 
 of the reign of King George the Third." 
 
 We may take it, however, that this was an accidental 
 and temporary aberration during Dennis's absence ; for 
 there is every trace of staid affection and of real regard on 
 both sides even afterwards. That regard was shared, as I 
 have said, by other members of the family besides Dennis, 
 who makes it a very prominent feature of his will, and as 
 there is not much more to say about Charlotte, I will insert 
 here two letters which concern the annuity he left her. 
 The first is from Messrs. Janson and Harpur, of Cannon 
 Row, Westminster, Solicitors ; the second from herself. 
 They run as follows : 
 
 On Aug. II, 1798, John Janson (Sol"') writes from Westminster : 
 " I have been considering about the charge of ;^400 a year to Mrs. 
 O'Kelly for her life & I think the best way will be to sell the first lot of 
 Cannons subject to that charge, or otherwise that a sum should be laid 
 out in the three per cents for securing the payment of it, but I rather 
 think under all the circumstances you had better sell it subject to that 
 charge as I understand she has very much incumbered it & may create 
 some difficulties in the Title, and that there may be least sayd about it 
 I think the best way would be to sell it so." 
 
 Mrs. C. O'Kelly to Colonel Andrew O'Kelly, 
 
 "Half Moon Street, Piccadilly, Feb. 1801. 
 "My Dear Colonel 
 
 " I am very sorry to find that Mr. Brockbank makes any objection to 
 my giving you the releace for my annuiteis and the acknowlgement of 
 
 119 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 the other sums mentiond in it that you and your father have paid and 
 secured to [be] paid for me but I am not surprised at aney thing that 
 such a man as Mr. Brockbank should say or do after the maner he has 
 conducted himself towards me and you — unjust advantage he is 
 attempting to take of you against my wishes or concent — if you or any 
 other person has the smallest doubtes of the justness of what is con- 
 tained in the releace I shall be ready at any time to com forward and 
 make an affidavit of those circumstamces which Mr. Brockbank must be 
 perfectly well acquainted with as I have at diferant times stated to him 
 monies that you have paid for me and I have give him money to keep 
 the transactions of my selling my annuities from your knowledg and 
 am my Dear Colonel 
 
 " Yours Sincerely 
 
 " C : O'KELLY." 
 
 Both these letters were written to Dennis's nephew, 
 Andrew, and the second shows that Charlotte was not 
 as well educated as was the owner of Eclipse. But she 
 was evidently no less useful a helpmeet for all that, 
 and one of her greatest distractions in the Half-Moon 
 Street house was O' Kelly's celebrated parrot. This 
 wonderful bird has been several times described by con- 
 temporary admirers. 
 
 "Its rare and astonishing faculties," wrote one of them in 1788, "if 
 it was not yet alive to prove their reality, would scarcely be believed 
 even by the most credulous. It was hatched in Bristol, and is perhaps 
 as singular in its nativity as in its other qualities. It cost the fond 
 Count fifty guineas, besides the expenses of bringing to Town, and we 
 believe ourselves warranted in declaring that it would at this period 
 produce five times that sum. Mr. Locke, in his inimitable discourse 
 upon innate ideas, gives an account of a Peruvian bird of this species, 
 which he mentions as a wonderful instance of instinctive sagacity. It 
 would, he says, not only repeat everything it was commanded, but it 
 would answer many questions which appeared to require a higher 
 degree of perception. He states a few instances, and then concludes, 
 with proving that all was derived from example. But when we com- 
 pare the qualities of the bird in question, to those mentioned by the 
 Philosopher, we must, without the imputation of partiality, give it the 
 preference. It not only repeats all things, but answers almost every- 
 thing ; and, so strong is its retention, that it sings a variety of tunes, 
 
 120 
 

 
 Hi 
 hi 
 
 w 
 b 
 
 oi 
 
 PS 
 
 o 
 
 CG 
 
 m 
 >• 
 
 •«! 
 P3 
 
 » 
 
 Eh 
 O 
 
 iJ 
 
 K 
 
 <! 
 
 n 
 o 
 
 K 
 El 
 
DENNIS O'KELLY 
 
 with exquisite melody ! it beats time with all the appearance of science, 
 and, wonderful to relate, so accurate is its judgment, that if by chance 
 (for it is merely so when it happens) it mistakes a note, it reverts to 
 the bar where the mistake occurred, corrects itself, and, still beating 
 regular time, goes through the whole with miraculous exactness. In 
 addition to this we must add, that it sings whatever air is desired, and 
 intimates an express knowledge of every request." 
 
 This parrot is mentioned in a note on O'Kelly's death 
 in the " Obituary of Considerable Persons " published by 
 the "Gentleman's Magazine" (vol. Ivii., p. 1 196-7), which 
 adds that it was the only parrot ever born in England, and 
 that it was left to " Mrs. O'Kelly" in his will. The " Dic- 
 tionary of National Biography" adds the interesting 
 information that it could whistle the 104th Psalm, which 
 was possibly the only form of religious service appreciated 
 by O'Kelly and his friends. One of the royal Dukes, at 
 anyrate, must have been an embarrassing person in Church, 
 as the following " conversation " shows : 
 
 Clergyman. "Zacchaeus stood forth and said, ' Behold, Lord, the 
 half of my goods I give to the poor.'" 
 
 The Duke (who often thought aloud). "Too much, too much; 
 don't mind tithes, but can't stand that." 
 
 Clergyman recites a commandment. 
 
 The Duke. " Quite right, quite right, but very difficult sometimes." 
 
 The death of the famous parrot is mentioned in a letter 
 from Philip O'Kelly to Andrew Dennis O'Kelly, with W. 
 Harvey, Esquire, 72 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin. 
 
 Cannons, Oct. 7, 1802. 
 Dear Andrew, 
 
 I received your letter this day without date or where to direct to you 
 but I take my chance &c. We are all hapy to [hear] of my poor 
 Witt's speedy recovery and we are in hopes he will have no relaps and 
 that you got safe to him. May God give you boath good helth &c. &c. 
 but it tis an old remark that one truble does not come alone. PoUey 
 was taking ill on Saturday night last with a purging and Bloody Flox 
 
 121 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 and all things that was fit for her was got. She died on Sunday 
 morning. Dr. Kennedy got her to have her stuffd so she is no more. 
 Charlett is in the same state as ever. I sent the List &c. All things 
 here is well and goes on well but the Needfull is wanting. I expect 
 to hear from you every day as you promised when you wrote last 
 you would in a day or two &c. 
 
 Pray give my blessing, your mother's, and his mother's, to Whitt 
 and God bless you boath and pray our blessing to Whitt's wife &c. I 
 received two letters from Cap" Jones, one from Mr. Juler, and one 
 from Whitt directed to you since you left this. 
 
 God may have you all in 
 
 His Holy Keeping, 
 
 Your Loving fater 
 
 P. O'KELLY. 
 
 About 1785 the heir, Andrew, returned from his " Euro- 
 pean education," and caused great dismay and distress to 
 the tender-hearted Charlotte by an accident which occurred 
 soon after he visited his father at Epsom. While galloping 
 a fast thoroughbred over the exercise-ground he was 
 thrown, and the animal broke its leg, but fortunately 
 Andrew escaped with nothing worse than a bad shaking. 
 Whether it was this nephew's return, or whether the 
 removal of his beloved Charlotte to Piccadilly had deter- 
 mined O'Kelly to leave Epsom wholly in his brother 
 Philip's hands, and find another country house, I do not 
 know ; but it must have been about this time that Dennis 
 O'Kelly set his mind on the purchase of the Cannons 
 estate at Stanmore Parva, or Whitchurch, near Edgeware, 
 which is within an hour's drive of Half Moon-Street and 
 Piccadilly. 
 
 There are now electric cars on the road all the way past 
 the Welsh Harp at Hendon, along the ancient highway 
 which once was Watling Street, and still cuts straight as an 
 arrow through green pastures to the old-fashioned High 
 Street of Edgeware. On the left, at the very end of this 
 street, is the house of Mr. Tootell, magistrates' clerk of 
 Edgeware. A little farther on to the left are the lodge- 
 
 122 
 
^ / ■ / /<7 7T ^'-^-— ««^ ^^*/' -*---^ ^.*^ sw 
 
 
 
 >Y<^**^ ^Cffi.^^i^'y^ '^at/^'<y^^ 
 
 
 LETTER FROM PHILIP OKELLY TO HIS SON ANDREW, CONCERNING THE PARROT'S DEATH 
 
DENNIS O'KELLY 
 
 gates of Cannons Park, which probably took its name, like 
 Canonbury, in Islington, from the canons of St. Bartholo- 
 mew's. Beyond them stretches the estate which was chosen 
 by James Brydges, Duke of Chandos, for that famous 
 mansion derided in Pope's verses, for which a mighty 
 avenue was planned, beginning at the original lodge-gates 
 now represented by two classical houses on the north side 
 of Cavendish Square. 
 
 The Duke is an interesting character, with whom I 
 must not linger. But one story of him is worth telling 
 shortly, and in Mr. Loftie's " London Afternoons " you may 
 read more. He was passing an inn in his postchaise when 
 he saw one of the ostlers ill-treating a girl. She was pretty, 
 and the Duke could " use his mauleys," in the slang of the 
 day ; so he jumped off the box, flung his reins to his 
 grooms, polished off the rascally ostler in a couple of 
 rounds, and drove away with the rescued damsel. He 
 educated her and brought her up with every care and 
 attention, until she married, in due time, a wealthy City 
 merchant. Soon afterwards her husband died, and one 
 can imagine that she was nothing loth to add a handsome 
 fortune to a grateful heart when she married the Duke of 
 Chandos himself, and completed a very pretty little 
 " romance in high life," which may explain a good deal 
 of the first house at Cannons Park. As Master of the 
 Ordnance the Duke had amassed a large sum of money, 
 and he spent it lavishly, levelling the ground, laying out 
 huge gardens, and building a luxurious and most extensive 
 mansion in the middle of them. 
 
 It sounds a little like Fouquet and Vaux-le-Vicomte ; 
 for it was all sold up, and bought from the trustees by 
 Hallett, the grandfather of the man who sold it to O'Kelly. 
 Great alterations followed, however, before the Duke's 
 estate came to the owner of Eclipse. The mansion itself 
 and most of its magnificent surroundings were pulled down 
 in 1747, and the sale of the materials brought more than 
 the original purchase-price. The staircase is now in Ches- 
 terfield House, Mayfair, where its magnificent iron and 
 
 123 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 marble work was set up before 1749, with the crowned 
 " Cs " that so excellently suited their new master ; and the 
 avenue lodges, on the Edgeware road, were turned into two 
 comfortable houses by the astute Hallett, one of them being 
 almost immediately occupied by Sir David Lindsay. 
 
 But the parish church of Whitchurch remains as a 
 memorial of "James Brydges " long after his huge palace 
 has disappeared. Within it you may still see the monu- 
 ment set up after his death in 1744 to himself and his two 
 wives, Mary, the daughter of Thomas Lake, of Cannons, 
 and Lydia Catherine, the heroine of Mr. Loftie's story, who 
 was daughter of John Vanhattem and widow of Thomas 
 Darall, M.P. Here, too, are the frescoes by Verrio, Laguerre 
 and Belluchi, with which the Duke of Chandos decorated the 
 church he practically rebuilt in 1715 ; and behind four beau- 
 tifully carved oak columns, which strongly recall the work of 
 Grinling Gibbons in the chapel of the Chelsea Pensioners, 
 is the organ upon which Handel played from 17 18 to 1721, 
 and composed his oratorio of " Esther." It was originally 
 built by Gerard Schmidt, nephew of Father Schmidt, who 
 died in 1708, and though it has been restored in 1877, and 
 had a new keyboard in 18 18, there is no reason to doubt 
 that the case and a large part of the interior are original. 
 Here Handel composed, besides " Esther," the " Chandos 
 Te Deums " and Anthems; and in 1721 he gave the first 
 performance of " Acis and Galatea" at Cannons. In 1790 
 Dennis O' Kelly's nephew revived the traditions of the place 
 by giving a sacred concert, in which Signora Storace and 
 Mrs. Crouch sang ; and in the churchyard is a tombstone 
 erected to William Powell, Parish Clerk, who was the 
 " Harmonious Blacksmith." Apart from this, the oldest 
 relics of the place are the Gothic mantelpieces preserved in 
 the " Chandos Arms," the public-house on the left side of 
 Edgeware High Street as you drive in from London. 
 
 The park itself is very much changed from what it was 
 when O' Kelly bought it, owing to the many new buildings 
 which have been put up of late. O' Kelly's house, however, 
 still stands ; a more modest but a much more comfortable 
 
 124 
 
DENNIS O'KELLY 
 
 place than the ducal mansion it replaced, with considerable 
 pretensions to well-proportioned dignity and strength. 
 Beneath the bow windows of the saloon part of Eclipses 
 body was buried after his master had been laid to rest in 
 the church rebuilt by the Duke of Chandos. In the house 
 Mr. Ducros now resides, and I have been permitted 
 to take a photograph of the front door through which 
 O'Kelly so often passed ; but the much older lithographic 
 sketch of the house and the famous window was most kindly 
 given me by Mrs. Haig Brown, widow of the late Master 
 of the Charterhouse, who was visiting one of the lodges in 
 the park when Lady Plumer lived in the big house. That 
 was sixty years ago, and the memories of Eclipse were 
 greener than they are now, but the paintings of O'Kelly's 
 stud, done for him by Stubbs, had already been scattered to 
 Ireland, Yorkshire, and elsewhere, and I have had some 
 difficulty in finding the best of them for reproduction in 
 these pages. 
 
 In 1786 Colonel O'Kelly offered ;i^i 0,500 for the mansion 
 and its immediate surroundings ; but Mr. William Hallett, 
 grandson of the man who bought the Duke's estate and 
 built the present house, wrote that this was not enough, 
 and no doubt the price went up. In any case the negotia- 
 tions were concluded entirely to Mr. Hallett's satisfaction, 
 for on April 25, 1787, he writes : " I cannot but trouble you 
 with a letter to thank you for the polite manner in which 
 you have acted." Here is the front page of the catalogue of 
 sale, of which the details will be found in the Appendix. 
 Evidently it was not all sold outright in November, 1785, 
 and O'Kelly's offer for the house in 1786 was a result of 
 that. 
 
 THE PARTICULARS 
 
 OF THE CAPITAL AND MUCH-DISTINGUISHED FREEHOLD 
 ESTATE, CALLED CANNONS, DELIGHTFULLY SITUATE 
 AT STANMORE, in theCounty of Middlesex, Nine Miles from London, 
 Formerly the Seat of THE DUKE OF CHANDOIS, and late the 
 property of WILLIAM HALLET, Esq. (deceased ;) Comprising Five 
 
 125 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Hundred and Forty-seven Acres, one Rood, and thirty-one Perch, of 
 remarkable rich Meadow, Arable and Wood Land. One Hundred 
 and Twelve Acres of which is a fine fertile Paddock, refreshed by two 
 noble Sheets of Water, surrounded by a capital Brick Wall ; A neat, 
 magnificent PORTLAND STONE DWELLING-HOUSE, With suit- 
 able Offices, Pleasure-Grounds, and Gardens ; Placed on an elevated 
 Spot, commanding beautiful Prospects of the circumjacent Country ; 
 The Farms are very compact, and left to unexceptionable good 
 Tenants ; The whole Annual Value (exclusive of House and Offices) 
 Nine Hundred and Fifty-four Pounds, fifteen Shillings ; Also Sixty- 
 three Acres, two Rood, and thirty-three Perch, of Copyhold Land, A 
 genteel Dwelling-House, Offices, Two Messuages, three Tenements, 
 and Out-Buildings, Situated between the Seven and Eight Mile Stone 
 from LONDON; in EDGWARE Town; at BROCKLEY-HILL ; 
 and m the Town of STANMORE ; Let at One Hundred and Seventy- 
 two Pounds, eight Shillings, per Ann. Which will be SOLD by 
 AUCTION, by MR. SKINNER and Co. On WEDNESDAY the 
 i6th of November, 1785, at Twelve o'Clock, at Garraway's Coffee 
 House, 'Change-Alley, London, in Eight Lots. 
 
 To be viewed by Tickets, which may be had, with printed Particulars, 
 of Mr. Skinner and Co. Aldersgate-Street ; where a Plan may 
 be seen of each Lot : Particulars may be also had of Mr. 
 Partyn, of Edgware. 
 
 It has sometimes been thought that O' Kelly outlived 
 
 Eclipse, but this is not so. The idea may have arisen from an 
 
 entry in the " Gentleman's Magazine " (vol. Ix. p. 658), which 
 
 records that " Dennis O'Kelly, Counsellor-at-Law, was shot 
 
 on July 14, 1790, in the Quarry field near Dublin by Captain 
 
 Whalley in a duel." It would be interesting if the Irish 
 
 adventurer had indeed fallen by the hand of "Jerusalem 
 
 Whaley ; " but the one name is as misleading as the other ; 
 
 no one has ever accused ''Eclipse''' O'Kelly of having been 
 
 a "counsellor-at-law," though curiously enough it seems to 
 
 be established that he did fight a duel with one of his 
 
 compatriots on a question which would nowadays have 
 
 been settled in the law courts. But, as a matter of fact, 
 
 O' Kelly's romance was drawing very near its close when 
 
 Cannons had been purchased. He died of gout on 
 
 126 
 
z 
 
 < 
 
 V 
 
DENNIS O'KELLY 
 
 December 28, 1787, in his house in Piccadilly, whither he 
 had evidently gone to be near Charlotte at the end. 
 
 The contemporary press took note of his decease in the 
 following handsome manner : 
 
 "The late Col' O'Kelly whose death has been the Subject of much 
 animadversion as well in Conversation as in the Daily Papers, has, we 
 are informed, left behind him what will be worthy the particular 
 Animadversion of those to whom it Devolves Property to a very large 
 Amount. As he was advancing in years he had for a long time previous 
 to his decease declared a resolution of quitting the Turf whenever he 
 could so far disengage himself from it as to be able to quit it with the 
 same Honor he had conducted himself whilst belonging to it. By his 
 Will he has given ample Proof that such was his Intent, for he has 
 restricted his Family from having any Concern with Horse racing upon 
 pain of forfeiting considerable parts of the Property he has bequeathed 
 them. 
 
 " We are happy in being enabled from the best Authority to give 
 the Public the substance of his Will which is as follows : 
 
 "After making a Handsome Provision by Annuity charged on his real 
 Estates for Mrs. O'Kelly, together with the use for life of that Elegant 
 Villa Cannons which he lately purchased from W. Hallett Esquire and 
 the Furniture, he has devised the Bulk of his Property to Andrew 
 Dennis O'Kelly Esquire, his Nephew, a Gentleman whom we are 
 informed well merits this and every other good Fortune which can 
 befall him, and whose Conduct through Life has been so well 
 regulated as to render the restriction in his Uncle's Will wholly 
 unnecessary though its insertion may be accounted for by that Caution 
 which is the usual Attendant on Experience." 
 
 By the kindness of a collateral descendant, I am fortun- 
 ately able to give here a careful and accurate analysis of 
 Dennis O'Kelly's Will, of which the original parchment 
 administration has been shown me by Sir Thomas 
 Esmonde. It contains the following bequests, and is dated 
 October 11, 1786 : 
 
 (i) Thomas Birch of Bond Street, and William Atkin- 
 son of Pall Mall, are named as executors, and Andrew 
 Dennis, his nephew, is made sole administrator by an 
 appended authority from the Archbishop of Canterbury. 
 
 (2) An annuity or yearly rentcharge of four hundred 
 
 127 
 

 ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 pounds from " my capital messuage lands, grounds and 
 hereditaments situate at Cannons in the County of Mid- 
 dlesex which I have lately purchased of William Hallett 
 Esquire . . . and every part and parcel thereof . . . which 
 I do hereby charge with the same upon trust that they do 
 and shall yearly and every year receive and pay the said 
 yearly rentcharge or sum of four hundred pounds into the 
 proper hands of Charlotte Hayes, called Mrs. O' Kelly who 
 now lives and resides with me for and during the term of 
 her natural life without any deduction or abatement what- 
 soever on the four quarterdays " and the said Charlotte 
 Hayes was to live in Cannons if she wished and to use all 
 the furniture in it at the time of his death for the term of 
 her own life. 
 
 (3) After her death all the furniture and effects go to his 
 nephew Andrew Dennis O' Kelly who inherits the freehold 
 of Cannons on the death of Dennis. 
 
 (4) He bequeaths to Charlotte Hayes " my large diamond 
 ring and also all and every the diamonds jewels watches 
 rings and other personal ornaments which she is possessed 
 of at my decease . . . also my gold gilt and silver cups my 
 silver tea-urn tea-kettle coffee-pot and all other plate or 
 plated silver whatsoever being tea-equipage or property 
 belonging to her tea-table and used in that way with two 
 pair of any large silver candlesticks at her election. 
 
 (5) £^(^00 to his niece Mary Harvey. 
 
 6. " I do hereby give my horse called Eclipse unto the said Thomas 
 Birch and William Atkinson upon trust to receive the profits arising 
 from the said horse as a Stallion and to account for and pay the same 
 unto the said Charlotte Hayes my said Nephew Andrew Dennis O'Kelly 
 and my brother Philip O'Kelly in and by equal parts and shares during 
 their joint lives and to the survivors and survivor of them so long as the 
 said horse shall live and be of any use or benefit after deducing all 
 charges and expenses of taking care of the said horse. And if my three 
 horses Dangannon Volunteer and Verlumnus shall become stallions or if 
 any of any other horses shall be kept as stallions at the time of my 
 decease . ." the fees shall be divided in exactly similar manner, and 
 if it is not desired to keep them as stallions then they are to be sold at 
 
 128 
 
H 
 
 ^ 
 
 m 
 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 ■^ 
 
 s 
 
 c 
 
 H 
 
 Sl 
 
 
 1J 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 '^ 
 
 
 'fl 
 
 § 
 
DENNIS O'KELLY 
 
 public auction and the proceeds divided. . . "and I do hereby direct 
 that all my stud of running horses which I shall have or be possessed 
 of at the time of my decease save and except Eclipse Dtiiigamwn 
 Volunteer and Vertiiminis or such horses as shall be kept as stallions at 
 the time of my decease and also except all my brood mares hereinafter 
 given to my said brother Philip O' Kelly shall as soon as convenient be 
 sold and disposed of by my Executors by public sale for the best prices 
 or most monies which can then be had or obtained for the same 
 and that the net monies arising from the sale thereof shall be applied by 
 my said Trustees and Executors in the first place in and towards payment 
 and satisfaction of my just debts ... I do hereby also give and 
 bequeath unto my brother Philip O'Kelly all my brood mares what- 
 soever and wheresoever for his own use and benefit." . . and ten of 
 his mares to be covered by my stallions without fee, but after ten the 
 same fees as anyone else. 
 
 7. I also bequeath to Charlotte Hayes both my chariot 
 and coach and all such coach or carriage horses as I shall be 
 possessed of at the time of my decease with all the harness 
 equipage and furniture thereto belonging. 
 
 8. ^20 and a mourning ring to each of his executors. 
 
 9. "All the residue and remainder of my personal estate not herein- 
 before specifically devised I do hereby give and bequeath unto Char- 
 lotte Hayes, my brother Philip O'Kelly and my nephew Andrew 
 Dennis O'Kelly in equal parts shares and proportions for their 
 respective use and benefit provided always and I do hereby expressly 
 declare it to be my will and direct that if my brother Philip O'Kelly 
 and my nephew Andrew Dennis O'Kelly or either of them shall at any 
 time or times after my decease during their joint lives lay any bet or 
 wager or make any match or matches whatsoever for running any 
 horse or mare whatsoever or train up any horses or mares whatsoever 
 for running at any race or races or upon any course public or private 
 for themselves or on their own account or if they or either of them 
 shall anyways interfere or be engaged or concerned in any such 
 matters in any shape or manner or upon any account or pretence what- 
 soever then and in such cases or any of them they shall forfeit and 
 pay unto my executors and trustees the sum of five hundred pounds of 
 lawful British money to be by them deducted and retained for their 
 own use and benefit out of the property." 
 
 Only a few notes are necessary on the foregoing docu- 
 ment. The William Atkinson in paragraph (i) became a 
 
 129 I 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 great friend of Andrew, and his brother Michael seems to 
 have held a mortgage on Cannons. The mourning ring 
 mentioned in paragraph (8) is, I believe, the origin of 
 Lochee's miniature which forms my frontispiece. 
 
 On January 7, 1788, Colonel Dennis O' Kelly was buried 
 at Whitchurch. Whatever evil he may have done lies 
 with his bones interred. The Jockey Club would not 
 forgive it ; but few of them had the right to cast a stone. 
 The good lives after him. To his ownership and careful 
 treatment of Eclipse England owes nearly all her best 
 horses since the end of the eighteenth century ; and the old 
 quatrain that racing men would be most inclined to quote 
 about him is : 
 
 There is so much good in the worst of us, 
 
 And so much bad in the best of us. 
 That it ill beseems any one of us 
 
 To find any fault with the rest of us. 
 
 So we will wish peace to O'Kelly's ashes ; and may the 
 turf rest lightly on the dead. 
 
 130 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE DEATH OF ECLIPSE AND THE PROPORTIONS OF 
 
 HIS SKELETON 
 
 Pelle et cdrntbus vesthti me, ossitus et nervii compeghti me 
 
 Saint Bel's Presence at the Horse's Death — " Cakes and Ale " — A Funeral 
 Ode — The Eclipse Hoof— The other Three Hoofs— The Whip— ^c/^^se's 
 Skin — His Skeleton in Red Lion Square — Bracy Clark — Sale of the Bones 
 to Professor Gamgee — Gift to the Museum — Charles Vial de Saint Bel — 
 The First Veterinary College — Saint Bel's Examination of Eclipse's Bones — 
 The Difficulties of Exact Measurement — Proportions of Eclipse — Various 
 Details of his Framework and Anatomy — Extent of his Stride — Sir John 
 Hills on the Points of a Racehorse — Heights of Racehorses — Comparison 
 of Ormonde, St. Simon, and Eclipse — Comparison of Zinfandel and Sampson 
 — Horses steadily Growing Taller — Value of a Long Femur and Humerus — 
 Persimmon a Direct Descendant of Eclipse. 
 
 W ^CLIPSE stood most of his life as a stallion at 
 /» Clay Hill, Epsom. Towards the end his forefeet 
 were dropped in the hoofs and foundered, and his 
 coffin-bones (wrote Bracy Clark in 1835) were "very 
 much rounded and diminished by absorption from undue 
 pressure upon the ball." He had earned his rest, for in 
 twenty-three years his produce numbered 344 winners, with 
 upwards of ;^i58,ooo in stakes, and he had earned O'Kelly 
 the round sum of ;^25,ooo. He was conveyed from Epsom 
 to Cannons Park on the first van ever used to transport a 
 horse from one place to another, for when Lord George 
 Bentinck vanned Elis to Doncaster for the St. Leger, it 
 was only the first time such a method had been used for a 
 race-meeting. John Oakley travelled with Eclipse, says 
 
 131 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Clark, " and baited with him at the stopping places on the 
 road, so that, in the words of the poet, he had almost become 
 ' demi-natured with the brave beast.' " 
 
 On the morning of February 25, 1789, Eclipse was 
 seized with a violent colic, writes St. Bel. "The remedies 
 acknowledged as most proper in that case were administered, 
 but without effect. He expired on the 27th at seven o'clock 
 in the evening in the 26th year of his age. ... It is worthy 
 notice that the heart weighed fourteen pounds. The skull 
 was not opened as it was my intention to preserve entire 
 the skeleton of so famous a horse." 
 
 " Cakes and ale," says Bracy Clark, "were given at the 
 funeral of his flesh, after the manner of the Godolphin 
 Arabian, for his skin was preserved, and his bones were 
 nicely cleaned of eveiy covering but the ligaments that held 
 them together, by the masterly hand of Sainbel, the first 
 professor of the Veterinary College, and an excellent 
 anatomist, at which, more than in anything else, he 
 excelled." Orton confirms this in his " Turf Annals," 
 (1844), saying that, " the skeleton, which exhibited immense 
 strength and power, was afterwards for many years pre- 
 served in the museum of Mr. Edmund Bond " (the gentle- 
 man whose notes on Tattersall's Catalogue appeared in my 
 last chapter) " of Haunch of Venison Yard, Upper Brook 
 Street, Grosvenor Square, London, a pupil of M. de St. Bel, 
 member of the R.V.C., and Veterinarian to the Duke of 
 Clarence. In later days one of the hoofs of this Prince of 
 Horses, elegantly and expensively mounted" (as will be 
 seen in one of my illustrations) "was presented to the 
 Jockey Club by His late Majesty. . . ." 
 
 Soon after the good horse's death, a poem was pub- 
 lished in which the adherents of O' Kelly and Eclipse flung 
 a last defiance at Tattersall and Highflyer. It ran as 
 follows : 
 
 Praise to departed worth! Illustrious steed, 
 
 Not the fam'd Phernicus of Pindar's ode, 
 O'er thee, EcHpse, possessed transcendent speed 
 
 When by a keen Newmarket jockey rode. 
 132 
 
o -I 
 
DEATH OF ECLIPSE 
 
 Tho' from the hoof of Pegasus arose 
 
 Inspiring Hippocrene, a fount divine ! 
 A richer stream superior merit shows, 
 
 Thy matchless foot produced O' Kelly's wine. 
 
 True, o'er the tomb in which this fav'rite lies 
 No vaunting boast appears of lineage good ; 
 
 Yet the Turf Register's bright page defies 
 The race of Herod to show better blood. 
 
 Every precaution was taken, as far as I can discover, to 
 preserve the relics of this noble animal ; but of course I 
 have had some difficulty in arriving at the authenticity of 
 all that bear his name to-day. The hoof, however, men- 
 tioned by Orton in the passage quoted above, is beyond 
 doubt ; for it is on record that King William IV., who 
 knew more of the sea than the Turf, and " started the whole 
 squadron" when necessary at Ascot or elsewhere, was 
 giving the annual dinner to the Jockey Club (which still 
 continues) at St. James's Palace, on May i6, 1832, when 
 the hoof of Eclipse, elegantly mounted in the middle of a 
 gold salver, was brought into the room and presented by 
 the King to the Club. It is now in the Club Rooms at 
 Newmarket. On the front are the royal arms in gold in 
 high relief, and on the pedestal is the following inscription : 
 " This piece of plate, with the hoof of Eclipse, was presented 
 by His Most Gracious Majesty William the Fourth to the 
 Jockey Club, May, 1832." This Hoof was originally given 
 as a Challenge race (rather like "The Whip," which I 
 shall mention presently) run on Ascot Thursday. The 
 King gave ;^200 added money, and there was a ;;^ioo 
 sweepstake between members of the Jockey Club. It was 
 run for soon after it was presented, in the year of the great 
 Reform Bill, on the same afternoon that Camarme and 
 Rowton ran a dead-heat for the Gold Cup, and over the 
 same course. One subscriber scratched, and of the other 
 two. Lord Chesterfield, with the famous Priam (Conolly 
 up), beat General Grosvenor and Sarpedon, ridden by John 
 Day. In 1834 Lord Chesterfield won again with Glauciis 
 
 133 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 (Bill Scott up), beating Gallopade, who had won for Mr. 
 Cosby the year before. Twelve months later it was chal- 
 lenged for by Mr. Batson, but there was no reply. It is much 
 to be wished that his present Majesty would suggest some 
 practical way by which so celebrated a trophy could once 
 more be brought out from its seclusion and worthily figure 
 among the great prizes of the modern Turf. 
 
 A short time ago the number of "hoofs of Eclipse'' 
 mentioned in my letters suggested that one explanation 
 of his speed might have been the abnormal quantity of legs 
 in which he apparently rejoiced. But after some trouble I 
 have got down to four, two of which are probable and two 
 certain. Among the many correspondents who have so 
 kindly given value to this compilation was Mr. John D. 
 Cradock, of Quorn, who possesses a hoof with a piece of 
 the hide of Eclipse, which were given to his father, Thomas 
 Cradock, of Loughborough, by Thomas Denning, of the 
 same place, who got it from Cannons. Mr. Denning died 
 on December 30, 1846, and in the probate of his will in the 
 Canterbury Court (proved in 1847) ^e is described as "of 
 Loughborough," where he owned property ; and he formerly 
 resided at Pinner. From other indications I see no reason 
 to doubt that this is genuine. 
 
 Soon afterwards another letter reached me from the 
 West Indies, in which Mrs. E. J. Roper very kindly in- 
 formed me that she possessed a hoof of Eclipse mounted in 
 the form of a snuff-box, with the miniature of George IV. 
 on the lid. This could not, of course, have been the one 
 which Lord Chesterfield won in 1834, for that, as we have 
 seen, is now in the Jockey Club ; but it may possibly have 
 been given to the Prince of Wales by his friend, Andrew 
 O' Kelly, in the shape it still retains. How it got out to the 
 West Indies is evident from the inscription now on the 
 underside of the lid, which shows that it was given to the 
 father of my correspondent's husband, who was a surgeon 
 in the loist Regiment, then stationed at Jamaica. The 
 inscription is as follows : " Presented to Dr. Roper, Rose- 
 mount, Jamaica, by Lieutenant Nowlan, as a testimonial of 
 
 134 
 
DEATH OF ECLIPSE 
 
 gratitude for his skilful and successful treatment of a gun- 
 shot wound, which carried with it a portion of the spine, 
 rendering it to all except his benefactor a hopeless case ; and 
 having perfectly recovered from all subsequent ill effects 
 Lieutenant Nowlan is anxious to record his grateful feelings. 
 Dublin, June 1837." The weakness of this is that there is no 
 mention of Eclipse, the very point that would have given 
 special value to the present. But I am bound to think 
 that "Dublin" adds a touch of probability, inasmuch as 
 the hoof may well have been a treasured possession of 
 Andrew O'Kelly's Irish relations, as a relic not only of the 
 famous horse, but of his racing acquaintance with the 
 Prince of Wales. I must confess, however, that no greater 
 proof of authenticity has yet reached me. 
 
 Fortunately, there is as little doubt about the fourth 
 hoof as about the first, for in reply to my inquiries, Lord 
 Knollys very kindly wrote as follows : — 
 
 Balmoral Castle 
 
 26 September 1906 
 
 Dear Mr. Cook 
 
 I have submitted your letter to the King, and I find that His Majesty 
 does possess one of Eclipse's hoofs. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 Knollys. 
 
 I should add here that in Mr. Robert Black's " History 
 of the Jockey Club" (1891) mention is made of a Mr. 
 William Worley, of Weybridge, who " claims to have had 
 in his possession for about thirty years (on July 7, 1891) a 
 pin with a horse's head made from one of Eclipse s hoofs, 
 and the property originally of a William Worley who had 
 been in the service of the 'Culloden ' Duke of Cumberland, 
 and afterwards manager of the Duke of York's stud at Oat- 
 lands, and who had actually cut off the hoofs of Eclipsed 
 I find from other sources that Mr. Worley, who had ridden 
 Eclipse at exercise, died at a great age at his residence in 
 Hampton Court ; and it is further said that the hoof he sent 
 (by O'Kelly's orders) to the Duke of York was that which 
 
 13s 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 eventually came into the possession of the Jockey Club by 
 the gift of William IV. It is also said that Mr. Worley 
 sent another hoof (which has never been traced) to Mr. 
 Greville who managed the Duke of York's racing stable. 
 From which foot was taken the material used for Mr. 
 Worley's tie-pin, I know not. The fact that the hoofs 
 mentioned above are mounted may conceal the absence 
 of a piece of horn big enough for the head of a scarf- 
 pin ; and it is curious that in the skeleton as it is now 
 mounted in Red Lion Square the fore and hind hoof-bones 
 appear to be interchanged, which may be the result of a 
 stud-groom, ignorant of anatomy, removing one hoof during 
 the dissection in order to cut out a piece of horn. 
 
 A genuine relic of Eclipse is the lash and wristband, 
 woven from the hairs of his mane and tail, on the New- 
 market Challenge Whip, which was very possibly decorated 
 in this appropriate manner after Eclipse s sons, PolSos and 
 Dungannon, had won it in 1783 and 1786 respectively. The 
 trophy is of course much older, for though the arms on the 
 handle are not Stuart, the tradition that it was given as a 
 prize by Charles II. is probably true. George IV. gave a 
 gold whip in the year of his accession to the Turf Club in 
 Ireland, and in 1828 Richard Tattersall carried over to the 
 Mecklenburgh Race-meeting a whip presented by Francis 
 Buckle, with which he had won " five Derbies, two St. 
 Legers, nine Oaks, and all the good things at Newmarket." 
 The selection of a well-mounted whip as a prize is of old 
 standing, and was usual about the time when the still more 
 ancient custom of giving a Bell went out of fashion. Such 
 good horses are on the roll of the Newmarket Whip winners 
 as Sharke, Sweet William, Gimcrack, and Malton ; but it 
 has fallen into almost as indolent habits as its near neigh- 
 bour the Hoof, for in these days few owners care to give 
 their horses a gallop over the severe Ditch-In course (two 
 miles 118 yards) for a reward that is merely sentimental ; 
 and after old Osbech had practically made it his own 
 property. Lord Ellesmere's Kroonstad (by Kilwarlin, out of 
 Sabra) won it in October, 1906, without the trouble of 
 
 136 
 
DEATH OF ECLIPSE 
 
 competition, which showed that sentiment does not count 
 for very much on the modern Turf. 
 
 Matthew Dawson owned a genuine piece of Eclipses 
 skin, and on his death in 1898 this was sent by his heir 
 to Lord Rosebery, who gave it an honoured place in one of 
 the finest sporting collections in the world at the Durdans. 
 The fine, light chestnut hair is as bright as ever in the 
 Epsom sunlight, and beneath it is a letter signed by R. B. 
 Pitman in July 1865, saying that it is " part of a larger 
 piece given to me by Lieut. -Colonel Andrew Dennis 
 O'Kelly," the owner of Cannons Park at the time of 
 Eclipses death there in 1789. 
 
 It has been said that the stuffed skin was standing in the 
 loft over the stables at Cannons until 1810; and Mr. Aubrey 
 Hillmann of Saxonbury has written to me as follows : — 
 " The late Rev. C. J. Plumer, Vicar of Ilford, near Lewes 
 in Sussex, from 1868 to 1882, and before that of Elstree, 
 Middlesex, was the son of Sir Thomas Plumer, Master 
 of the Rolls, who bought the Cannons Estate from O'Kelly. 
 He often told me that, as a boy, he and his brother had 
 played with the skin of Eclipse either in the loft over the 
 stables or in one of the attics at Cannons, where it was 
 left by Sir Thomas Plumer." But Mr. W. Osborn Boyes 
 of Barnet, writing to the papers in July 1906, says that the 
 father of Mr. W. A. Tootell, magistrates' clerk of Edgeware, 
 " got to know they had sold the hide to a ' snob ' at Elstree, 
 to whom he posted off, gave the man a couple of sovereigns 
 for it and brought it home, and for years it has lain in 
 the loft over Mr. Tootell's stables," which are only a stone's 
 throw from the gates of Cannons Park. The famous skin 
 was " in pickle " at the tanner's when I was last in Edge- 
 ware in November, 1906 ; but in the spring of the next 
 year Mr. Osborn Boyes very kindly sent me a piece which 
 he had himself cut off near the withers, and I have no 
 reason to doubt its authenticity ; but no hair is left on it, 
 and it has not been so well preserved as the portion that 
 has come into the possession of Lord Rosebery. The 
 careful reader will observe that the accoun-t thus given by 
 
 137 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Mr. Boyes does not invalidate the evidence which Mr. 
 Hillman was good enough to send me early in 1906. 
 
 Most fortunately for us the dissection of Eclipses dead 
 body was conducted by the most famous veterinary sur- 
 geon of his day, and the first head of the Royal College 
 of Veterinary Surgeons in Red Lion Square. He left the 
 ligaments on the bones, after he had taken off everything 
 else, and they were still on them a year or two ago, as 
 may be seen from the photograph on page 302 of the 
 second volume in my " History of the English Turf" 
 (Virtue, 1903). This is only one indication of the authenticity 
 of that skeleton, which has now had to be cleaned up owing 
 to the natural processes of decay. But it is necessary to 
 give here the documentary proofs that this skeleton is 
 actually the authentic relic out of several other claimants 
 to the honour ; and this I am enabled to do owing to the 
 kindness of various correspondents related to the gentle- 
 men through whose hands the skeleton of Eclipse passed 
 before it reached its present home. 
 
 It may be as well briefly to trace the occurrences con- 
 nected with the skeleton from the day after Saint Bel dis- 
 sected it at Cannons. ''Eclipses head," he writes, "was 
 never beautiful, but his mechanical conformation was 
 perfect," and this he worked out in careful detail in a book 
 from which I shall quote at some length later on, called 
 " An Essay on the Geometrical Proportions of Eclipse, by 
 Charles Vial de Saint Bel, Equerry to the King of France, 
 and head of the Academy of Equitation at Lyons, formerly 
 Professor of the Royal Veterinary College in the same city, 
 and of Comparative Anatomy at Montpellier, and now 
 Professor of the Veterinary College in London, 1791. 
 Price one guinea." The book was originally written 
 in French, from which I have taken its title, and was 
 dedicated "to His Royal Highness George Prince of 
 Wales." 
 
 The bones on which St. Bel's researches are based were 
 presented to the Royal Veterinary College in Red Lion 
 Square, London, where they now are, by Professor John 
 
 138 
 
DEATH OF ECLIPSE 
 
 Gamgee, on January 27, 1871, who sent the following 
 receipt as a guarantee of authenticity : 
 
 "18 GiLTSPUR Street, London. 
 
 " Nov. 22, i860. 
 
 " Received of Mr. Joseph Gamgee on account of Professor John 
 Gamgee of the New Veterinary College, Edinburgh, the sum of one 
 hundred and five pounds for value of the skeleton complete of the 
 renowned horse Eclipse, son of Marske (Signed) Bracy Clark." 
 
 This Mr. Bracy Clark was a Fellow of the Linnaean 
 Society, a Member of the Institut de France, and a friend 
 of Saint Bel. He was born on April 7, 1771, eighteen 
 years before Eclipse died ; his elder brother, Henry, who 
 was born in 1757, and died in 1841, was present at the 
 dissection of the body in Cannons Park ; and Saint Bel 
 communicated to him a note on the arrangement of the 
 bones. This elder brother it was who turned Bracy Clark's 
 mind chiefly towards veterinary science, though his general 
 attainments were sufficient to secure his recognition by 
 various eminent scientific bodies, not only in Paris but in 
 New York, Berlin, Copenhagen and Stuttgart. He was a 
 man of wide interests, for he established the first cricket 
 club in Worcester, during his apprenticeship as a surgeon, 
 and his fine cabinet of insects, all named after the system 
 of Linnaeus, procured him the honour of membership of 
 the Linnaean Society as soon as he reached London at 
 the age of twenty-one. When he was twenty-six he visited 
 Holland, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, but could 
 not get to France in 1797, so he returned to his veterinary 
 practice in London with Mr. Bond and Mr. Moorcroft (who 
 succeeded Saint Bel as joint-professor with Mr. Coleman 
 at the Red Lion Square College), and in 1804 he was at 
 work on the principle of elasticity in a horse's foot, of which 
 Wyatt, the sculptor, was so convinced that he rode his 
 horse without shoes for years, and to the end of his life 
 Bracy Clark struggled to find a proper shoe to suit the 
 natural expansion of the equine foot. At his death he was 
 
 139 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 the senior member of his profession, his diploma being 
 dated July 5, 1794, and it was his boast that he was the 
 first pupil to lead a horse into the yard of the London 
 College. He no doubt derived great benefit from St. Bel's 
 instruction, and the first thing he ever published was a 
 short description of Eclipse. The same subjects occupied 
 him when he was forty-two, for he wrote a book on the 
 sectional figure of the horse, which came out first in 1813 
 and again in 1842, in which the following passage occurs : 
 
 " As a very ungenerous and ridiculous attempt has lately been made to 
 cast a doubt on the identity of the Eclipse skeleton now in my possession, 
 it may not be amiss to notify that this celebrated horse never went 
 out of Dennis O'Kelly's hands, dying at his estate of Cannons Park in 
 Hertfordshire [he means Middlesex] of the gripes. St. Bel, then about 
 to be made professor of the Veterinary College, made a natural skeleton 
 of his bones, leaving the ligaments attaching the bones together, so that 
 they could not in any way be changed. A few years after, Dennis [he 
 means Andrew Dennis, the nephew] gave this skeleton to my friend 
 Edmund Bond of Lower Brook Street, Grosvenor Square, who dying, 
 his widow, who still lives, presented it to me in consequence of my 
 assistance in disposing of her business and collecting her debts, &c. ; 
 and it was never in any other hands whatsoever. The bones also 
 themselves, which are remarkable, would sufficiently evince their 
 genuineness to any person not wilfully blind or prejudiced. Sixty 
 guineas were offered me for it by the College of Surgeons and were 
 refused, a hundred being demanded for this invincible monarch of the 
 racecourse." 
 
 A drawing from nature is added, by Sydenham Edwards 
 of Chelsea, of the vertebral column, eighteen ribs, and 
 trunk of Eclipse, and on the next page is a measured leg 
 and the front of the skeleton. 
 
 This is confirmed from other sources, for Bracy Clark's 
 great-grandson, Mr. Arthur Langridge, very kindly wrote 
 out for me the following memorandum, copied from his 
 grandmother's statement of the facts, made a year before 
 her death in 1903. She was born in 181 1. 
 
 " My father Mr. Bracy Clark had lent ;^5oo to Mr. Bond, a veterinary 
 surgeon of Oxford Street, who was called in by the owner Captain 
 
 140 
 
5 
 
 

 ^i'-'^my^ 
 
 '5 
 
 
 ^^^^^^^^^^tT^^^^^V 
 
 
 
 
 u 
 
 i^Sy^i: ■ . -■ 
 
 
 1 
 
DEATH OF ECLIPSE 
 
 [Andrew] O'Kelly living at Cannons, to dissect Eclipse under the direc- 
 tion of Sainbel and my uncle Henry Clark was present at the dissection. 
 Shortly, after, Mr. Bond died, and his widow, unable to pay the loan, 
 gave my father the skeleton of Eclipse. The first time I saw it was in 
 Taunton Place, Regent's Park in 1825. The limbs were kept in two 
 cupboards in my father's study, and the skeleton of the body was over 
 the top, also the head. In i860 my father sold it for £100 to Mr. John 
 Gamgee who intended establishing a veterinary college in Edinburgh." 
 
 In 1833 the bones are also proved to have been in the 
 same hands, for on August 9 of that year Mr. William 
 Clift wrote to Mr. Bracy Clark from Lincoln's Inn Fields 
 as follows : 
 
 " Dr. Adam of Edinburgh having been informed by me that you are 
 in possession of the Bones of the celebrated Eclipse, is very desirous of 
 being permitted to see them, and being personally unknown to you, has 
 requested this line of introduction, and I believe you will only require 
 to know, to esteem each other, for Dr. Adam is as zealous a student of 
 Nature as yourself, and that you will allow is saying a bold word 
 and more than I could venture to say of many others." 
 
 In 1835 Mr. Bracy Clark apparently gave the bones to 
 Mr. Bullock to take care of, who kept them in a case in the 
 Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, with power to sell them for 
 100 guineas. 
 
 Mr. Langridge also copied for me the original letter 
 from Professor Gamgee as to the delivery of the skeleton, 
 dated from the New Veterinary College, Edinburgh, 
 November 21, i860, and addressed to Bracy Clark, in 
 Giltspur Street : 
 
 " My father will hand you this note and is deputed by me to pay you 
 the sum of one hundred guineas for the skeleton of Eclipse which I 
 wish you to deliver to him with an authentic account of the manner 
 in which you obtained possession of it. In the hope that you may 
 have recovered from the indisposition which Mrs. Pope mentioned as 
 confining you to your room, I remain, Dear Sir, Yours very faithfully, 
 
 "John Gamgee." 
 
 Bracy Clark died three weeks later, leaving many valu- 
 able books on the horse to the Red Lion Square institution, 
 
 141 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 and Mrs. Pope was his only child, Mr. Langridge's grand- 
 mother. He practised with Mr. Moorcroft and Mr. Bond ; 
 in his early days of veterinary work he took the premises 
 mentioned in Giltspur Street. On December i6, i860, he 
 died at the age of 89, and the Registrar, announcing his 
 death at the Quarterly Meeting of the Council of the Royal 
 Veterinary Surgeons on January 16, 1861, said "Mr. 
 Bracy Clark was until very recently the owner of the 
 skeleton of the celebrated Eclipsed 
 
 In the " Edinburgh Veterinary Review " for February 
 1 86 1, Mr. Joseph Gamgee wrote that "the skeleton of 
 Eclipse now in our possession, still connected by its liga- 
 ments, is proof that Eclipse was a horse of most perfect 
 symmetry." There is no doubt, therefore, that the 
 Gamgees (both Joseph and John held important posts in the 
 Edinburgh New Veterinary College) had the skeleton in 
 Edinburgh between 1861 and 1871, and it is equally certain 
 that in January of the latter year they gave it to the sister- 
 institution in London where it now is. 
 
 Among the many things for which the modern lover of 
 horses may be grateful to Eclipse, it is not often realised 
 that one of the most important is the foundation of the first 
 veterinary college in London, which was, it is fair to say, a 
 direct result of St. Bel's brilliant dissection of the body. 
 The first veterinary college recorded is that established in 
 1 76 1 in a convent at Lyons, where the first professor was 
 Bourgelat, of whom St. Bel was a pupil. 
 
 Charles Vial de St. Bel, was born at Lyons in 1753; 
 his father was the Mayor of the City, and his second sur- 
 name was taken from a neighbouring estate. His parents 
 having died in 1756, he was placed under the guardianship 
 of M. de Flesseille, and by the age of seventeen he was 
 attending Bourgelat's lectures at the Lyons College, which 
 Bracy Clark visited later on when France was less dangerous 
 for English travellers. By 1773 Saint Bel was appointed a 
 public Demonstrator, and in the next year he celebrated his 
 majority by taking five students on an extensive tour, 
 undertaken by command, to stop an outbreak of epizootic 
 
 142 
 
DEATH OF ECLIPSE 
 
 in France. After this the King sent for him to Paris, made 
 him an Equerry, and gave him an official position in the 
 capital, where the sonorous title of " Mardchal de France" 
 is an interesting echo of the deference once paid to the 
 invaluable trade of farriery. But his native town could not 
 get on without him, and he returned south to become a 
 Professor at Montpellier. Soon afterwards the patronage 
 of the Prince de Lambesc, which had already benefited him 
 at Court, secured him the chief position in the great 
 "Manage" at Lyons. In June 1788 he came to England 
 with letters of introduction to Sir Joseph Banks and others, 
 and before returning to France he married an English wife. 
 Impending revolution, and the confiscation of his estates, 
 drove him out of France again ; and on reaching London 
 once more he was proscribed as an eniigrd. But his chance 
 soon came. In February 1789, the brilliant young French- 
 man (he was only thirty-six) was asked by Andrew Dennis 
 O' Kelly to dissect the body of Eclipse. The result of his 
 work, published in a book, made his reputation for ever. 
 
 By his influence in the next year (1790) a meeting of 
 gentlemen interested in the Agricultural Society of Odiham 
 (Hants) resolved " to form an institution to be called the 
 Veterinary College, and to appoint M. Saint Bel to the 
 professorship," writes John Lawrence, who edited a collected 
 edition of Saint Bel's works after his death. The writer of 
 the life in the "Dictionary of National Biography" gives 
 February 11, 1791, as the date of the important meeting 
 mentioned, and Mr. Blenheim's Coffee House, in Bond 
 Street, as the place. Whichever may be right, it is certain 
 that Saint Bel founded veterinary science in England on 
 its present lines, that he was first professor of our first 
 veterinary college, and that the dissection of Eclipse gave 
 him the opportunity of proving himself capable of both. 
 The Duke of Northumberland was President of the new 
 institution, with Sir T. C. Bunbury, M.P., among the Vice- 
 Presidents, and before 1792 Saint Bel had been formally 
 appointed, and stabling was built in Red Lion Square by 
 the authority of a committee, on which John Hunter served. 
 
 143 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 But Saint Bel's enjoyment of the post was doomed to be as 
 short as Dennis O'Kelly's tenure of Cannons ; for on 
 August 4, 1793, he was seized with a shivering fit, and in 
 seventeen days he was dead. He was buried at the 
 College's expense in the vaults of the Savoy Chapel in the 
 Strand. He is described by Bracy Clark "as a tall, 
 stout, bony man, of a very dark swarthy complexion, and 
 prominent cheek bones ; the lower jaw large, and dark 
 eyes." 
 
 Saint Bel was no doubt inspired to write his great book 
 by the interest he would naturally feel in comparing Eclipse 
 with the ideal medium standard horse of the French school, 
 as laid down by his old master Bourgelat. But apart from 
 the importance of his detailed description of Eclipse, the 
 book is remarkable for an imaginative insight, based on those 
 details, which is among the highest gifts that any scientific 
 writer can possess. The author showed, for instance, by 
 mathematical calculation, that the fore- and hind-legs of a 
 galloping horse must necessarily occupy a certain position 
 at a given moment of the gallop when fully extended. 
 Very few of his contemporaries can have believed him. 
 But instantaneous photography has made us wiser, and by 
 its aid we can now see in any of the illustrated papers a 
 horse's legs in those positions which Saint Bel described 
 long before such photography had ever been invented. 
 These positions consist in the extreme forward reach of the 
 hind-legs and the extreme backward reach of the fore-legs, 
 as will be obvious when we come to examine more closely 
 the diagrams by which Saint-Bel's book is illustrated. The 
 work is now rare and seldom to be found in good condition. 
 I shall therefore quote from the copy in the British Museum, 
 from which the diagrams were reproduced for these pages. 
 With these diagrams I would ask my reader to compare 
 the careful measured painting of Eclipse, done from life by 
 Stubbs, which is the type taken for all the horse's best 
 portraits, and also the photographs of the skeleton in Red 
 Lion Square, and of the various bones in detail. 
 
 It will no doubt be expected that I should here give a 
 
 144 
 
DEATH OF ECLIPSE 
 
 careful tabulation of the size of Eclipse's bones as compared 
 with the best horses we know before and after his time. It 
 is neither lack of industry nor want of perception that pre- 
 vents me from accomplishing what I fondly imagined, when 
 I begun this book, would be one of its most interesting 
 tasks. In future editions I look forward to its accomplish- 
 ment ; but for the present we are all kept waiting by a very 
 curious difficulty among the Biologists and the Men of 
 Science, which they will have to settle for themselves as soon 
 as possible, for no one else can settle it for them. The 
 majority of my readers will share my own surprise in learn- 
 ing that the whole question is one about the exact measure- 
 ment of bones. It will not do here to take the obviously 
 simple course of placing a bone between uprights and 
 measuring it " over all." I find that so long ago as 1790 
 such good authorities as Saint Bel and Bracy Clark differed 
 as to the measurement of certain bones of Eclipse. No 
 doubt the "extreme points " they chose were not the same. 
 So recently as the summer of 1906 an official of the British 
 Museum of Natural History, who most kindly superin- 
 tended the photographing of the skeleton for me in Red 
 Lion Square, produced his form of measurement, which 
 differed from that of both his predecessors. I have no 
 doubt that another equally well-informed gentleman of 
 science would in the present year of grace produce a 
 measurement differing from all three. I find exactly the 
 same difficulty in measuring modern thoroughbreds for 
 purposes of comparison. The only solution would be that 
 the man who measured the skeleton of Eclipse should also 
 measure the skeleton of modern horses. Saint Bel, alas ! 
 has not lived long enough. But when our scientific gentle- 
 men have settled on some common mode of procedure that 
 will be universally accepted, I shall hope to compare the 
 bones of Eclipse with those of Touchstone, and perhaps 
 with those of some famous descendant in the same direct 
 line who is still alive, as I write, and then I think the 
 results will indeed be worthy of the attention of biologists 
 and breeders ; and then, also, to use the words in which 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Saint Bel described one of his chief ambitions, " we should 
 be enabled to establish the true conformation of the race- 
 horse, and at any given time to discover whether the breed 
 had degenerated." 
 
 I am very far from implying that the work of Saint Bel, 
 and the modern photographs of Eclipses bones, here repro- 
 duced, are rendered valueless by what has just been said. 
 It should rather be understood that, in what I hope may be 
 the near future, they will possess an even greater exact 
 value than they do now. Their general interest can never 
 be diminished ; and in the case of Saint Bel himself I can 
 even give an instance of that comparative method which 
 is always so desirable ; for he found that when compared 
 with the table of the geometrical portions of the horse in 
 use at the veterinary schools of France, Eclipse measured 
 in height one-seventh more than the French standard ; his 
 neck was one-third longer ; the perpendicular line falling 
 from his stifle touched the ground some distance in front 
 of the toe instead of touching the toe itself; and the dis- 
 tance from the elbow to the bend of the knee was con- 
 siderably longer than the distance from the bend of the 
 knee to the ground, whereas the French standard gave 
 these measurements as identical. The latter point is, I 
 think, the most important. Good judges consider that a 
 horse's knee being set on low, or " well let down " after the 
 pattern of a greyhound, is a point in favour of speed, and 
 in this case it is no doubt one reason why Eclipse proved 
 faster than the French horses from whom the French 
 standard was compiled. It should also be noted that 
 Saint Bel gives his height from the withers to the ground 
 as 66 inches (or \6\ hands), which is much taller than 
 he was thought to be by the eye-witnesses I quoted in 
 previous chapters ; but he confirms their description by 
 adding that the height from the top of the rump to the 
 ground (which he gives as 67 inches) was greater, and 
 he notes that the length of the body from the most pro- 
 minent part of the breast to the extremity of the buttocks 
 was greater still, namely 69 inches. " It was worthy notice," 
 
 146 
 
DEATH OF ECLIPSE 
 
 he also remarks, " that the heart weighed fourteen pounds," 
 which is evidently an increase on the corresponding organ 
 in animals to which he had been previously accustomed. 
 I will now give further details in his own words, the " head " 
 being 22 inches, and the "part" being one inch, in the 
 calculations which follow : 
 
 Table of the geometrical Proportions of Eclipse drawn up by 
 Vial de Saint Bel. 
 
 The head, divided into 22 equal parts, is the common measure for 
 every part of the body. If the head appears too long or too short in a 
 horse, that common measure must be abandoned, and the height of the 
 body taken from the top of the withers to the ground. This height, 
 being divided into three equal parts, one of these three parts sub- 
 divided into 22 equal parts will give a just geometrical length, such as 
 the head would have given had it been rightly proportioned. 
 
 AAAC. 3 heads and 13 parts, give the height of Eclipse, when pro- 
 perly placed, from the foretop to the ground. 
 
 AAA. 3 heads from the withers to the ground. 
 
 AAA. 3 heads [and one part] from the rump to the ground. 
 
 AAA. 3 heads and 3 parts, the whole length of the body, from the 
 most prominent part of the chest, to the extremity of the buttocks. 
 
 AAA. 2 heads and 20 parts, the height of the middle of the body, 
 through the line of the centre of gravity. 
 
 AAC. 2 heads and 7 parts, the height of the highest part of the 
 chest from the ground. 
 
 AAC. 2 heads and 5 parts, the height of the perpendicular line, 
 which falls from the articulation of the arm with the shoulder, directly 
 to the hoof. 
 
 AB. I head and 20 parts, the height of the perpendicular line, which 
 falls from the top of the fore-leg, dividing equally all its parts to the 
 fetlock. 
 
 AB. I head and 19 parts, the height of the perpendicular line from 
 the elbow to the ground. 
 
 AB. I head and 19 parts, the distance from the top of the withers 
 to the stifle. The same measure also gives the distance from the top of 
 the rump to the elbow. 
 
 147 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 A. i|- head, the length of the neck from the withers to the top of the 
 head. The same measure also gives the length of the neck from the 
 top of the head, to its insertion into the chest. 
 
 A. I head, the width of the neck at its union with the chest. 
 
 D. 12 parts of a head, the width of the neck in its narrowest part. 
 
 D. The same measure gives the breadth of the head, taken below 
 the eyes. 
 
 A. I head and 4 parts, the thickness of the body, from the middle of 
 the back to the middle of the belly. 
 
 A. The same measure gives the breadth of the body. 
 
 A. The same measure gives the length of the rump from its summit 
 to the extremity of the buttocks. 
 
 A. The same measure gives the distance from the root of the tail to 
 the articulation of the femur with the tibia, commonly called the stifle. 
 
 A. The same measure gives the length from the stifle to the hock. 
 
 A. The same measure gives the height, from the hock to the ex- 
 tremity of the hoof. 
 
 B. 20 parts of a head, the distance from the extremity of the 
 buttocks to the articulation of the stifle. 
 
 B. The same measure gives the breadth of the rump or croup. 
 
 E. 10 parts of a head, the breadth of the fore-legs from their anterior 
 part to the elbow. 
 
 F. 10 parts of a head, the breadth of one of the hind-legs taken 
 beneath the fold of the buttocks. 
 
 F. 8 parts of a head, the breadth of the ham taken from the bend. 
 
 F. The same measure gives the breadth of the head above the 
 nostrils. 
 
 G. 7 parts of a head, the distance of the eyes, from one great angle 
 to the other. 
 
 G. The same measure gives the distance between the fore-legs. 
 
 H. 5 parts of a head, the thickness of the knees. 
 
 H. The same measure gives the breadth of the fore-legs above the 
 knees. 
 
 H. The same measure gives the thickness of the hams. 
 
 I. 4 parts of a head, the breadth of the pastern or fetlock joint. 
 
 I. The same measure gives the thickness of the coronet. 
 
 K. 4^ parts of a head, the breadth of the coronet. 
 
 148 
 
^ 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 5N 
 
 s 
 
 
 N^ 
 
 o 
 
 B9 
 
DEATH OF ECLIPSE 
 
 L. 3 parts of a head, the thickness of the fore-legs in their nar- 
 rowest part. 
 L. The same measure gives the breadth of the hinder-legs, or shanks. 
 
 M. 2f parts of a head, the thickness of the hind pasterns. 
 
 M. The same measure gives the breadth of the shanks of the 
 fore-legs. 
 
 N. 2\ parts of a head, the thickness of the fore pasterns. 
 
 N. The same measure gives the breadth of the hind pasterns. 
 
 O. if parts of a head, the thickness of the fore and hind shanks. 
 
 Extent of Flexion in the Parts which compose the Extremities. 
 F. All the lines which proceed horizontally and obliquely from the 
 centre to the circumference of each circle, and on which is the letter F, 
 mark the extent of flexion, either forward or backward. 
 
 The Fore-Legs. 
 
 A. The shoulder describes a portion of a circle, equal to 40 degrees, 
 both forward and backward, the centre of its motion being in the 
 middle of the shoulder-blade. 
 
 B. The humerus, or arm, is represented in the centre of flexion 
 backward ; it describes 40 degrees in its action. 
 
 C. The cubitus, or fore-arm, is represented at the beginning of its 
 flexion forward, and describes 90 degrees in its action. 
 
 D. The shank, or canon, is at the beginning of its flexion backward 
 and describes 90 degrees in its action. 
 
 E. The pastern, coronet, and foot, describe, one with another, in 
 their flexion backward, 100 degrees. 
 
 Recapitulation. 
 
 Degrees. 
 
 B 
 
 D 
 
 E 
 
 .40 
 
 10 
 
 Total of the flexion 
 149 
 
 360 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Hind-Legs. 
 
 G. The haunch, or os ileon, bends upward and downward, and 
 describes 30 degrees in its action. 
 
 H. The femur, or thigh bone, is represented in the middle of its 
 flexion forward and describes 50 degrees. 
 
 I. The tibia is represented in one-third of its flexion backward, and 
 describes in the whole, 80 degrees. 
 
 K. The shank is represented in the beginning of its flexion forward, 
 and describes 100 degrees.* 
 
 L. The pastern, coronet, and foot, describe, one with another, 100 
 degrees. 
 
 Recapitulation. 
 
 G 
 
 H 
 
 I 
 
 K 
 L 
 
 Degrees. 
 ^O 
 
 10 
 10 
 
 Total of the flexion 
 
 360 
 
 We may see by this, that the legs of Eclipse, in their flexion in the 
 gallop, described each a circle of 360 degrees ; and consequently, the 
 extent of the action of each leg was the same in the extension. 
 
 To this must indeed be added the force of action, without which a 
 horse cannot even walk. This force depends chiefly on the power of 
 the muscles, and can only be computed by experiment ; since they are 
 animated organs, which move parts merely mechanical : but, in 
 allowing Eclipse a good muscular organisation, which he certainly 
 possessed, we may, examining the length and direction of his legs, and 
 the greatness and openness of the angles, formed by the alternate 
 disposition of the bones which composed his extremities, pronounce 
 with the greatest probability, that Eclipse, free of all weight, and 
 galloping at liberty in his greatest speed, could cover an extent of 
 25 feet at each complete action on the gallop ; that he could repeat 
 this action twice and one-third in each second ; consequently, that 
 
 * The line of flexion of this part is not placed sufificiently high in the plate. 
 
 150 
 
DEATH OF ECLIPSE 
 
 employing without reserve all his natural and mechanical faculties on 
 a straight line, he could run nearly four miles in the space of six 
 minutes and two seconds. 
 
 HF. These two letters placed in the four prints of the feet, which 
 are marked before and behind the horse's legs, show where he placed 
 his hind- and fore-feet in the gallop. 
 
 Lines of Progn'ssion. 
 
 M. The great segment of a circle, which proceeds from the print 
 of one of the hind-feet, and enters the print of one of the fore-feet, 
 shows the total extent of ground which the horse covered at each 
 complete action in the gallop. 
 
 N. The oblique line, which proceeds from the protuberance of the 
 hip bone, and meets the print of the first hind-foot, shows the total 
 extent, and the force of action, of the hind-legs. 
 
 O. The second oblique line, which proceeds in the same manner 
 from the point of the hip, and meets one of the prints of the fore-feet, 
 shows the position of the hind-foot when it presses the ground in the 
 act of galloping. 
 
 P. The third oblique line, which proceeds from the summit ot the 
 shoulder, and meets one of the prints of the fore-feet, shows the extent 
 and force of action in the fore-legs. 
 
 Q. The fourth oblique line, which proceeds from the shoulder, and 
 meets the last print of the hind-feet, shows the spot from whence the 
 fore-foot rises in the progression, until its action is finished. 
 
 R. The two curve lines which proceed, the one from the hoof of the 
 fore-foot, and the other from the hoof of the hind-foot, mark simply 
 the compass of the extension of the four legs. 
 
 After this exhaustive analysis, which should be care- 
 fully read in conjunction with the diagrams to which it 
 refers, I will only add a few words with reference to the 
 conformation of Eclipse from such passages as bear upon 
 my subject in the works of those well-known authorities, 
 the late Captain M. H. Hayes (in " The Points of a Horse," 
 second edition, 1897), ^"d Major-General Sir John Hills, 
 R.E., K.C.B. (in "Points of a Racehorse," 1903); and it 
 will then only be necessary to complete what survey is now 
 
 151 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 possible to us of this vital question by a consideration of 
 the more modern types (and skulls) which I reproduce in 
 these pages. 
 
 The difficulties of measurement will be immediately 
 apparent — apart from the question about bones already 
 mentioned — if I give here a comparison of three measure- 
 ments as taken from Eclipse by Saint Bel, and from 
 Ormonde and St. Simon by Captain Hayes. It is 
 necessary to remember that Saint Bel says (i) the height 
 of Eclipse from Avithers to ground was three heads ; 
 (2) this height was 66 inches ; (3) Eclipses head-mea- 
 surement was divided into twenty-two equal parts. 
 From these statements it is a simple calculation that 
 Eclipse s head was twenty-two inches long and St. 
 Bel's "part" corresponds to one inch. The question at 
 once arises how Saint Bel arrived at his various measure- 
 ments for Eclipse s head, height at withers, and length of 
 body. If he took them when the horse was alive, as Cap- 
 tain Hayes did with Ormonde (at 4 yrs.) and St. Simon 
 (at 3 yrs.), we reach the curious fact that Eclipse was a 
 little taller (at 25 yrs.), and had a much longer body but 
 a much shorter head than his modern descendants. If 
 you explain the shorter head by saying that Saint Bel mea- 
 sured the skull, while Captain Hayes had living subjects, it 
 is even more impossible than before to understand the 
 other two measurements. 
 
 The table is as follows : 
 
 
 Capt" Hayes 
 
 Saint Bel 
 
 
 in 1887 
 
 in 1884 
 
 in 1789 
 
 
 Ormonde 
 
 St. Simon 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 
 4 yrs. old 
 
 3 yrs. old. 
 
 2 5 yrs. old 
 
 Height at withers 
 
 . 64 .. 
 
 • 63i .. 
 
 66 
 
 Length of body 
 
 . 61^ 
 
 • 59i •• 
 
 . 69 
 
 Length of head 
 
 . 24I 
 
 24 
 
 22 
 
 The differences here emphasised cannot be fully ex- 
 plained by the fact that Ormonde and St. Simon were 
 measured without shoes, whereas Saint Bel does not say 
 
 152 
 
SKULL UK ECLIPSE 
 
DEATH OF ECLIPSE 
 
 whether Eclipse wore shoes or not. For we have already 
 had the evidence of Bracy Clark that towards the end 
 " Eclipses fore-feet were dropped in the hoofs and foundered 
 and his coffin-bones were very much rounded and diminished 
 by absorption," so that apart from all other considerations 
 we should not have expected Saint Bel to have found him 
 so tall. The great increase over St. Simon in length of 
 body is an even clearer proof that we are dealing with 
 different methods of measurement ; for Captain Hayes has 
 established that, as a class, shire horses are about nine 
 inches longer than their height, whereas racehorses, as a 
 class, are some three inches higher than their length. 
 " Short on the leg," in fact, implies, in his opinion, strength 
 rather than speed, and a short-legged horse, whose length 
 was greater than his height, would, according to his figures, 
 be more fitted for the cart than the race-track. Most 
 unfortunately Captain Hayes says as little as Saint Bel 
 about the method of measurement employed to arrive at 
 the statistics he publishes. 
 
 The measurements of Lord Rockingham's Sampson, 
 said to be " the largest-boned bloodhorse ever bred," have 
 been preserved, so I will reproduce them here, together 
 with those of Lord Howard de Walden's Zinfandel, but 
 again I must warn the reader that I cannot guarantee the 
 two horses having been measured in exactly the same way. 
 
 Sampson (1745) Zinfandel (1900) 
 
 15 hands 2 16 hands 2 
 
 Coronary band to centre f fore-leg . 4 inches ... 5 J inches, 
 of fetlock . . . \ hind-leg . „ ... 6^ „ 
 
 Centre of fetlock to centre r .,„ .„ ^^ ^^1 
 
 of knee . . . { ^^^^'^^S " " " - ^^^ " 
 
 Bend of knee to elbow . 19 „ ... 19I „ 
 
 , , f below knee 81V „ ... 8i 
 
 Least measure round '"" ' 
 
 leg{ 
 
 below hock 9 „ ... 9f 
 
 It is also fortunately possible to correct by practical 
 experience the statement of Vial de Saint Bel that 
 
 153 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Eclipse covered " 25 feet at each complete action on the 
 gallop . . . free of weight and galloping at liberty." This 
 was evidently the result of mathematical calculation ; but it 
 will be found to be as good an instance of accurate foresight 
 as the same clever author's deduction from general princi- 
 ples of the position of the legs, now shown to exist by 
 instantaneous photography. For Saint Bel gives Eclipses 
 full stride without a jockey as twenty-five feet, and his 
 descendant, diaries XII! s, full stride as he passed the post 
 for his dead-heat in the St. Leger of 1839 was measured to 
 be 24 feet t\ inches. 
 
 Captain Hayes, whose recent death all lovers of the 
 horse deplore, also deprecated, in the case of racehorses, any 
 appreciable increase in height at the croup over the height at 
 the withers, an increase which we know, both from eye- 
 witnesses and from Saint Bel, existed notably in Eclipse. 
 Captain Hayes also puts the limit of useful height in race- 
 horses at 16.3, within which Eclipse certainly was, at the 
 withers. But then. Admiral Rous, in stating the result of 
 the long observations of his racing life, put the increase in 
 the height of racehorses at one inch in every twenty-five 
 years since the eighteenth century. Taking him to mean 
 the average height of the best on the Turf at each period, 
 the generalisation must undoubtedly be taken to be correct, 
 unless the mass of facts we have about eighteenth-century 
 racing. Give-and-take Plates, and so forth, are all based on 
 incorrect measurement. Any one who can remember 
 English racing since 1850, and who has visited the paddock 
 at Epsom in most subsequent years, will admit that the 
 average height of the field for the Derby and the Oaks is 
 much greater than it used to be. Now and then we get a 
 throw-back like The Bard (15. i) who, I take it, was about 
 the size of the best of the old ones and was only beaten 
 because the best of our fields could outstride him. 
 
 In the Derby of 1906, for instance, Lally was 16.2, 
 nearly all the others were 16, and there was nothing under 
 15.2. In such a large field you will never find nowadays 
 horses as small as Little Wonder (15 hds.), Amato (15), 
 
 154 
 
'A a. 
 
 -J 
 
 '•J 
 
DEATH OF ECLIPSE 
 
 Daniel ORoiirke (14.3) who won in 1840, 1838, and 1852 
 respectively, or even as Little Red Rover, Perion, and The 
 Bard -who ran second. 
 
 On the whole, in fact, the average nowadays, among the 
 first flight, would be over 16 hands, whereas in 1745 15.2 
 (the height of Sampso)i) was considered to be gigantic. 
 What must they have thought of Eclipse s height when 
 he was foaled in 1764? Not much, if we may judge 
 from the relatively low price Wildman gave for him ; 
 and my own opinion is that 15.2 hands is much nearer 
 Eclipses real height than the figures given by Saint 
 Bel. Captain Hayes thought English horses had increased 
 an average of an inch in height between 1867 and 
 1897, and that the average horse was six inches taller than 
 he was 200 years ago. This, though a more conservative 
 estimate than that of Admiral Rous, tends equally to 
 confirm my suspicion as to Saint Bel's figures ; for I have 
 nowhere found any contemporary evidence remarking on 
 Eclipses abnormal stature, which would have certainly 
 been mentioned if he had been 16.2, in spite of the well- 
 known fact that a perfectly proportioned animal never looks 
 so tall as he really is. 
 
 When we come to principles of conformation, we are on 
 much safer ground, and my readers will no doubt be glad 
 to leave those questions of exact measurement, which were 
 only introduced here owing to their vital importance to 
 both biologists and breeders, and owing to my earnest 
 desire that some agreement among scientific men may 
 shortly be reached by which these problems may finally be 
 placed on a more accurate basis. 
 
 An examination of Stubbs's portrait, which is reproduced 
 with this chapter because it is more carefully and accurately 
 done than any other known picture of Eclipse, will show 
 that he exhibited most of the points laid down by Captain 
 Hayes as essential to a racehorse, e.g., flat loins, broad gas- 
 kins, long neck, light forehead, flat shoulders, high and long 
 withers, long and straight-dropped hind-legs. But Sir John 
 Hills has gone more carefully into this matter than did 
 
 155 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Captain Hayes, who, he points out, did not realise the vital 
 importance of a long femur ending in a low and well- 
 developed and muscular stifle-bone and joint, turned well 
 outward, such as was almost perfectly exemplified in 
 Bendigo. This conformation enables a horse to tuck his 
 legs well under and increase his stride. The greyhound 
 does not gallop in the same way as a horse does, though 
 our forefathers evidently thought it did, before the inven- 
 tion of instantaneous photography ; but it is chiefly enabled 
 to get along so fast after a hare because its hind-legs are 
 brought so far under that they pass beyond the fore, owing 
 to its very long femur ; and these hind-legs can overlap the 
 fore-legs during the process owing to the fact that the 
 stifle-joint is well turned out. This, then, is clearly one 
 cardinal point in the conformation necessary for speed. 
 
 A second essential is the angle of the slope from the 
 point of the shoulder to the point of the elbow, which should 
 be as nearly perpendicular as possible, and this is much 
 more important than the slope of the shoulder-blade from 
 the withers to the point of the shoulder, which is excellent 
 in its way, but should not be valued more highly than the 
 principle just mentioned, as is usually the case. The longer 
 and more upright the slope from the point of the shoulder 
 to the point of the elbow, in proportion to the length of the 
 shoulder-blade, the better ; and the elbow should be low, 
 free from the body, with a large and prominent joint. This 
 implies a proportionately longer and a more perpendicularly- 
 placed humerus than is usual in any but the best horses. 
 In the case of Ormonde, his humerus was nearly as long as 
 his shoulder-blade, and the slope was remarkably upright. 
 Here the pendulistic action of the humerus fulfils the same 
 functions as the pendulistic action of the femur in the hind 
 quarters. The lower portion of the shoulder-blade should, 
 in fact, possess some degree of free movement and play, 
 and the joint should appear loose and easy. This is much 
 more important than the position and slope of the shoulder- 
 blade at rest, because the angle passed through by the 
 humerus at a gallop is very great, as in the case of the femur, 
 
 156 
 
y. — 
 
 3 3 
 
 
 
DEATH OF ECLIPSE 
 
 and therefore the more nearly perpendicular the natural 
 position of the humerus is when at rest, the further forward 
 will the fore-leg swing in passing through this angle of 
 movement. The effect of this may be noticed more clearly 
 in the greyhound than in the horse, as we observed in 
 the previous case of the movement of the femur. 
 
 The gradual prolongation of the humerus in proportion 
 to the scapula in various animals can also be shown to be 
 exactly commensurate with their relative speeds. In the 
 horse the humerus is generally shorter than the scapula, 
 except in the case of such remarkable animals as Ormonde 
 or Eclipse. In the antelope tribe it is slightly longer. In 
 the cheetah it is 30 per cent, longer. In the lynx it is 
 60 per cent, longer. 
 
 Sir John Hills says that in Eclipse the scapula was 
 reputed to be 14! inches and the humerus I2f ; but an 
 examination of my photographs, accompanied as they are 
 by a measuring wand, will show that there seems to be 
 much less difference than this. Sir John Hills also gives 
 Hermit's measurements as 15^ inches for the scapula and 
 13! for the humerus, concerning which the same considera- 
 tions I have mentioned before, as to the absence of a 
 scientific standard, must unfortunately apply. 
 
 Returning for a moment to the femur and stifle-joint, it 
 will complete Sir John Hill's synopsis of the cardinal points 
 of a racer if I add that his third essential is power in the 
 loins and length in the quarters, which promise the quick 
 striking necessary to give the best use to the best machinery. 
 It is also true that most good walkers can gallop fast. If, 
 in walking, a colt places his hind-foot well beyond and 
 slightly outside the fore-foot, while his fore-legs move 
 freely forward with a sort of swing, and the hoof moves 
 well in front of the point of the shoulder, his action will 
 probably be good at all paces. At the gallop his hind- 
 legs should be well tucked under him and the action of the 
 fore-legs should be low, level, smooth and well extended. 
 As a type of what we have developed since Eclipses day. 
 Persimmon may well be taken, for it would be difficult to 
 
 157 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 find a Derby winner better built. He has great depth from 
 withers to brisket, a perfectly-made straight hind-leg, both 
 from stifle and from rump to pastern, with good gaskins, 
 low and well-developed stifle, long and perpendicularly- 
 placed humerus, a free elbow and a fine shoulder. He 
 descends in direct tail-male from Eclipse, and no doubt has 
 preserved some of the best points of O' Kelly's stallion in 
 his own beautiful conformation. 
 
 158 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 ANDREW O'KELLY, THE HEIR 
 
 Inundatione equorum ejus operiet te pulvis eorum ; a sonitu equitum et 
 rotarum et curruum movebuntur muri tui 
 
 Part I.— AT THE RACE 
 
 Mares sent to Z3i(«^a«;!o« from 1788 to 1798 — Colours on the Turf from 
 1764 to 1820 — The Prince of Wales's Bill — The Prince's Stud — Lord 
 Belfast, afterwards Lord Donegal — His Letters — His Purchases— His 
 Complicated Financial Transactions — His Bills — William Whaley — Loans, 
 Drafts, and Agreements — Dispute as to Sales — O'Kelly's Stud in 1790 — 
 Lord Egremont — Sir F. Standish — Mr. Concannon — Letters from Brighton 
 
 Races — Stable Accounts — Horses at Wycombe — Trifle and Wrangler 
 
 Sam Chifney's Annuity — The Escape Incident — Chifney's Letter — Vivaldi 
 and Water — Schedotia — Captain Marston — Major St. Paul— General Lake 
 — O'Kelly's Horses in 1805. 
 
 A NDREW O'KELLY, who took so much pains to 
 /\ preserve for the world the proportions of Eclipse, 
 r-\ was very far from observing those conditions in 
 JL V his uncle's will which were calculated to stop his 
 following in the Colonel's footsteps on the Turf. It was 
 perhaps asking too much of the man who owned Eclipse, 
 Dmigannon, Volunteer and Vertiminus, and who would take 
 a lively interest in the doings of such famous sons of Eclipse 
 as PotSos, Phosphorus, Jtipiter, Thunderbolt and Sorcerer. 
 In any case Andrew O'Kelly was a friend of the Prince of 
 Wales when " George P." was at the zenith of his racing 
 career, and his election to the Jockey Club soon after the 
 death of Dennis does not look very much as if his uncle's 
 
 159 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 wishes had been strictly observed. There must have been 
 some way out of it, for the racing memoranda of his, which 
 have been kindly lent me by two of his collateral descend- 
 ants, are full of unquestionable documentary evidence that 
 he raced a great deal. 
 
 On January 25, 1788, he gave a power of attorney to his 
 father, Philip O'Kelly, to secure the fees on mares covered 
 at Clay Hill, and I am able to publish here Dungannon s 
 list from 1788 to 1798, which is of great interest : 
 
 res Cov'd by Dungannon 1788 
 
 N 
 
 0. of mares 
 
 No. 
 
 of mares 
 
 Mr Croke . 
 
 I 
 
 Lord Grosvenor . 
 
 3 
 
 LI G. H. Cavendish . 
 
 I 
 
 S' George Armytage . 
 Duke of Grafton 
 
 2 
 I 
 
 Rev<» Mr Rose . 
 S' John Key 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 Mr Bailey . 
 
 I 
 
 Mr Phillips 
 
 2 
 
 Champion Dymark . 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 Mr Martin . 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 Duke of Bedford 
 
 6 
 
 Dungannon 1790 
 
 Mr Hull . 
 
 I 
 
 Capt" Key . 
 
 2 
 
 Mr Broadhurst . 
 
 I 
 
 Councillor Lad . 
 
 I 
 
 Mr Galloway 
 
 I 
 
 John Lowther Esq' . 
 
 I 
 
 L** Barrymore . 
 
 I 
 
 Mr Bullock 
 
 I 
 
 Mr Phillips 
 
 I 
 
 Mr Broadhurst . 
 
 3 
 
 U" Clermont 
 
 2 
 
 Capt" Smith 
 
 I 
 
 H.R.H. Prince of 
 
 
 Honb'^ George 
 
 
 Wales . 
 
 2 
 
 Villiers . 
 
 I 
 
 Capt° Smith 
 
 I 
 
 H.R.H. the Prince of 
 
 
 
 
 Wales . 
 
 2 
 
 Dungannon 1789 
 
 
 Earl Strathmore 
 
 2 
 
 S' George Armytage . 
 
 3 
 
 Duke of Grafton 
 
 3 
 
 S' John Webb . 
 
 2 
 
 Mr. Golden 
 
 I 
 
 John Graham Esq' . 
 
 I 
 
 Rev"* Mr. Rose . 
 
 I 
 
 Mr. Broadhurst . 
 
 2 
 
 Mr Bott . 
 
 2 
 
 H.R.H. Prince of 
 
 
 Duke of Bedford 
 
 3 
 
 Wales . 
 
 2 
 
 Mr Baldock 
 
 I 
 
 Duke of Bedford 
 
 3 
 
 Mr Pelham 
 
 I 
 
 S' Charles Bunbury . 
 
 I 
 
 S' Charles Bunbury . 
 
 I 
 
 Duke of Norfolk 
 
 2 
 
 Mr Goodesson . 
 
 I 
 
 John Barker Church 
 
 
 Councillor Morgan . 
 
 I 
 
 Esq. 
 
 I 
 
 Mr Hamilton . 
 
 I 
 
 160 
 
b 
 
 Q 
 
 o 
 
 M 
 
 a; 
 
 N 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 DUNGANNON 1791 
 
 
 No. 
 
 of mares 
 
 No. 
 
 of mare*? 
 
 Mr Goodesson . 
 
 I 
 
 Mr Richardson . 
 
 I 
 
 Mr Chambers . 
 
 I 
 
 S' George Armytage . 
 
 3 
 
 DUNGANNON 1 794 
 
 
 John Lowther Esq' . 
 
 I 
 
 
 Councillor Lad . 
 
 I 
 
 Baron de Robeck 
 
 I 
 
 Mr Croke . 
 
 I 
 
 Mr Stirling 
 
 2 
 
 Mr Ladbroke 
 
 I 
 
 EdW* Corbett Esq' . 
 
 7 
 
 Earl of Strathmore . 
 
 2 
 
 Mr Crosby . 
 
 I 
 
 H.R.H. the Prince of 
 
 
 Mr Golding 
 
 3 
 
 Wales . 
 
 2 
 
 Duke of Queensbury 
 
 I 
 
 Duke of Bedford 
 
 I 
 
 Mr Bradshaw . 
 
 I 
 
 Duke of Grafton 
 
 I 
 
 Mr Bailey . 
 
 I 
 
 Mr Bott . 
 
 2 
 
 Mr White . 
 
 I 
 
 Lord Kensington 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 Mr Chambers 
 
 I 
 
 DUNGANNON 1795 
 
 
 Ur Baldock 
 
 I 
 
 U Belfast . 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 Tho^ Bowes Esq' 
 
 I 
 
 DUNGANNON 1 792 
 
 
 Coin' Strutt 
 
 I 
 
 Councillor Lad . 
 
 I 
 
 DUNGANNON 1 796 
 
 
 Capt" Smith 
 
 I 
 
 
 S' Frederick Vane 
 
 2 
 
 L^ Belfast . 
 
 I 
 
 Count Lindeneau 
 
 4 
 
 Mr Bott . 
 
 I 
 
 Mr Stirling 
 
 I 
 
 Mr Rutter . 
 
 I 
 
 Duke of Grafton 
 
 I 
 
 Mr Wright . 
 
 I 
 
 Mr Holt . 
 
 I 
 
 J. H. Durand Esq' . 
 
 3 
 
 Duke of Bedford 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 W™ Herrick Esq' 
 
 1 
 
 DUNGANNON 1797 
 
 
 J. P. Chichester Esq'. 
 
 I 
 
 Duke of Grafton 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 S' Gilbert Heathcote . 
 
 I 
 
 DUNGANNON 1793 
 
 
 Mr Ramsbottom 
 
 I 
 
 Mr Holt . 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 L" Belfast . 
 
 I 
 
 DUNGANNON 1 798 
 
 
 Mr Stirling 
 
 3 
 
 Edw"* Corbett Esq' . 
 
 6 
 
 W" Herrick Esq' 
 
 I 
 
 Mr Rutter . 
 
 I 
 
 Duke of Grafton 
 
 2 
 
 Mr Smith . 
 
 I 
 
 Rob' Ladbroke Esq' . 
 
 I 
 
 Dr Moorcroft . 
 
 I 
 
 This gives one of the best possible lists of breeders on 
 the Turf during a very important decade, and though I 
 reproduce the exact spelling of the original manuscript, a 
 
 161 L 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 large number of the names will easily be recognised. In 
 1788, " Dymark," for instance, is now spelt Dymoke, and 
 the privilege of his family, as " champion " of the Kings of 
 England, was fully described on the occasion of the last 
 coronation. The Prince of Wales, it will be noticed, sent 
 two mares the year after Dennis's death, and continued to 
 do so until 1791, the date of the Escape cata.strophe. The 
 name of Sir Charles Bunbury occurs in 1789, when a 
 clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Rose, appears, as he does in 
 1790 also. In 1794 occurs the Baron de Robeck, and all 
 lovers of hunting will remember that to the end of the 
 season 1905-6, a Baron de Robeck was Master of the Kil- 
 dare Foxhounds. There are many other well-known names 
 on which I need not linger, and it will perhaps be con- 
 venient to insert in this place a list of the colours worn in 
 those days by prominent racing men. Among other colours 
 given in J. B. Muir's " Raciana," during the period from 
 1764 to 1820, are : 
 
 Blue & white stripe. 
 
 Skyblue, black cap. 
 
 Yellow with black velvet 
 spots, black cap with 
 yellow spots. 
 
 Black & white stripe. 
 
 Green & white stripe. 
 
 Purple with green stripe. 
 
 Lilac, straw coloured cap. 
 
 Broad blue & yellow stripe. 
 
 Purple, with white stripe. 
 
 Red, black cap. 
 
 Orange, maroon cap. 
 
 Light orange. 
 
 Green, black cap. 
 
 Purple & buff. 
 
 Straw trimmed with purple. 
 
 White, black cap. 
 
 Yellow with purple & yellow 
 cap. 
 
 Black & white, paned. 
 
 Straw, black cap. 
 
 Lord Abingdon . 
 
 • 1774 
 
 M^ A. Annesley . 
 
 . 1796 
 
 Sir G. Armytage B'. . 
 
 • 1790 
 
 Sir Willoughby Aston B' 
 
 . . 1789 
 
 M'. Ayrton . 
 
 • 1790 
 
 Sir C. Bamfylde B'. . 
 
 • 1777 
 
 Hn. J. S. Barry . 
 
 • 1792 
 
 Earl of Barrymore 
 
 • 1792 
 
 Duke of Bedford 
 
 • 1792 
 
 Earl of Belfast . 
 
 ■ 1794 
 
 Lo. Edw. Bentinck . 
 
 • 1779 
 
 Duke of Bolton . 
 
 • 1777 
 
 Lord Baringdon . 
 
 • 1783 
 
 M'. Thos : Brand 
 
 • 1775 
 
 M'. Thos : Bullock . 
 
 • 1783 
 
 The Earl of Burford . 
 
 . 1800 
 
 M\ Burlton 
 
 . 1780 
 
 Lord Carteret 
 
 • 1784 
 
 Lord Cavendish . 
 
 . 1789 
 
 
 162 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 Col : Charlton . 
 
 1793 • 
 
 Black. 
 
 Earl of Clarendon 
 
 1796 . 
 
 Black waistcoat, red cap. 
 
 Lord Clermont . 
 
 1772 . 
 
 Scarlet. 
 
 M". L. Concannon 
 
 1796 . 
 
 Purple with black cap. 
 
 (» 
 
 1799 . 
 
 Broad pink & white stripe. 
 
 M'. J. Cookson . 
 
 1798 . 
 
 Purple, strawcoloured cap. 
 
 Hon. T. W. Coventry . 
 
 1800 . 
 
 Buff and blue. 
 
 Lord Craven 
 
 1773 • 
 
 White satin, crimson cap. 
 
 Earl of Darlington 
 
 1792 . 
 
 Pink & black Stripe. 
 
 Sir Ch. Davers B', 
 
 1779 . 
 
 Black & white. 
 
 NP. E. H. Delm6 
 
 1796 . 
 
 Blue trimmed with pink, 
 black cap. 
 
 Earl of Derby 
 
 1780 . 
 
 Green & white stripe. 
 
 ,, . . . 
 
 1788 . 
 
 Black, white cap. 
 
 M'. Dodsworth . 
 
 1794 . 
 
 White, black cap. 
 
 Marquis of Donegall . 
 
 1792 
 
 Blue & yellow stripe. 
 
 J) • 
 
 1800 
 
 Black. 
 
 Sir Th : Dundas . 
 
 . 1782 
 
 White, scarlet spots. 
 
 Earl of Eglinton 
 
 1811 
 
 Tartan waistcoat & cap. 
 
 Earl of Egremont 
 
 . 1781 
 
 Green, white stripe. 
 
 ) J • 
 
 . 1788 
 
 Dark green, black cap. 
 
 M^ W. Fenwick . 
 
 • 1773 
 
 Red, black cap. 
 
 Sir H. Fetherstonhaugh B' 
 
 . 1781 
 
 . Yellow, black cap. 
 
 Earl Fitzwilliam , 
 
 • 1790 
 
 . Dark green, black cap. 
 
 Sir Thos: Gascoigne B'. 
 
 • 1779 
 
 Black & white quartered. 
 
 IVP. Gascoyne 
 
 • 1774 
 
 Peagreen & red stripe. 
 
 M^ H. Goodricke 
 
 1790 
 
 Grey, crimson stripe, white 
 cap. 
 
 Hon. M'. Greville 
 
 • 1775 
 
 . Green & white stripe. 
 
 Duke of Hamilton 
 
 • 1790 
 
 . White, crimson sleeves, 
 black cap. 
 
 Hon. G. Hanger 
 
 • 1777 
 
 Harlequin. 
 
 Sir J. Honeywood B*. 
 
 • 1796 
 
 . Purple waistcoat, orange 
 sleeves & cap. 
 
 NP. Jennings 
 
 • 1777 
 
 . Black, white girdle, black 
 & white cap. 
 
 Earl of Jersey 
 
 . 1809 
 
 . Dark blue, white stripe 
 black cap. 
 
 Sir John Lade B^ 
 
 . 1780 
 
 . Straw, trimmed with purple. 
 
 M"^. Warwick Lake 
 
 . 1804 
 
 . Purple, black cap. 
 
 Earl of Lauderdale 
 
 • 1791 
 
 . Black. 
 
 Miss Le Clerc 
 
 . 1806 
 
 . White & yellow, black 
 cap. 
 
 163 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Sir J. F. Leicester B'. 
 
 • 1792 
 
 Earl of Lonsdale 
 
 • 1792 
 
 Sir H. Mainwaring B'. 
 
 . 1807 
 
 Lord Milsintown 
 
 . 1801 
 
 Lord Monson 
 
 . 1807 
 
 Lord Montgomerie 
 
 . 1807 
 
 M', Montolieu . 
 
 • 1792 
 
 M'-. Thos. Panton 
 
 • 1773 
 
 >> 
 
 • 1792 
 
 Sir Fernando Poole B'. 
 
 1801 
 
 M^ Pratt . 
 
 1773 
 
 Col : Radcliffe . 
 
 • 1790 
 
 M'-. Delme Radcliffe . 
 
 • 1796 
 
 Duke of Richmond . 
 
 1806 
 
 Sir M. White Ridley B'. 
 
 1812 
 
 Duke of Rutland 
 
 1808 
 
 Viscount Sackville 
 
 1792 
 
 Hon. R. L. Saville . 
 
 1802 
 
 Sir C. Sedley B'. 
 
 1773 
 
 Sir John Shelley B'. . 
 
 1779 
 
 )> 
 
 1804 
 
 General Smith . 
 
 1781 
 
 Lord Sondes 
 
 1798 
 
 Duke of St. Albans . 
 
 1792 
 
 Sir Frank Standish B'. 
 
 1783 
 
 Earl of Strathmore 
 
 1802 
 
 Sir M. M. Sykes B'. . 
 
 1806 
 
 Col : Tarleton . 
 
 1792 
 
 Sir H. V. Tempest B'. 
 
 1796 
 
 Sir Ch. Turner B*. 
 
 1781 
 
 Sir W. Vavasour B' . 
 
 1790 
 
 Lord Vere . 
 
 1783 
 
 Sir T. Wallace B*. 
 
 1796 
 
 M'. J. B. Warren 
 
 1760 
 
 Sir John Webb B'. . 
 
 1790 
 
 'urple, edged with gold. 
 Orange. 
 
 Blue, black cap. 
 Orange & green. 
 Scarlet body, white sleeves, 
 
 scarlet cap. 
 Yellow body, blue sleeves 
 
 & cap. 
 Orange. 
 Buff. 
 
 White, red cap. 
 Black. 
 
 Red, black cap. 
 Crimson, black cap. 
 Blue, trimmed with pink, 
 
 black cap. 
 Yellow, red cap. 
 Pink, white stripe. 
 Blue with purple sleeves. 
 White with black cap. 
 Green & white. 
 Blue, black cap. 
 Purple, black cap. 
 Black, white cap. 
 Scarlet. 
 
 Deep yellow, green cap. 
 Orange & green stripe, black 
 
 cap. 
 Mazarine blue. 
 Black. 
 Orange, purple sleeves & 
 
 cap. 
 Black, green cap. 
 Yellow & lilac stripe. 
 Orange. 
 
 Black, yellow stripe. 
 Orcincfp /6- green 
 
 164 
 
 Orange 
 
 black cap 
 Purple and orange 
 
 black cap. 
 Red, black cap. 
 Yellow, black 
 cap. 
 
 stripe, 
 stripe, 
 
 arms, red 
 
5 s 
 
 i2 -5. 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 Colonel Whaley . 
 
 . 1817 
 
 M'. W. Whaley . 
 
 . 1800 
 
 Earl of Wilton . 
 
 . 1810 
 
 Earl of Winchilsea 
 
 • 1792 
 
 Sir Roland Winn B*. . 
 
 . 1802 
 
 Hon. C. Wyndhain 
 
 . 1782 
 
 Sir W. W. Wynn B'. . 
 
 . 1802 
 
 White cambric body, right 
 sleeve coquelicot satin, 
 white cap tied with 
 coquelicot. 
 
 White cambric body, with 
 satin coquelicot sleeves, 
 coquelicot velvet cap. 
 
 Mazarine blue, black cap. 
 
 Yellow, black cap. 
 
 Straw. 
 
 Yellow, blue cap. 
 
 Green & red waistcoat. 
 
 Colonel Dennis O' Kelly's colours were, as we have seen, 
 scarlet with a black cap, and no others are correct for a 
 picture of Eclipse when racing, though even contemporary 
 authorities like J. N. Sartorius are occasionally wrong. 
 
 In 1792 Andrew O' Kelly had scarlet with a light-blue cap. 
 The Prince of Wales used in 
 
 1783 — Crimson waistcoat, purple sleeves, blackcap. 
 
 1790 — Purple, white striped waistcoat with scarlet and white striped 
 
 sleeves, black cap. 
 1792 — Purple waistcoat, scarlet sleeves trimmed with gold, black cap. 
 1801 — Crimson waistcoat with purple sleeves, black cap. 
 1806 — Purple waistcoat with scarlet sleeves trimmed with gold, black 
 
 cap. 
 
 George IV. in 
 
 1827 — Crimson body, gold lace, purple sleeves, black cap. 
 
 I am also able to reproduce one of Philip O'Kelly's bills 
 sent in to the Prince of Wales, which seems to show that 
 Andrew O'Kelly had a kind of racing partnership, in certain 
 cases, with His Royal Highness in 1788, 1789 and 1790. 
 The Mr. Lake mentioned at the end of the account is 
 evidently the superintendent of the Prince's stables men- 
 tioned by Sam Chifney in " Genius Genuine," with refer- 
 ence to the Escape incident, of which I shall have more to 
 say, for it will be a new fact to most followers of racing 
 
 165 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 history that after Chifney exchanged the annuity granted 
 him by the Prince for a capital sum, it was Andrew O'Kelly 
 who guaranteed its payment. 
 The bill is as follows : 
 
 1788. 
 1789. 
 
 1790. 
 
 His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales D'. to P. O'Kelly. 
 
 Scota at Newmarket won 50 and 100 
 
 D" King's Plate at d" 100 . 
 Gunpowder two fiftys at Stafford 100 
 Scota at Lewes 60 . 
 Gunpowder 50 at Newmarket 
 50 at Huntingdon 
 and 50 at Stafford 150 
 
 1789. Colt Miss Kitty by Volunteer 
 
 1790. D° by Dungannon 
 1789. D° Omar Mare . 
 1789. D" Duchess 
 
 His bill for cover and keep 
 
 For three years for Scota 
 as p. agreement , 
 
 ;^75 
 
 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 
 
 75 
 
 
 
 
 
 280 
 
 
 
 
 
 157 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 157 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 525 
 
 
 
 
 
 525 
 
 
 
 
 
 209 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 Rec'^ W. Lake Esq" 
 
 1854 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 315 
 
 
 
 
 
 2169 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 100 
 
 
 
 
 
 2069 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 In connection with the bill reproduced above, it will be 
 remembered that the Prince won the Derby in 1788, and 
 scored 185 wins between 1784 and 1792, involving (exclu- 
 sive of stakes and plates) a sum of 32,688 guineas. In 
 1788 alone he won ;,^40oo, besides his Derby, and in 1792 
 he won ^^7700 by means of Whisky, Cleopatra and Qtteen 
 of Sheba, who were all hy Saltram, a son of Eclipse. In 
 1 79 1 the Prince's winners included : 
 
 Devi Sing by Eclipse (150 gs. and ;^5o at Lewes). 
 Don Quixote by Eclipse (100 gs. and £yi at Newmarket). 
 
 166 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 Pcgnsjis by Eclipse (King's Plate at Newmarket and 140 gs. at Stock- 
 bridge). 
 
 Serpent by Eclipse (80 gs. at Brighton, the Lady's Plate and 60 gs. at 
 Lewes). 
 
 Sf. David hy Saltrain (Second class of the Prince's Stakes at New- 
 market). 
 
 Baronet by Vertumnus (Oatlands at Ascot, and King's Plates at Win- 
 chester, Lewes, Canterbury and Newmarket). 
 
 Cleinciitiiia by Vcrtinnmis {£'i,o at Swaffham and 200 gs. at New- 
 market). 
 
 This list does not include such good ones as Amelia, 
 Escape, and Traveller, all hy Highflyer, or as Mademoiselle, 
 by Diomed, and Creeper, by Tandem; but it shows pretty 
 conclusively the interest which the Prince naturally took in 
 the O'Kelly stud. 
 
 Next to the Prince of Wales it was, I suppose, Lord 
 Belfast, who became Lord Donegal on his father's death, 
 who was most closely connected with Andrew O'Kelly's 
 racing, and it seems that these two, with Mr. Concannon, 
 ran horses together for some time, until the partnership 
 ended in the reckless extravagance and fatal encumbrances 
 of the young peer, whom I shall call Lord Donegal in future, 
 to avoid confusion. I find his name as running Curb, by 
 Dungannon, out of Flirtilla, ninth in the Derby of 1801, 
 which was won by Sir Charles Bunbury's famous Eleanor ; 
 and he ran fifth in the same race nine years afterwards with 
 Fortitude, by John Btdl, out of Trifle. 
 
 I reproduce here two letters from Lord Belfast (as Lord 
 Donegal then was) to Philip O'Kelly : 
 
 Oct. 31, 1794. 
 
 To Philip O'Kelly. 
 Sir, 
 
 You are to deliver my mare Queen of Scota and her colt foal by Anvil 
 and my yearling filly by Fidget out of a sister to Volunteer and my 
 yearling colt by Dungannon out of sister to Escape to the bearer. 
 
 Your humble servant, 
 
 Belfast. 
 167 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Lord Belfast to Philip O'Kelly. 
 
 Cannons near Edgware, 
 
 Dec. 4, 1794. 
 Sir, 
 
 I received your letter to-day which I take the earliest opportunity of 
 answering, and I should be much obliged to you if you would call on 
 me at three o'clock on Sunday next at 44 Weymouth St. and I will be 
 at home. By so doing you will much oblige. 
 
 Your obedient humble servant, 
 Hill House. Belfast. 
 
 Lord Donegal's transactions were not invariably marked 
 by great attention to business details, as the following 
 details regarding his purchase of horses in September 1794 
 will show. They are copied from various manuscripts, the 
 first two being from the O'Kellys' memoranda of the sale, 
 and the others are transcribed from the evidence given in 
 legal proceedings which followed. 
 
 I 
 
 Horses sold by Philip O'Kelly to Lo. Donegal. 
 
 September 22, 1794. 
 
 Chestnut colt by Volunteer out of Herod mare grand dam by 
 Matchem — Regulus — Old Sterling — Old Partner — Crofts bay Barb — 
 Makeless — Brimmer — Dodsworth — Burton Barb mare (rising three). 
 
 Bay Filly by Fidget out of Eclipse mare Granddam by Tartar — 
 Mogul — Sweepstakes — Curwen bay Barb — Old Spot — Vintner mare 
 (rising two). 
 
 Bay colt by Dungannon out of Highflyer mare — Granddam by 
 Squirrel out of own sister to Sir James Lowther's Babraham. The 
 above mare is own sister to Escape (rising two). 
 
 Bay colt by Anvil out of Eclipse mare — Granddam by Herod out of 
 own sister to the dam of Highflyer (rising two). 
 
 Queen Scota bay mare by Eclipse from a Herod mare out of an own 
 sister to the dam of Highflyer. This mare was the best in England. 
 
 Sold to Lord Donegall for ;£375o, the consideration for the two 
 
 Bonds of ;£iioo and the Post-obit consideration of ;^265o. 
 
 168 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 On the above I need only note that the Marquis of 
 Donegal died on June 5, 1799, being four years and eight 
 months after his son, Lord Belfast, gave the Post-obit; 
 and in consequence of this a very curious legal point came 
 up later, when Counsel's opinion was asked on the following 
 question : 
 
 In 1794 the then Marquis of Donegal Hved at Fisherwick in England 
 in good health, aged 55. His son Lord Belfast was then 25, of a deli- 
 cate constitution, and imprisoned in the Fleet, by the Day Rules being 
 permitted to go to all public places and all races and for Hunting, 
 within 30 or 40 miles of London, during an " imprisonment " of several 
 years. Now, under these circumstances, what would have been the 
 Premium for insuring that Lord Belfast would have outlived his 
 father ? 
 
 II 
 
 Mem" at foot of bill delivered to Lord Donegal for 
 Horses (dated 1799) 
 
 Mr. O' Kelly desires it may be remembered that the above sum of 
 ■^3750 the price of the five horses with their engagements was fixed by 
 the Marquis himself and Col. Whaley who frequently accompanied his 
 Lordship to Cannons and assisted his Lordship in selecting those 
 horses out of the whole stud and that upwards of six weeks had elapsed 
 before it was completed at a price which Mr. O' Kelly at that time con- 
 sidered to be very reasonable. 
 
 The William Whaley mentioned above was one of Lord 
 Donegal's creditors for a large sum. His bay colt GiUli'ver 
 ran fourth in the Derby of 1802 ; but a rather unpleasant 
 impression of him is created by a manuscript put in evidence 
 at the trial, and signed by Mr. F. C. Philips on board his 
 frigate " Champion " at Spithead, just before she sailed on 
 March 10, 1800. It runs as follows : 
 
 William Whaley in the spring of 1793 proposed to Francis Charles 
 Philips, late of Brookley House in Southampton, to lend Lord Belfast 
 ;^3ooo on an annuity of ;^400 ; but he added that as his Lordship would 
 play, it would be necessary to get him into play-parties where he 
 (Whaley) could make sure of winning large sums from him ; and in 
 consequence all negotiations were broken off. 
 
 169 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 III 
 
 On September 22, 1794, an agreement was signed by- 
 Lord Belfast (with his seal, a fine Greek gem of Hermes 
 holding a lyre ; winged feet, a cloak and hat slung behind 
 his back) and witnessed by John Watridge and William 
 Whaley that Philip O'Kelly of Cannons should sell a 
 chestnut colt now rising three, by Volunteer out of an own 
 sister to Calash, for ^630, "provided that the said colt 
 shall happen to win the Derby Stakes in the year 1795, also 
 the sum of ;^2 10 in case the colt shall happen to win the 
 first class of the Prince's Stakes in 1795 " ; also a bay colt 
 rising two by Dtmgannon out of an own sister to Escape 
 for ;4i^o> " in case this colt should so happen to win the 
 sweepstakes in which he is engaged at Newmarket on the 
 Monday of the Craven Meeting in 1796, seven subscribers 
 of 100 guineas each." The agreement to be null and void 
 if none of these engagements be won, but any part to be 
 paid, with contingencies, as won. Also Philip O'Kelly 
 agreed (and signed separately) to let Lord Belfast go half 
 of a bet of 600 guineas to 20 with Captain Taylor that the 
 said chestnut colt, brother to Xanthus, does not win the 
 Derby Stakes in 1795. This latter agreement was witnessed 
 by William Whaley on September 25, 1795. 
 
 IV 
 
 An agreement was signed on September 22, 1794, by 
 which Philip O'Kelly, 
 
 for ;^2650 paid by the Hon. George Augustus Chichester of Merewell 
 in the County of Warwick commonly called Earl of Belfast, sold him 
 Queen Scota by Eclipse out of a Herod mare, with a colt at her foot by 
 Anvil, and supposed to be in foal again by Eclipse ; and also a bay 
 colt rising two engaged in a sweepstakes at Newmarket of seven sub- 
 scribers one hundred guineas each, by Dungannon out of an own sister 
 to Escape ; and also a iilly rising two got by Fidget out of a sister to 
 Volunteer." 
 
 These were delivered to Lord Belfast, who was further 
 allowed to have three mares covered by Dungannon, 
 
 170 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 Volunteer and Anvil without charge. The witnesses were 
 William Whaley and H. Harpur. This agreement was the 
 consideration of a Post-obit. 
 
 The foal Queen Scota produced was called Scotilla, and bought with 
 the dam by the Earl of Stamford (at three-years-old) when Lord 
 Belfast's stud was sold on a warrant of execution. She won against 
 many capital horses and might therefore " if she had been in the hands 
 of any of the Newmarket gentlemen " have been worth all the money 
 Lord Donegal promised for his whole purchase. 
 
 From the memorandum of evidence given in the case of 
 the horses bought from O'Kelly by Lord Donegal it appears 
 that Mr. F. C. Phillips was called to give expert evidence. 
 
 He knew Lo. Donegal before Sepf 1794 when he was Lord Belfast 
 and kept thoroughbreds and was well acquainted with the Turf generally. 
 He said the prices given for thoroughbred stock would "depend on the 
 fancy and desire of the purchaser, but the high estimation that Dun- 
 gannon and Volunteer colts and fillies were held in, from the public 
 running of several of them, makes me think the price agreed to be a just 
 one." He knew Col. Whaley to be a man of good judgment in matters 
 connected with the Turf and thoroughbreds. He considered the 
 O'Kelly stud " to be the best in England and to be held by all persons 
 concerned in keeping of Running Horses as the best of Blood"; and 
 had heard of O'Kelly "selling the produce of his different brood mares 
 for large sums of money." He considered that the fact of thorough- 
 breds being sold with their engagements for future races made them of 
 greater value than otherwise, as in the case of Lo. Donegall's purchase. 
 He had heard "that Mr Tattersall gave 2,500 gs. for Escdipe," and "it 
 appears from the racing Callender that one colt purchased by the 
 Marquis was out of an own sister to Escape.^' 
 
 VI 
 From the memorandum of evidence given by Hyde in 
 the litigation arising out of the sale of horses to Lord 
 Donegal it appears that 
 
 " Mr. O'Kelly's stud at that time consisted of 71 Brood Mares, colts, 
 and fillies." The Marquis of Donegal apparently bought a mare in 
 
 171 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 foal, and her filly was the best of 1798, bought by Lord Stamford 
 " when Lord Donegal's things were sold under an execution." . . . 
 . . . ." Mr O' Kelly's stud at that time in my opinion was the first 
 stud in this country." ..." I also know that Mr. Ladbrook sold 
 Magpie for 2400 gs : Chanticleer was sold for 3000 gs. both out of Eclipse 
 mares. The late Duke of Bedford gave 2700 gs for Grey Diomed and 
 500 gs for a Foal brother to him." 
 
 I am fortunately able to give a more detailed account of 
 Andrew O'Kelly's stud in 1795, which will thoroughly 
 justify the expert opinions quoted above. It is reproduced 
 from a document on which Lord Donegal's opinion of 
 some of the lots is noted in his own handwriting on the 
 margin ; and these I have left just as they are in the 
 original. 
 
 BROOD MARES, COLTS AND FILLIES, THE PROPERTY OF A 
 
 GENTLEMAN, AT CANNONS, NEAR EDGWARE, 
 
 MIDDLESEX. 
 
 November ist, 1795. 
 
 MARES COVERED BY DUNGANNON, 1795. 
 Lot 
 
 1 Annette, a bay mare, got by Eclipse, and is own sister to Saltram. 
 
 2 Miss Euston, a bay mare, got by Snap, her dam by Blank, grand 
 
 dam by Old Cartouch — Soreheels, which was the great grand dam 
 of Highflyer. 
 
 3 A Bay Mare, got by Squirrel, her dam (Dove) by Matchless, grand 
 
 dam by the Ancaster Starling — Grasshopper — Sir M. Newton's 
 Bay Arabian — Pert. This mare is own sister to Ld Clermont's 
 Brunette, the dam of Trumpator, &c. 
 
 4 Flirtilla, a chesnut mare, got by Conductor, her dam (Flirt) by 
 
 Squirrel, grand dam (Helen) by Blank — Crab, out of an own sister 
 to Old Partner. — This mare was a capital runner. 
 
 5 A Bay Mare, got by Conductor, and is own sister to Flirtilla. 
 
 6 A Brown Mare (own sister to Mark-ho !) got by Mark Anthony, dam 
 
 (Noisette) by Squirrel, grand dam (Carina) by Marske, out of 
 Thunder's dam, by Blank. 
 
 7 A Bay Mare, got by Mark Anthony, her dam by Conductor, grand 
 
 dam by Squirrel — Marske — Blank. 
 
 172 
 
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 y. 
 
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 y. 
 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 Lot 
 
 8 A Bay Mare, got by Highflyer, dam (Brim) by Squirrel, grand dam 
 
 by Blank — Crab, out of a sister to Old Partner. — This mare is own 
 sister to Noble. 
 
 9 Blackthorn, a black mare, got by Turf, her dam (Lady Jane) by 
 
 Snap, grand dam (sister to Mr Swinburn's Nabob) by Cade — 
 Crab — Childers — Confederate Filly, by Grantham — Rutland Black 
 Barb — Bright's Roan. 
 
 BY VOLUNTEER. 
 
 10 A Bay Mare, got by Herod, her dam by Blank, out of the Withering- 
 
 ton mare. — This mare is an own sister to the dam of Rosina, and 
 was never trained. 
 
 11 A Light Bay Mare, got by Herod, her dam by Blank, out of an Old 
 
 Cade mare. 
 
 12 Gossamer, a chesnut mare, got by Herod. This mare is the dam of 
 
 Mr Wilson's two year old filly, that won the Plate on Friday in 
 the Houghton Meeting, 1793, beating 9 others. 
 
 13 A Bay Mare, got by Evergreen, out of a sister to Calash. 
 
 14 Spider, a chesnut mare, got by Herod, her dam (Chrysis) by Careless, 
 
 grand dam (Snappina) by Snap — Moore's Son of Partner — Childers 
 (dam of Little Driver) Miss Belvoir, by Grantham. — This mare was 
 a good runner. 
 
 15 A Chesnut Mare, got by Whipcord, own brother to Woodpecker, her 
 
 dam by Blank, grand dam by Old Crab, great grand dam by 
 Childers, out of an own sister to Old Partner. 
 
 16 Hip, a bay mare, got by Herod, her dam (own sister to Mirza) 
 
 by the Godolphin Arabian — Hobgoblin — Whitefoot — Leedes — 
 Moonah Barb mare. 
 
 17 A Brown Mare, got by Imperator, out of Smack's dam, which was 
 
 got by Herod, out of a sister to Pacolet. 
 
 18 A Bay Cropt Mare, got by Herod, her dam (Laura, the dam of Pitch, 
 
 &c) by Whistle-jacket, grand dam (Pretty Polly, the dam of Corio- 
 lanus) by Old Starling — Godolphin Arabian (a sister to Amelia) — 
 Childers — True Blue — Cyprus — Bonny Black mare. 
 
 19 A Chesnut Mare, got by Pontifex, dam by Blank, grand dam by 
 
 Regulus. 
 
 20 A Bay Mare, got by Herod, the dam of Fox and Gustavus. 
 
 173 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Lot 
 
 21 Miss Spindleshanks, a bay mare, got by Omar, her dam by Starling, 
 
 grand dam by the Godolphin Arabian — Stanyan's Arabian — 
 Pelham's Barb — Spot — White-legged Lowther Barb — Old Vintner 
 mare. She is the dam of Soldier, Gunpowder, &c. 
 
 22 Tetotum, a bay mare, got by Matchem. 
 
 23 A Bay Mare, got by Turf, out of Lot 8. 
 
 24 Miss Kitty, a bay mare, got by Highflyer, her dam by Squirrel, grand 
 
 dam (a sister to Sir j, Lowther's Babraham) by Babraham — 
 Golden Ball — Son of Partner, &c. This mare is an own sister to 
 H.R.H. the P. of Wales's Escape. 
 
 25 Miss Windmill, a bay mare, got by Highflyer, her dam (sister to 
 
 Greyling) by the Sedley Arabian, grand dam by Regulus. 
 
 BY ANVIL. 
 
 26 A Bay Mare, got by Eclipse, and is own sister to Queen Scota. 
 
 27 A Bare Mare, got by Eclipse, out of Lot 21. (Miss Spindleshanks). 
 
 This mare is own sister to Soldier, &c. 
 
 28 Madcap, a bay mare, got by Eclipse, her dam by Blank, grand dam 
 
 by Blaze — Greyhound — Curwen Bay Barb. 
 
 29 A Chesnut Mare, got by Eclipse, her dam by Blank, grand dam by 
 
 Old Snip — Godolphin Arabian — Frampton's Whiteneck, &c. This 
 mare is own sister to Aurelius. 
 
 30 Augusta, a chesnut mare, got by Eclipse, her dam (the dam of 
 
 Hardwicke) by Herod, grand dam by Bajazet — Regulus — Lons- 
 dale Arabian — Bay Bolton — Barley's Arabian. 
 N.B. This mare is the dam of Eliza. 
 
 31 Lilly of the Valley, a chesnut mare, got by Eclipse, and is own 
 
 sister to Volunteer. 
 
 32 A Chesnut Mare, got by Dungannon, out of Lot 2. 
 
 33 A Bay Mare, got by ditto, out of Lot 24. 
 
 34 A Brown Mare, got by ditto, out of Lot 4. 
 
 35 A Chesnut Mare, got by ditto, out of Lot 23. 
 
 BY GUNPOWDER. 
 
 36 A Bay Mare, got by Matchem, the dam of Thunderbolt, and sister 
 
 to the dam of Calash. 
 
 37 A Bay Mare, got by Herod, dam by Matchem, grand dam by Regulus, 
 
 out of an own sister to the Ancaster Starling. — This mare is own 
 sister to H.R.H. the P. of Wales's Calash. 
 
 174 
 
SilLBIER (BY ECLIl'SE) 
 
 /■'ii'ui the vniji-iiriiifi in the pofisfusiou of Mr. Stmu-rrillf T(tttt.rmll 
 
 THUXDEKBOLT (BY ECLIPSE) 
 
 From an engrariiKj in the possession of Mr. ScnncniUe TattcrsaU 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 Lot 
 
 38 A Brown Mare, got by Herod, her dam (Marotte) by Matchem, grand 
 
 dam by Traveller, great grand dam by Hartley's Blind Horse, 
 which mare was the dam of Mr Routh's Stadtholder, Looby, and 
 Frolick. This mare is an own sister to Ld Derby's Dancer, and 
 Mr Hamilton's Bagot. 
 
 39 A Bay Mare, got by II Mio, out of a sister to Dancer. Lot 38. 
 
 FOALS. 
 
 40 A Bay Colt, got by Dungannon, out of Lot 7. 
 
 41 A Bay Filly, by ditto, out of Lot 6. 
 
 42 A Bay Filly, by ditto, out of Lot 8. 
 
 43 A Bay Filly, by ditto, out of Lot 3. 
 
 44 A Chesnut Colt, by Volunteer, out of Lot 16. 
 
 45 A Chesnut Colt, by ditto, out of Lot 15. 
 
 46 A Chesnut Filly, by ditto, out of Lot 12. 
 
 47 A Chesnut Filly, by ditto, out of Lot 18. 
 Han' filly ^ 
 
 but not U8 A Bay Filly, by Anvil, out of Lot 28. 
 large. I 
 
 Fine filly 49 A Bay Filly, by ditto, out of Lot 31. 
 
 Han' filly 50 A Bay Filly, by Volunteer, out of Lot 25. 
 
 51 A Chesnut Colt, by Gunpowder, out of Lot 37. 
 
 Fine 52 A Bay Filly, by ditto, out of Lot 24. 
 
 53 A Bay Filly, by ditto, out of Lot 38. Remar'fine 
 
 All or any of the above Mares, Colts and Fillies, to be sold, and 
 to be seen at Cannons, near Edgware, Middlesex. 
 
 ONE YEAR OLD. 
 
 Lot 
 
 54 A Brown Colt, got by Anvil, out of Calypso. Very fine. 
 
 55 A Bay Colt, got by Dungannon, out of Lot 5. Very fine. 
 
 56 A Chesnut Colt, got by Volunteer, out of Lot 15. Vfine 
 
 57 A Chesnut Colt, got by Vertumnus, out of Lot 23. Med. 
 
 58 A Brown Filly, got by Dungannon, out of Lot 24. V fine. 
 
 59 A Bay Filly, got by ditto, out of Lot 3. Fine. 
 
 60 A Bay Filly, got by ditto, out of Lot 8. 
 
 61 A Dark Bay Filly, got by Volunteer, out of Lot 38. Very fine. 
 
 175 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Lot 
 
 62 A Bay Filly, by ditto, out of Lot 2. Med. 
 
 63 A Chesnut Filly, by ditto, out of Lot 18. Fine filly. 
 
 64 A Chesnut Filly, by ditto, out of Sybil. 
 
 65 A Chesnut Filly, by ditto, out of Lot 14. Fine. 
 
 66 A Bay Filly, got by Anvil, out of Lot 28. 
 
 67 A Bay Filly, got by ditto, out of Lot 30. 
 
 68 A Bay Filly, got by Vertumnus, out of Lot 20. 
 
 TWO YEARS OLD. 
 
 69 A Chesnut Colt, got by Volunteer, his dam by Herod, grand dam 
 
 (Prophetess) by Prophet, great grand dam by Cade, out of a sister 
 to Lodge's Roan Mare. 
 
 70 A Bay Colt, got by Anvil, dam by Eclipse, grand dam by Herod, 
 
 great grand dam by Snap, great great grand dam by Regulus — • 
 Very fine Old Partner, Woodcock — Croft's Bay Barb — Makeless — Brimmer 
 — Dodsworth, out of the Burton Barb Mare. The above two 
 colts are large, bony, and handsome, unbroke, and fit for any 
 Stakes to come. 
 
 71 A Chesnut Filly, got by Volunteer, out of Lot 10. Very fine. 
 
 72 A Bay Filly, got by Anvil, out of Lot 26. 
 
 73 A Bay Filly, got by Volunteer, her dam by Herod, grand dam by 
 
 Snap, great grand dam by Regulus, great great grand dam by Old 
 Partner — Woodcock — Croft's Bay Barb — Makeless — Brimmer — 
 Dodsworth, out of the Burton Barb Mare. The above three fillies 
 are large, bony, and handsome — unbroke. 
 
 74 Young Dungannon, by Dungannon, out of Gunpowder's dam ; 
 
 engaged in a Sweepstakes of 100 gs. each, Craven Meeting, 1796 ; 
 in the Derby Stakes, and in a Match with Mr. Durand's Alexander 
 filly, at Epsom, for 200 gs. each. 
 
 STALLIONS TO COVER IN 1796. 
 
 The five following (the property of the same Gentleman) at 
 CANNONS, between Stanmore and Edgware, in the County of 
 Middlesex, eight miles from London, and ten from St. Albans. 
 
 DUNGANNON, at 15 gs. a mare, and one guinea the groom. 
 
 If any of the mares covered by Dungannon last season should not 
 prove with foal, they will be covered this season for 10 gs. 
 
 176 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 VOLUNTEER, own brother to Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter at lo gs. a 
 mare, and ids. i>d. the groom. 
 He is the sire of Portia and Caeha, who both won the Oaks ; of 
 Spread Eagle, who won the Derby in 1795 ; Nerissa, Stiding, and 
 several other winners. 
 
 ANVIL, at 10 gs. a mare, and los. (yd. the groom. 
 
 He was got by Herod, dam by Feather, grand dam by Lath, great 
 grand dam by Childers (she was own sister to Snip, Blacklegs, &c.) 
 VERTUMNUS.at 5 gs. a mare, and 5s. 
 YOUNG DOGE, the TEAZER, at one guinea, and 2s. bd. 
 
 He was got by Doge, his dam by Lot, his grand dam, Black Eyes, 
 by Crab, out of the Warlock Galloway. 
 
 He is a horse of great bone and size, and likely to get hunters. 
 The money to be paid before the mares are taken away. Good 
 grass, &c. and proper care. 
 
 There are a number of good paddocks, and yards with large sheds in 
 them, for the mares, in bad weather. 
 
 At Clintz, near Richmond, in Yorkshire. 
 GUNPOWDER, own brother to Soldier, at 5 gs. a mare, and 5s. to the 
 groom. 
 
 London : Printed by H. Reynell, No. 21, Piccadilly, near the Hay-Market. 
 
 Lord Belfast Mark<^ this List [as in italics on the margin above] . 
 
 This is a long and valuable list for any racing stable, and 
 I may add here the small detail that Philip O' Kelly got a 
 good deal of hay from Cannons, and bought his oats from 
 Messrs. Browne, Bovill, Cole & Co., of Milford Lane, who 
 add to their bill for twelve quarters ordered in October 1800, 
 the words " please pay the shooting one shilling." Another 
 interesting paper among the O'Kelly memoranda of 1795 
 is a note sent by James Weatherby to Sir Frank Standish, 
 as follows : — 
 
 P'' Lord Egremont 25 gs. : for Oaks 1795, Dungannon out of Miss 
 
 Kitty. 
 P** Sir Frank Standish 25 gs. : for brother to Xanthus same year. 
 D° D° 50 gs. : for Viret same year. 
 
 This is no doubt the same Sir F. Standish, for the poisoning 
 of whose Eagle colt, by placing arsenic in a trough at New- 
 
 177 M 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 market, Daniel Dawson was tried before Mr. Justice Heath 
 at Carribridge Assizes in 1812. The law could not then 
 recognise him as a principal ; but bail was refused, and at 
 the second trial he was found guilty and sentenced to death. 
 
 It was also in 1795 that Andrew O'Kelly's bay colt by 
 Volunteer, dam hy Evergreen, r^n unplaced in the Derby; and 
 it is curious to notice that Mr. Hallett, from whom his uncle 
 had bought Cannons, also ran a chestnut colt by Volunteer, 
 dam by Herod, which was unplaced in the same race. 
 
 I have often wondered whether this was the Mr. 
 Hallett who appears with his bride in the Mall in Gains- 
 borough's loveliest picture. But this must remain only a 
 pleasant possibility. 
 
 Mr. Concannon was, as I have said, one of Andrew's 
 racing partners. He became M.P. for Winchilsea in 1820, 
 and I find he ran sixth for the Oaks with Zeniire in 
 1796. The same chestnut three-year-old (by Fidget) ran 
 again that year at Doncaster, and was fifth for the Cup 
 to Hambletonian, Sober, Robin, Ambrosio (who won the 
 Leger), and Prince Charles. She also lost a two-mile 
 handicap at the same meeting to Moorcock, Hoby, and 
 Governor, and lost a match at 6st. ilb. to Sir H. V. Tem- 
 pest's Governor (by Ruler) 7st. 7lbs., 4 years. In 1800 Mr. 
 Concannon's Richmond, by Walmtt, ran fourth for the 
 Doncaster Cup, four miles, 100 guineas, three years, 6st., 
 being beaten by Dio7i, Haphazard, and Fanny, though he 
 started favourite at 5 to 4. 
 
 It will be seen from the letters printed below that Mr. 
 Concannon did not always approve of Lord Donegal's 
 somewhat inaccurate methods, which must often have tried 
 the patience even of the easy-going Andrew O'Kelly. 
 
 I 
 
 Sep. I, 1799 
 
 To Col. O'Kelly, Half Moon Street, London. 
 
 Brighton, Tuesday. 
 My dear O'K. 
 
 I fear that horse of ours is but a bad one. Depend upon it there 
 is something worse than inattention in his composition. In the 
 
 178 
 
ANDREW O'KEL^LY 
 
 meantime I am distressed to a degree and the will not give me 
 
 even a line or an acknowledgment. I wished you to give him my 
 letter sealed that he might not deny the receipt of it. However it 
 shall be as you say. I will wait a few days. Till then I beg you will 
 write to him enclosing this of Henwood and just say that I have 
 written to you for his address and that I conceive myself illused. If 
 he then does not act properly my letter shall go. The whole merit of 
 the filly arrangement is your own I fear ; and yet the old gentleman I 
 have no doubt is a liberal fellow too. I shall write to Prince to send 
 a careful person or come himself. It is a fine moment on account of 
 Cupar [ ? ] who will match all his young ones. If yours turn out well 
 we shall get a good deal of money. At all events you must be con- 
 cerned in everything that has the appearance of being profitable, and 
 as I shall consult you in everything, if we have the least industry and 
 discretion these very fillies may do wonders for us. I am going on 
 to L"* Gage's [?] to eat a Turtle & return to-morrow with M"^ Concannon 
 who has been to Glynde almost all the summer. I wish I could tell 
 you by letter a scene at the ball last night — ^happened to me. No ! 
 
 There is nothing like it in all the history of man woman and . But 
 
 it will keep & I promise you a laugh. Adieu : Ever yours 
 
 L. Concannon. 
 
 P.S. — I wrote to Prince to ask him whether I shall take the two-year- 
 old or one of each. I rather think the two-year-old will suit us 
 better, and if either turns out well we can next year snap up 
 another from the Chateau de Cannons. Prince will either come 
 or send an order. 
 
 The receipt from Henwood runs as follows : 
 
 " Received of Mr. Concannon fifty guineas being the stakes for the 
 Filly sister to Telegraph in a Sweepstakes at Brighthelmston won by 
 Mr. Welch's Cobweb filly. 
 
 " W. Henwood Clk. of Brighton Races " 
 
 " Sept !«' 1799." 
 Sept. I, 1799. 
 
 II 
 
 L. Concannon to Lord Donegal. 
 
 My Lord 
 
 I permit no man to trifle with me or treat me with indignity. You 
 have neither answered my letter or paid your stake of 50 guineas to 
 
 179 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 the gentleman who won it & who has this day made a demand upon 
 me for the stake which you ought to have paid long ago. I am now 
 to inform you that I expect you will immediately send me the 60 
 guineas you owe, 50 of which you have received from Mr. Heathcote, 
 & that you will also add the 50 guineas for your stake which I paid 
 this morning. If not, I shall immediately communicate your conduct 
 to the members of the Jockey Club now here, and you must know the 
 rules as well as I do, that no man can start a horse while his stakes are 
 unpaid. I am &c. 
 
 Your Lordship's servant 
 
 L. CONCANNON. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Sept. I, 1799. 
 
 [The covering letter to Col. A. D. O'Kelly with that for Ld. Donegal 
 runs as follows : — ] 
 
 Dear O'K. 
 
 Lord Donegal's conduct is most atrocious. Mr Walsh came to me 
 this morning & I was obliged to pay him 50 gs. at a time when I am 
 in the most serious and calamitous distress. I cannot endure this sort 
 of insolence any longer, & therefore beg of you, in spite of any 
 dehcacy you may feel for the family, to deliver the enclosed letter for 
 me. Only conceive his not answering a gentleman's letter ! Is this 
 trifling to be borne ? And what am I to think of you never writing to 
 me ? There were sweepstakes & matches here without number to be 
 made. Men are mad I believe. Write immediately Donegal's answer. 
 
 Yours ever 
 
 L. CONCANNON. 
 
 The majority of Lord Donegal's voluminous accounts, 
 together with some of the O'Kelly correspondence relating 
 to him, I have been obliged to place by themselves in the 
 Appendix. But a few papers in which his name occurs will 
 occur appropriately when I come to deal with the social side 
 of Andrew O'Kelly's career in the next part of this chapter, 
 and I can conclude here a few more details about their 
 racing partnership contained in five different documents, as 
 
 follows : — 
 
 180 
 
^H^^v 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 I 
 
 STABLE ACCOUNTS 
 
 Sent by O' Kelly to Ld, Donegall 
 1799 
 
 I mare covered by Volunteer . . ;^i2 12 o 
 Her Keep from May 23 to Nov. 7 , . ^^8 8 o 
 Keep of thoroughbred Stock from 
 September 1800 to September 
 1801 ;^2i3 17 o 
 
 II 
 
 The Most Noble the Marquis of Donegall. 
 D' to Philip O' Kelly Esq' 
 1799 £ s. d. 
 
 To I Mare covered by Volunteer . . 12 12 o 
 To her Keep from the 23'' of May to 
 the 7* of Nov"' 24 weeks 
 
 I 8 8 
 
 £2\. o o 
 
 III 
 
 Letter from 
 
 A. D. O'Kelly to Lord Donegall 
 4 July, 1800. 
 
 What orders have you given respecting Winchester ? The Prince 
 certainly runs Knowsley for the King's Plate, and I think it will be only 
 distressing Trifle and throwing away his chance for the Cup to run him 
 against Knowsley. George Parkhurst wishes to run a trial with his 
 Bibury horse that won the Welter against something of ours. He 
 thinks him capital & would fix a price upon him before' the trial at 
 which we may have him if we wish. 
 
 I may note that the horse, Knowsley, mentioned above, 
 was the animal on which Sam Chifney rode first past the 
 post for the Prince of Wales at Guildford, with a slack rein, 
 showing that he could do more with a plain snaffle than 
 other men could manage with a Mexican curb. His exqui- 
 site " hands" have probably never been surpassed, and only 
 equalled, perhaps, by George Fordham. 
 
 181 
 
;^26o 
 
 17 
 
 
 ;^299 
 
 8 (Derby 
 
 1802) 
 
 ;£2o8 
 
 7 
 
 
 £128 
 
 H 
 
 
 £7(> 
 
 4 
 
 
 ;£235 
 
 8 
 
 
 ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 IV 
 
 Wycombe, August 5'** 1800. 
 
 Memorandum of Horses, Mares, &c. sold to A. D. O'Kelly Esq. 
 
 Brother to Vivaldi .... 
 Precipitate colt out of Equity . 
 Precipitate colt out of Recruit's dam 
 Precipitate filly bought of Bird . 
 Filly by Bacchus out of a Seagull mare 
 Betsey with a colt foal at foot . 
 
 By Sir Peter (Derby 1803) 
 Recruits dam with a colt foal . . ;^236 12 ' 
 at foot by Precipitate (Pavilion Stakes 
 
 1804) 
 A Sir Peter mare, covered by Pegasus £113 13 o 
 Vivaldi's dam covered by Sir Peter . ;^io5 
 
 Fugleman .... ;£^400 
 
 V 
 TRIFLE, WRANGLER, AND OTHER RACE HORSES. 
 Bill of Sale TO BE SOLD BY AUCTION, by MR ALDRIDGE, at Mr 
 the 5th day Moorhouse's Livery Stables, in Piccadilly, on Tuesday, the 
 — fromthe°° 3°*^ °^ December, 1800, precisely at One o'Clock, the fol- 
 Sheriff lowing Well-bred HORSES IN TRAINING, the Property of 
 
 O'Mahoneyto the Marquis of Donegal, in Six Lots. 
 
 Col. O'KeUy. 
 
 LOT 1. 
 
 GREY PILOT, a Grey Horse, by Pilot, Six Years Old. 
 
 LOT II. 
 
 WRANGLER, a Bay Horse, Six Years Old, by Diomed, out of Flea- 
 catcher. Engaged with Jack Andrews in the Craven Meeting, 1801. 
 the last Mile of the B. C. for 100 Guineas, h. f. 
 
 LOT III. 
 
 TRIFLE, a Bay Horse, Five Years Old, by Pot8o's, out of Trifle. 
 Engaged with Schedona the Second Spring Meeting 1801, the 
 two Middle Miles, B. C. for 300 Guineas, h. f. 
 
 LOT IV. 
 
 FORTITUDE, a Brown Colt, Three Years Old, by John Bull, out of 
 Trifle. Engaged with Dick Andrews, Craven Meeting 1801, D. I. 
 for 100 Guineas, h. f. 
 
 182 
 
SAM C'lIIFXEV 
 
 Fnnn an r/if/riiriiif/ nfter a nmtiinpin'ni-ii I'il-piiinfiiii/ 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 LOT V. 
 
 A CHESNUT COLT, Two Years Old, by Precipitate, bought of 
 Thomas Bird. Engaged in the Derby Stakes at Epsom, 1801. 
 
 LOT VI. 
 A BAY COLT, Two Years Old, by Dungannon, out of Flirtilla. 
 Engaged in the Derby Stakes at Epsom 1801. 
 
 N.B. — The above Horses are to be sold without Reference to their 
 Engagements, the Parties directing the present Sale having no Power 
 over them. The Public are therefore requested to observe, that a 
 Purchaser will not be compelled to compleat such Engagements, and 
 that the Parties selling will not in any Manner warrant the Completion 
 thereof. 
 
 The Horses may be viewed two Days preceding the Sale, and Cata- 
 logues may be had at the Place of Sale ; of Mr Stevens, Solicitor, 
 No. 19, Featherstone Buildings, Holborn ; and of Mr Aldridge, in St. 
 Martin's-Lane. 
 
 In the year 1801 I find letters from Samuel Chifney to 
 Andrew O'Kelly, who then lived at 46, Half-Moon Street, 
 which is on the western side at the corner of Piccadilly. 
 The whole question of Chifney's annuity is too long to 
 describe in this place ; but I have reprinted in the Appendix 
 the full text of the affidavits prepared for the litigation on 
 the subject, from which it appears that the Prince of Wales 
 had permitted Sam to relieve himself of certain pressing 
 obligations by selling the annuity of 200 guineas granted 
 him during the Prince's life. It was sold to Joseph Sparkes, 
 of Brompton, for 1200 guineas cash. Lord Donegal was 
 first asked to become a surety for the payment of the annuity 
 to the aforesaid Joseph Sparkes, but requested Andrew 
 O'Kelly to do so, which he did. Andrew's affidavit is given 
 in the Appendix, together with Chifney's own statement, 
 which refers to the famous incident about Escape. 
 
 The affidavit of "George Augustus Chichester Marquis 
 of Donegal " shows that he took Sam Chifney at the end of 
 1800 as " riding groom " by the Prince's permission. Soon 
 after, H.R.H. expressed a wish that Chifney could sell his 
 annuity, and when Lord Donegal learnt that his peerage 
 prevented him from giving security, he asked Andrew 
 
 183 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 O'Kelly to stand guarantee instead, pointing out that there 
 could be no risk as H.R.H. concurred in the transaction, and 
 that if the annuity were not paid, he, Lord Donegal, would 
 withhold the salary he paid to Chifney. Thereupon Andrew 
 consented, " being desirous to further the wishes of the 
 Prince of Wales to have Samuel Chifney accommodated." 
 A lawyer's letter in 1806 shows that Mr. Gascoigne and 
 Colonel Leigh had just been interviewed on the subject at 
 Carlton House, and that the case would " come on to- 
 morrow," i.e., on February 16, 1806. But five years after- 
 wards there was still trouble ; for I find Andrew writing, in 
 that July, to the Right Hon. J. MacMahon to remind him 
 of the facts. Even by 181 3 it was not all over ; for there is a 
 letter on November 18 of that year in which the Right Hon. 
 J. MacMahon admits he has forgotten the facts, and adds 
 that in the opinion of Mr. Adam, Chancellor of the Duchy 
 of Cornwall, " there is no ground for making the allowance 
 demanded." How it all ended, I do not know. Its chief 
 interest to the general reader lies in its connection with the 
 running of the Prince's horse, Escape. 
 
 This incident only bears indirectly on my immediate 
 subject, and I have gone fully into the matter in my " History 
 of the English Turf" (vol. ii. p. 359, &c.) ; so it will only be 
 necessary to give the slightest sketch of the incident here. 
 The trouble all hinged on two races which took place on 
 October 20 and 21, 1791. Their respective results were : 
 
 October 20. Ditch In. 
 
 1. Mr. Dawson's Coriander 4 to i ag' 
 
 2. Lord Grosvenor's Skylark 5 to i 
 
 3. Lord Clermont's Pipator 
 
 4. His Royal Highness's Escape . . . . 2 to i 
 
 October 21. Beacon Course. 
 
 1. His Royal Highness's Escape . . . . 5 to i ag' 
 
 2. Lord Barrymore's Chanticleer . . . . 7 to 4 
 
 3. Lord Grosvenor's SAy^;-^ 11 to 5 
 
 4. Duke of Bedford's Grey Diomed . . . . 6 to i 
 
 5. Lord Clermont's Pipator 
 
 6. Mr. Barton's Alderman 
 
 184 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 After the second race Chifney was had up to explain 
 the running before the stewards, Sir Charles Bunbury, 
 Mr. Ralph Dutton, and Mr. Panton. I have seen 
 nothing in that explanation, recorded elsewhere, which 
 now seems unsatisfactory ; indeed, unless Sir Charles 
 knew more than has come down to us, there was 
 no more evidence against Chifney or the Prince of 
 Wales than there was against Sir Charles himself, when his 
 famous mare Eleanor (who won the Derby and Oaks of 
 1801) was beaten by a common plater at Huntington (10 to i 
 on Eleanor) and beat a first-rate horse next week at Egham 
 (10 to I on Bobadil). In any case, acting on evidence which 
 has never reached the public, the stewards of the Jockey 
 Club let it be known that if Chifney rode the Prince's horses 
 no gentleman would start against him. 
 
 Probably the reasons for this verdict never will be known. 
 We possess, however, Chifney's view of the case, and in 
 this is contained what looks like a complete retractation on 
 the part of Sir Charles Bunbury, made when it was too 
 late and the mischief was done. It is in any case very 
 difficult to believe that the Prince would either benefit him- 
 self by a villain's malpractices, or allow a rascal to cheat 
 others by means of one of the royal horses. Nor is he likely to 
 have given the public recognition of Chifney's honesty implied 
 in the annuity, if much doubt had been possible. His 
 personal feelings he showed very clearly by selling off a 
 large part of his stud and never racing at Newmarket again. 
 
 I will now print half a dozen letters concerning Chifney's 
 connection with Andrew O'Kelly and his racing partner, 
 Concannon, after the Escape incident. 
 
 I 
 To Colonel O'Kfxly, 46 Half Moon Street, 
 Piccadilly, London. 
 Sir 
 
 According to your desire I have made my wages out to you and I 
 
 Am sir 
 
 Yours obediently 
 
 Sa. Chifney. 
 185 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Newmarket 
 
 Sept . 2srd 1801 
 
 N.B. — I shall be very glad sir that you will make my duty to Mr 
 Concannon and I shall like for him to give me leave to bett for him 
 these meetings were that I much fancy a Race I will take care that their 
 shall not be no suffering on his side not one farthing that shall be the 
 least improper, I likewise shall make it known by sum very proper 
 means what money he stands loseing upon every race before the race 
 is over when that he has money upon any race. 
 
 II 
 
 Addressed :—" To Colonel O'Kelly N°. 46 Half Moon Street. 
 
 Should the Colonel not be within please deliver it to Mr 
 Concannon immediately." [1801]. 
 Sir 
 
 I trouble you to make my Duty to Mr. Concannon. I am sorry I 
 missed the time of Entrance for Wrangler, according to his desire, 
 thinking the entrance was the day before running, but they entered for 
 Saturday's plate on Thursday. Not seeing either Mr Concannon or 
 you Sir I have sent Wrangler with Sir Harry to Winchester as their is a 
 plate for him to run for. 1 think he will be best to go from their to 
 Brighton & to run for the stake for the winner to be sold. 
 
 I am exceedingly sorry at his not starting & just before starting 
 thought Wrangler sure to beat [Vivaldi] 
 
 I think Sir H. will beat [Wafer'] and if he do I think his price should 
 be 1000 guineas. I very much wish Mr. Concannon to back him 
 against Water. The horses will be at Stockbridge to-morrow and there 
 is fine exercise for them. I am going down to see Richmond and come 
 back to Stockbridge immediately. 
 
 Yours sir 
 
 Obediently 
 
 Sunday. Chifney. 
 
 I may note that Sir R.Heathcote's b. c. Vivaldi, by Wood- 
 pecker, was fourth for the Derby of 1802, and must therefore 
 (if the same horse mentioned above) have been a two-year- 
 old at the time of this letter ; but this seems hardly likely 
 if Wrangler is the bay six-year-old sold in Lot 11. of the sale 
 in December, 1800. The carelessness of duplicating names 
 at this period is responsible for much confusion. 
 
 186 
 
b 
 
 Q 
 Z 
 
 < 
 
 O 
 Eh 
 
 >■ 
 
 5 
 
 o 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 III 
 
 Endorsed : — " Concannon's Remarks respecting Wrangler, Trifle, &c 
 1801." 
 
 My Dear O'Kelly 
 
 Chiffney made Wrangler's match to-day on purpose to wait. The 
 whole Turf was furious at me for being guided by a madman & 
 the odds in consequence were 7 to 4 and two to one — he won very 
 easy, Wrangler was faster much, of which they had no idea — Whaley 
 staked for Donegal. Seeing possible advantage they are taking his 
 forfeits, not paid stakes, and Lord knows what. Weatherby insolent 
 about it. I declared I would pay and demand upon him. I was 
 told they would not let Trifle start. I immediately rode to the post 
 myself, and ordered Sam to walk over for the money which he did. 
 I have not entered into the case with any of them. I dine with 
 Lord Hampden and Mr. Rigby who are are here ; I shall probably 
 hear it all after dinner. What a man Donegal is to defend ! Can 
 anybody account for this strange neglect ? Trifle would have won 
 had Scliedona been well. I never saw a horse look so well. I 
 shall certainly speak most warmly for D. on the question. It is an 
 infamous advantage to take of a person in his situation. Who would 
 have heard of their rules, as I said to-day in the Coffee-Room, had 
 Scliedona belonged to him ? I staked for Vane and myself with no 
 small difficulty and of my p. p. bets not sixpence could I hedge off, 
 [Ringivood'] came sound and well to the post — we expected him to 
 win. In the first quarter of a mile he bolted smack out of the 
 course, and I am now sure it was a practice of his, though Vane's 
 man always denied it. I send you a list. If I don't sell Wrangler 
 this night he shall go to Brocket Hall for a selling plate on Thurs- 
 day. They frightened me so much I did not dare to back him as 
 I wished, but there was a still better reason. 
 
 Adieu, I shall be off to-morrow. 
 I sold the infamous filly for 30 guineas. 
 
 [No signature] 
 
 IV 
 
 Letter from A. D. O'Kelly to Chifney in December 1801. 
 
 Sam 
 
 I am extremely glad to see that you are well enough to write again. 
 ... I desired Mr. Harvey to tell you when at Newmarket that if you 
 and Mrs. Chifney thought a change of air would be conducive to your 
 
 187 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 recovery, to come immediately and you should have an apartment either 
 at my house here or at Cannons and be attended by the first physician 
 in the town. 
 
 V 
 
 In Chifney's reply occurs the sentence : 
 
 I have been impos'd upon in respect to the Bit makers, that has 
 caused the patent to be taken from me and throw'd me into this 
 distress'd situation. 
 
 VI 
 
 In February 1802, Sam Chifney wrote to 46 Half-Moon 
 Street to Jerry Harris, the boy who looked after Sir 
 Harry. 
 
 In this letter, which was written for the boy to show 
 Colonel Andrew in order to get his wages, Chifney says : 
 
 " I thought of giving you five shillings per week for your wages and 
 cloths which I am sure the Colonel will be satisfied with." 
 
 As examples of the kind of men with whom Philip and 
 Andrew O'Kelly had dealings on the Turf, I will give three 
 instances of correspondence with Captain Marston, Major 
 Horace St. Paul, and General Lake ; and it may be of 
 interest to preface these with a list of the O'Kelly stud — in 
 part — made out in the course of 1805, with which I must 
 conclude the racing portion of Andrew's career. 
 
 I 
 
 LIST OF THE O'KELLY STUD IN 1805 
 
 Dungannon 
 
 Volunteer 
 
 Bay mare by Highflyer with colt foal by Sir Harry, covered by 
 Dungannon. 
 
 Bay mare by Eclipse, own sister to Queen Scota, covered by 
 Ambrosio. 
 
 Bay mare by Eclipse, own sister to Soldier, out of Miss Spindle- 
 shanks, covered by Kill Devil. 
 
 Chestnut mare, Flirtilla, by Conductor, covered by Kill Devil. 
 
 Chestnut mare by Volunteer covered by Kill Devil. 
 
 188 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 Bay mare by Evergreen out of a sister to Calash, covered by 
 
 Volunteer 
 Bay mare Teetotum by Matchem, covered by Dungannon ' 
 
 Bay mare Letitia, by Highflyer, covered by Dungannon 
 Bay colt 2 yr-old by Sir Harry out of an own sister to Soldier 
 Bay Filly 2 yr-old by Sir Harry 
 Bay Filly 3 yr-old by Dungannon out of the sister to Noble. 
 
 II 
 
 Maj' Horace St Paul writes to Andrew O'Kelly in June 1804, about 
 
 fetching thoroughbred stock he had purchased at Clay Hill and 
 
 at Cannons, and horses kept at Epsom for him, and about a 
 
 " two-year-old filly going to Sir Harry." 
 
 A bill for _£8o3 15s. is handed to Colonel St Paul in 1804 by 
 
 P. O'Kelly 
 Containing keep of a bay Mare at ;^20 17s. a year for eight years 
 from 1795 to 1803. Her fees for 
 Volunteer (1796) ;^io los. 
 Dungannon (1797) £\'2 12s. 
 Volunteer (1798, 9, 1800, i, 2) ;£i2 12s. 
 Volunteer (1803 & 4) ;^io los. 
 To groom's fees £\ 14s. bd. 
 Keep of Bay Filly by Dungannon from Nov. i, 1798 to May i, 1799 
 £15 I2S. on corn, hay &c. in loose box and paddock, and £t^(> 8s. 
 per ann. afterwards 
 Keep of Chesnut filly by Volunteer, the same. 
 Chesnut colt by Volunteer, the same. 
 To Colt Breaker £2 2s. 
 Suit of cloths for the Colt £(y los. 
 Colts keep with Trainer from i Sept. 1803 to i May 1804 @, £\\\ b 
 
 per week. ;^5o 9s. 
 Another bay filly & another Chesnut filly, both by Volunteer also 
 appear. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Captain Marston gives Col. Dennis O'Kelly two hundred guineas for 
 his Horse in for the Pavilion Stake of 1803 and five hundred more 
 should he win. He will give him fifty (;£'5o) the first plate or match he 
 wins after the stake is run for, and fifty the second he wins 
 
 MoLYNEUx Marston 
 
 27 June 1803 
 London. 
 
 189 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 IV 
 
 O'Kelly Esquire to General Lake D"^ 
 
 By four mares covered by Anvill . . . .2160 
 
 Groom 220 
 
 By oats, 5 Quarters and one bushel at _£i 6 o 
 
 P- Q'' , ; 6 13 3 
 
 June 16. By keeping two mares 13 weeks at 7/6 
 
 each per week 9 15 o 
 
 By keeping one D° 9 weeks at D° . . . -376 
 By keeping one D" 8 weeks at D° . . . .300 
 
 45 17 9 
 
 This General Lake is no doubt the gentleman who was 
 with the Prince of Wales when he first met Perdita by- 
 moonlight on the river bank near Kew, with the Bishop of 
 Osnaburg in attendance. He will, therefore, form a 
 romantic link between the first part of this chapter and the 
 second, in which I must forthwith complete my sketch of 
 the O'Kelly family by giving some idea of Andrew's life 
 among his family and friends at Cannons, or in London. 
 
 190 
 

 ^ 
 
 V 
 
 ^ 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 ^1 
 
 
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 m 
 a 
 
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CHAPTER VIII 
 
 ANDREW O'KELLY {continued) 
 
 Vestiti hyacintho principes et magistratus,Juvenes cupid'inis, universes estates, 
 
 ascensores etjuorum 
 
 Part II.— AT HOME 
 
 Portrait of Andrew by Alexander Pope — " The Prince's Set " — Duns and 
 Bailiffs — Servants — Demand for an Apology — Andrew's Account-books — 
 Mrs. O'Kelly's Furnished Houses — Letter from Mr. Higgins — The Irish 
 Regency — The Militia Colonelcy — Philip O'Kelly's Letter— The Clay Hill 
 Property — Stable Bills — Blacksmith's Bills — Garrard's Painting — Bills from 
 Jewellers and Bootmakers — Venison at Cannons — Lord Ranelagh — 
 Churchwarden and Minister — The Duke of Sussex — Lord Donoughmore 
 and Lord Moira — Mr. Michell's Letters to Dublin — Letter from his Son 
 Charles— Andrew's Will — Philip Whitfield Harvey — The Grattans— Cel- 
 bridge — Nelson's Burial. 
 
 THE portrait of Andrew O' Kelly reproduced with these 
 pages is, I believe, as unknown to the general public 
 as that of his uncle, the more famous Dennis. It was 
 most kindly sent to me from Ballynastragh, Gorey, 
 CO. Wexford, by Sir Thomas Grattan Esmonde, and was 
 painted by Alexander Pope, who was born at Cork, and 
 studied in Dublin. He painted portraits in Cork and 
 occasionally acted on the stage, which led to his visiting 
 London, where he acted Othello, Henry VIII., and other 
 parts with success at Covent Garden. His work was chiefly 
 in the form of miniatures or small-sized portraits, as in the 
 present instance, and he exhibited in the Royal Academy 
 from 1790 to 1 82 1. He died in 1835. 
 
 This little painting is an admirable example of his work 
 
 191 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 in 1784, while he was still in Ireland, and was probably done 
 while Andrew was on a visit to his relations, the Harveys, 
 in Dublin, and before the death of his uncle Dennis, to whom 
 the original must have belonged. It is excellently drawn, 
 and the tints of the oil-colour are most delicately applied. 
 The features provide yet one more proof (if more be needed 
 now) that the O'Kelly family were originally of good birth 
 and breeding ; and this is the more remarkable because 
 Andrew's father, Philip, whom Dennis put in charge of their 
 first racing stud at Epsom, was apparently the least educated of 
 the family, judging from his letters as compared with the hand- 
 writing of Dennis. There were two sisters, Mary O'Kelly, 
 who married Whitfeld Harvey, and another who married 
 Sterne Tighe. Neither of these ladies could have been un- 
 cultured or uneducated, since they were chosen by husbands 
 who were well known and respected among Irish county 
 families. Nor can Philip O'Kelly's wife have been anything 
 but a refined woman of some social standing, if we are to judge 
 from the face she transmitted to her son. It is not the 
 O'Kelly face, if you compare it with the bony framework and 
 rugged outlines of Dennis in the frontispiece. And it pro- 
 bably bears the impress of the travel and culture which 
 Dennis was careful to give his heir, and which had produced 
 the excellently-dressed young man we see in the picture of 
 1784. There is the quality which that century called 
 "urbanity" in the face, I think. But Andrew was good- 
 hearted as well ; and if he does not betray all the virile 
 characteristics of his uncle, he probably made up for it in 
 the estimation of his contemporaries by a correct behaviour 
 and polite deportment which justified his admission both 
 to the Jockey Club and to the circle of the Prince of Wales. 
 His other acquaintances were both highly placed and 
 judiciously chosen, as will be seen from my extracts from his 
 papers. When he had once made a friend he stuck to him, 
 even when, as in the case of Lord Donegal and others, the 
 friendship involved severe pecuniary losses. 
 
 I will give a few typical incidents which may throw some 
 light upon his character and personality to begin with ; and 
 
 192 
 
ny/K/'/fW L^^ytelM/ 
 
 
 * 
 
 *; 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 shall then take the various documents in their chronological 
 order and allow them to unfold their interesting little story 
 of an Irish sportsman in London from about 1788 to about 
 1825. Within that period Beau Brummell was at the height 
 of his power, and within it too he paid the price and went 
 into bitter exile, looking out in vain from Calais Pier for the 
 Prince who seemed determined to forget his friend. Within 
 these years arose Almack's Rooms, which became Willis's, 
 through whose hallowed portals even the Duke of Welling- 
 ton dared not to pass without knee breeches on. Within it 
 came the burial of Nelson, which Andrew O'Kelly attended, 
 and wrote a long description reproduced from his manu- 
 scripts in my Appendix. Among the memoranda are 
 scattered details of the cost of living, of rents and taxes, of 
 household expenses, Irish politics, the Duke of Sussex, 
 freemasonry, the militia, constant struggles with tradesmen, 
 bailiffs and lawyers, and occasional hints of obscurer, deeper 
 tragedies. This is no place to treat of all these matters 
 fully ; but I have made a selection of what will perhaps be 
 of most interest to the many who will learn for the first 
 time what manner of man was the famous O'Kelly's heir. 
 
 From what I have said about bailiffs and duns, it must 
 not be imagined that Andrew was what would now be called 
 " hard-up." The Cannons estate would alone have always 
 prevented that, and I am bound to say he used it pretty 
 freely, with mortgages and tenants and every other form of 
 raising money. But he cannot have left very much behind 
 him when the clearance came to be made by the trustees of 
 his will, for he does not seem to have ever got much out of 
 Lord Donegal to balance all the losses that thoughtless 
 nobleman occasioned. 
 
 As early as December, 1800, I find careful note made of a 
 " draft for £^2> 2>^- to pay as a compliment to the sheriff's 
 officer not to arrest Colonel O'Kelly." But these trifles never 
 seem to have bothered him much, and the methodical way 
 he kept his papers and letters shows that it took a good deal 
 to ruffle his serenity. Taking a few of his memoranda for 
 the same year, I find a Doctor Kennedy writing that " Mr. 
 
 193 N 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Parker will call at eleven to see Lady Donegal's necklace," 
 which possibly suggests a pawnbroker. But he and Lord 
 Donegal were then on excellent terms. That February 
 his lordship writes to his "Dear Colonel," enclosing "a 
 draft for the money " from West Wycombe Park, and adding 
 that he was " just come from the foxhounds " and "to-morrow 
 I turn out a deer." The writer was then thirty-one, and had 
 just inherited his father's title ; but he writes just as happily 
 and does just the same things, when he is technically a 
 prisoner in the Fleet in 1794. 
 
 In 1800, too, Lord Donegal's cook, Fullerton by name, 
 writes to Andrew to intercede for him to be kept in his place 
 at Wycombe, which Andrew no doubt did ; for his kindness 
 to servants was only one indication of his sound character. 
 Thomas Sullivan, for instance, apparently a footman, writes 
 as follows in 1800, being obliged to leave his service. 
 
 Be pleased to look over my books & point out any charge which 
 you may think improper. You may see that I have charged no board 
 wages when at any gentleman's which is frequently done, neither have 
 I charged for cloaths which cost me a deal of money, as I would prefer 
 your good wishes, your kindness being such to me in the distressed 
 situation I was in when I hired to you as shall always make me feel the 
 most grateful wishes for you & family. 
 
 Already it seems that Lord Donegal's difficulties had 
 seriously begun, for in 1800 John Congreve writes from 
 Richardson's in Covent Garden, giving his address at 
 Carrick-on-Suir in Ireland, speaking of the enviable 
 " intimacy with Mrs. Lyon, a charming woman," adding : 
 
 I feel melancholy at the idea of not seeing even a distant prospect of 
 salvation for our friend Donegal. He is not candid with his friends. 
 Can there be a greater mistake ? You will, I know, stick to him & do 
 for him the best in your power. 
 
 Strongly as Andrew O'Kelly stood up for his friends, he 
 knew how to resent an insult, and I give a letter, written 
 about this time, as a model of a form of correspondence 
 that has now gone out of fashion. 
 
 194 
 

ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 Half Moon Street 
 half past two o'clock 
 Tuesday morning 
 to E. M. Esq'*^ 
 
 Sir 
 
 The unprovoked attack which you thought proper to make upon me 
 last night would have justified the most summary mode that I could 
 have taken to resent it. But the respect I bear to my own character 
 & the society in which it happened rendered it impossible for me to 
 proceed in a manner which most probably I should have done had I 
 been differently situated. My friend Lord Ranelagh who does me the 
 honour of delivering this letter to you has been so good as to under- 
 take to explain to you the absolute necessity of your immediately 
 making me the most ample & satisfactory apology and which I trust 
 upon reflection you will see the propriety of and prevent the conse- 
 quences which from a refusal must naturally follow and which you 
 yourself will have to answer for. 
 
 I am Sir 
 
 Your Humble Servant 
 
 (Signed) A. D. O'Kelly. 
 
 Mr. M. immediately sent back an apology, saying he 
 was " sorry for having used the words he did." He appears, 
 for a respectable sum, on the list of Lord Donegal's 
 creditors, and with this reference I have done with both of 
 them. 
 
 Andrew started an account book in January 1788, less 
 than a month after his father's death had handed on the 
 estate. The first entry is i6s. lod. "to John Jelly, 
 apothecary," and a large number of entries occur every 
 month "to Mrs. O'Kelly." This I believe to be his wife. 
 Other entries are : 
 
 in 1788 
 
 May 30. To Charles Scoffield for painting done 
 
 at Cannons . . . . . . . ^^iio i6 3 
 
 June 5. To Thos Waldron Cabinet-maker . . ;^5o o o 
 
 July 2. To Lochee Limner ;£5 5 o 
 
 195 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 in 1789 
 
 April 6. To three Hogsheads of Claret at £^2 per 
 
 Hogshead ;^i26 o o 
 
 in 1793 
 
 May 25. To Crouch for newspapers . . . £Z S <^ 
 Dec 16. To Robt Fogg for Tea .... ;^i2 12 o 
 
 in 1794 
 
 Feby 19. To Tho' Clutterbuck Brewer . . . ^^50 o o 
 Feby 20. "To Mr' O' Kelly by Mr. Bond for six 
 
 month's rent of my house in Half Moon 
 
 Street" ..." ;^8o 11 o 
 
 and the same item appears in August 1795 
 
 " by Count Tilly," 
 
 in 1796 
 
 April I. To J"' Brookbank £1^^ 6 8 
 
 in 1799 
 
 April I. To Mrs O'Kelly to pay her rent, &c. . ^^94 18 o 
 April 8. To Mrs C. O'Kelly ^220 
 
 The last entry is April 30, 1801. 
 
 In the early years wine and wax candles take a large 
 place, and items like " stay maker," " mantua-maker," &c., 
 proclaim the married man. I will therefore follow up these 
 with a few extracts from Mrs. O' Kelly's accounts from 
 
 1795: 
 
 Sundries ;^r457 7 7 
 
 Upholsterers ^^45° o o 
 
 Security to Mr Pilton ;^82o o o 
 
 Total ;f 2727 7 7 for furnished Houses. 
 
 These houses were : 
 
 18 Berkeley Square. " Will let by the year for 350 guineas & for 
 six weeks in winter at 10 gs a week, and 6 in summer. Rent £i^e^ a 
 year, taxes about £<\o." 
 
 I Chesterfield Street " lets for 8 months at 4^ guineas a week & is 
 now let for 7I guineas for 9 months." 
 
 Rent ;^i40 a year, taxes about £2^^. 
 196 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 33 Half Moon Street " lets for 8 guineas a week for 3 months, and 
 6 gs a week in summer ; is now let at 250 gs a year." 
 Rent 100 gs ; taxes about ^£25. 
 
 45 Half Moon Street. " Has let for 200 gs. a year, at 6 gs. a week in 
 winter : is now let for a year at ;^2oo. Rent ;^ioo a year and taxes 
 about ;^20." 
 
 8 Charles Street, Manchester Square, was taxed at £2 10 a quarter 
 for 20 windows, and the house was rated at £\0. (Andrew lived here 
 in 1806.) 
 
 In 1799 Epsom house was taken by Lord Elcho, who tried to give 
 his help with Lord Donegal in 1800. 
 
 In 1816 a House "in Piccadilly " was let to Lord Audley. 
 
 The House at 46 Half Moon Street, which Andrew inherited from 
 his uncle, is now represented by 90 Piccadilly, with the entrance in 
 Half Moon Street. 
 
 The next paper refers to Irish affairs, and is written by a 
 friend of Andrew's Dublin cousins. 
 
 Letter addressed to Captain O' Kelly, 
 
 Near Half Moon Street, Piccadilly, 
 
 London, from Mr. F. Higgins, Feb. 7, 1789. 
 
 Stephen's Green. 
 My ever dearest Friend 
 
 To upbraid you for idleness in not writing would be but justice, yet 
 knowing as I do the kindness of your mind and the urbanity and 
 goodness of your heart, it would give me infinite pain to write a line 
 that would be not less grateful than your friendship's. 
 
 Your Prince of Wales will no doubt be called to the Regency of 
 Ireland unshackled and without restriction from the House of Com- 
 mons, for last night on the question of adjournment for a week, the 
 M inister here had a majority of 54 against him and on Wednesday next 
 the Regency business comes on. The most authentic reports mention 
 that Lord Spencer is to be Lieutenant of Ireland, and Mr Pelham 
 Secretary, and although I have a knowledge of Mr Pelham, yet as 
 Grattan is the leader here of the new administration I cannot possibly 
 expect to be continued unless terms are timely and immediately made 
 
 for me in London Having much injured the paper belonging to 
 
 me by taking a decided part for the Government of the Country, I do 
 
 197 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 most solemnly assure you my life and property were in imminent 
 danger when riot and outrage, tarring and feathering, and whipping 
 prevailed in the city and the Government unable or incapable to 
 
 prevent it I am ashamed always towards the ending of my 
 
 letter to begin talking of your mother, and the unparalleled affection 
 and attention I received from her and good Mrs. O'Kelly. I must also 
 
 include the Miss Harveys Please to recollect me in the most 
 
 kind manner to Mr Clarke. 
 
 Writing again on February ii, Mr. F. Higgins says: 
 
 Let me inform you (and I suppose you will be one of the 
 
 first in England who will receive the information) that on this night, 
 nth of Feb^' (1789) a resolution has passed to address the Prince of 
 Wales to accept the Regency without restriction or limitation. It is 
 now half past eleven and the House of Commons sitting, great and 
 violent debates going on with regard to the form and manner of voting 
 him Regent, particularly as the English House of Commons has not 
 established a precedent. Lord Loftus, who some few days since 
 obtained the office of joint Postmaster General and who commands ten 
 voices in the House of Commons, Lord Shannon 12, the Duke of 
 Leinster 9, all united and deserted the standard of Government, and on 
 the question of an address to the Marquis of Buckingham the most 
 gross abuse followed ; your friend Mr Curran was extremely severe. 
 On a question of adjournments 54 majority appeared against the 
 Administration, and on this night's debate Government gives little or 
 no opposition. But it is expected that in the Lords a majority will be 
 found to counteract the Commons, and of course great confusion will 
 ensue. Lord Spencer is announced as Lord Lieutenant 
 
 Say for me to your father and mother, good Mrs O'Kelly, and the 
 Miss Harveys, everything that friendship and gratitude can suggest. I 
 hope in God to have you here as soon as this political storm shall have 
 in any degree ceased, and I will return to see them to whom I owe 
 every obligation that friendship and warm regards can be susceptible 
 of. 
 
 Adieu, and may all-gracious Providence illumine and direct your 
 footsteps to everything that is conducive to your happiness here and in 
 another world. 
 
 Yours in both and Eternally 
 
 whilst F. H. 
 
 I can't get little Harvey to go to school where I desire. I have not 
 time to read this over. 
 
 198 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 These letters were, of course, written after the struggle 
 for the Regency which followed King George III.'s serious 
 illness in 1788. It will be recalled that his Majesty's health 
 improved by February 19 next year, and was completely 
 restored by February 26, 1789; but that on February 11, 
 the date of the second letter quoted above, the English 
 House of Commons were still discussing the Regency IBill, 
 which passed on the 12th. No doubt the King's recovery 
 was a severe blow to the Whigs ; but it was even worse for 
 the Irish Parliament, for their deputation arrived on 
 February 27, the very day the discontinuance of the bulletins 
 had been announced. 
 
 Laughter from the Cambrian rocks 
 Mingled with the name of Fox ; 
 Laughter from the British main 
 Came with clanks of lash and chain. . . 
 
 And no amount of hospitality from the Prince, the Duke 
 of York, or the Whig leaders could drown the Homeric 
 merriment with which the unlucky Irish deputation was 
 received. 
 
 I have already said that Andrew followed in the foot- 
 steps of his uncle, and became a Militia colonel. The 
 three letters bearing upon this are herewith printed below : 
 
 I 
 
 I do hereby certify and declare that 1 will immediately on Cap' 
 O'Kelly's paying into the hands of Hugh Dive Esq' for my use the sum 
 of two hundred pounds, resign my Lieut-Colonelcy in the Westminster 
 Regiment of Militia in his favor; provided also that the said O'Kelly 
 will truly pay to me fifty guineas more should the said Regiment 
 remain embodied one year from the date hereof. This agreement 
 being the terms Capt. O'Kelly proposed to Capt. Poplett for my 
 Resignation. Given under my hand in London this 25 Jan'' 1793. 
 
 (Signed) THOMAS GORDON. 
 
 This A. D. O'Kelly accepted, and on March 28, 1795, he 
 paid the fifty guineas agreed upon, for which H. Dive gave 
 his receipt. 
 
 199 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 II 
 
 On July 27, 1795 
 Lord Titchfield writes 
 to A. D. O' Kelly. 
 
 Sir 
 
 In consequence of a letter I have this day received from 
 Lt. Gen' Lascelles, I have the honor to inform you that I have not 
 accepted the resignations of Major Chauvel [?] and Captain Mason. I 
 have given the necessary directions to M'- Stable for the production of 
 such papers as may be necessary to you as you desire. M"'- Stable is 
 not at present in town and his clerk seems ignorant of what is meant 
 
 by the Regimental Book I hope, Sir, you will excuse my 
 
 taking the liberty to suggest to you the expediency of bringing on the 
 Court Martial on as early a day as possible, in order that those officers 
 whose resignations are delayed thereby may suffer as little inconveni- 
 ence therefrom as may be. It will add much to the importance of the 
 case when I inform you that this suggestion arose from an intimation 
 of H.R.H. the Duke of York. I am sure your good sense will have 
 made this hint entirely unnecessary. ... I have the honor to be, 
 Sir, 
 
 Your most obedient servant 
 
 Titchfield. 
 
 Ill 
 
 To Andrew D. O' Kelly Es'. 
 
 Half Moon Street 
 
 Piccadilly 
 
 Endorsed — From T. Tyrwhitt by order of the Prince on the subject 
 of a Memorial to the D. of York, 1796. 
 
 Carlton House 
 
 July 15, 1796. 
 Dear O'Kelly 
 
 In the course of conversation with the Prince the other morning 
 your undeserved situation was our topic for some time. The P. seemed 
 to think something might be done and he recommended a memorial 
 to the Commander in Chief, whom he imagines to be much your 
 Friend, stating in general terms your case, & concluding with a 
 request to be made a Lieutenant Colonel to some other Regiment. He 
 imagines you might manage to negotiate for the other Battalion, but 
 
 200 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 of this you must be the better judge by far. I could not suffer you to 
 remain ignorant of the Prince's good wishes, & requesting you to lay 
 your commands on me if I can be serviceable, I am. Dear O'Kelly, 
 
 Yours sincerely 
 
 Thos. Tyrwhitt. 
 
 These letters give more than sufficient evidence that 
 Andrew, the heir, was called " Colonel O'Kelly" as often as 
 his uncle Dennis, and confusion between them has been 
 natural. I pass on to some correspondence between Andrew 
 and his father, Philip, who evidently lived most of the time 
 at Epsom, with occasional visits to Cannons and London. 
 
 On February 25, 1794, Philip O'Kelly writes from 
 London to his son Andrew in Brighton that the house in 
 Half-Moon Street was let to the Hon. Charles Wyndham 
 for three months, at seven guineas a week. 
 
 I have been after the gentleman M'. Anderson who was to pay for 
 the colt and filly for the 'gentleman in America but he sais there is 
 not money in hand to pay for them. I offered to take his Draft for 
 any given time that he should think but he said that he expected a 
 rupture with America and that conveniences of money would be 
 stopd & there fore could not take on himself to do any such thing, 
 but he would write to the gent°. and as soon as he would receive the 
 money he would let me know &c. I sold a filly to M"", Copley here 
 out of Gossamer for 50 guineas and ten the first time she wins &c. 
 M'. Cluckerbork [!] would send no more Beer. . . . Let your Aunt 
 know that M'. Wyndham has brought his own bed and I sent for 
 M'. Glover's man & had her bed taken down & sent to Glover's. 
 M'. Wyndham has brought as much goods in to the house as quite fill 
 it up. Your Mother is still very bad with the pains in her limbs. The 
 Evergreen mare has dropped a very fine chesnut fiily. I received 
 Lord Strathmore's Draft from the Bankers, . . . 
 
 This is a charming and very characteristic mixture of 
 horseflesh and town houses, and I may take the opportunity 
 of concluding here what little else I have to quote from the 
 memoranda on the question of the Epsom stud-farm at 
 Clay Hill, and expenses connected with the O'Kelly horses. 
 
 On July 13, 1803, there is careful note made that 
 
 201 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 M'. Alcock, steward of the manor, promised P. O'Kelly Esq''., 
 being fully authorised by Sir J. Maulbry so to do, a grant of the piece 
 of Wastt in the front of the wall to the road from one end of 
 Clay Hill to the other, M"'. Bond the farmer, M'. Haswell the corn 
 chandler, M'', Wood the Baker, and M'. Blank the carpenter were 
 present, and were to form the jury of the Court Leet, 
 
 On December 29 of the same year Andrew Dennis 
 O'Kelly let Clay Hill, Epsom (which he had previously let 
 to Smith Pannwell, Esq.) to Abel Craven Esq. 
 
 being 12 acres with coachhouse, stables, and outbuildings garden 
 and fields, for £136 10 a year, & Mr. Craven to repair all the estate, & 
 pay all taxes on it & have the usual right of Common to the House. 
 
 On June 4, 1827, Mr. S. Langlands (evidently an 
 ancestor of the owner of the present well-known stand) 
 builder, of Epsom, estimates ;i^i35 7s. gd. for repair of roof 
 and brickwork at Clay Hill for H. Grattan, Esq., M.P., and 
 a fortnight afterwards a Mr. Gardom reports that the place 
 is in very bad repair from dry-rot. 
 
 Clay Hill came into possession of Henry Grattan, M.P. 
 (second son of the celebrated patriot), through his wife 
 Mary O'Kelly Harvey, daughter of Andrew O'Kelly's 
 cousin, and it then passed to Charles Langdale of Houghton 
 through his marriage with Henrietta Grattan, daughter of 
 Mary O'Kelly Harvey (Grattan). From Mr. Langdale it 
 was bought by the Sherwoods, in whose possession it now 
 is, so that the tradition of racehorse-training, natural to 
 that spot and to its surroundings, is preserved there still. 
 
 There are a few records of O'Kelly's tenancy of sufficient 
 interest to reproduce here before I pass on. In 1804, for 
 instance, Col. O'Kelly's bill to Mr. Edmund Bond of Epsom 
 contains : 
 
 June 10. To a Purge to a Colt 26 
 
 To four shoes . . . . . .28 
 
 To Ball for y^ Colt 20 
 
 To bleeding a colt and a Ball . . .30 
 To dressing a colt's leg & medicine . .30 
 To bleeding a colt . . . . .10 
 
 To docking the Colt 26 
 
 202 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 It is not improbable that this is the same Mr. Edmund 
 Bond mentioned in earlier pages, who attended the sale of 
 Dennis's horses at Tattersall's, and was given the skeleton 
 of Eclipse after its dissection by Saint Bel. 
 
 Two bills from the Cannons Estate memoranda will also 
 find an appropriate place here : 
 
 I 
 
 The bill of Thomas Colley, blacksmith, of Stanmore, 
 from January 1804 totheend of June, came t0;^i3 145.^7^., 
 and includes the following items : 
 
 s. d. 
 
 4 shoes 30 
 
 A new eye to large bell-handle . . . .06 
 A new Iron Crow, weight jibs. . . . -39 
 4 shoes chaise horse . . . • . .34 
 
 Paring Teetotum's feet 06 
 
 D° colt by Dungannon 06 
 
 To shoes to d" 16 
 
 Paring 5 colts' and fillies' feet . . . .26 
 
 D° squirrel mare . . . . • .06 
 
 II 
 
 1807. Col. O'Kelly's bill to Thos Colley, Blacksmith at 
 Edgware, contains the following items (1807) 
 
 4 shoes 34 
 
 2 barred shoes for carthorse . . . . .40 
 
 2 shoes for grey Poney . . . . . .18 
 
 Colts' feet pared down . . . . . .06 
 
 5 shoes carthorses . . . . . . .42 
 
 An interesting link between these bills for horses and 
 accounts for other forms of expenditure is the memorandum 
 rendered to " O'Kelly Junior Esq.," at Cannons, by " Mr. 
 Garrard" in July 1792. The artist charges ;^3i 55. 6d. 
 for the painting of Soldier, including a frame and packing 
 case. An engraving from this portrait of Eclipse s son is 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 reproduced with these pages. In the matter of the prices 
 charged by eighteenth century artists, Mr. R. W. Goulding 
 has kindly written to me from the Library at Welbeck to 
 say that Wootton's price for the painting of Leeds in that 
 collection was 12 guineas. The same artist painted Bonny 
 Black and the Bloody-shouldered Arabian (who was sent 
 from Aleppo by Nathaniel Harley) for Lord Oxford, an 
 ancestor of the present Duke of Portland in the female line. 
 I may add, as an interesting detail of an artist's connection 
 with the Turf, that George Morland describes, in a letter to 
 his friend Dawes, how he once rode in a regular race. . . 
 " Then the drums beat and we started ; it was a four-mile 
 heat. . ." I do not remember having seen elsewhere that 
 a drum was used for this purpose. 
 
 In 181 1 Messrs. Love & Co., goldsmiths and jewellers, 
 of 6 Old Bond Street, who rejoice in a beautifully engraved 
 bill-head, sent in to Andrew O'Kelly an account, " delivered 
 by the desire of Lady Pomfret," of £^1^ for a bracelet. 
 Whether the name of the firm suggests romantic imaginations 
 I know not ; but on looking up the leases of Cannons for the 
 same year I find that Lady Pomfret rented the mansion 
 and grounds from Andrew in 181 1 for £,S^S'^ ^"id in 
 December 18 14 Messrs. Love write again to O'Kelly 
 regretting that "they cannot give the Colonel the informa- 
 tion he wishes respecting the bracelet Lady Pomfret sold at 
 their house." Less romantic is the "gold screw ring" 
 bought from William Harris, optical manufacturer, of 
 50 High Holborn, in 1819; and to return to entirely 
 practical matters I will add the Colonel's boot bill in 181 7. 
 
 To George Hoby. Boot and Shoemaker to H.R.H. the Dukes of 
 Kent, Cumberland, Sussex & Cambridge the Princess Charlotte and 
 H.S.H. Prince Leopold of Saxe-Cobourg 
 
 Mar, 9, 2 P' shoes ;^i I3 
 
 13, 2 P' Overalls 58 
 
 25, I P' Overalls footed . . . .17 
 
 204 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 It will no doubt completely and finally counteract the 
 mystery of the bracelet if I complete this list of Colonel 
 O'Kelly's little purchaseswith the record that on June 15, 1818, 
 he bought one copy of " True Piety," bound in morocco, 
 for 85. 8d. from H. FitzPatrick, Bookseller to the Roman 
 Catholic College in Maynooth, at 4 Capel Street, Dublin. 
 
 In 1 80 1 there occurs a pleasant bit of evidence of the 
 park at Cannons and O'Kelly's friendship with the Prince, 
 which I found in a letter sent to the equerry that year : 
 
 Sir 
 
 I have endeavoured to select some venison out of my park at Cannons 
 which I hope will prove worthy the Prince's acceptance. I have sent 
 it by this day's coach directed to you and request you will do me 
 the favour to present it with my most respectful duty to His Royal 
 Highness, 
 
 A. D. O'KELLY. 
 
 This letter was enclosed with another, which shows that 
 Lord Ranelagh and Sir Richard Heron were among 
 Andrew's friends at this time. It runs as follows : 
 
 My Dear Jones 
 
 You are a capital fellow at promising but a bad one at performing 
 when writing is the case, and you must be obviously so when I 
 presume to complain. Are you dead or alive or what is your plea 
 for not giving an account of your journey and of the state in which 
 you found Lady Ranelagh & the rest of the family on your arrival ? 
 Have you punctually executed my commission & said everything 
 kind & obliging for me to her ladyship ? Have you seen anything 
 of the Sans Culottes and on their appearance are you ready & willing 
 to give them a warm reception ? Poor Tom I think is very lucky to 
 
 have arrived safe though paying most cursedly for his passage 
 
 He is just returned from Tunbridge Wells after paying a visit to our 
 friends Sir Richard and Lady Heron who with myself are of opinion 
 that if the correspondence between the late Lord Ranelagh and the 
 Irish government on the subject of Athlone is followed up it may 
 procure him some advantage which I am certain the poor fellow in 
 his present situation stands much in need of 
 
 Believe me ever yours 
 
 1 801. A. D. O'KELLY. 
 
 205 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 That the squire of Cannons did his duty by the neigh- 
 bouring Hunt is also clear from a letter dated May i8o8j in 
 which W. Capel thanks him "for the attentive message 
 you sent me about some young foxes the other day." He 
 was a churchwarden, too, as appears from some correspon- 
 dence in 1804: 
 
 Whitchurch : 20 July 1804 
 
 To Col. O'Kelly, Cannons. 
 Dear Sir 
 
 Knowing that you wish to do your duty as churchwarden, I take the 
 Hberty as Minister to trouble you from time to time with such observa- 
 tions as occur to me on our joint duties. 
 
 As churchwarden and minister, we are trustees for all the charities 
 and gifts belonging to this Parish by Deed or Will or otherwise and 
 therefore bound in conscience to see as far as may be all the Donations 
 duly applied. I think it therefore our duty to apply to the Lord Chan- 
 cellor to have his directions wiu. regard to the Church Plate, School- 
 house, &c. I suppose one petition would comprehend all the questions 
 we apprehend to be our duty to ascertain. 
 
 I remain with the greatest respect 
 Dear Sir 
 
 Your ever obliged servant 
 
 Henry Poole. 
 
 But I fear his relations with the parochial authorities 
 of Whitchurch, or Stanmore Parva, did not always evoke 
 such polished correspondence. In 181 1 he roused the 
 churchwarden for the time being to the following epistle : 
 
 To A. D. O'Kelly, 4 [? 8] Charles St. Manchester Sq'^ 
 
 Edgeware : Dec. 11, 1811 
 Sir 
 
 If your Church Rates are not settled immediately the Vestry insists 
 upon your being cited next week. The Vestry Clerk apprised you of 
 the orders. 
 
 I remain your obedient servant 
 
 John Rodbard 
 
 Churchwarden 
 
 Little Stanmore. 
 206 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 A trace of the Colonel's well-known charity (in which he 
 remembered his uncle's example) is to be found in the 
 Countess of Loudoun's letter to him in June 1812, when he 
 was still in Charles Street. Lady Loudoun refers to his 
 interest in the " St. Patrick Charity," and asks his help to 
 send a Scotchwoman, married to an Irishman, back to her 
 Irish home. 
 
 The next batch of seven letters I have selected are all in 
 the same year, and refer in turn to H.R.H. Augustus 
 Frederick, Duke of Sussex, to Lord Moira and Lord 
 Donoughmore ; and are evidently connected with certain 
 social engagements inspired by the contemporary political 
 situation in Ireland. The " Mr. Harvey" referred to would 
 be Philip Whitfield Harvey, O'Kelly's cousin, and proprietor 
 of Freeman's Journal. 
 
 I 
 
 To Col. O'Kelly. 
 
 Endorsed : — Lord Donoughmore respecting the Duke of Sussex, April 3, 
 1812. 
 
 I was delighted with your Royal friend, and heard with admiration 
 the generous & the just feelings of a most enlightened mind. He writes 
 with elegance & force & has got into entire possession of all the details 
 as well as of all the fortes and the foibles of a most difficult and multi- 
 farious subject. 
 
 D. 
 
 II 
 
 Lord Donoughmore writes to Col. O'Kelly in Charles Street, April 
 1812, returning Mr. Harvey's letter : " respecting the very respectable 
 paper of which he is the proprietor. I was perfectly persuaded that 
 the publication to which he refers was inserted either thro' inadvertency 
 or thro' some momentary accident, not within Mr. Harvey's power to 
 control, and I am very sensible of the kindness of the explanation into 
 which he has taken the trouble to enter. 
 
 Truly yours 
 
 Donoughmore." 
 
 207 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 III 
 
 To Colonel the R*. Hon. John McMahon. 
 
 April 26, 1812. 
 Charles Street 
 My Dear McMahon 
 
 You will excuse my suggesting to you an idea that strikes me 
 respecting the Article which appears in the Freeman's Journal of the 
 20th inst. Its length creates a difficulty in respect to my procuring 
 for it, as I have done for others on the same subject, an insertion in 
 some of the London papers, but perhaps that difficulty might be over- 
 come by a whisper in the ear of Dr. Dudley from yourself or some 
 other person of influence with him, and if an arrangement or under- 
 standing to that effect, could take place with any other paper or papers 
 beside the Morning Herald, I will make it my particular task to select 
 the proper articles as they appear and forward them to such paper or 
 papers here as may be appointed to receive, and will, under such 
 influence, give insertion to them. 
 
 Ever most truly and cordially yours 
 
 A. D. O'Kelly. 
 
 IV 
 
 From H.R.H. the Duke of Sussex. 
 
 May 1812. 
 Dear O'Kelly 
 
 If you can get me a box at the Pantheon and let me have it soon this 
 morning you would oblige me greatly. 
 
 Truly yours 
 
 S. 
 
 V 
 
 To Col. the R'. Hon. John McMahon. 
 
 25 June 1812 
 Charles Street 
 My Dear McMahon 
 
 Lest you should not have seen the Freeman's yo»j'na/ which contains 
 the vindication of our noble friend, I enclose it for your perusal, and 
 should be highly gratified to forward to the same source of communi- 
 cation a genuine copy of his Lordship's speech in the House of Lords 
 which Parry [?] is said to have given incorrectly. It would be no 
 
 208 
 

 *»^w^;^^^ "^77^ y ■*' 
 
 LEITKK PKOM TOB DOKE OP SUSJIiX lo AKBKlin- O'EELIT 
 
 f^^^- '^^ 
 
 SIGNATDEE OF DENNIS OKELLY 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 breach of privilege there, and is certainly a great desideratum as the 
 most effectual means of setting them right in that country, where 
 obvious misconceptions have converted the most enthusiastic friends 
 mto bitter enemies. I hope it may be procured and that no ordinary 
 obstacle to so great a good will prevent its being effected. Our friend 
 Sheridan you will see does not occupy the same disadvantageous 
 ground with the leaders on the other side of the water, but he assures 
 me he will himself for their more correct comprehension pen a clear 
 statement of his case ; which, if accompanied by Lord Moira's speech, 
 would do infinite good to the cause. 
 
 I am ever & faithfully yours 
 
 A. D. O'Kelly. 
 
 VI 
 
 A. D. O'Keli.y io Lord Moira. 
 
 7»/_y3i, 1812 
 
 Charles St. 
 
 Manchester Square. 
 My Dear Lord 
 
 In the event of your Lordship's not having returned to Town, which 
 I find by enquiring this morning in St. James's Place to be the case, 
 I have undertaken at the request of the Committee of the Knights 
 Templars to communicate their united hope of being honoured with 
 your Lordship's presence to meet H.R.H. the Duke of Kent who 
 will preside at the installation of H.R.H. the Duke of Sussex as Grand 
 Master of the Order, At the same time the Deputy Grand Master 
 will be appointed, and the Grand Conclave will assemble for these 
 purposes at the P'reemasons Tavern on Thursday next the 6'-'* August 
 at 4 o'clock precisely. 
 
 The great anxiety of the Committee to give to the ceremony all 
 possible interest, and the impossibility of filling up in any way to their 
 satisfaction the blank which your lordship's absence would occasion, 
 is the apology for this intrusion on the part of my Dear Lord 
 
 Your Lordship's faithful 
 
 and devoted humble servant 
 
 A. D. O'Kelly. 
 209 o 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 VII 
 
 To Lord Moira 
 
 15 Sept. 1812 
 
 8 Charles Street 
 My dear Lord 
 
 I am commanded by the Duke of Sussex to acquaint your lord- 
 ship with His Royal Highness's intention of being with you at 
 nine o'clock to-morrow morning. H.R.H. purposes to get out of his 
 carriage at the Green Park door in Piccadilly and to present himself 
 for admission at your Lordship's garden gate. 
 
 I have the honor to be my dear Lord 
 
 Your faithful and devoted servant 
 
 A. D. O'Kelly. 
 
 Two years afterwards I find the Duke of Sussex is 
 referred to again in a letter from John Michell, who acted 
 as O'Kelly 's private secretary to him in town, and is now 
 writing to give the news of London when Andrew is staying 
 in Dublin with his cousin Harvey. 
 
 From your own house. 
 
 Nov. 4th. Evening. 
 My dear Colonel 
 
 I came here yesterday expecting certainly to find a letter from dear 
 Dublin and much am I disappointed. Surely our good friend Harvey 
 will act as your Secretary " me absente ; me nunquam de te et tuis 
 immemore," and relieve my anxiety. 
 
 I have seen Mr. Bourkhardt. The Dra*. of H.R.H the Duke of 
 Sussex is paid, and all is well as to this business. Two letters from 
 Mr Wright, the latter from Algesira, directs the amount to be paid to 
 Herries & Co. on his account and this was punctually performed to- 
 day by Mr Bourkhardt. Mr Wright entreats you to present his 
 grateful thanks to his Royal Benefactor for this instance of his liberality. 
 Perhaps you will do this by letter to H.R.H. 
 
 Bonnor will write to you, and the contents of his letter will make 
 you accord with our Holy Psalmist not to put any Trust in Princes, 
 I shall forbear any other remark upon the subject than to add that you 
 have censured my worthy James Stuart, and deserve to be deceived by 
 the usurping power, which possesses his throne. Here you may indict 
 me for treason. I am " saepe pro Republica, semper pro Rege." 
 
 210 
 
O -i 
 
 O = 
 
 y- ~ 
 
 d 
 
 'A 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 V household are all well, and your house as fine as a fiddle, 
 beautifully painted and in order, Robert gives me a sorry description 
 of your Epsom Issues, but he has secured 14 Load of hay, worth 
 probably from 70 to 100 £. It appears that you are unjustly treated 
 there as well as elsewhere, and that you suffer trespasses with 
 impunity. 
 
 To-morrow I shall have something more to say. Robert wants to 
 know whether the horse is to be taken up. I say no until your further 
 orders, for he now costs 8s. per week only. I have delivered the 
 Tabinet at Mrs Tagart's who is with the Doctor in the country — Hae 
 nugae sunt ! 
 
 To more serious business. 
 
 I called with Clarke on Trower to-day, who is entitled to Execution 
 — and this would have issued on Monday but for my representation 
 that the Marquis of D. was coming to Town, and that I would find 
 out Macartney. Mr Trower is determined to proceed to extremities 
 unless the arrears of the Annuity 1500 and upwards are discharged. 
 Pray, my dear Colonel, write to me by return of post, directed to 
 Rosehill and tell me what is to be done. I was compelled to state that 
 you expected a sum from the Marquis and that I knew it was your 
 Intention to provide for the payment, if Lord D. could not pay it or 
 secure it. Trower wants me to pledge myself that the arrears shall be 
 paid out of the money you expect to receive — if not, after waiting for 
 your Answer, and that Answer not satisfactory, he will issue Execution. 
 I will be prepared for that. I shall receive about 250;^ for Concannon, 
 which 1 shall not be drawn upon for for some weeks. I moreover expect 
 200_^ from Sir G. Bowyer, and if Trower will not be persuaded to wait, 
 I can so settle with him as to pay the amount of anything seizable 
 here. If necessary I will be in London again the moment I have your 
 letter, and will do anything and everything you wish. Let not this 
 make you uneasy. Here I am and here I shall be to ward off the 
 blow. 
 
 The Bonnars desire their Love. The Bourkhardts are as well as can 
 be reasonably desired. 
 
 I cannot say more than to add my grateful regards to Mr and Mrs 
 H., Miss Mary — Miss O'Kelly — and to assure you that I am ever 
 
 Most sincerely and affectionately yr' 
 
 J°. C. MiOHELL. 
 
 U. Col. O'Kelly, 
 
 P. W. Harvey Esq. 
 
 72 Stephen's Green South 
 
 Dublin. 
 211 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 I have said before that neither Colonel Dennis O'Kelly, 
 nor his heir and nephew, Andrew, had any children who 
 survived them. But we know that Andrew was married, 
 and in October 1805 I find the first trace of his son Charles 
 in a bill delivered to him by Messrs Gurney & Coakley, 
 which charges : 
 
 s. d. 
 To two months' schooling to Master Charles . . 14 o 
 To a copybook 6 
 
 14 b 
 
 The disproportion in price between the two items is 
 astonishing ; but in twelve years' time " Master Charles " 
 evidently grew up intelligent enough. He writes to his 
 father as follows : — 
 
 London, Oct. 13/A, 1817. 
 My Dear Father 
 
 On Saturday last I received your kind letter of the 8th ins' and went 
 immediately to Mr Michell, to whom I communicated the contents of 
 your epistle. He says that he called on Mr Noble, told him you were 
 out of Town, and requested that he w*^ consent to withhold his demands 
 till your retiarn, to which Mr Noble assented. The reason of his acting 
 in this manner was on account of Mr Noble refusing part of the Rents 
 of the houses in Piccadilly and demanding to have Mr Miller's with 
 the rest. 
 
 A few days ago Mr Michell went down to Grovenor Place and 
 discovered that Walton the broker was in the act of taking away all 
 the furniture and yours with the rest ; but he told Walton on his peril 
 to touch that part of the property which he claimed as yours and the 
 consequence was that the cart was unloaded, but Mr Mahoney took 
 good care that the furniture belonging to you was locked up again in 
 the stables since this Walton has taken away without our privacy or 
 knowledge all your furniture and removed every article of furniture out 
 
 of the house even the [ ] grates, &c &c. But Mr Mahoney 
 
 says that Walton has only removed them, not taken them away for the 
 purpose of sale. 
 
 This fellow W. Stacpoole and his posse are making the most active 
 preparations to annoy you in every possible way, and W. Stacpoole 
 says he will bring an action against you and he has no doubt but that 
 
 212 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 he will be able to saddle you with all the Taxes and Rent of the house 
 since Mr Stacpoole left England ; moreover, that you shall account 
 for every individual article that has been removed and sold either 
 publicly or by private contract. Thomas says you permitted Misses 
 H. & S. to remove some things and when called upon to make an 
 affidavit as no doubt he will be called upon, he must state this and 
 give a satisfactory account of the things which he does not deny having 
 taken. Mark the villain. 
 
 What I have just now told you respecting the language of W. 
 Stacpoole is nearly as he said it from his own mouth. The following 
 is also : " That you drove Mr Stacpoole out of the Country at a time 
 when his mind was so distressed that he was ignorant whether he was 
 doing right or wrong, and that George Stacpoole himself said in Paris 
 you frightened him on the road with ' here they are,' ' the bailiffs are 
 coming, the bailiffs are coming,' and so on, till you accomplished your 
 purpose." 
 
 Mr Armstrong has been here and wished to know if you were ready 
 to go to Ireland. I questioned him respecting the money to which he 
 replied, " Oh ! that's all settled ; your Father knows that we shall do 
 nothing till we go to Ireland." 
 
 There have been two letters of introduction presented by Mr R. 
 Dyce from Mr Bonnor, who informs you in his letter that Ann Gillis is 
 going to India to be married to some Gentleman of considerable 
 fortune there. 
 
 A letter from Mr Dod concerning Mr Dobson the paperhanger 
 has been sent here requesting you will pay the balance of Mr 
 Dobson's bill. 
 
 The e.xpences attending my scholarship are enormous and they 
 W^ not receive the whole of the Money because eight £ and 13 
 shillings was wanting to make up the amount of the last bill. ;^28 
 will scarcely cover my expences and this I must pay before I go to 
 College. I have received a letter from Dr Geldart. 
 
 Pray write immediately with your instructions which shall be 
 instantly executed and the result made known to you by, 
 
 My Dear Father, 
 
 Your most affectionate & dutiful son, 
 
 C, O'Kelly. 
 [Charles Andrew O'Kelly.] 
 
 P.S. Mahoney says young Stacpoole is in England and taking steps 
 against us all under the authority of his father. The Daily prints 
 report that Miss Hawke, whom they say arrived with you at Pans, is 
 about to marry Sir G- P. Turner. 
 
 213 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Poor Mr Curran is I fear by this time no more ; he has been seized 
 twice since he returned from Ireland with paralytic strokes ; the first 
 time he was not seriously affected, but he exacted a promise from his 
 servant to conceal his having been attacked so that it would appear 
 he wished to die ; not the slightest hopes are entertained of his 
 recovery. 
 
 Hotel de la Belgique, 
 
 Rue St. Thomas du Louvre. 
 To Lt. Col. O' Kelly. 
 at Paris. 
 
 The writer of this letter must have died in the course of 
 the next three years, for his father Andrew was dead before 
 the end of 1822. His affection for the two children who 
 were doomed to predecease him is very touchingly displayed 
 in the draft of his will, which he drew up in Charles 
 Street on April 15, 181 2. He made the following 
 depositions : — 
 
 1. All his property was to be sold, and after payment 
 of his just debts, the residue to be invested in Government 
 stock and accumulate 
 
 until my son Charles O'Kelly now living with me and my daughter 
 Eliza O'Kelly now at Sion House Boarding School shall attain the age 
 of twentyone years at which period my son Charles O'Kelly shall be 
 entitled to two thirds of the said property and my daughter Eliza 
 O'Kelly to one third for their sole use and benefit after deducting the 
 expense of their education which I most earnestly request my executors 
 will strictly attend to as if they were their own. 
 
 2. His large diamond ring to " my dearest cousin Philip 
 Whitfield Harvey " for his life, and at his death to " my son 
 Charles O'Kelly," or to be an heirloom in the family. 
 
 3. "The next largest Diamond ring with hair round it" 
 for Philip Whitfield Harvey for his sole use. 
 
 4. The " hair bracelet with a brilliant diamond clasp " to 
 "his dear little daughter Mary O'Kelly Harvey." 
 
 5. Mourning rings of ;^io to "my most amiable and 
 excellent friends" the Hon. Miss Annabella Hawke and 
 
 Miss Charlotte Stacpoole. 
 
 214 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 6. "To Master Richard Stacpoole, son of my friend 
 George Stacpoole, of Grosvenor Place, and the friend and 
 associate of my son Charles O'Kelly," he left the "horse 
 chaise and harness I now drive .... and may the friend- 
 ship that at present exists between him and my son Charles 
 (whose mild and gentlemanly conduct and religious princi- 
 pals I hope has been of service to him) never cease but with 
 their lives." 
 
 7. Gold watch and seals to his son Charles, his residuary 
 legatee. 
 
 8. Philip Whitfield Harvey his sole executor and guar- 
 dian of his children. 
 
 Only one or two names in the above document need 
 explanation. " The Hon. Annabella Hawke " was a grand- 
 daughter of the Admiral, and applied to the Queen for a 
 position about the Court in a memorial which Andrew 
 drew up for her in December 181 3. Of the Stacpooles 
 I find another trace in the purchase (in August 1819) of 
 " I dozen cider at 12s." from William Clark, the Cider 
 Cellars, Maiden Lane, Covent Garden. 
 
 Andrew's cousin, Philip Whitfield Harvey, the son of 
 Mary O'Kelly, was a distinguished literary man in Dublin, 
 who married Miss Frances Tracy, " by which I under- 
 stand," writes a friend of the family in 1820, " he becomes 
 possessed of ;^30,ooo and ;^5oo a year, besides other good 
 things. This seems a wise and prudent step for both 
 parties." 
 
 Harvey wrote from Ireland in August 1819 to O'Kelly, 
 in Half Moon Street, saying : — 
 
 that " Lord Donegal is in great distress for even one hundred pounds. 
 Lady D., that was, is determined to proceed to London immediately 
 without a guinea or even a carriage. She will not allow her noble spouse 
 to quit her apron strings, fearing that he might tye himself to some 
 more deserving object." 
 
 Harvey was leaving Ireland, for the South of France for 
 his health, by sea from Dublin to Bordeaux, in the follow- 
 
 215 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 ing winter ; and in 1820 he describes his return from 
 France on March 16, 1820: 
 
 " I left Paris on Wednesday at 4.20 and reached Calais on Friday 
 morning at 5.20, sailed at 11 o'clock and arrived at Dover by seven. On 
 Saturday at 6 in the morning started for London & reached the 
 Golden Cross, Charing Cross at 6 that evening." He then went by mail 
 through Shrewsbury to Holyhead and so sailed to Dublin. 
 
 On March 13 the same excellent correspondent had 
 informed O'Kelly (who was at the Grand Hotel Taranne 
 in Paris) that his friend Concannon had got into Parlia- 
 ment for Winchelsea, and that " Sir F. Burdett and Mr. 
 Hobhouse will be returned for Westminster." Almost his 
 last communication is an expression of horror at the dis- 
 covery that his annual expenditure, " including the paper," 
 amounted to ;!^536o, "a frightful sum." 
 
 But it was well spent, as may be seen from the obituary 
 notice written after his death on August 10, 1826, in the 
 Dublin Morning Register, by Mr. Michael Staunton, a 
 copy of which was preserved by Harvey's daughter, Mary 
 O'Kelly Grattan. From this it appears that Philip Whit- 
 field Harvey was descended from a family whose large 
 possessions in Wicklow were forfeited at the Revolution of 
 1688. He was given a commission in the army in 1794, in 
 a regiment commanded 
 
 by his cousin-german, the late Colonel [A.D.] O'Kelly of Half Moon 
 Street London. Colonel O'Kelly was honoured with the friendship of his 
 present Majesty and other branches of the Royal family, and under his 
 auspices Mr. Harvey was introduced to the brilliant circle of Carlton, 
 Palace and had formed one of the suite of the Prince upon several 
 pubUc occasions. He settled in Ireland early in 1804 & shortly 
 afterwards commenced the regeneration of Freeman's JoJiriial, 
 originally established forty years before that time by the celebrated 
 Dr. Lucas. . . . His enterprise led him to print the first twenty-column 
 sheet that was ever used in the diurnal Press in 1805, 
 
 and he resisted every bribe the Government offered to 
 undermine his independent criticism. He left a handsome 
 
 216 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 fortune to his only daughter, Mary O'Kelly Harvey, who 
 married Henry Grattan, M.P. 
 
 The facts here given about the commission tally very 
 well with the date of January 25, 1793, which was shown 
 elsewhere to be the time when Andrew O'Kelly bought his 
 Lieutenant-Colonelcy in the Westminster Regiment ; and it 
 was therefore in this corps that his cousin Harvey served. 
 
 The mention of Harvey supplies my best opportunity 
 for finishing the history of the O'Kelly family in its various 
 ramifications, which will be clearer from a consideration of 
 the genealogical table in my Appendix. I have already 
 shown how the great Henry Grattan came into it, and no 
 doubt he remained its most distinguished member. Few 
 better descriptions of him have been given than the lines 
 written by Lord Carlisle, ten years after he had been buried 
 in Westminster Abbey, on the passing of the Emancipation 
 Bill, on April 13, 1829. I transcribe a copy preserved 
 among the O'Kelly papers : 
 
 A step more buoyant, a more sparkling eye 
 
 Arrest the gaze as Grattan passes by. 
 
 Greet him, thou lovely Isle, from whom he brought 
 
 The fervid gesture, the impassioned thought, 
 
 The mind serenely brave and simply wise. 
 
 Rich as thy soil and tender as thy skies. 
 
 Thine was his evening task, his morning theme. 
 
 His patient labour and his gorgeous dream 
 
 Thine when aloft his lion spirit rose. 
 Mid the full conclave of his country's foes. 
 Tore from detected fraud the flimsy veil 
 And bade corruption's palsied legions quail. 
 Oh that he might on this bright-omened day 
 Bask in the promise of its dawning ray. 
 And bless the younger hands that now restore 
 To Ireland all that he once gave before ! 
 
 The Henry Grattan thus so finely described was the son 
 of J. Grattan, M.P. (Recorder of Dublin), and Mary Marlay, 
 daughter of Thomas Marlay, Chief Justice of Ireland. 
 
 217 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Dean Marlay, afterwards Bishop of Waterford, was the 
 owner of Celbridge Abbey, which in his time was called 
 Marlay Abbey, and he married into the Grattan family. 
 Henry Grattan, second son of the patriot, inherited pro- 
 perty in Queen's County, which had been voted to his 
 famous father as a gift by the Irish Parliament in 1782. 
 He was buried at Celbridge Abbey, and he lived there with 
 his wife, Mary O'Kelly Harvey, until the marriage of his 
 eldest daughter, Henrietta, to Charles Langdale,when he gave 
 the place to the young married couple. They resided there 
 until Mr. Langdale's father died, when they moved to 
 Houghton, in Yorkshire, to which Charles Langdale suc- 
 ceeded. Mrs. Langdale then appointed Sir Gerald Dease, 
 youngest brother of Edmond Dease, who married her sister 
 Mary, as her agent for the Irish property, and let him the 
 abbey for his life, with the pictures of Eclipse, Marske and 
 Spiletta, and the old French furniture from Cannons, which 
 Mary O'Kelly Harvey had brought to her husband's home. 
 This Sir Gerald Dease married the sister of Sir William 
 Throckmorton, and at his death the abbey passed to the 
 Langdales again, and Lady Dease lived close by. I have 
 already mentioned that when Lady Charles Bunbury {tide 
 Lady Sarah Lennox) was divorced, and wished, before her 
 marriage with Napier, to reside near her sister. Lady 
 Louisa Conolly, of Castletown, and the Duchess of 
 Leinster, she built Oakley Park, opposite Celbridge Abbey, 
 on the other side of the road ; and I need only add that it 
 was from the sons of Henrietta and Louisa, daughters of 
 the Henry Grattan who married Mary O'Kelly Harvey, that 
 I have received those portions, respectively, of the O'Kelly 
 papers which have furnished so many data for this work. 
 
 The details with regard to the Cannons Estate, which 
 Dennis O'Kelly bequeathed to his nephew, I have placed in 
 the Appendix, and they will be found to contain several 
 interesting facts concerning prices at the beginning of the 
 nineteenth century, the value of property, and the domestic 
 appurtenances considered necessary for the comfort and con- 
 venience of a gentleman's country house. In the Appendix 
 
 218 
 
ANDREW O'KELLY 
 
 will also be found Andrew O' Kelly's vivid description of the 
 burial of Nelson, together with the diary of a few days in 
 his London life at the beginning of 1806. 
 
 I have now traced the O'Kelly family and their posses- 
 sions down to the present time. My task will be ended 
 with the briefest sketch of those descendants of Eclipse 
 which have chiefly influenced the Modern Turf. 
 
 219 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 ECLIPSE'S DESCENDANTS 
 
 Corona senum filii filiorum et gloria filiorum patres eorum 
 
 PotSos — Spearmint — Troutbeck — Touchstone — Flying Fox — King Fergus — 
 Blacklock — Donovan — Emma — Lily Agnes — Matchem — Record Times — 
 Record Performances — Conclusion. 
 
 OF all Eclipse s sons PotSos seems to me the best 
 looking. He combined some very rare qualities, 
 for he was not only handsome, but a good winner 
 (thirty-five out of forty-six races from 1776 to 
 1783) over a distance of ground, and a most successful sire, 
 for he begot 165 winners of ^^57,595, the best of whom was 
 IVaxy. 
 
 PotSos was a chestnut with a white snip on his face, bred 
 by Lord Abingdon in 1773, out of Sportsmistress, who 
 traced back to the Ancaster Tiirk. By the kindness of 
 Mr. G. H. Parsons, who discovered the original painting by 
 Sartorius, now in the possession of Mr. R. C. Blencoe, I 
 am able to reproduce here the only portrait I have ever seen 
 of Waxy, the best son of PotSos, and also a photograph of 
 one of IVaxys racing prizes, which contains on its central 
 medallion a reproduction of the match between Gimcrack 
 and Bay Malt on (1769), portrayed in my fourth chapter. 
 
 Waxy was a bay son of Maria (by Herod), foaled in 
 1790. Out of the Duke of Grafton's famous raaxQ Pntnella 
 (by High/Iyer) he got Waxy Pope, Pledge (dam of Tiresias) 
 and Pope Joan ; and out of Primellds still more celebrated 
 daughter Penelope (by Trumpeter) he got Whalebone (1807), 
 
 220 
 

 S £ 
 
 
ECLIPSES DESCENDANTS 
 
 IVed (1808), Woful and Whisker (181 2). Whalebone was 
 sire of two Derby winners in Lapdog and Spaniel, and an 
 Oaks winner in Caroline. His line is handed down by 
 Camel, Defence and Sir Hercnles, and Camel was the sire 
 of Totichstone. This brings me at once to last year's (1906) 
 Derby winner, Spearmint, who is by Carbine, hy Musket, by 
 Toxophilite, by Longbow, by Ithuriel, by Touchstone, by 
 Camel, by Whalebone, by Waxy, by Pottos, by Eclipse; 
 and the interest of this descent lies in the fact that the 
 Touchstone blood has hitherto been most successful through 
 Newminster by way of Hermit and Lord Clifden ; but a 
 striking change has been effected by the Duke of Portland's 
 importation of Cai'bine, who thus reaches the height of his 
 stud fame in his twenty-first year. Carbine is unquestion- 
 ably the most popular horse that ever ran on the Australian 
 Turf, and was brought over here by the Duke in 1895. He 
 was bred in New Zealand, and carried 10 st. 5 lb. when he 
 won the Melbourne Cup in a field of thirty-nine. His sire 
 Musket, who was never appreciated in England at the stud, 
 did well on the limestone of Australasia ; and, as I have 
 pointed out in my earliest chapters, it is possible that his 
 visit to those far-off pastures benefited his son Carbine to the 
 extent necessary not merely to win races in Australia but also 
 to sire a Derby winner in England. It may almost be said 
 that Carbine s importation introduced a new line of Rclipse 
 blood ; for Ithuriel s descendants had nearly vanished, and 
 Petronel was never really successful at the stud. 
 
 Those who are more interested in mares than sires will 
 also remember that, as Mr. Corlett has pointed out, Spear- 
 mint is full of Pocahontas blood ; for Minting, sire of 
 Maid of the Mint, is grandson of Stockwell, a son of 
 Pocahontas ; and Warble, dam of Maid of the Mint, is by 
 Skylark, a grandson of Pocahontas, and her dam also was 
 by a grandson of Pocahontas. 
 
 Curiouslyenough, it isto ToucJistone also that the St. Leger 
 winner of 1906 traces back, for the Duke of Westminster's 
 Troutbeck is the first living foal of Rydal Mount, and 
 happily combines the blood of Hampton, Rosicrucian, 
 
 221 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Sf. Simon and Benc^ Or; and he adds yet further to the 
 established fame of the great Agnes family, for his dam is 
 by St. Serf, out of Rydal by Bend Or, out of Windermere, 
 by Macaroni out of Miss Agnes by Birdcatcher. Trout- 
 beck's sire was Ladas, and he won his Leger just seventy- 
 two years after the great ancestor whose skeleton is kept in 
 honour at the Eaton Stud. 
 
 Touchstone never began well, but his immense speed 
 soon brought him up, and he could stay for ever. Three of 
 his sons, Orlando, Cotherstone and Sttrplice, won the Derby ; 
 three of his grandsons, Teddington, Musjid and Hermit ; 
 and seven of his great-grandsons, Pretender, Shotover, 
 St. Blaise, George Frederick, Merry Hampton, Ayrshire 
 and Ladas. This is a record which justifies indeed the old 
 description of his blood as " the touchstone of merit" ; and 
 it must be remembered also that in 1880 that extraordinary 
 mare Kincsem (who was by Cambuscan, by Newminster, by 
 Touchstone) was sent to the stud after running in fifty-four 
 races in four years, over every kind of ground, in every 
 weather, at any distance, and was never beaten. 
 
 I mentioned that Camel, Defence and Sir Hercules had 
 chiefly handed on Whalebone s blood. Camel, as we have 
 seen, would be justified by Touchstone alone. Defence was 
 sire of The Emperor, who begat Monarque, who begat 
 Gladiateur from a daughter of Gladiator by Partisan. Sir 
 Hercules has perhaps been the most famous of the three, 
 for his line continues to Irish Birdcatcher, The Baron and 
 Stockwell, in direct male descent to Doncaster, Bend Or, 
 Ormonde, Orme and Flying Fox, for whom M. Edmund 
 Blanc gave the record price of £39,2,']S ! o^ie of the most 
 brilliant pedigrees on the English Turf. In it occurs the 
 famous name of Stockwell, a chestnut descendant of Eclipse, 
 with the old white snip on his face, and two white feet. 
 He was a son of the celebrated mare Pocahontas, and was 
 the sire of Blair Athol and Achievement, besides such 
 good ones as Regalia, Lord Lyon, Doncaster, Caller Ou and 
 many more, who won the Derby three times, the Oaks once, 
 and no less than six St. Legers. Nor must I forget to add 
 
 222 
 
^^■^ 
 
 Sf- ~^^b 
 
 ■ ® 1 
 
 
 ^^B ^^HRlln^^^^N. 
 
 hmgf. IB.^ 
 
 ^^E / l^^^^^09i^^^^^^^^^^^V^^^^^ 
 
 "' 1 
 
 ^ 
 
 d 
 
 
 
ECLIPSES DESCENDANTS 
 
 that Irish Birdcatcher further strengthened this line through 
 his son Oxford, who begat Sterling, who begat Isonomy, 
 the sire of Isinglass, winner of the " Triple Crown" of 1893, 
 and of more money than any horse except Donovan. 
 
 After PoiSos I must turn to another chestnut son of 
 Eclipse, King Fergus, bred from Creeping Polly (by Othello) 
 in 1775. One of his sons was Beningbroiigh (St. Leger, 
 1 794) the sire of Orville, who was grandsire of the Derby 
 winners Cadland and Little Wonder, and sire of a still 
 better Derby winner in Emilitis (brother of the equally suc- 
 cessful Octavitts). Two sons of Emilius, Priam and 
 Plenipotentiary, were Derby winners again, and three 
 daughters of Priam won the Oaks, among them being the 
 speedy Crucifix. 
 
 Another of the sons of King Fergus was the mighty 
 Hambletonian, out of a HigJiflyer mare, who won the 
 Leger of 1795. From him, through IVhitelock, came 
 Blacklock (his dam by Coriander, a son of Pottos) who had 
 Eclipse s ugly head and transmitted all Eclipse s excellence 
 to Galopin, sire of St. Simon, sire of the King's celebrated 
 stallion Persimmoit, sire of Sceptre, Zinfandel and Key- 
 stone II., who, at the age of thirteen, stood at the head of 
 the winning list of 1906, with the 16 winners he had 
 produced in 31 races worth ;,^2 1,752. St. Simon, whose 
 prowess at the stud I have already mentioned, stands alone 
 with Stockwell as a sire, and among his sons and grandsons 
 are such Derby winners as Persimmon, Diamond Jubilee, 
 Volodyovski, Ard Patrick and St. Amant, to whom may 
 be added Rock Sand, produced by his beautiful daughter 
 Roquebrune. His granddaughter Sceptre fetched the record 
 price of 10,000 guineas as a yearling. To Blacklock also, 
 through Voltaire, Voltigeur, Vedette and Galopitt, in direct 
 line traces the Duke of Portland's Donovan (1886), whose 
 dam was Mowerina, granddaughter of Stockwell on the 
 dam's side and great-granddaughter of Touchstone through 
 her sire. 
 
 Donovan, who died in 1905, won more money in stakes 
 than any horse in the history of the Turf, and did it in 
 
 223 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 only two years, so I give the list of his victories, which have 
 been very kindly sent me by the Duke of Portland. 
 
 iason. 
 
 Races won. 
 
 Value. 
 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 
 1888. 
 
 Lincoln, Brocklesby Stakes 
 
 1034 
 
 15 
 
 
 
 
 
 Leicester, Portland Stakes 
 
 6000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ascot, New Stakes . 
 
 1 169 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bibury Club, Home-bred Foal 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Stakes .... 
 
 475 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Stockbridge, Hurstbourne 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Stakes .... 
 
 1250 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Newmarket, July Stakes . 
 
 1 120 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Goodwood, Ham Stakes . 
 
 700 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Newmarket, Buckenham Stakes 
 
 900 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Do. Hopeful Stakes 
 
 537 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Do. Middle Park Plate . 
 
 2105 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Do. Dewhurst Plate 
 
 1 197 
 
 
 
 
 
 16487 15 
 
 1889. 
 
 Leicester, Prince of Wales' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Stakes .... 
 
 1 1000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Newmarket Stakes . 
 
 6000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Epsom, Derby Stakes 
 
 4050 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ascot, Prince of Wales' Stakes 
 
 2225 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Doncaster, St. Leger Stakes 
 
 4800 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Manchester, Lancashire Plate . 
 
 10131 
 
 15 
 
 
 
 
 
 Newmarket, Royal Stakes 
 
 460 
 
 
 
 
 
 38666 15 
 
 
 Total winnings 
 
 , 
 
 a 
 
 
 :£55I54 10 
 
 The strength and excellence of Eclipses blood are particu- 
 larly observable in three pedigrees : \hose oi Blacklock (1814), 
 Emma (1824), who was the dam of Mowerina, and Lily 
 Agnes (1871), who was the dam of Ormonde. Taking the 
 first, we find that both the sire and dam of Blacklock are 
 descended in direct line from Eclipse and are inbred to him, 
 so that though the pedigree shows four strains of both 
 Eclipse and Herod, it is the former that predominates. 
 Emma, like Blacklock, is descended on both sides in direct 
 line from Eclipse, and this again seems to have been of 
 distinct value, as she has only two strains of Eclipse 
 
 224 
 
>5 5, 
 
ECLIPSE'S DESCENDANTS 
 
 against five of Herod. Lily Agnes, on the other hand, has 
 nearly fifty strains of Eclipse, several of them coming 
 through the same channel, notably Blacklock. It would 
 not be too much to say that this was largely the cause of 
 the extraordinary excellence of Ormonde, when combined 
 with the fact that his sire was also directly descended from 
 Eclipse. 
 
 A few more genealogies will be found in the Appendix, 
 bearing on the same point ; and I would particularly direct 
 attention to the table which appears there for the first time, 
 and was drawn up for me by the kindness of Mr. A. W. 
 Coaten, of Horse and Hound, in order to analyse the 
 descent of all the winners of the Derby from its beginning 
 until 1906. I have mentioned in earlier pages the striking 
 result arrived at, so I need only say here that in the first 
 fifty years Eclipse could score 23 winners, in the second 
 fifty he scored 33, and out of the last 27 he can actually 
 claim all except one. Lord Rosebery's Sir Visto (winner in 
 1895) who traces through Barcaldine to Matchem. It is 
 perhaps worthy of note that with four exceptions all the 
 Derby winners since the race began trace in direct male 
 line to Eclipse, Herod or Matchem; but it is still more 
 noticeable \kv2X Eclipse alone can claim 82 out of the 122 
 thus divided, and that he had a struggle at the beginning 
 against Herod, which is the most convincing proof of the 
 fittest having survived, for in the first fifty years Herod 
 had as many as 20 winners to his 23, but only 15 to his 33 
 in his second, and none at all afterwards. 
 
 The four exceptions I mentioned are in themselves 
 interesting, for Assassin traces to Squirt, the grandsire of 
 Eclipse, and Sir Thomas to Marske, Eclipses sire. Only 
 two are the exceptions by which Nature proves her rule, 
 for Aimwell, tracing to Spectator, and Hannibal, tracing 
 to Trentham, have never established the lines they 
 represent. 
 
 The only winners credited to Matchem are Didelot, 
 Smolensko, Tiresias, West Australian, Blink Bonny and 
 Sir Visto ; but it is worth noting as a possible sign that 
 
 225 p 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Matchem is not yet done with, that Bachelor's Btttton has 
 won the Gold Cup at Ascot in record time in 1906. Mr. 
 Coaten has also pointed out that in the field for the Derby 
 of 1906, out of twenty-two runners, eighteen trace to Eclipse, 
 including the first four in the race ; there were two Herods : 
 Dingwall, and the colt by Teufel out of S lip aw ay ; and 
 two Matchems : Beppo and Malita, both sons of Marco. 
 In the Oaks all twelve of the mares who ran trace to 
 Eclipse. 
 
 One more instance of ''Eclipse first and the rest 
 nowhere" may be taken in the "Triple Crown" winners 
 of the fifty years following West Australian in 1853. 
 They are Gladiateur, Lord Lyon, Ormonde, Common, 
 Isinglass, Galtee More, Flying Fox, Diamond Jubilee and 
 Rock Sand. It is no doubt a great test of excellence for 
 any three-year-old to win the Two Thousand, the Derby 
 and the Leger in the same season ; and I quote these 
 nine horses because it will be seen that the forty years 
 during which these nine direct descendants of Eclipse 
 achieved this feat are exactly the forty years during which 
 the Eclipse blood has established itself as the best racing 
 blood in the world. 
 
 It will be well to conclude with a word about pace. 
 Comparisons cannot be more accurate than measurements, 
 in this matter, between modern flyers and the cracks of the 
 eighteenth century. But the " mile a minute " legend is 
 definitely exploded, at any rate ; and I do not think many 
 more of the " times " recorded in old days are worthy of 
 greater credit. I have read that Flying Childers did 3 miles 
 6 fur. 93 yds. at Newmarket in 6 min. 40 sec, and the Beacon 
 Course in 7 min. 30 sec; that Filho da Puta (after falling on 
 his knees and losing fifty yards) did four miles on the Rich- 
 mond Course in 7 min. ; and I do not believe it, even on 
 the authority of a " Clerk of the Course " in the Sporting 
 Magazine for 181 7. Another gentleman says in the same 
 paper that Firetail and Punipkin were timed with all 
 possible correctness and ran a mile at Newmarket in some- 
 what less than i min. 15 sec. This is even more improb- 
 
 226 
 

 
ECLIPSES DESCENDANTS 
 
 able. What is certain is that ever since timing has been 
 seriously understood and reduced to a fine art, the pace of 
 our racehorses has been shown to be steadily increasing. 
 There is not the least doubt that no eighteenth-century 
 horse could live with them at the distances usually run 
 nowadays, for even with 30 big fences to jump, and carry- 
 ing the burden of 12 st. 7 lb., Cloister dxd 4^ miles in 9 min. 
 42f sec. when he won the Grand National of 1893 by forty 
 lengths. The improvement is particularly noticeable in 
 1906, which produced three records in distances from i^ to 
 2^ miles : 
 
 1906. Derby (i mile 4 fur. 29 yards) Spearmint . . 2.36!^ 
 Ascot Gold Clip (2| miles) Bachelor's Button . ■^•'^Sr 
 
 St. Leger (i mile 6 fur. 132 yards) Troutbeck . . 3.4-1- 
 
 It should be added that the fastest time ever done over 
 the Derby Course was when Pretty Polly won the Coro- 
 nation Cup in 1905, in 2 min. 33I sec. 
 
 Now this does not look much like degeneration ; and 
 when I add the records for other distances it will be seen 
 that nearly all are quite recent, or within the last decade. 
 
 To complete the " classical " races we have : 
 
 1905. Oaks (Derby Course) Cherry Lass . . . 2.38 
 
 1906. ,, „ Keystone IF. ... 2.38! 
 
 It should also be added that Bachelor s Button only 
 beat Zinfandel's time for the Ascot Gold Cup by two- 
 fifths of a second, and that Zinfandel holds the record 
 for the longer course of the Alexandra Plate (2 miles 
 6 fur. 85 yds.) with 5 min. 5 sec, a time which is 
 quite enough alone to disprove the legends of the Beacon 
 Course current in the eighteenth century, for the pace has 
 improved all round in modern horses at a rate of about 
 two seconds in every ten years, a rate which cannot be 
 expected, of course, to continue. 1 give below the records 
 for various distances in England : 
 
 227 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Five Furlongs. 
 
 Apr. 21, 1903. Great Surrey H'cap, Epsom. Master 
 
 Willie S6| 
 
 May 27, 1903. Ranmore Plate, Epsom. Blue Diamond 56^ 
 
 May 29, 1903. Walton Plate, Epsom. Le Buff ■ . 56f 
 
 Six Furlongs. 
 June 6, 190 1. Royal Stakes, Epsom. Master Willie . 97^ 
 
 One Mile. 
 July 13, 1900. Lingfield Park Stakes. Caiman (Amevic3in 
 
 bred) i-33i 
 
 [Straight : first half a fall of i in 76 ; second, i in 200.] 
 
 Rowley Mile, Newmarket. 
 
 1902. Two Thousand Guineas. Sceptre . ■ ■ 1.39 
 
 1897. Two Thousand Guineas. Galtee More . . i-4of 
 
 Mile and a Quarter, 
 
 Aug. 3, 1904. Brighton Cup. Housewife . . . 2.11- 
 Mile and a Half. 
 
 June 16, 1905. Manchester Cup. Airship . . . 2.^0^ 
 
 May 20, 1904. Chesterfield H'cp., Doncaster. Roseburn 2.30! 
 
 Sep. 13, 1900. Alexandra Plate, Doncaster. Avidity . 2.30^ 
 
 May 27, 1901. Great Whitsun H'cp., Hurst Park. Santoi 2.31 
 
 Sep. 22, 1900. Sept. H'cp. Hurst Park. King's Courier 2.3if 
 
 Mile and a Half and 29 Yards. 
 
 1905. Coronation Cup, Epsom. Pretty Polly . . 2.33f 
 
 1906. Derby, Epsom. Spearmint .... 2.364- 
 
 1905. Oaks, Epsom. Cherry Lass .... 2.38 
 
 Mile and Three-quarters. 
 June 7, 1895. Manchester Cup. Florizel II. . ■ 2.59^ 
 
 Mile and Three-quarters and 132 Yards. 
 
 1906. Doncaster St. Leger. Trontbeck .... 3.4r 
 
 228 
 
(UP \V<lX BY WAXY AXl) EXGRAVEI) WITH THE MATCH 
 BETWEEX GIMCRACK AXD BAY JFALTOX 
 
 From (I pliotof/irtph hii Mr. I'ltr.^i /t.-; t>/ Al.ou.er 
 
ECLIPSE'S DESCENDANTS 
 
 TwQ-MiLE Steeplechase. 
 Mar, 6, 1906. New Century Steeple, Keinpton. Oatlands 3.54 
 
 Two Miles and a Half. 
 
 1906. Ascot Gold Cup. Bachelor's Button . . . 4.23^ 
 
 1905. „ „ Zinfandel .... 4.23^ 
 1902. „ „ William the Third . . . 4.32 
 
 Two Miles and Three-quarters and 85 Yards. 
 
 1904. Alexandra Plate, Ascot. Zinfandel ... 5.5 
 
 1906. „ „ „ Haniinerkop . . . 5.8f 
 
 1905. „ „ „ Hamvierkop . . . 5.12! 
 
 Four Miles and 856 Yards. 
 (Steeplechase over Thirty Fences.) 
 
 1906. Liverpool Grand National. Ascetic's Silver (10 st. 9) 9.34t 
 1893. „ „ „ Cloister {12 St J) . 9.42I 
 
 It has therefore been demonstrated, by the details given 
 above, that in the years when Eclipse blood became 
 thoroughly established on the English Turf, roughly in 
 the last two decades, the direct descendants of Eclipse hold 
 the following very extraordinary list of records : 
 
 (i) Donovan and Isinglass have won most money in stakes of any horse 
 in training. 
 
 (2) Stockwell and St. Simon have produced more winning stock than 
 
 any sire at the stud. 
 
 (3) Nine out of ten winners of the " Triple Crown." 
 
 (4) Eighty-two out of 127 Derby winners. 
 
 (5) The highest price at public auction ever given for a racehorse 
 
 (^39>375 for Flying Fox). 
 
 (6) The highest price ever paid for a yearling {Sceptre). 
 
 (■j) The record times for the Two Thousand (1902), Derby (1906) and 
 St. Leger (1906). 
 
 It would be difficult to produce better proof than this 
 of the good done to thoroughbred stock by Eclipse, and it 
 
 229 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 is needless to add that no other single animal has ever been 
 the direct cause of so much money changing hands. If 
 this were the right place, and I had the time, the value of 
 the blood might be traced outside of England and all over 
 the world. The best horses on the French Turf are sons 
 of Flying Fox. Sysonby, the best in the United States, 
 was by Melton out of a daughter of Bend Or, all three as 
 directly descended from Eclipse as Flying Fox. It is the 
 same everywhere else ; and now the unworthy possibility 
 of a gelding winning the Derby has been definitely removed 
 we may look forward to the continued strengthening of the 
 Eclipse lines through Galopin, Sterling, Bend Or and 
 Hampton in the future. 
 
 I think this position has been reached as much through 
 natural causes and natural laws as by any conscious fads of 
 fashion or deliberate theories of breeding ; and it may be 
 as well to realise that, if we wish to breed the best, it will be 
 by assisting those laws to operate, rather than by imposing 
 artificial conditions of our own, that we are likely to succeed. 
 
 230 
 
POTSOS iliY ECLIPSE) 
 
 From the t'lff/niriiig in Ifif pussi'ssitin of Mr. Souo-rriUr Tott'i-sal/ 
 
 HIS MAJESTY THE KINGS PERSIMMON A DIRECT 
 DESCENDANT OF ECLIPSE 
 
 From the phutogniph bi/ Mr. G. H. I'arsotis of AJsuger, 1906 
 
APPENDICES 
 
APPENDIX A 
 
 THE ADVENTURE OF THE SEDAN-CHAIR 
 
 During the crowd at a reception on King George 1 1. 's birthday 
 about 1750, the sedan-chairmen were charging a guinea to carry 
 ladies from the top of St. James's Street to the Palace. Lady 
 Blank's chariot had been unable for some time to proceed either 
 forward or backward ; and it was O' Kelly, with his sedan-chair, who 
 came to her rescue. The Memoirs describe the result, as follows : 
 
 In helping her from her carriage and dispersing the crowd of surrounding 
 gapers, Dennis acted with such powers and magnanimity that her ladyship 
 conceived him to be a regeneration of Hercules or Hector ; and her opinion 
 was by no means altered when she beheld the powerful elasticity of his muscular 
 motions on the way to the Royal residence. Dennis touched her ladyship's 
 guinea, and bowed in return for a bewitching smile which accompanied it. The 
 fatigues of this propitious day being over, he could begin to ruminate upon the 
 profits, but more upon the smile — which, in fact, was given with such energy and 
 meaning as to penetrate both head and heart ; but what specific construction to 
 form on the matter he was utterly at a loss for. Had he been acquainted with 
 the delicacies and refinements of high life, he would have known better. In a 
 little time, however, the mistery was explained. The very next evening, as he 
 was standing near the door of White's Chocolate-house, he was accosted by an 
 elderly woman, who asked him the way to Bolton Row, and at the same time 
 offered him a shilling to conduct her, as she was quite a stranger. Dennis, 
 who knew every place, immediately accepted the offer. They arrived at the 
 house described, and he was asked in to drink something, the weather being 
 extremely cold. An agreeable young woman, mistress of the house, who had 
 been formerly chamber-maid at a noted Inn in Hounslow, opened the door, 
 and received the stranger in town with great cordiality and friendship. " Do 
 you know," said she, addressing herself to our Hero, " of any Chairman who 
 wants a good place ? " " Yes, Madam," answered Dennis, " an' that I do : I 
 should be very glad to be after recommending myself, because I know myself, 
 and love myself better than any one else." " Why then, if you will go to Lady 
 
 233 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Blank in Hanover Square, to-morrow morning, I tliink you will be hired ; you 
 need mention no name, but say you heard of the place accidentally." " Bless 
 you," replied Dennis, who, tossing off his bumper of stout brandy, retired. The 
 next morning our Hero dressed himself to the best advantage, and repaired to 
 Hanover Square, where, after making proper enquiries, and being introduced 
 to the house steward, he was hired at the rate of thirty pound a year. 
 
 The next day our Hero was kept constantly employed in messages to Mantua- 
 makers, Milliners, Perfumers, Hair-dressers, &c., and, among others, he was 
 ordered to deliver a small parcel in Bolton Row, the identical house from whence 
 he received his recommendation, and to wait until he received an answer ; there 
 he was shown into a back parlour, warmed by a prodigious fire, and lighted 
 with four wax candles. To divert /he tedious time, a tankard of mulled wine 
 was presented him, and the female, from whom he received it, informed him, 
 her mistress was not expected home for some time : she had, however, ordered 
 her to take care of him, and she was very happy in his company ; she was, she 
 said, much alarmed at being alone. Dennis, who never missed an opportunity 
 of kissing a pretty girl, and improving upon female condescensions, and in 
 whom, the warm room and hot wine began to work with extraordinary emotion, 
 
 rephed, that " he was equally happy and wished to be more so," at the 
 
 same moment raising up her modest downcast countenance. Who, in the name 
 of wonder and delight did he behold, but Lady Blank herself ! 
 
 234 
 
APPENDIX B 
 
 THE ADVENTURE OF THE YORKSHIRE INN 
 
 TOGETHER WITH THE AFFAIR OF DICK ENGLAND 
 AND THE MATTER OF DUNGANNON 
 
 After the races at York in 1770, the successes oi Eclipse no doubt 
 inspired a very excusable conviviality in Dennis O'Kelly. Un- 
 luckily, matters went rather too far, and an incident occurred which 
 involved a good round sum of money before it was settled. The 
 Memoirs give an account of what happened in their usual eloquent 
 and flowery language : 
 
 In direct opposition to the fate of a celebrated and unfortunate states-man, 
 it was the Count's lot always to occupy the best inn's best rooms, and to sleep in 
 the softest and most sumptuous bed. Having, as usual, secured an apartment, 
 and a bed of this description, and having had three nights' peaceable occupation, 
 it could never enter his thoughts that any person, Male or Female, would 
 attempt disturbing his possessions. However, it so happened, that on the 
 fourth night, after drinking freely, and enjoying much conviviality, he took what 
 is commonly called French leave of his companions, and going softly to his 
 chamber, found the door fastened ; whether locked, or but slightly bolted, we 
 cannot positively afifirm ; but, it was in such a situation, as to be opened with 
 little difficulty. An extinguished candle stood on a chair by the bed, which 
 was closed all round, naturally excited no small degree of wonder ; curiosity 
 was incidental. The Count gently drawing back the silken curtain to his 
 astonishment and delight, beheld a most enchanting female countenance ! 
 
 The contemporary Press were not slow to take up an adventure 
 which promised so much interest — if not excitement — in the society 
 circles of the North ; and the following letter appeared soon 
 afterwards : 
 
 235 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 To the Printer of the Town and Country Magazine. 
 SIR, 
 
 As an affair which happened at the end of last month at York has made a great 
 noise, and as the principal character is likely to make a still greater, the particulars 
 of this transaction will, doubtless, be agreeable to your curious readers. 
 
 The renowned Count K., proprietor of the celebrated horse Ec — se, being 
 at York races, had engaged a room at the principal inn, to which by some 
 mistake a young lady, daughter to a Roman-catholic baronet in that county, had 
 been admitted. The count was that evening amusing himself with a few friends 
 at the coffee-house, at that innocent and amusing diversion called hasard, which 
 engaged him till near three in the morning. Upon his return finding his 
 chamber-door locked, he forced it open, and meeting with so agreeable an 
 inmate, he begged that he might not interrupt her. The lady, instead of 
 consenting to this proposal, flew out of the room, lightly attired as she was, and 
 ran along the gallery, crying out for help, whilst the count pursued her. This 
 alarmed the other lodgers, who presently came to her relief, when the hero 
 thought proper to make a retreat, and barricadoed himself in his room. This 
 did but more incense the lady's friends, who immediately broke open the door, 
 and secured him. A prosecution was commenced, which the count, however, 
 found means to avert by the judicious application of a large sum of money. 
 (The Count has since begged pardon in the public papers of the Lady for the 
 insult, and given five hundred pounds, to be disposed of for such charitable 
 purposes as she shall direct.) Upon this occasion he received the following 
 curious billet from Santa Charlotta, alias Miss Charlotte H-y-s, his trusty friend 
 and mistress in London. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 Your behaviour at York, which is in every body's mouth, so strongly merits 
 my resentment, that the condescension of writing to you is more than you 
 ought to expect. After the many repeated vows you have made, and oaths you 
 have sworn, that I, and I alone, was the idol of your heart, could so short an 
 absence entirely efface me from your remembrance ? and was I to be abandoned 
 for the accidental rencounter of a new face ? 
 
 Oh ! Dennis, are my charms so faded, my beauty so decayed, my under- 
 standing so impaired, which you have so often and so highly praised, as to 
 destroy all the impressions you pretended they had made upon you ! but if love 
 has entirely subsided, surely gratitude might have pleaded so strongly in my 
 behalf as to have excluded all other females from your affections. Remember 
 when in the Fleet, when famine stared you in the face, and wretched tatters 
 scarce covered your nakedness — I fed, cloathed, and made a gentleman of you. 
 Remember the day-rules I obtained for you — remember the sums you won 
 through that means — then remember me. 
 
 But why do 1 talk of love or gratitude ? — let interest plead, the most 
 powerful reason that will operate on you. What a wretch ! — to fling away in a 
 drunken frolic — in the ridiculous attempt of an amour — more money, aye far 
 more money, than even your horse Ec — se, with all his superior agility, has run 
 away with in a whole season. 
 
 Marlborough-street, Your most disconsolate, 
 
 Sept. 4. Charlotte H-v-s. 
 
 236 
 
APPENDIX B 
 
 It was not likely that the reputation oi Eclipses owner would be 
 improved by escapades of this kind among the men whose horses 
 Eclipse was invariably beating ; and another notorious fracas, which 
 again involved " the law," must have still further blackened O'Kelly's 
 character, this time in the South as well. It is somewhat to his 
 credit that he should have quarrelled with that burly blackguard, 
 Dick England, soon after his return from York ; but what men 
 remember in cases of this kind is rather the mere fact of association, 
 and draw their own conclusions. O'Kelly was dining at Medley's 
 Coffee House one afternoon, when a dispute was engineered between 
 him and another guest. At the sound of the altercation Dick 
 England, who was waiting below, dashed up, and with his cudgel 
 so severely belaboured O'Kelly, who was lamed by an attack of 
 the gout, that the Irishman had to be taken to bed on the spot. A 
 lawsuit was begun at once, before a special jury in the Court of 
 King's Bench ; but though the assault was clearly established. Lord 
 Mansfield's summing up resulted in damages for the ridiculous sum 
 of one shilling. This cannot have done O'Kelly any good. What- 
 ever the rights of the case may have been, it is clear Lord Mansfield 
 was sometimes very worried by rascals on the Turf who took to 
 litigation. His adjuration to one especially annoying set is still 
 remembered : 
 
 " What a Godalmighty's name, gentlemen. Will you never have 
 done running this Copperbottom ^ Ha !" The horse referred to 
 may have been Lord Rockingham's b. h. Copperbottom, by Tantrum, 
 who was second in 1781 for the Doncaster Cup, 5 years, 8st. 3lbs. 
 
 I have not been able to find much against O'Kelly as far as his 
 actual racing transactions go ; but there is the episode about 
 Dungannon (by Eclipse) which needs some explanation ; or perhaps 
 it shows that when he was not racing with a Prince of the Blood, 
 or a "gentleman who mattered," he was not invariably either 
 scrupulous or prudent. The Memoirs describe what happened as 
 follows : 
 
 The importance of Colonel O'Kelly on the turf, seemed for a time, to increase 
 daily. His opinion became more and more authoritative, and his company 
 more and more solicited, in short he was regarded as the oracle of his profession. 
 Our illustrious and all accomplished heir apparent was among the number of 
 those who admired his knowledge, and condescended to make a match with 
 
 237 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 him in favour of the famous horse Rockingham, against the no less famous 
 Duncannon, son to Eclipse, and O'Kelly's first favourite. The immediate bett 
 was one thousand guineas, but, it is said, and universally admitted, that more 
 than one hundred thousand were depending upon the event. The ease with 
 which Duncannon won this important match, nearly involved him in the same 
 misfortune which we have already noticed, when speaking of the Manoeuvre 
 practised upon Eclipse. 
 
 In a short period after this victory of Duncannon, the shameful parsimony ot 
 a close-fisted and narrow-minded minister, gave the Prince of Wales a glorious 
 occasion of displaying his heroic honesty. The facts are too well known, and 
 the Prince's conduct too universally admired to need repetition or applause. 
 Among other expedients for the relief of his distressed tradesmen, the royal 
 studd, though an object so alluring to a young and elevated mind, was 
 cheerfully disposed of, and, with the other sacrifices to ministerial penury, 
 Rockingham, the favourite of his Royal owner, was knocked down by the 
 hammer of Tattersal, for a sum very far inadequate to his worth. Bullock, who, 
 with Colonel O'Kelly, always appeared in the van of horse racing, made the 
 purchase, and in some time afterwards challenged him to a second trial of 
 Duncannon's speed. The invitation was accepted, and a day accordingly 
 appointed for the contest. Betts were equal to the former, and the ground as 
 much thronged; when, lo ! to the disappointment and indignation of every one 
 present, and the disapprobation of all who heard of the transaction, at the 
 moment when the start was expected, the Colonel arrived ; and, after looking 
 for some time at Duncannon, who was then near the post, ordered him to be 
 led off the course. The confusion occasioned by this unexpected procedure 
 can better be imagined than expressed ; the Count was execrated in all quarters, 
 and, it is thought, if he had not avoided danger, by a judicious retreat, he 
 would have experienced the severest resentment of the multitude." 
 
 It is worth remembering that the Rockingham mentioned above 
 had originally been bought by the Prince from Mr. John Pratt of 
 Askrigg, whose epitaph records that honourable incident in the 
 annals of his successful stud. 
 
 238 
 
APPENDIX C 
 
 THE MILITIA 
 
 The regiment in which O' Kelly rose to the rank of Colonel is thus 
 described in the contemporary Memoirs : 
 
 About' the year 1760, when the mihtia was first settled upon its present 
 establishment, the county of Middlesex, to its disgrace, was extremely back- 
 ward in raising their proportion of national defence. The city of Westminster 
 had not taken a single step towards a measure so necessary and patriotic, at a 
 time when the regiments of other counties were fit for actual service. A well- 
 known military, turbulent Scot, whose family had been active in the RebeUion 
 of 1745, and had suffered much in the Stewart cause, conceiving this to be a 
 good opportunity of filling his pocket, and retrieving his lost honours, set about 
 raising a regiment in Westminster, and with such activity and zeal did this bold 
 bustling North Briton proceed in the business, that Government noticed his 
 exertions, and promised to establish the regiment so soon as three-fourths of 
 the commissions should be filled up. This was, however, a more arduous 
 and difficult matter, than was at first conceived. The military mania, did 
 not, at that time rage, as was the case during the last war, and many of 
 the more respectable corps remained unofficered ; what must be the supposed 
 situation of this band of illustrious City Mermidions ! The indefatigable 
 energy, however, with which the undaunted Scot proceeded, was not to be 
 repelled. He ransacked the town and its vicinities, holding out commis- 
 sions indiscriminately ; . . . among the motley group, our Hero stood conspi- 
 cuous, as an Ensign, from which station he rose by regular gradations, and with 
 a regular good character, to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. 
 
 The compliment of commissions, being at length filled up, MacGregor, for 
 such was the name of the Caledonian adventurer, attained his point. It was 
 called the Westminster Regiment of Middlesex Militia, and MacGregor was 
 appointed Adjutant, the only lucrative situation in the corps. In a short time 
 after he contrived to be appointed Captain, and was, in fact everything in the 
 regiment, from Serjeant to Colonel. Commissions and halberts were sold, like 
 any other marketable commodities. . . . 
 
 . . . Our Readers will naturally wonder, that a man of title, rank, fortune, 
 and character, could be prevailed upon to take any command in the West- 
 
 239 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 minster division of Middlesex Militia; yet, wonderful to relate, Sir Thomas 
 Frederick, a gentleman possessing all those claims, was bold enough, in a 
 moment of seduction and conviviality to take the command ; and no less a 
 respectable a character, than Sir John Gibbons, inveigled by a precedent so 
 distinguished, accepted the Lieutenant Colonelcy. The difference of situation 
 between those gentlemen and the other officers was truly remarkable and 
 ludicrous. Lamb, the Major, (not the Lamb immortalized by Foote) was a 
 common mechanic, we believe, a watch-maker ; and the Captains and Subalterns 
 were, in general, really so low and obscure, as to be beneath the level of 
 contempt or observation. . . . 
 
 ... It was not long before our Hero was advanced to the rank of Captain. 
 This station he considered but as merely convenient to a vanity which could be by 
 no means condemned. It not only gave him a real denomination, but the 
 additions of a gentleman, and it was with that view, and no other, he con- 
 descended to sustain it. Upon every occasion he was seen at the head of the 
 Grenadier Company ; and it is but justice to observe, that he bore the most 
 soldierly appearance of any officer in the regiment. Of discipline he was, at 
 this time, totally ignorant, and whenever he attempted to perform the most 
 trifling evolution, he betrayed an awkwardness, that immediately discovered his 
 general deficiency. In support of that superior personal aspect, which he 
 always maintained, he vras constantly attended by an expensive retinue, 
 carriages, &c., and Charlotte, who travelled in the rear of his company, with 
 her separate suite. 
 
 The officer next in rotation, was the redoubted Gregor MacGregor, by whose 
 activity the regiment was originally raised. From its establishment to this 
 period, he held the post of Adjutant. He was a pupil of the old military 
 school, and as far as ancient prejudices would admit, knew what he was about, 
 but growing unfit for the activity of his station, he was permitted to dispose of 
 it. for about one thousand guineas, and remained as a nominal Captain in the 
 regiment. 
 
 I will add, for the sake of abridgment, that the third captain 
 was a tea-dealer ; the fourth a tailor ; the fifth a boatswain's mate, 
 who had bought an ale-house with the prize-money he got in the 
 navy, and now enjoyed a considerable reputation in the neighbour- 
 hood as being able to sign his name with a professional flourish ; 
 and the youngest, rejoicing in the name of Hundeshagen, was a 
 crippled and bald-headed Dutchman. In spite of all this, at Ply- 
 mouth, where many regiments were well-nigh useless from insubor- 
 dination, the Westminster Militia set an example of steadiness and 
 alacrity at a time when " the fleets of France and Spain were seen 
 hovering at an inconsiderable distance from the shore." They 
 marched on to Cornwall, from Cornwall back to Chatham, and took 
 in all about five years to complete a circuit which led them home, by 
 
 way of Lancaster, to London. 
 
 240 
 
APPENDIX C 
 
 It must not be imagined that O'Kelly invariably accompanied 
 them. But he always made his presence felt, and was soon recog- 
 nised as the only man of his hands and feet in the officers' mess. 
 His name appears in a public petition to the Lord- Lieutenant, 
 asking that certain of them, whose incapable poltroonery had 
 become more insupportable than usual, should be removed. The 
 Lord- Lieutenant paid no notice, preferring to leave the regiment to 
 the natural processes of decay. In due course O'Kelly obtained his 
 promotion as Major, and " the pre-eminence which he had heretofore 
 derived from money, splendour and spirit, was now established by 
 rank." But the astonishing thing is that his innate capacity for 
 action enabled him actually "to exercise the regiment several times 
 before His Majesty and a number of general officers, to their entire 
 satisfaction." No doubt this was a prelude to that Lieutenant- 
 Colonelcy which O'Kelly celebrated by "a splendid entertainment, 
 at which Lord Derby and several of the nobility and gentry of 
 Lancashire were present." 
 
 241 
 
APPENDIX D 
 
 "L'AFFAIRE ROCHFORT" 
 
 From various manuscript memoranda now possessed by collateral 
 descendants of Dennis O'Kelly, it appears that an officer of his 
 acquaintance, named Rowland Rochfort, had borrowed ready money 
 (including a note of hand for ^50) from his sister, Mary Rochfort, in 
 Dublin in 1 775 and 1777. Desiring both to repay this and to provide 
 his own necessities, he handed Dennis a note of hand for a thousand 
 guineas, signed by H. F. Calcraft, from the proceeds of which 
 Dennis was to realise what was wanted. When, however, Rochfort 
 demanded the money, O'Kelly refused to pay the balance of this 
 ;^iooo left after Mary Rochfort's ;^50 and her brother's personal 
 debts had been deducted; and, since Rochfort was unfortunately 
 killed in active service, his sister and heiress, holding about ;!<r6oo of 
 his acknowledgments, was oblige to apply to the Court of Exchequer 
 for help. O' Kelly's lawyers first denied that Rochfort had ever 
 passed him on Calcraft's note, or, if it was so passed, insisted that 
 Rochfort owed O'Kelly far greater sums than that. In fact, said 
 they, O'Kelly was not only justified in keeping the note for ;^iooo, 
 but he would sue Mary Rochfort for payment of her note for ;^50. 
 
 From another legal paper I find that Dennis O'Kelly obtained 
 judgment in the King's Bench, in Ireland, in Hilary Term, 1775, 
 against " George [Rowland] Rochfort, Esq., Captain Lieutenant in 
 His Majesty's third Battalion Royal Regiment of Artillery," 
 for £660. 
 
 But the sister seems to have harboured very little resentment ; 
 
 for on November 12, 1776, she wrote from London to " Captain 
 
 O'Kelly, Epsom, Surrey," about her note for ^50 ; and ends her 
 
 242 
 
APPENDIX D 
 
 letter as follows : " I take it very unkind your not calling on me when 
 in Town, particular as you knew how very ill I was. My compliments 
 to Mrs. O'Kelly. Your very oblidged servant, M. Rochfort." 
 
 The key to this little mystery does not appear until the docu- 
 ments of 1817 reveal a letter signed by H. F. Calcraft, and written 
 to Mr. Michell of Bloomsbury, solicitor to Andrew Dennis O'Kelly, 
 who had found among his uncle's papers a promissory note for a 
 thousand guineas, dated 1775, payable by H. F. Calcraft, three 
 years after date, to Rowland Rochfort, and endorsed by the latter 
 to the late Colonel [Dennis] O'Kelly. 
 
 Mr. Calcraft begins as follows : 
 
 " To be obliged to .iccount for the folly or weakness of my early youth, on the 
 verge of my grand climacteric, is a singular fate, but the possessor of such a 
 document under my signature is doubtless entitled to tbe fullert explanation 
 respecting it." The writer considered it " a mere Nidlily, and from its origin 
 ought never to have been regarded in any other pohit of view." He was on 
 board the Montreal Frigate in 1768, when little moie than eleven, and was 
 serving in the Navy at Madras when news came of his father's cierth in 1774, 
 and he left the service for England, where exaggerated reports of his " fortune " 
 were current. He fell into the hands of Rochfort, who " initiated me in games 
 at Dice, which I beheld under his instructions for the first time, and concluded 
 the same by acquainting me that I owed him 1000 guineas . . . and my note 
 for that sum was demanded." 
 
 His father's inheritance in all was only ;^5000. " I could not 
 afford to part with so considerable a portion of it for being grossly 
 duped, and I therefore fully determined never to pay even the 
 smallest part of what I had every reason to believe could not have 
 been fairly won from a person of so early an age." He was in 
 England for some years from 1785, and held the office of Town 
 Mayor and Judge Advocate-General in Calcutta for more than 
 twenty years, and the note was never^ presented. He now con- 
 sidered there was no claim whatever upon him, " inasmuch as a 
 novice not quite 18 can be no match for a professed gamester." He 
 was a ward in Chancery from August 1772 till September 1777, 
 where the dates given above can be verified. 
 
 From all this it is a legitimate deduction that Dennis O'Kelly 
 had been quite willing to help his countryman, Rowland Rochfort, 
 but that he had realised the nature of the promissory note obtained 
 from young Calcraft, and never pressed the boy to pay it. 
 
 243 
 
APPENDIX E 
 
 MR. HALLETT'S CATALOGUE 
 
 PARTICULARS OF THE CANNONS ESTATE SOLD TO 
 DENNIS O'KELLY IN NOVEMBER, 1785 
 
 LOT L 
 
 A Very Valuable and most Desirable Freehold Estate, delightfully situate at 
 Stanmore, in the County of Middlesex, Nine Miles from London ; comprising A 
 neat, magnificent, PORTLAND-STONE DWELLING-HOUSE, uniformly erected 
 in a capital masterly Stile, seated on an elevated Spot in the midst of a fertile 
 Paddock, commanding beautiful Prospects of the circumjacent rich Country, 
 diversified by hanging Woods, and a Variety of agreeable Objects ; Containing, on 
 the ATTIC STORY, Seven Bed-Chambers, with Closets. PRINCIPAL STORY, 
 Five Bed-Chambers, and two Dressing-Rooms. GROUND STORY, A spacious 
 Saloon, with Oak Floor, a Drawing Room, Dining Parlour, and Study ; a com- 
 modious paved Hall, and Stone geometrical Staircase. BASEMENT STORY, A 
 House-keeper's Room, Butler's Pantry, Servants' Hall, and large Kitchen, with 
 useful connected Offices, spacious Vaults, Cellarage, and Ice-House. 
 
 The detached DOMESTIC OFFICES consist of— A convenient Brewhouse, 
 Wash-house, Laundry, and Chamber over. Also at a proper Distance, an eight- 
 stall Stable, a triple Coach-house, with Lofts and Men's Chambers over, and a three- 
 stall Stable. A large Farm-Yard, surrounded with excellent Dutch Barns, Corn- 
 Barn, Stabling, Cowhouse, and other useful Buildings ; and a Bailiffs Messuage. 
 
 The Pleasure-Grounds surround the Dwelling-House, laid out in Lawns, agree- 
 ably variegated with Clumps of Flowering-Shrubs and valuable Plants. 
 
 A very good Kitchen-Garden of two Acres, encompassed by lofty Walling 
 cloathed with choice Fruit-Trees, and fully cropped ; a Green-House, Melon-Ground, 
 and Gardener's Cottage ; with the Paddock of remarkable fertile Meadow Land, 
 refreshed by two noble Sheets of Water stocked with Abundance of Fish ; and a 
 Dog-Kennel and Boiling-House properly placed ; the Whole inclosed by a capital 
 Brick Wall. 
 
 Three Avenues and Five Inclosures of rich Meadow Land and Five 
 Springs of Wood Land, containing together One Hundred and 
 Ninety-three Acres, One Rood, and Twenty-seven Perch, be the 
 
 244 
 
APPENDIX E 
 
 same more or less, numbered in the Plan, i, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, _^ 
 9, 10, II, 12, 13, 14 and 15, and are of the supposed yearly 
 Value {exclusive of House and Offices) of . . . . . 400 
 
 A small genteel Brick Dwelling-House, Offices, and Gardens, Coach- 
 house, Stabling, and Yard, the Whole One Acre and a Half, 
 numbered in the Plan 16, in the Possession of Mr. Gibson, who 
 quits at Michaelmas, 17S5, at . . . . . . -35 
 
 A small genteel Brick Dwelling-House, Offices, and Gardens, Coach- 
 house, Stabling, and Yard, the Whole One Acre and a Rood, No. 
 17 in Plan, late in the Possession of Mr. Green, at . . -25 
 
 ;^46o o o 
 
 The whole Quantity of Land in Lot I. contains One Hundred and Ninety-six 
 Acres, and twenty-seven Perch, be the same more or less, within a Ring Fence, and 
 all Freehold, except a small Part, consisting of Part of No. 17, supposed about 
 Half an Acre, which is Copyhold of Inheritance, subject to a small annual Quit- 
 Rent, and a Fine on Death or Alienation at the Will of the Lord, but no Heriot. 
 
 Lot I. subject to ;Cio. 13s. 4d. per Annum, payable Quarterly, to Seven poor 
 Alms-People; and to £1. is. payable Annualy to the same Alms-People, for 
 Shoes. 
 
 The Purchaser to buy, at a Valuation, the usual Fixtures in House and Offices, 
 an Inventory of which will be read at the Time of Sale : And may be accommodated 
 with the Effects in House and Offices, that may be thought proper to be left by the 
 present Proprietor, with the Deer, Live and Dead Stock, Farming Implements, &c., 
 at a Valuation ; if rejected, they will be sold on the Premises. 
 
 Sundry Estates in and contiguous to the Town of Edgware, the Property of the 
 present Vendor, and not to be sold, are supplied with Water from the Bason in 
 Edgware Avenue, comprised in Lot I. and No. 6 in Plan ; therefore Lot I. is to be 
 sold, subject to the present Vendor, his Heirs, or Assigns, having the said Estates 
 supplied from the Bason, they keeping the Pipes in Order, and making good any 
 Damage that may be committed by mending the Pipes, or laying new ones down. 
 
 REPAIRS AT CANNONS IN 1799. 
 
 In the Bill to A. D. O'Kelly from John Bodimeade occur the 
 following items : 
 
 April 22. To 14 pounds of soder to repair the floll on the top 
 
 of Cannons house, at gd. . . . . . . . 10 6 
 
 A day's labour to do. and nails . . . . -39 
 
 April 23. To I sash light to the water closet room 23 by 20 . 6 6 
 I light to the saloon room worked to the stained glass 2 1 
 by 20 . . . . . . . . . .70 
 
 May 25. 20 pound of soder for the flott and gutters . . . 15 o 
 A day's work, i man and labourer . . . . .50 
 
 Nails for do. .........06 
 
 In 1798, on July 26, Messrs. Spurrier and Phipps, of Copthal 
 Court, valued Cannons at ;^64,ooo, exclusive of timber and under- 
 
 245 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 wood ; and include in it " a small house adjoining the village of 
 Edgeware, copyhold of inheritance," in which H. Grattan and 
 Mary O'Kelly Grattan lived later on. 
 
 In 1805, in a list of the Encumbrances on Cannons, the following 
 items occur : 
 
 Various loans, among which is Harvey's ^6000, and 
 " Bazilgate's " .^9000 ; also Mrs. O'Kelly's annuity of ;^400, 
 amount to acapitdof ^29,610, and annual interest of ^2090 los. 
 
 If the estate only sold at .-^40,000 it would only leave ;^io,390 ; 
 and to indemnify a purchaser for Mrs. O'Kelly's annuity and 
 another, a sum of ;^ 13,000 would have to be deposited in the funds. 
 
 An annuity of ;if 200 was also payable to Mr. and Mrs. Philip 
 O'Kelly for their lives. 
 
 By November 23, 1808, Andrew O'Kelly's liabilities had 
 increased to the several sums of ^21,800; ;^ 1 1,976 ; and ^2829 ; all 
 mortgages on Cannons for sums lent by Michael Atkinson of 
 Upper Harley Street, and an offer was then entertained from 
 Andrew's cousin, Philip Whitfield Harvey, to purchase the estate, 
 including deer, horses, and cattle, for ;^48,ooo. 
 
 In June 181 1, the whole 380 acres of the estate, including 
 houses, timber, and stock, was valued at £yy,ooo ; and at that time 
 the Countess of Pomfret was paying .1^525 a year for the mansion, 
 furnished, and pleasure grounds. 
 
 Captain James Anderson paid ^102 i8s. for the South Lodge 
 
 and Lwelve acres. James Greig, Charles Bonner and S. D. Harvey 
 
 were tenants of land to amount of ^136 10^. in all; and the Earl 
 
 of Elgin paid ^^482 a year for North Lodge and eighty acres. 
 
 By 1823 Colonel Andrew O'Kelly was dead, and in February 
 
 of that year Sir Thomas Plumer, Master of the Rolls, who had 
 
 bought Cannons, writes to Mr. Harvey in Ireland concerning "the 
 
 sum of ^1000 retained by me out of the purchase money jf Cannons 
 
 as an indemnity against all liabilities in respect of Mrs. Hayes's 
 
 annuity " ; also concerning a bond for a further amount of .^^4000 for 
 
 '' the livino- of Whitchurch in case a title could have made to it " ; 
 
 expressing his willingness, if this second matter were settled, to pay 
 
 ;^iooo immediately to the Ex°"-of Col. O'Kelly, " against all liablility 
 
 in respect of any claim in future in respect of Mrs. Haye's annuity." 
 
 The details of the estate purchased by Sir Thomas Plumer may 
 
 246 
 
APPENDIX E 
 
 be found in the auctioneer's catalogue of the sale ordered by the 
 Court of Chancery in a suit between Michael Atkinson and Andrew 
 O'Kelly. I have reprinted the whole document. 
 
 PARTICULARS 
 
 OF A 
 
 FREEHOLD AND COPYHOLD ESTATE 
 
 (A small Part only being Copyhold), 
 
 called CANNONS, 
 
 Situate a LITTLE STANMORE, in the County of Middlesex, TO BE SOLD, 
 Pursuant to a Decree of the High Court of Chancery, dated the 7 th day of 
 May, 181 1, With the Approbation of EDWARD MORRIS, Esq., One of the 
 Masters of the said Court, at the PUBLIC SALE ROOM of the said Court, in 
 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, on Friday the 12th Day of July, 
 1 8 II, at Two o'clock, IN ONE LOT. 
 
 PARTICULARS, &c. 
 
 All that CAPITAL MESSUAGE or MANSION HOUSE commonly called 
 CANNONS, situate in the Parish of Stanmore Parva, otherwise Little Stanmore, in 
 the County of Middlesex, with the numerous Offices, Coach Houses, Stables, Barns, 
 Cow Houses, Lodges, Cottages, Out Houses, Courts, Yards, Gardens, Pleasure 
 Grounds, Lawns, and Shrubberies, thereunto belonging, together with the Site or 
 Parcel of GROUND whereon the said Capital Messuage and Buildings stand, and 
 the Premises comprising the same, containing, by Estimation, Seventeen Acres, or 
 thereabouts, be the same more or less; and also Three AVENUES and Five Inclo- 
 sures or Pieces of MEADOW or PASTURE GROUND ; and also Five Springs of 
 WOODLAND, lying contiguous to, and now, or formerly, occupied with the before- 
 mentioned capital Messuage; and also Two BRICK DWELLING-HOUSES 
 standing between the Wall that incloses the before-mentioned Mansion House, and 
 the High Road leading from Edgeware to Stanmore, with the Coach Houses, Offices, 
 Gardens, and Ground thereto belonging; all which Inclosures, Lands, Grounds, 
 Woodlands, and Premises, before described, contain in the Whole 196 Acres and 27 
 Perches, or thereabouts, be the same more or less, and a small Piece thereof, con- 
 taining about Half an Acre, is Copyhold of Inheritance held of the Manor of Little 
 Stanmore : Also a CLOSE, called CHERRY ORCHARD, containing 4 Acres, 3 
 Roods and 5 Perches, or thereabouts ; also a Piece or Parcel of Ground, called 
 DOVE HOUSE MEAD, containing 12 Acres and 20 Perches, or thereabouts ; also 
 a CLOSE, formerly Two Closes, called GREAT LUDSPUTT and LITTLE 
 LUDSPUTT, containing 13 Acres i Rood and 22 Perches, or thereabouts; also 
 Two CLOSES, called GILES PARK, containing 7 Acres and 13 Poles, or there- 
 abouts ; also all that CLOSE called GREAT GILES PARK, containing 1 1 Acres 
 
 24; 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 I Rood and 32 Perches, or thereabouts ; all which said Pieces or Parcels of Land are 
 situate in the said Parish of Little Stanmore, and contain in the Whole 48 Acres 3 
 Roods and 1 2 Perches, or thereabouts, be the same more or less : Also a CLOSE 
 called STENWICK HILL PASTURE, containing 6 Acres i rood and i Perch, or 
 thereabouts; also a CLOSE called GREAT HENSHIRE, containing 8 Acres 3 
 Roods and 1 9 Perches, or thereabouts ; also a CLOSE, formerly Two Fields, called 
 LITTLE POUND FIELD and SEVEN ACRES, containing 20 Acres and 36 
 Perches, or thereabouts ; also a CLOSE, called POUND FIELD MEADOW, con- 
 taining 8 Acres 3 Roods and 22 Perches, or thereabouts; also a CLOSE, called 
 GREAT ANMERS, containing 7 Acres i Rood and 22 Perches, or thereabouts; 
 also a PIECE of LAND called ANMER'S MEADOW, containing 7 Acres, or there- 
 abouts ; all which Closes, Pieces, or Parcels of Land last described, are situate in the 
 said Parish of Little Stanmore and contain, in the Whole, 58 Acres and 3 Roods, or 
 thereabouts, be the same more or less ; Also a CLOSE called CROW GROVE or 
 SHOTTS, containing t8 Acres i Rood and 19 Perches, or thereabouts; also a 
 CLOSE called MIDDLE CHURCH FIELD, containing 10 Acres i Rood and 34 
 Perches, or thereabouts ; also a CLOSE called CHURCH FIELD, containing 11 
 Acres 3 Roods and 38 Perches, or thereabouts; also a CLOSE called GREAT 
 MARSH, containing 25 Acres i Rood and 6 Perches, or thereabouts; also a 
 CLOSE called the SLIP ; also those PIECES of LAND called LITTLE MARSH, 
 or SHEPHERD'S MEAD, containing 3 Acres and 36 Perches, or thereabouts; all 
 which Closes, Pieces, or Parcels of Land last mentioned and described, are situate in 
 the said Parish of Little Stanmore, and contain in the Whole, 7 1 Acres i Rood and 
 3 Perches, or thereabouts, be the same more or less : Also a MESSUAGE or 
 TENEMENT, with the Barn, Yard, Garden, and a Piece or Parcel of Pasture 
 Ground thereto adjoining, containing, by Estimation, One Acre, or thereabouts, 
 which said last-mentioned Messuage or Tenement, Ground and Premises, are Copy- 
 hold of Inheritance, and held of the said Manor of Little Stanmore. 
 
 The said Estate is chargeable with an Annuity of ^^400 for the Life of a Lady 
 aged about 85 Years, and will be sold subject to the said Annuity, or discharged there- 
 from, as the Parties may hereafter agree upon, and as will be declared at the Time 
 of Sale. 
 
 The Estate is also subject to an Out-going of j£ii 14s. 4d. per Annum to the 
 Poor Alms People belonging to the Parish of Little Stanmore. 
 
 One of the Brick Dwelling Houses and Part of the Close called the Great Marsh, 
 being about 1 2 Acres, are on Lease to Captain Anderson for a Term of 2 1 Years, 
 from Lady Day 1807, at the yearly Rent of ^£104. Several of the Closes or Parcels 
 of Land near the Mansion House, containing about 80 Acres, together with some 
 Out-buildings, are let to the Earl of Elgin on an Agreement for Three Years, from 
 Michaelmas last, at the yearly Rent of ^483 ; and the Closes or Parcels of Land 
 called Great Anmers and Anmer's Meadow, are on Lease to David Greig, for a Term 
 of 21 years, from Lady Day 1803, at the yearly Rent of ;^63. The Mansion House, 
 and other Parts of the Estate are in Possession of the said Andrew Dennis O'Kelly, 
 and Tenants at Will. 
 
 Particulars of the said Estate may be had (gratis) at the said Master's Chambers, 
 in Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London ; of Messrs. Crowder, Lavie and 
 Garth, Solicitors, Frederick's Place, Old Jewry, London ; of Mr. Richards, Solicitor, 
 Red Lion Square, London ; and at the Inns at Stanmore and Edgeware, in the 
 County of Middlesex. 
 
 248 
 
APPENDIX E 
 
 PARTICULARS 
 LOT I. 
 
 A VALUABLE FREEHOLD ESTATE, CALLED CANNONS, Situate 
 Between Edgeware and Stanmore, Comprising AN ELEGANT STONE-BUILT 
 MANSION, Placed on a Fine Commanding Eminence, Surrounded by A PARK 
 WALL, and nearly One Hundred and Forty Acres of fine rich Meadow Feeding 
 Land, Embellished with noble lofty Timber Trees, Disposed in Avenues, and 
 Dispersed over the Lands, ORNAMENTED BY A NOBLE SHEET OF WATER, 
 AND CANALS STORED WITH FISH; commanding Extensive and enchant- 
 ingly picturesque Views over the surrounding Country in all directions ; Two Porters 
 Lodges at the Principal Entrance, With Carriage Drives through Avenues to THE 
 MANSION, which contains in THE ATTIC STORY, Six excellent Bedchambers 
 with Fire-places, a Store Room, Closets, Lobby to the Leads — the Rooms are 
 finished with Sash Windows. SECOND STORY, Two excellent Bedchambers, 
 with Marble Chimney-pieces, Wood Dressings, neatly papered, and Cornice; large 
 Closet. A good proportioned handsome bowed Bedchamber, neat Cornice, and 
 papered. A Chamber adjoining on the Back Front, neatly papered, finished with 
 Marble Chimney-piece and Cornice. Bedchamber and Dressing Room adjoining, 
 Patent Water Closet in Cabinet. Bowed Bedchamber, West, a good proportioned 
 Room, papered, Marble Chimney-piece, Wood Dressings, and Plate Glass Pannels, 
 neat Cornice. Spacious Lobby. GROUND STORY, Entrance by Stone Steps to 
 a handsome Hall, paved with Stone, Walls stuccoed, enriched Cornice. An elegant 
 Stone Staircase to the First Floor, the Hand-rail inlaid with Ivory and Pearl, Iron 
 Ballustrade. A neat Study, wainscotted. Sash Windows with circular Head, 
 Marble Chimney-piece, Wood Dressings, Two Closets, &c. Opposite to which is a 
 Breakfast Room, stuccoed Walls, coloured Green, finished with gilt Mouldings, 
 enriched Cornice, and Statuary Marble Chimney-piece. A Bow-Front Drawing 
 Room, with elegant India Paper and gilt Mouldings, capital Statuary Marble Chimney- 
 piece, with Sienna Frieze, enriched Cornice and Ceiling, carved Mouldings, and Sash 
 Windows with circular Head. A Noble Saloon Adjoining, the whole Length of 
 North Front, finished with stuccoed Walls, broad gilt Mouldings, enriched Ceiling 
 and Cornice, Two solid veined Marble Chimney-pieces, Four Sash Windows with 
 circular Head, Door to Lawn in the Bow and Stone Steps, Wainscot Floor. Dining 
 Parlour, with bowed End on the West Side, wainscotted, Sash Windows, enriched 
 Cornice and Ceiling, Statuary and Sienna Marble Chimney-piece. 
 
 OFFICES. Housekeeper's Room, with Closets, Presses, and Shelves. Roomy 
 Servants' Hall, with Oven, Sink, &c. Two Larders, Dairy. An excellent roomy 
 Kitchen, with Dressers, Shelves, &c. Butler's Pantry, with Cupboards, &c. Large 
 Scullery, Force Pump, Sink, &c. — Ice-house. Numerous and excellent vaulted 
 Cellars for Wine, Beer, and other Purposes. 
 
 A LARGE OPEN AREA on the West Front, with Iron Rails, paved with 
 Stone, Vaults, and Steps to the Terrace. Lawns on the West and South fronts, 
 planted with Shrubs, Evergreens, and laid out with Gravel Walks. 
 
 DETACHED OFFICES. Double Coach-house, Stable for Eight Horses, 
 Lofts and Room over. Yard, with open Stable, Loft over, Cow-house, Piggery, 
 and Dove Cote, &c. Two enclosed Paddocks for Stallions, with an open Stable 
 each. A Brew-house, Laundry, and Wash-house. A spacious Farm-yard, with 
 
 249 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Four Cart Sheds and Loft over, and Three Stables for Two Horses each adjoining, 
 and Colt Stables. Two capital extensive Hay Barns, with Granary at one end, and 
 a Granary on Stone Piers. A large Barn and Stable adjoining. 
 
 A NEAT FARM HOUSE, Cart Stable for Five Horses, with Harness Room 
 and a Dog Kennel. Work-shop, Fowl-house, Wood-yard, and Four Paddocks, with 
 Stables in each, Large Cattle-shed Back of the Hay Barns, and various Out- 
 buildings ; And a fine Well of Water. A capital Kitchen Garden, walled round, 
 cloathed with select Fruit Trees, fully stocked and cropped, well planted. A 
 Melon Ground, with Sheds. A good Gardener's House, Green-house, Fish Pond, 
 and a large Garden and Orchard adjoining, ABOUT FOUR ACRES, well planted 
 with fine young Trees, and a Slip with ditto. 
 
 250 
 
APPENDIX F 
 
 AFFIDAVITS IN THE MATTER OF CHIFNEY S 
 
 ANNUITY 
 
 His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales was graciously pleased to 
 settle an annuity upon the late Samuel Chifney, which he, with his 
 Royal Highness's approbation, sold to Joseph Sparkes, Esq., who 
 received the same elev^en successive quarters, when payment thereof 
 was stopped. An inquiry into the cause of its discontinuance, and 
 an apparent want of recollection on the part of a gentleman who 
 was a party to the transaction, seemed to have rendered it question- 
 able whether the grant was made during pleasure, or during his 
 Royal Highness's life, and it is to determine that question that the 
 following confirmations of vhe Tract are produced : 
 
 IN THE MATTER OF SAMUEL CHIFNEY. 
 
 JOSEPH SPARKES of Brompton in the County of Middlesex Esq"- maketh 
 oatli and saith that in the latter end of the Year One thousand eight hundred He 
 was applied to by Samuel Chifney, since deceased, who represented himself to be in 
 the greatest distress, having been repeatedly threatened, and in daily expectation of 
 being sent to Prison for debt, and from which he had no other prospect of being 
 released than from the sale of an Annuity of Two hundred Guineas, which he stated 
 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales had granted to him, during the life of His 
 said Royal Highness, and this deponent further saith that the said Samuel Chifney 
 also represented to this deponent that his said Royal Highness had most 
 graciously condescended to permit him to sell and assign the said Annuity to any 
 person who would purchase the same, and thereby relieve the said Samuel Chifney 
 from his otherwise inextricable difficulties. And this deponent further saith that 
 although he had reason to rely on the truth of the statement made by the said Samuel 
 Chifney, he nevertheless thought it his duty (after having called upon Colonel 
 Mac Mahon in company with Colonel O'Kelly) to enquire of Robert Grey Esq'', the 
 Auditor, (as this Deponent believes) of the Duchy of Cornwall Office, whether such 
 
 251 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Annuity was then paid, and whether His said Royal Highness had consented to the 
 alienation thereof and that the same would be paid to a purchaser. And this 
 Deponent further saith that being answered in the affirmative by the said Robert 
 Grey, he upon the faith and reliance of this assurance purchased of the said Samuel 
 Chifney his said Annuity of Two hundred Guineas, for which he the said Samuel 
 Chifney received from this Deponent the full sum of twelve hundred Guineas, and in 
 consequence thereof executed an Assignment of the same to this Deponent. And 
 this Deponent further saith that after the execution thereof he attended at the office 
 of the said Robert Grey Esq"" and procured an Entry of the same to be made thereof 
 in the Books belonging thereto ; but whether this Deponent was recorded therein as 
 the Assignee or the Attorney of the said Samuel Chifney, he this Deponent does not 
 accurately remember, as nothing passed at the time to direct his attention to that 
 circumstance, but this deponent saith, that it being very important to his interests to 
 ascertain as far as he was able to do, whether or not his said Royal Highness was 
 desirous that the said Samuel Chifney should alienate his said Annuity, he did most 
 distinctly give the said Robert Grey to understand (although he cannot at this 
 distance of time recollect the exact words he used on the occasion) that he was about 
 to purchase the same of the said Samuel Chifney and the said Robert Grey was fully 
 apprised and knew that from the day of his, this Deponent's compleating the said 
 purchase, the said Samuel Chifney would have no further Interest in the said 
 Annuity. And this Deponent further saith, that he afterwards received at the said 
 Auditor's Office, eleven payments of the said Annuity, but in the Month of May 1804, 
 a Notice was given him whereby he was informed that no other payment would be 
 made thereon, and lastly this Deponent saith that he hath since parted with the said 
 Annuity, and hath no further interest therein. 
 
 Sworn at the Public Office in Southampton 
 Buildings the day of 
 
 1 8 1 3 before 
 
 ANDREW DENNIS O'KELLY Esq' of Half Moon Street, Piccadilly, in the 
 County of Middlesex, maketh oath and saith that some time in the latter end of the 
 Year One thousand eight hundred, he was applied to by the Marquis of Donegall to 
 become surety in lieu of the said Marquis, for the payment of an Annuity of Two 
 hundred Guineas, which his Royal Highness The Prince of Wales had granted for his 
 own life to Samuel Chifney : which Annuity the said Samuel Chifney had agreed to 
 dispose of to Joseph Sparkes Esq', who, having required that the payment of it 
 should be guaranteed, the said Marquis had consented to become such guarantee; 
 but that the said Mr. Sparkes objected to accept the guarantee of the said Marquis, 
 on account of his being a Peer of the Realm. And this Deponent further saith, 
 that in complying as he did with the request of the said Marquis as aforesaid He was 
 influenced by other causes besides the said Marquis's counter guarantee to this 
 Deponent, and principally because the confidence which he, this Deponent, had in 
 the regular payment of the said Annuity by His Royal Highness during his Royal 
 Highness's life, was fully confirmed by this Deponent having had good, sufficient, 
 and satisfactory means of knowing that the said Annuity had been granted to the 
 said Samuel Chifney by His Royal Highness, for, and during His Royal Highness's 
 life. And this Deponent considering that the benevolent intention of His Royal 
 Highness in respect to the said Samuel Chifney would be greatly promoted by the 
 
 252 
 
APPENDIX F 
 
 aforesaid arrangement for enabling the said Samuel Chifney to dispose of the said 
 Annuity, this Deponent, at the request of the said Samuel Chifney and the said 
 Joseph Sparkes made application to Colonel Mac Mahon (now The Right Honour- 
 able John Mac Mahon) for the purpose of procuring for the said Mr Sparkes satis- 
 factory assurances respecting the actual grant of the said Annuity for the life of His 
 Royal Highness, and respecting other particulars relating thereunto, And this 
 Deponent further saith that the said Colonel Mac Mahon authorised this Deponent 
 to appoint the said Mr Sparkes to attend at the residence of the said Colonel 
 Mac Mahon to receive from him the assurances required ; and that when the said 
 Deponent caused the said Mr. Sparkes to attend him at the residence of the said 
 Colonel Mac Mahon, he the said Colonel Mac Mahon informed this Deponent that 
 upon further consideration of the matter he the said Colonel Mac Mahon was of 
 opinion that the most proper, as well as the most satisfactory way of communicating 
 to the said Mr Sparkes, the assurances required, was, that he the said Colonel 
 Mac Mahon should order the proper officer in the office of the Duchy of Cornwall 
 to communicate the necessary information to the said Mr Sparkes ; whereupon this 
 Deponent, approving of the said suggestion, accompanied the said Colonel Mac Mahon 
 when he left his residence to go to the aforesaid Office for the purpose aforesaid, after 
 which the said Mr. Sparkes, as this Deponent had good reason to believe and did 
 and does believe, presented himself before the said Officer of the Duchy of Cornwall, 
 from whom he, the said Mr Sparkes, as this Deponent believes, received satisfactory 
 assurances of the said Annuity having been granted by his Royal Highness as afore- 
 said for and during His Royal Highness's life; that it was regularly paid every 
 Quarter ; that His Royal Highness consented to, and approved of the alienation 
 thereof, and that it would be punctually paid there accordingly to the purchaser of 
 the said Annuity. And this Deponent further saith that when the said Colonel 
 Mac Mahon proposed that the assurances required by the said Mr Sparkes should 
 be given him by the proper officer in the office aforesaid, he the said Colonel 
 Mac Mahon remarked that his authorizing the said Officer to give the assurances 
 required would have additional advantage of providing a certain Medium, through which 
 any other person might obtain such assurances, in case the said Mr Sparkes should 
 not ultimately become the purchaser of the said Annuity. And this Deponent 
 further saith, that when the said Colonel Mac Mahon left his residence to go to the 
 Office of the Duchy of Cornwall for the purpose aforesaid, he this Deponent walked 
 with him as far as Charing Cross, where they were induced by a shower of rain to 
 take shelter in a Hosier's Shop, and that whilst they were there, the said Colonel 
 Mac Mahon devoted his attention to the perusal of a paper containing a statement 
 then intended to be published by the said Samuel Chifney of which a Copy is here- 
 unto annexed, and this Deponent further saith, that after the said Colonel Mac Mahon 
 had read the said statement, he expressed his approbation of it in the strongest and 
 most unequivocal terms. 
 
 The following is a copy of the Paper above alluded to the substance of which, but 
 in stronger and more emphatical language, was afterwards published and sworn to 
 before John CoUick Esq', 13th March 1801, by Samuel Chifney, at which time he 
 had sold, and ceased to have any Interest whatever in the said Annuity. 
 
 " Soon after this, Sir Charles Bunbury, as I have been informed, in con- 
 sequence of the directions he received from the Prince, on his leaving New- 
 market, wrote to His Royal Highness and enclosed my two affidavits informing 
 him at the same time, that after the strictest investigation of all the circum- 
 
 253 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 stances respecting the business, by himself and the other Stewards of the 
 Jockey Club, they found that all the malicious reports circulated against me, 
 were totally unfounded, and that no censure whatever could attach to me. 
 Some time after the Prince's return from Brighton, I came up to London, 
 when, being one day ordered into His Royal Highness's presence, he was 
 graciously pleased in the presence of a Gentleman then with him, to express 
 himself nearly in the following manner : 
 
 ' Chifney, I am perfectly well satisfied with your conduct since you have rode 
 for me, and I believe you have discharged your duty like an honest, faithful 
 Servant, and altho' I shall have no further occasion for you, having ordered all 
 my Horses to be sold, I have directed my Treasurer to continue during my life 
 to pay you your present Salary of Two hundred a year.' 
 
 Language cannot describe my feelings on hearing this generous communica- 
 tion. I bowed and retired in silence, beseeching at the same time in my 
 Heart the Almighty to pour down his choicest blessings on a Prince whose 
 magnanimity and goodness of heart induced him graciously to condescend to 
 give protection and support to an unfortunate injured Man, who but for this 
 act of benevolence must otherwise have starved with his Wife and Children 
 and who with them are bound to pray for such a generous benefactor. 
 
 So little is the truth of this transaction known, that at last Brighton Races, 
 some young Gentlemen, members of the Jockey Club and others, hearing that 
 with His Royal Highness's permission I was about to be employed to ride for 
 the Nobleman I have now the honor of serving, expressed to this Nobleman 
 and a Gentleman who is his intimate friend, their astonishment that they could 
 think of suffering such a rogue as Chifney to ride their Horses, after having 
 been disqualified by the Jockey Club from riding at Newmarket, in consequence 
 of his having rode the Prince of Wales's Escape unfairly at that place, &c., &c. 
 This was denied by the Nobleman's friend, who knew the fact to be otherwise. 
 It was agreed however by the Parties to ask Sir Charles Banbury, who was 
 then at Brighton, and the next day they accidentally met h-m. The question 
 was put to Sir Charles, who very candidly answered, thai M far from being 
 disqualified from riding, I was not even censured by I'.ie Jockey Club, but 
 fully acquitted by the Stewards, who upon enquiry re:,pecLin3 my aiding Escape 
 unfairly, discovered the reports circulated against me to be enLire'y unfounded. 
 
 The stronger and more emphatical wording of what His Royal Highness said 
 on the occasion, which as stated in the title or heading to the ''oregoing Paper, 
 was sworn to afterwards by Samuel Chifney was as follows. 
 
 " His Royal Highness wished me to understand that the " Two hundred 
 Guineas a year which he gave me, was for /its life, and that he could not give it 
 for my own life." 
 
 To which a Nofa Bene is added as follows : 
 
 " N.B. Till now I thought it had been for my own " life, but I was the same 
 satisfied." 
 
 Such are the precise terms, to the correctness of which Chifney made affidavit, 
 as before described, when, as before stated, he had no longer any Interest whatever 
 in the said Annuity. 
 
 254 
 
APPENDIX G 
 
 PAPERS CONCERNING LORD DONEGAL 
 
 I 
 
 From Colonel O'Kelly to Lord Donegal. 
 
 DoNEGALL Arms, Belfast, 
 
 Sept. 10, 1 814. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 Not having yet received any Communication from your Lord- 
 ship relative to the reports which have been circulated to the 
 disadvantage of my late father and myse'f during your residence 
 in Ireland for the last 8 years, which reports, as you have been 
 informed impute to us our having taken improper advantages of 
 your Lordship in different transactions in the years 1794 & 1800 
 I desire that your Lordship will no longer delay to state what has 
 been our conduct towards you upon all occasions & particularly 
 at the periods alluded to, 
 
 I have the Honor to be &c. 
 
 A : D : O'Kelly. 
 
 II 
 
 From Lord Donegal to h. D. O'Kelly. 
 
 Ormean Cottage, Sept. 16, 1814. 
 Sir, 
 
 I have read your letter of the loth instant, stating that reports 
 to the disadvantage of your father and yourself had been circulated 
 during my residence in Ireland for the last 8 years, which reports 
 
 255 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 impute to you and your late father, having taken improper advantages 
 of me in different transactions in the years 1794. & 1800, I beg 
 leave to say that I never fabricated such reports and that they are 
 altogether void of truth, as to the bills filed in chancery against your 
 Father and yourself by my Trustees, Messrs. Agnew, Dashwood, 
 McGeorge and Lyon they were contrary to my approbation & 
 without my Consent, having always lived on the most intimate footing 
 with you and conceiving you to be a man of the strictest Honor 
 and integrity and which was the general opinion of the world when 
 I first had the pleasure of your acquaintance, with regard to the 
 stock which I purchased of your father the late Mr. Phillip O' Kelly 
 I certainly never said there was any advantage taken of me, but 
 declare that his conduct in that transaction as well as in respect to 
 his account for the same was perfectly correct, and such as after full 
 deliberation and reflection I gave him securities for, agreeable to 
 that account. With respect to yourself I cannot but in common 
 justice say that ever since I had the Honor of your acquaintance I 
 believe you have done everything in your power to endeavour to 
 promote the happiness of myself and family, and had your advice 
 been taken, that I should not have been in the present situation I 
 am, but free from Embarrassments and that you never took any 
 advantage of me in any pecuniary transactions or otherwise since 
 our acquaintance which I believe is upwards of twenty years. 
 
 I remain, sir, 
 
 Y' obedient humble serv*, 
 
 DONEGALL. 
 
 HI 
 
 From Colonel O'Kelly to the Earl of Massareene, 
 
 DoNEGALL Arms, Belfast, 16 Sept. 18 14. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 Lest your Lordship should not clearly have understood the 
 
 object which I had in view in obtaining from the Marquis of 
 
 Donegall a written document of the declarations he has upon all 
 
 occasions made respecting the correct & honorable Conduct of my 
 
 256 
 
APPENDIX G 
 
 late father and myself as to every transaction between us, I beg leave 
 to assure y' Lordship that the object is to have it in my power 
 to show such document to those of my friends who have heard the 
 reports to our prejudice and not to take use of it as a legal 
 Instrument satisfied, from what y' Lordship has done me the 
 honor to communicate to me, of Lord D.'s honorable Intentions 
 towards me in the final arrangement of my claims. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 
 A : D : O' Kelly. 
 
 IV 
 
 PART OF LORD DONEGAL ACCOUNT TO PHILIP O'KELLY 
 
 1799. £ s. d. 
 To the Keep of a Brood Mare from the 23rd of May to 
 
 the 7th of November at Grass . . . . .880 
 
 1800. To the Keep of Recruits Dam from the 7 th of September 
 
 to the I St of November, with a foal at her foot . .340 
 
 To the Keep of Do. from the ist of November 1800 to 
 
 the isth of May 1801 At Hay &c. &c. . . . 14 14 o 
 
 To the Keep of Do. from the 15th of May 1801 to the 
 
 25lh of October 980 
 
 To the Keep of a Colt foal out of Recruits Dam from 
 
 the loth October 1800 to the ist of May 1801 . 26 2 o 
 
 To the Keep of Do. rising Two years old in a loose 
 Stable, and Paddock, from the ist of May to the 17th 
 of September . . . . • • . .2100 
 To the Keep of Do. from the 1 7th of September to the 
 
 25th of October 5 15 6 
 
 To the Keep of a Colt rising two years old 
 a Brother to Vivaldi, from the 7th of 
 September 1800 to the loth of October, 
 in a loose Stable and Paddock . . • 5 5 o 
 -To the Keep of a Colt rising Two years 
 old, got by Precipitate, out of Recruits dam 
 from the 7 th of September to the loth of 
 October 1800, in a loose Stable, and 
 
 Paddock 5 5° 
 
 To the Keep of a Precipitate Colt out of Equity rising 
 Two years old, from the 7 th of September 1800 to the 
 24th of April 1 80 1 34 13 
 
 These two Colts were 
 sent to Epsom on the 
 10th October 1800 
 to be broke and were 
 brought back on the 
 17th December ; the 
 charge of their Keep, 
 &c during the above 
 period is charged in 
 the Epsome Account. 
 
 o 
 
 257 R 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 £ 
 
 To the Keep of a Colt, Brother to Vivaldi from the 17 th 
 of December 1800 to the 17th of September 1801 in 
 a loose Stable and Paddock . . . . .40120 
 
 To the Keep of Do. from the 17th of September to the 
 
 25th October 5156 
 
 To the Keep of a Precipitate Colt out of Recruits dam, 
 from the 17th of December 1800 to the 25th of October 
 1 80 1, in a loose Stable, and Paddock . . . 46 7 6 
 
 To the Keep of a Precipitate filly from the 7 th of Sep- 
 tember 1 800 to the 1 5th of May 1 80 1 in a loose Stable, 
 and Paddock . . . . . . . .1640 
 
 To the Keep of a Bachus filly, from the 7 th of September 
 1800 to the isth of May 1801 in a loose Stable, and 
 Paddock . . . . . . . . 16 4 o 
 
 To the Keep of the Precipitate filly rising three years old, 
 
 from the 15th of May to the 25th of October . .846 
 
 To the Keep of the Bachus filly from the 15 th May, to 
 
 the 25th of October 846 
 
 To the Keep of a Brood Mare (Betsey) from the 22nd of 
 
 May to the 25 th October 7 17 6 
 
 To the Keep of a Colt rising Two years old out of Betsey 
 from the 2nd of June to the 25th of October in a loose 
 Stable and Paddock 1 8 1 5 6 
 
 Paid a Man for taking a Bay Colt, out of Equity two 
 years old, to Newmarket, his expenses, and the Keep of 
 the Colt 330 
 
 Paid a Colt Breaker for Do. at Newmarket . . .220 
 
 Training Do. from the 3rd of May 1801, to the 2Sth of 
 
 October . . . . . . . . . 56 5 o 
 
 To the Keep of a Bay Horse (Antrim) from the 5th of 
 
 August 1800 to the 5th of April 1801 . . . 36 9 o 
 
 To the Training of Do. from the 6th of April to the i8th 
 
 of August 1801 . . . . . . . 42 15 o 
 
 To the Keep of Antrim from the 1 8th of August to the 
 
 2Sth of October 1801 . . . . . . 10 10 o 
 
 V 
 
 COPY OF ACCOUNT AS REDUCED 
 
 The Marquis of Donegall 
 
 D"". to Andrew Dennis O'Kelly 
 as Administrator of Philip O'Kelly, deceased. 
 
 Estimating the Account as proposed by the Marquis, and receiving only double 
 the original Sum as secured by a Post-obit Mortgage and Bond, viz ; 
 Instead of 7350 accepting 5300 £ £ s. d. 
 
 1792. To a Mare covered by Dungannon . . . . 21 o o 
 
 1793. To a Mare covered by Dungannon . '. . . 21 o o 
 
 258 
 
APPENDIX G 
 
 I79S 
 
 1796 
 
 1796 
 1796 
 
 1799 
 
 To a Mare's keep from 15 Aug. 1792 to 25 Jan. 1794 
 
 For the Sweepstakes .... 
 
 To a Mare covered by Dungannon . 
 
 To a Mare covered by Anvil 
 
 To Cash paid Mr. Hancock Attorney for dec"* 
 
 To a Mare's keep from 3 Feb. 1795 to 15 Nov. 
 
 To a Mare's keep from 22 Ap' 1795 to 15 Nov. 
 
 To a Mare covered by Dungannon . 
 
 To Cash paid for you to Lord Egremont . 
 
 Due from a poney Race .... 
 
 To Cash paid for you to Sir F. Standish . 
 
 To Cash paid to Mess" J. Anson & Harpur for Bonds, 
 post-obits and Leases .... 
 
 Jan. S- To post obit .... 
 
 To interest on the above Sum from the 5th of January 
 1799 the day of the death of the late Marquis of 
 Donegall to the 5th of May 1805 the day of the 
 
 death of Mr. P. O'Kelly 
 
 To two Bonds dated 22 Sept. 1794 for 
 
 550 ^ each . . . . . iioo o o 
 
 To Int. thereon to 5 Jan. 1800 . . 290 14 i 
 
 1390 14 I 
 1800. Jan. nth. By Cash received 
 by two Dra's due this day, accepted 
 by the Marquis of Donegall's 
 Bankers ..... 1000 o o 
 
 To Interest on the above balance from 5 Jan^ 1800 
 
 to 5 May 1805 . 
 
 Carried over . 
 
 £ 
 26 
 
 10 
 
 15 
 10 
 
 2 
 
 32 
 
 28 
 
 15 
 
 105 
 
 21 
 
 52 
 
 35 
 
 5300 
 
 10 
 
 15 
 
 10 
 
 12 
 
 4 
 
 13 
 
 IS 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 10 
 
 4 
 o 
 
 d. 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 6 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 7 
 o 
 
 167S 6 8 
 
 39° 14 I 
 
 104 o o 
 
 ^7871 2 10 
 
 7821 7 10 
 
 Bro*^ over 
 1799. June 5. Received on account a 
 
 debenture of . . . . . _;^iooo o o 
 
 By Interest due thereon to 5 May 1805 . 295 16 8 1295 16 8 
 
 ;£652S II 2 
 1804. Paid the Costs of Suit instituted by yourself and 
 Trustees in the Court ot Chancery against the late 
 P. O'Kelly Esq' to Mess"^ Richards and Marnell, 
 see their Bills 3" 7 9 
 
 Yrs. Ms. 
 .Interest thereon to Sept. 5, 1814, 9 4 
 
 6836 18 II 
 3190 12 o 
 
 _;^I0027 10 II 
 
 259 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 1791. 
 1792. 
 1796. 
 1800. 
 
 1799. 
 1800. 
 1801. 
 1814. 
 
 o 
 
 15 
 
 o 
 10 
 
 Due to And. D. O'Kelly Esq. on his own Account 
 
 as follows, 
 Money secured upon Acco' signed June 18 13 . 
 Interest on this Sum to Sept. 1814 . 
 Sums omitted in the above signed Acco' viz : 
 Cash lent to the Marquis at Chesterfield 2 1 
 
 Do. Do. at Derby . 15 
 
 Do. Do. . . . . 20 
 
 Paid the amount of the first Execution 104 
 
 Sums omitted in the above Acco', altho' the Items are 
 
 inserted therein, viz : 
 To the Stable-keeper at the bottom of Engine Street 
 
 Piccadilly ....... 
 
 Paid the Wages of the Boys under Sutton at Epsom 
 
 To 30 Head of Deer at 4 G^ per head 
 
 July. Cash to Chiffney . 
 
 Interest on these Sums to Sept. 18 14 
 
 A year's Rent for premises at Epsom 
 
 Further Dilapidations at Epsom 
 
 £ 
 
 8196 
 2986 
 
 12 
 19 
 
 161 s 
 
 45 
 
 60 
 
 126 
 
 50 
 196 
 
 105 
 2650 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 14 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 ^24605 I I 
 
 VI 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF PHILIP O'KELLY'S ESTATE BY 
 A. D. O'KELLY, 1792 TO 1817 
 
 1792. 
 
 1794- 
 
 Paid to George Croking for 
 
 Ld. Donegal 
 Purchase of horses . 
 
 398 
 3750 
 
 2 
 o 
 
 d. 
 
 I 
 o 
 
 Interest on above for 23 years and 3 
 months, with insurance and costs . 
 
 VII 
 
 7289 7 It 
 ;^ii437 10 o 
 
 AMONG ITEMS IN OTHER OF LORD BELFAST'S BILLS 
 
 TO THE O'KELLYS ARE, from 1799 TO 1802 
 
 £ s. d. 
 Wages paid for coachman hired for 
 
 Lady Belfast . 
 
 A black mare called Bell 
 
 Sam Chifney's bill 
 
 Paid Larken at Oxford . 
 
 Stakes for Trifle 
 
 260 
 
 . 
 
 27 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 52 10 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 209 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 25 10 
 
 
 
 
 10 10 
 
 
 
APPENDIX G 
 
 £ 
 
 315 
 
 
 
 
 
 35 
 
 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 
 
 
 
 30 head of deer sent from Cannons to 
 West Wycombe Park 
 
 The horse Wrangler .... 
 
 Cash at Brighton ..... 
 
 Cash in London ..... 
 
 A carriage for Lady Belfast, and coach- 
 builder repairing same . . . 
 
 A coach-house at Wycombe . . . 18 12 6 
 
 Paid you 30 gs. to return me 500 gs. 
 every time you made a match at 
 horse-racing or lost more at any one 
 time at cards or otherwise than 
 200 gs., and which you have forfeited 
 fifty times since . . • . 31 10 o 
 
 VIII 
 NOTES FROM VARIOUS MANUSCRIPTS 
 
 [A] The Debts of the Marquis of Donegal to A. D. O'Kelly 
 
 Administrator of Philip O'Kelly, amounted to over .1^37,000, 
 in an account of their transactions from 1792 to 18 16. 
 
 [B] The Debts of Lord Donegall from 1791 to 18 14 amounted 
 
 to ;!f6i7,524, for which judgment was given against him in 
 the Courts of Exchequer, Common Pleas, and King's Bench. 
 Among these occur ;^i4,7oo to Philip O'Kelly in 1794 ; 
 ;if20,ooo to W". Whaley in 1794, and another ;^ 12,000 in 
 1797; .;^6ooo in 1803 to Edward May, to whom Andrew 
 D. O'Kelly had to write for an apology, and another ;^5,8oo 
 in 1804 ; .^627 I9J-. to Sir John Lade in 1806, and another 
 ;^97i in 181 1 ; W". Whaley had another debt of ;^4,337 
 owing in 1808, and assigned a debt of ;^630 (dated 1795) to 
 " Arthur Guinness, Brewer." 
 
 [C] In 1 8 16 A. D. O'Kelly stated Lo. Donegall's debts to be 
 
 (among others) Delapidations on Epsom Estate com- 
 promised at i^4747, British-Irish ;^5i42 115. 8d., and 
 Sparks' Annuity ^4253, British-Irish ^4607 8.?. ^d. 
 
 261 
 
APPENDIX H 
 
 TWO-PENNY POST-OFFICE 
 
 The enclosed has been opened by the proper Officer, and is returned to you for 
 the Reason assigned thereon. 
 
 C. Walcot, Comptroller. 
 
 E. Johnson, Dep" Comptroller. 
 
 REGULATIONS. 
 
 There are Two Principal Offices, One in the General Post-Office Yard, Lombard 
 Street, and the Other in Gerrard Street, Soho. There are, besides, numerous 
 Receiving Houses for Letters, both in Town and Country. 
 
 There are SIX Collections and Deliveries of Letters in Town daily (Sundays 
 excepted) and there are Two Dispatches /row and Three Deliveries at most Places in 
 the Country, within the Limits of this Office. 
 
 The Hours by which Letters should be put into the Receiving Houses in Town 
 for each Delivery, are as follow : 
 
 Over Night by 
 Morning 
 
 Afternoon 
 
 For Delivery in TOWN. 
 
 Delivery 
 
 8 o'clock for the First 
 
 8 . . Second 
 
 lo . . Third 
 
 12 . . Fourth 
 
 2 . . Fifth 
 
 5 . . Sixth 
 
 For Delivery in the COUNTRY. 
 
 Delivery 
 The preceding Evening by 5 o'Clock for the First 
 Morning . . . 8 . . Second 
 
 Afternoon ... . 2 . . Third 
 
 But Letters, whether for Town or Country, may be put in at either of the Two 
 Principal Offi ces Three Quarters of an Hour later for each Dispatch. 
 
 262 
 
APPENDIX H 
 
 Letters put in on Saturday Evenings are delivered in the Country on Sunday 
 Morning. 
 
 The dated Stamp, or if there are Two, that having the latest Hour, shews also 
 the Time of the Day by which Letters are dispatched for Delivery from the Principal 
 Offices. 
 
 The Postage of a Letter from any Part of this Delivery, to any other Part of it, 
 whether Town or Country, as also the Postage of this Office on each Letter passing 
 to or from the General or Foreign Post-Offices, is Two-pence. 
 
 The Two-penny Postage of all Letters, such as are for Parts out of His Majesty's 
 Dominions excepted, may or may not be paid at putting in, at the Option of the 
 Senders. 
 
 No Two-penny Post Letter must weigh more than Four Ounces. 
 
 The Delivery of this Office includes all Places within the following Circle, which 
 is also inclusive. 
 
 In KENT — Woolwich ; Plumstead ; Shooter's Hill ; Eltham ; Mottingham ; 
 South-End ; Lewisham ; Beckenham ; and Sydenham. 
 
 In SURRY — Croydon ; Beddington ; Carshalton ; Mitcham ; Morden ; Merton ; 
 Wimbledon ; Ham ; Petersham ; and Richmond. 
 
 In MIDDLESEX and HARTS— Twickenham ; Teddington ; Hampton; Sun- 
 bury ; Whitton ; Isleworth ; Brentford ; Ealing ; Hanwell ; Wembly ; Willsdon ; 
 Kingsbury ; The Hyde : Mill Hill ; Highwood Hill ; Totteridge ; Whetstone ; East 
 Barnet ; Southgate ; Winchmore Hill ; and Enfield. 
 
 In ESSEX — Chinkford ; Loughton ; Chigwell and Row ; Barking Side ; Chad- 
 well ; and Barking. 
 
 Cash, in Gold or Silver, or other Articles of Value enclosed in Letters (Notes or 
 Drafts for Money excepted) to be mentioned to the Office-keeper at putting in ; but 
 Bank Notes or others, payable to Bearer, to be cut in Half, and the Second Part not 
 to be sent till the Receipt of the First is acknowledged. 
 
 This Office is not liable to make good the Loss of any Property sent by Post. 
 
 Persons having Occasion to complain of Delay in the Delivery of their Letters, 
 are requested to send the Covers inclosed, in a Line to the Comptroller or Deputy- 
 Comptroller, stating the precise Time of Delivery ; as the dated Stamp will assist 
 materially in discovering where the Neglect lies. 
 
 It is respectfully requested, that Persons receiving Letters will not detain the 
 Letter Carriers at their Doors longer than can be possibly avoided. 
 
 N.B. Letters for this Delivery are frequently by Mistake put into the General 
 Post, by which Means they are unavoidably delayed ; it is therefore recommended 
 that they be put into the Two-penny Post-Offices or Receiving Houses, in order that 
 they may be regularly forwarded by their proper Conveyance. 
 
 November 20, 1804. 
 
 PRINTED BY HENRY TEAPE, TOWER HILL, FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONARY-OFFICE. 
 
 The above is endorsed as follows : — 
 
 " Mr Rally 
 
 77 Piccadilly. 
 
 Myjetter to Mr. Craven, directed as he desired but refused to be taken in. 
 April 1803." 
 
 263 
 
APPENDIX J 
 
 ANDREW O'KELLY'S DIARY— THE BURIAL OF 
 
 NELSON— JANUARY 1-13, 1806 
 
 ist. Went to Cannons in the Chaise with James — saw all the 
 families. Went to Wood's Cottage — his wife and Mrs Pollicat [?] 
 preparing a dinner for the workpeople withoiit my orders. Gave him 
 an order to send ten sheep to Lord Ranelagh, Gave Mrs 
 Mordark [?] five pounds on account of Wages and Board. Brought 
 a Gown to Charlotte Wood. Returned to town, saw my own 
 family with affection. Went to Mr Ankin [.-"j to dinner. Const, 
 Doct'. Cock, and Mrs F. Ankin of the Party staid supper. 
 
 2nd. Went to Piccadilly, afterwards to Cannons. Drank tea and 
 spent the evening at Mrs Burshall's [.''] with all the neighbourhood 
 who were invited to a Dance. I declined dancing till after supper, 
 and then only a minuet & jig with Rebecca. Plaid at Cards. 
 Mrs Burshall's little Girl to whom I was to stand godfather, was 
 christen'd privately by Mr Devile before I arrived. 
 
 3rd. Staid at Cannons but did not go out of the House, it being 
 a very wet day, the whole of which I was occupied arranging Papers 
 out of the Iron Chest. Received a message from Col. Lindsay that 
 he would be at Home from 1 1 till 2 o'clock the next day and would 
 
 be glad to see me. [ ] at Home. Gave a Draft for £2 13^. \d. 
 
 to the Poor in the Almshouse of Whitchurch. 
 
 4th. Saw Col. Lindsay, informed him that several letters had 
 been address'd to him by Mr Richards & Mr Morgan his own 
 Solicitor, neither of whom had received any answer, and that my 
 only business with him was to request he would send an answer 
 
 264 
 
APPENDIX J 
 
 immediately to Mr Morgan which would determine the line of 
 conduct I should pursue respecting the money due to me, as I had 
 made such an offer that no man of honor or principal could refuse. 
 He said he had not heard of it, but in a few minutes conversation he 
 admitted he had, and that he was given to understand that I 
 expected him to pay a Rent for the House which he declared he 
 never would. I instantly got up and observed that if that was his 
 determination after all my forbearance and the many sacrifices I 
 had made to prevent litigation, I was sorry I had suffered myself 
 to be trifled with so long ; that as this declaration put an end to all 
 further treaty on the subject between us, I should now proceed with- 
 out further delay, and wishing him a good morning I immediately 
 left the house and went over to Mr Burshall to request he would 
 inform me of the least offensive mode of distraining for the Rent as 
 I was determined to do so immediately ; but Mr Burshall being 
 from home I went to Cannons, and whilst the Horse was putting to, 
 Col. Lindsay call'd in his way to the priory to request I would meet 
 him and his attorney at Mr Richards on Tuesday at 4, which I declined 
 but consented to wait till after that day in order to give his attorney 
 another opportunity of settling the business with Mr Richards. I 
 proceeded immediately to town. Met Mr Burshall on the Road 
 who invited me to dine with him the next day. Arrived in 
 town at five, dressed and went to Doct"" Cock's to dinner. Const, 
 Ankin. 
 
 The Doct"' went out for an hour. Mr. Ankin and I went to join 
 his family at the Play at Covent Garden, Eliza there for the first 
 time. Mr Ankin and I went to the Percy [?] to meet Const and the 
 Doct'. Gave a draught for five pounds. 
 
 5th. Call'd at Mr Atkinson's, not at home. 
 
 Went to Edgware to dine with Mr Burshall, only the family 
 at dinner, communicated everything to him respecting Col. Lindsay's 
 conduct, which he said could not on any principal be defended ; he 
 promised to see him the next morning and advise him to agree to 
 the terms I proposed. Went up to Cannons for the agreements 
 which I shewed with Col. Lindsay's first letter to Mr James which 
 convinced Mr B. that all I had stated on the subject was correct. 
 Call'd upon the Newgents, mentioned the business to them and 
 returned to town at 12 o'clock. 
 
 265 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 6th. Call'd at Mr Atkinson's ; they were gone out. Saw 
 Miss A., staid with her an Hour, an interesting conversation. 
 Promised to procure Tickets for them to see Lord Nelson's 
 Funeral ; received a note from Mr Atkinson on the subject, call'd 
 upon him soon after and found them at dinner ; promised to call in 
 the morning. Went to dinner with Mr Richards ; Const Morgan 
 Pedder and 3 other gentlemen of the party with Mrs Richards, 
 staid till II, went to the Percy with Const. 
 
 7th. Called upon Mr Atkinson, informed him I had procured 
 places for him at Somerset House to see the Remains of Lord 
 Nelson brought by water to Whitehall stairs. He ordered his 
 Carriage and we went accompanied by Norton (who Mr A. had 
 sent for to prepare a proper dress to go with us to S' Paul's on 
 Thursday) to the Herald's office for our Tickets, which we got, 
 and Mr Bickland promised to have ready for me (at the request 
 of Lord Ranelagh) 4 more by 6 in the evening. Return'd with 
 Mr Atkinson to the Strand, where we set Norton down and pro- 
 ceeded to the Globe insurance office where Mr Atkinson paid £'j$ 
 to Mr Denham for a Policy o f insurance on his House No. i 
 Harley Street for seven years. He set me down in Oxford Street. 
 I called at Fladden's Hotel, saw Will Ingram, talked to him about 
 the dear Eliza his sister, whom he had not seen for two years, and 
 was affraid to write to her, but now that he had a subject to write 
 upon which he knew would please her he would do it directly and 
 shew me her answer. Went to Mr Richard's, found him, Col. 
 Lindsay & his Solicitor in debate on the Subject of our concerns 
 which ended in their proposing an arbitration which Richards 
 thought might be put in a way to prevent further litigation, to which 
 I readily consented. Went to S* Paul's to hear the rehearsal of 
 the Music for the interment of Lord Nelson, saw Mr Bickland & 
 Mr Bishop the King's proctor, promised to meet him at the Percy ; 
 called at Somerset House upon Mrs Frodsham the Housekeeper, 
 who very obligingly at the instance of her four fine Daughters gave 
 me 2 Tickets of admission for Messrs Atkinson & Ankin's families, 
 and having in conversation said that she was distressed in being 
 disappointed in particular provisions for the entertainment of her 
 friends the next day, I without her knowledge went to Bridgman's 
 and ordered a Guinea twelfth Cake to be sent to her early the next 
 
 266 
 
APPENDIX J 
 
 morning. Went to the Percy, gave Mr Ankin his Ticket, staid 
 ill 2, supped and went to bed. 
 
 8th. Call'd on the Atkinsons. He ordered the Carriage to be 
 ready at 12 to take us to Somerset House. I went there to 
 ascertain the Hour the Procession was Hkely to pass by when Mrs 
 Frodsham poHtely press'd me to bring the Ladies to her apartments 
 
 which I promised to do. Saw Mr Cobb ; called at the [ ] and 
 
 got a mourning sword for Mr Atkinson, return'd to his House at 
 I" past one but he was gone leaving a message for me that he had 
 waited an hour and was gone to the first invitation he had received. 
 I return'd to Mr Ankin's, found them getting into the carriage. 
 The Ladies went on to Mrs Frodsham's and Mr Ankin and I 
 follow'd on foot. Most kindly received by the family and elegantly 
 entertain'd, upwards of forty in the party ; saw Miss Brack on the 
 Terrace, to whom Mr Bouvery gave two Tickets for S' Paul's. 
 Returned after seeing the procession with Mr Ankin in my Chaise 
 — a violent storm of Hail. Call'd on the Atkinsons ; they explained 
 the cause of their CToin^ before I returned : crave them two Tickets for 
 S* Paul's which they afterwards gave to Norton to be sent to the God- 
 freys, they having received two from the Bishop of Lincoln. Returned 
 to Mr Ankin to dinner, delivered a message to Miss Ankin from 
 Mrs Atkinson requesting the pleasure of her company to S' Paul's 
 which her father at length consented she should accept, gave her a 
 Ticket and sent two others to Mr Farquar of Portland Place. 
 Call'd at the Percy, got an order from Mr Hewit the Banker for 
 4 Places at a Hatter's in Ludgate Hill to see the Procession, 
 return'd to Mr Ankin with them. Call'd at the Atkinsons to inform 
 them Miss Ankin would go to S' P. 
 
 9th. Up at 5, Dress'd and went to Mr Atkinson's to Breakfast with 
 
 Norton and a Mr [ ]. Went to Hide park at Seven (We 
 
 were the first Carriage) few in the Park till 8 o'clock when the 
 
 Heron [?] Carriage arrived and drove up before ours — soon after the 
 
 four Eldest Captains, viz. : Alezander Hood Gardener &c. in a 
 
 mourning Coach drove up alongside of us. I conversed with 
 
 Gardener &c. O'Laughland commanded one detachment of the 
 
 Horse Guards and Stewart the other in the Park. The Duke of 
 
 Kent pass'd to Carlton House at 9 o'clock, the D. of York arrived 
 
 in the Park attended by all the staff soon after and gave directions 
 
 267 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 for the orders in which the carriages were to proceed ; we were 
 ordered to move first, but, expecting Lord Nelson's Carriage to go 
 on, 6 or 8 carriages who were also ordered to move on drove before 
 us ; we then followed and halted near the Princes Gate who in 
 about half an Hour came out of His Mews attended by seven 
 carriages and six belonging to his Brothers who were not on Horse 
 Back. I conversed with Col. Piggot who commanded the 14th 
 Light Dragoons situated near the Mews. 
 
 The Troops Horse & Foot to the amount of 7 or 8 thousand on 
 The Parade now began to file off, a most beautiful sight, and at 1 2 
 we pass'd through the Horse Guards and proceeded in Procession 
 to S' Paul's where we alighted and Took our Post at the head of the 
 Esq" and next to the Herald and the oldest Capt" who carried the 
 standard. It was most Piercing Cold until we got into the Cathedral 
 and we were an Hour before we moved farther than the Dome. 
 There we Halted until the Corpse arrived ; the Prince, who was 
 extremely affected, was conducted into the vestry where he waited the 
 arrival of the Body, which as soon as it was announced he with the 
 Bishops returned to the West gate and fell into the Procession which 
 now moved slowly on to the Choir. 
 
 The Lord Mayor and the Court of Aldermen first took their seats 
 and occupied all the stalls on the North side of the Choir ; the Bishop 
 of Lincoln, the Dean of S' Paul's seated himself in the center stall on the 
 South side opposite the Lord Mayor; the Nobility were next conducted 
 on each side of him, but to my utter astonishment and to the everlasting 
 disgrace of those who had the arranging of the places, none were 
 provided for the Prince and his six brothers who were left standing 
 in the middle of the Choir looking about to see where they could sit 
 down, until at last a young man dress'd in black, who I afterwards 
 understood was Sir Isaac Herd's Clerk, went up to the Prince and 
 told him he would conduct him to his seat but he certainly did not 
 know where that seat was having led the Prince up and down the 
 Choir and at length placed him in the upper stall on the same side 
 the Bishop sat on ; the Duke of York and Clarence followed the 
 Prince seeing two or three vacant seats next to where the Prince 
 was placed, the Duke of Clarence took one of them and the Duke 
 of York was returning to his other brothers who were still looking 
 round them to see where they should go, but the Prince call'd to the 
 
 268 
 
APPENDIX J 
 
 Duke of York who return'd and took the other unoccupied seat next 
 
 the Prince ; and this young man then pointed to two small seats at 
 
 each side of the door to which the four brothers return'd two on each 
 
 side, the Duke of Sussex and Duke of Kent in the one on the 
 
 rig-ht commino- into the Choir and the Duke of Cumberland and 
 
 Duke of Cambridge in the one on the left. The Naval officers were 
 
 conducted to the seats in the Body of the Choir, and all the General 
 
 Officers and staff attending upon the Princes were left standing near 
 
 the Door until the Prince seeing them in this situation beckoned to 
 
 them to come on, which they immediately did in a body and placed 
 
 themselves opposite the Prince but did not sit down until the Service 
 
 began. The Lord Mayor and Aldermen kept their seats and quietly 
 
 looked on at this extraordinary conduct, which shocked me so much 
 
 that I immediately left the Gallery appropriated for the foreign 
 
 Ambassadors, (into which Mr Atkinson, Mr Lubbock, the Banker, 
 
 with two other gentlemen and myself were conducted by mistake) 
 
 and went down to one of the Heralds who during the course of the 
 
 day was particularly attentive to me and my party, pointed out to him 
 
 what I had observed and asked him the cause of such neglect to the 
 
 Royal party ; he e.xpress'd the most marked disapprobation of it, and 
 
 said it was all Sir 1. Herd's fault, who not being able to attend 
 
 himself neglected to appoint one of the Heralds who of course were 
 
 the proper persons to officiate for him, but left the whole of the 
 
 business to his Clerk who was the cause of the procession being 
 
 delayed two hours longer than it was necessary in the Park. Mr 
 
 Sheridan who was close by me and overheard this conversation, 
 
 observed to me that he never was more shocked in his life to see the 
 
 Prince and his brothers treated with so much neglect, particularly by 
 
 the Lord Mayor &c. 
 
 The Bishop now proceeded with the Service which lasted about 
 
 an hour and three quarters in the Choir, when the Lord Mayor and 
 
 Aldermen as before proceeded first to the grave where seats were 
 
 provided for them. The Princes with the Bishops and other 
 
 Dignatories of S' Paul's and the Nobility followed and placed 
 
 themselves opposite the Lord Mayor but remained on foot, the 
 
 Corpse under a Canopy followed by the Rest of the Procession was 
 
 now brought to the grave prepared in the Center of the Dome and 
 
 placed on a machine over the grave ; then the Bishop from a Desk, 
 
 269 
 
ECLIPSE AND 0'K.ELLY 
 
 prepared at the head of the grave for him and the other Dignatories, 
 read the funeral service and the requiem was sung by the whole 
 quire accompanied by every person provided with a Book who had 
 the power of utterance. I tried (with the Prince and some of his 
 Brothers who were deeply affected) to cry it as well as I could, for 
 my Heart was then, as it is now, so deeply affected that it was ready 
 to burst. For surely never was and most probably never will again 
 be witnessed so magnificently grand, sublime and affecting a 
 spectacle, and never did exist a man who so well deserved the 
 unexampled Honors paid to his remains. May the Almighty God 
 who in his great goodness crown'd his efforts in the service of his 
 King and Country with unparalell'd success, grant him a Crown of 
 Glory in the Regions of bliss. Whilst the Requiem was singing the 
 Machine upon which the Coffin was laid was so constructed as to 
 sink almost imperceptibly into the grave through the stone work, and 
 on its being arrived at the bottom the Heralds broke their staves 
 and threw them into the grave which closed the ceremony. 
 
 The eight sailors of the Victory who carried the Bier and the one 
 who carried the Ensign of the Victory which was to have been 
 dropped into the grave wept most bitterly, and instead of disposing 
 of the Ensign as it was intended, they, at the request of the People, 
 who got to the grave as soon as the Princes retired, cut it to Pieces 
 and distributed it amongst them, particularly to some of the Soldiers 
 of the 42"^ Reg' who had with them the [ ] taken from the 
 
 [ ]• A Trap door that was fitted to the grave was now 
 
 shut, and the whole of Company retired in sorrowful silence. Mr 
 Atkinson and myself got Mrs and Miss Atkinson, with Miss Ankin 
 down from their seats and after being joined by Messrs Norton & 
 Dyer, we all got into Mr Atkinson's Coach (which the Duke of 
 Norfolk who was standing at the Door pointed out to us where it 
 was) and return'd to Mr Atkinson's to Dinner first having left Miss 
 Ankin at home. After Dinner I went to the Percy and staid with 
 Mr Ankin till 2 o'clock, and after setting him down in a Coach at his 
 own house, return'd home to bed. 
 
 loth. Mr Mrs and Miss Atkinson call'd upon me and Mrs A. 
 put into my hand five pounds and requested that I would send it to 
 Mr Kent's family at Edgware whom I informed her the day before 
 were in distress. Call'd in Piccadilly, dined at Leister square, call'd 
 
 270 
 
APPENDIX J 
 
 in Jerrard S'., saw Richards resp^ Lindsay, altered the term of the 
 arbitration. 
 
 Went to the Percy, found Ankin, Const, Doc'' and Cock, talked 
 of Mrs Atkinson's bounty, the Doct"' spoke of the Kents & the 
 Gore S' school, got one pound from Const and another from Ankin 
 for the Kents. 
 
 nth. Dined at home, Sir E. Butler call'd, informed me he could 
 not see Ryan and was obliged to return to the Reg', but promised to 
 come back on the 15th and finally settle. Went to the Percy, met 
 Ankin, the Doct' and Brand ; the Doct'^ very severe on Brand being a 
 little cut. Ankin invited the Doct"' and I to dine the next day and 
 to go with me if it was fine to Cannons. 
 
 1 2th. Did not go out till I went to Ankins to dinner. Const 
 came at ten in the evening and we all staid supper. Const invited 
 me in going home to dine with him the next day. The morning 
 being wet Mr Ankin did not come. I wrote a letter to Mrs Kent, 
 enclosed her ten pounds, and sent James with it on Horseback to 
 Edgware. He returned to Mr Ankin, informing me he put it into 
 Mr Kent's hands, but brought no answer from him — but a note from 
 Mr Andersons inviting me to dinner on Thursday next. 
 
 13th. Call'd in Piccadilly at Mr Bonner's; at the Bankers saw 
 
 Mr Middleton ; spoke to him about Lindsay who he promised to 
 
 write to, to take up his bill for ;^200 overdue ten months or more ; 
 
 got from him Capt" Best's Bill whose furniture is to be sold by 
 
 auction to-morrow, spoke to him about Ryan's Debt to the House ; 
 
 he agreed at my recommendation to take the security Ryan offer'd 
 
 and to pay it by instalments of ^300 p. annum till the Debt was paid. 
 
 I observed that I would take mine in the same way if I could not 
 
 make a better arrangement with Sir E. Butler who was also liable 
 
 to pay me having receiv'd the money in a most dishonourable way 
 
 (as Ryan has stated in writing to me) for my acceptance, which Ryan 
 
 states he only confided to his care and which was to have been 
 
 returned to me ; but they are both implicated as Ryan broke his 
 
 word of honour to me in suffering it to go out of his hands before he 
 
 return'd it, and Butler declares he gave him part of the money ! 
 
 From such men God defend me. Promised to get Mr Middleton 
 
 a Box at Drury Lane to see the [ ] on Thursday. 
 
 Call'd on Richards, consented in consequence of a conversation he 
 
 271 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 had with Mr Burshall respecting Lindsay that he should name a 
 sum for the House and 1 2 acres for the remainder of the Term of 
 21 years which I fixed at ;C8o, and which is less even than what 
 Arbuck [?] paid for the House. 
 
 Dined with Const, J. Johnson ; and Major Downs, of the S 
 James Volunteers, came in before we were half done dinner. At 
 7 o'clock I went to S* James to meet Ryan, communicat'd to him 
 what pass'd between me and Butler whom he much abused, ap- 
 pointed to meet him on Wednesday evening in the City and bring 
 Butler with me if he return'd at six o'clock ; communicated what I 
 had done for him with Mr Middleton, he felt much obliged ; 
 return'd to Const and party, drank a good deal of wine, staid after 
 the .... 
 
APPENDIX K 
 
 A NEWGATE CONFESSION 
 
 Newgate 
 20 Sep" 1 8 1 3 
 
 I James Leary having received the Sacrament & being now 
 on the brink of eternity do hereby most solemnly declare that 
 although I was present I did not commit the murder of 
 Clifford. 
 
 (Signed) James Leary. 
 
 Sent to A. D. O'Kelly 
 
 in Half-Moon Street, on Sepsis 1813 with a letter from 
 " James O'Brien, R.C. Curate, Lismore," in answer to 
 O' Kelly's inquiries as to whether one Slattery received the 
 Sacrament before leaving Ireland, and had his parents' per- 
 mission ; and concerning "that unfortunate female Mrs. 
 Burke who associated with the more unfortunate Clifford 
 who, as we read in the papers, was brutally murdered." 
 
 273 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
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 274. 
 
APPENDIX M 
 
 
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 — Darley Arabian Imported 
 
 J3 
 
 3 
 
 a! 
 
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 c/} o 
 O 
 
 to 
 
 CQ 
 
 -Betty Leedes 
 -Snake 
 
 C Careless by Spanker by 
 < D'Arcy-Yellow-Turk 
 I Sister to Leedes 
 /The Lister Turk ' 
 \ Daughter of Hautboy 
 
 (•Hautboy by D'Arcy- 
 ) White Turk out of a 
 
 \ Royal Mare 
 Miss D'Arcy's Pet Mare 
 -Hutton's Bay Barb — Imported 
 
 -Grey Wilkes 
 
 
 « 
 
 3 
 Q 
 
 a J3 
 .a u 
 
 -Daughter of 
 -Bay Bolton 
 
 —Daughter of 
 
 fConeyskins by Lister 
 
 -", Turk 
 
 •-The old Clubfoot Mare 
 
 {Grey Hautboy by Haut- 
 boy 
 Daughter of Makeless 
 
 JFox Cub by Clumsy by 
 i Hautboy 
 Daughter of Coneyskins 
 
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 Cfi 
 
 3 
 nl 
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 -Imported 
 
 ^ f The St. Victor Barb 
 
 —Bald Galloway i Dgtr. of Why Not by 
 I Fenwick Barb 
 
 _Sister to Old j Snake by Lister Turk 
 
 Country Wench \GreyWilkesbyHautboy 
 
 — Snake 
 
 /Lister Turk 
 
 1 Daughter of Hautboy 
 
 ("The Ancaster Turk 
 -Squirrel's Dam -j Granddaughter of 
 I Pulleine Arabian 
 
 -Old Montagu 
 
 -Breeding unknown 
 
 -Daughter of {gautboy 
 
 ,er of Brimmer 
 
 275 
 
APPENDIX N 
 
 The produce by Eclipse won as follows, viz 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 £ ^- 
 
 In 1774 
 
 1 
 
 Winner 
 
 won 
 
 210 
 
 1775 
 
 9 
 
 Winners 
 
 won 
 
 3.269 5 
 
 1776 
 
 IS 
 
 >> 
 
 
 6,418 15 
 
 1777 
 
 17 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 8,986 
 
 1778 
 
 23 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 9,410 10 
 
 1779 
 
 29 
 
 
 } 
 
 
 7.726 s 
 
 1780 
 
 28 
 
 
 ) 
 
 
 10,637 
 
 1781 
 
 26 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 11,539 10 
 
 1782 
 
 31 
 
 
 ) 
 
 
 12,893 15 
 
 1783 
 
 29 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 13.914 5 
 
 1784 
 
 16 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 13.280 8 
 
 1785 
 
 21 
 
 
 f 
 
 
 8,961 5 
 
 1786 
 
 18 
 
 
 J 
 
 
 14,604 10 
 
 1787 
 
 19 
 
 
 J 
 
 
 15.288 5 
 
 1788 
 
 15 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 9,218 17 
 
 1789 
 
 14 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 4.417 5 
 
 1790 
 
 13 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 4.022 5 
 
 1791 
 
 10 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 1,744 10 
 
 1792 
 
 S 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 656 10 
 
 1793 
 
 I 
 
 Winner 
 
 won 
 
 200 
 
 1794 
 
 2 
 
 Winners 
 
 won 
 
 431 
 
 1795 
 
 I 
 
 Winner 
 
 won 
 
 112 12 
 
 1796 
 
 I 
 
 Winners won 
 
 105 
 
 In 23 years 
 
 344 
 
 ;,^iS8,047 12 
 
 To the above sums must also be added the following : 
 
 In 1779, at Newmarket, the Clermont cup and subscription, also 
 the October cup, by Lord Grosvenor's PotSos. 
 1779, at Salisbury, the City silver bowl, by Sir H. Feather- 
 stone's Empress. 
 
 276 
 
APPENDIX N 
 
 1780, at Newmarket, the Clermont cup and subscription, the 
 Jockey Club plate, and the whip, by Lord Grosvenor's 
 PotSos. 
 
 1 78 1, at Newmarket, the Jockey Club plate, and the whip, by 
 Lord Grosvenor's PotSos. 
 
 1 781, at Epsom, Mr. O'Kelly's Young Eclipse received a 
 forfeit. 
 
 1782, at Newmarket, the Clermont cup, and Jockey Club 
 plate, by Lord Grosvenor's PotSos. 
 
 17S3, at Newmarket, the whip, by PotSos. 
 
 1785, at Oxford, a sweepstakes, by Mr. O'Kelly's General. 
 
 1786, at Newmarket, the whip, by Mr. O'Kelly's Dun- 
 gannon. 
 
 1788, at Newmarket, the Jockey Club plate, by Mr. O'Kelly's 
 Gunpowder. 
 
 17S9, at Newmarket, the Jockey Club plate, by Lord Grosve- 
 nor's Meteor. 
 
 The best known of Eclipse's sons and daughters were : 
 
 Alexander 
 
 General 
 
 Princess 
 
 Anna 
 
 Gunpowder 
 
 Queen Mab 
 
 Annette 
 
 Horatia 
 
 Ruth 
 
 Augusta 
 
 Isabella 
 
 Saltram 
 
 Bobtail 
 
 Javelin 
 
 Scota 
 
 Boudrow 
 
 Joe Andrews 
 
 Sergeant 
 
 Crassus 
 
 Jupiter 
 
 Tiffany 
 
 Don Quixote 
 
 King Fergus 
 
 Venus 
 
 Dungannon 
 
 Madcap 
 
 Volunteer 
 
 Everlasting 
 
 Mercury 
 
 Xantippe 
 
 Empress 
 
 Meteor 
 
 Young Eclipse 
 
 Fanny 
 
 Miss Harvey 
 
 Zara 
 
 Firetail 
 
 Pegasus 
 
 Zilia 
 
 Frenzy 
 
 PotSos 
 
 
 277 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
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 U 
 
 ^ — Eclipse, by Marska 
 
 -Creeping Polly, by Black and All Black 
 
 — Highflyer, by Herod 
 — Monimia, by Matchem 
 
 — Herod, by Tartar 
 — Frenzy, by Eclipse 
 
 I — Matchem, by Cade 
 
 — Lass of the Mill, by Oroonoko 
 
 — Eclipse, by Marske 
 
 — Sportsmistress by Sportsman 
 
 -Herod, by Tartar 
 -Dau. of Snap 
 
 -Herod, by Tartar 
 -Rachel, by Blank 
 
 — PotSos by Eclipse 
 — Manilla by Goldfinder 
 
 
 - SI t^- 
 
 ■-I 
 
 01 
 
 278 
 
APPENDIX O 
 
 I— Eclipse 
 
 
 o 
 
 -Sportsmistress 
 
 —Herod 
 
 2 
 
 -Lisette 
 
 W 
 
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 Q 
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 CO 
 
 
 
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 -"33- 
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 -Conductor 
 -Brunette 
 
 .—Highflyer, by Herod 
 
 -a- 
 
 3 
 
 (Ih 
 
 -Promise 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 X 
 
 & 
 
 _Dau. of Tartar 
 
 —Woodpecker, by Herod 
 
 l_Petworth 
 
 
 •a 
 
 3 
 
 -Imperator 
 
 
 £ l_Mare by Herod 
 
 -Sir Peter, by Highflyer, by Herod 
 
 CQ I Pyrrha 
 
 279 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 W 
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 pa — 
 
 . /-Walton by Sir Peter — Arethusa by 
 -PartisanJ Dungannon {Eclipse) 
 
 ^ Parasol by PotSos {Eclipse) 
 
 Moses by Seymour out of Dau. of Go- 
 hanna by Mercury by Eclipse 
 -Pauline •{ Quadrille by Selim — Canary Bird by 
 Sorcerer — Canary by Coriander by 
 PotSos {Eclipse) 
 
 ■BlackIockbyWhitelock(£c/i/ise)— Dau. 
 of Coriander by PotSos {Eclipse) 
 — Voltaire -( Dau. of Phantom (2 crosses of Eclipse) 
 — Dau. of Overton by King Fergus 
 {Eclipse) 
 
 |'BlacklockbyWhitelock(£(;/i/)K)— Dau. 
 I of Coriander by PotSos {Eclipse) 
 — Belinda i Wagtail by Prime Minister by Sancho 
 1 by Don Quixote by Eclipse — Dau. of 
 \_ Orville (a crosses of Eclipse) 
 
 I Buzzard by Woodpecker — Misfortune 
 — Castrel \ by Dux 
 
 I Dau. of Alexander by Eclipse 
 
 j Peruvian by Sir Peter — Dau. of Bou- 
 — Idalia ^ drow {Eclipse) 
 
 (_ Musidora by Meteor {Eclipse) 
 
 r Orville by Beningbrough by King 
 Master | Fergus {Eclipse) 
 "Henry "i Miss Sophia by Stamford (by Sir Peter 
 -Horatio by Eclipse) 
 
 S M 
 
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 Boa- f Alexander by Eclipse 
 dicea \ Brunette by Amaranthus 
 
 / Blacklock by Whitelock {Eclipse)— 
 Brutan- | Dau. of Coriander {Eclipse) 
 "dorf "1 Dau. of Comus by Sorcerer — Mar- 
 t ciana (2 crosses of Eclipse) 
 
 . ( Prime Minister {Eclipse) 
 
 -Primetto| ^iss Paul by Sir Paul— Dau. of Shuttle 
 
 -Mulatto -f Cotton (2 crosses Eclipse) 
 
 \ Desdemona by OrvilUe {Eclipse) 
 
 -Linda 
 
 {Waterloo {Eclipse) 
 Cressida by Whisky {Eclipse) 
 
 -a- 
 < 
 
 Sir Her-/ Whalebone {Eclipse) 
 "cules \ Peri (2 crosses of Eclipse) 
 
 m 
 
 
 _Guic- 
 cioli 
 
 -Clarion 
 
 — Annette 
 
 / Bob Booty by Chanticleer {Eclipse) 
 \ Flight by Irish Escape 
 
 Sultan (2 crosses of Eclipse) 
 Clara by Filho-da-Puta (2 crosses of 
 Eclipse) 
 
 Priam (4 crosses of Eclipse) 
 Dau. of Don Juan — Moll {Eclipse) 
 
 280 
 
APPENDIX O 
 
 w 
 
 
 pa 
 
 
 o 
 
 t^ 
 
 t-H 
 
 00 
 
 Q 
 
 T 
 
 W 
 
 3 
 
 PL, 
 
 
 
 OJ 
 
 
 j: 
 
 CO 
 
 U 
 
 pi, 
 
 Qi 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 D 
 
 
 Z 
 
 Q 
 
 w 
 
 ^^ 
 
 (B 
 
 
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 to 
 
 ■CCJ 
 
 •3 I 
 
 So"?- 
 
 C OO 
 
 Hn 
 
 
 rSir Hercules by WhaIebone(Wa.\y— Penelope)— Peri by Wanderer — Thalestris 
 _Birdcatcher J by Alexander — Rival by Sir Peter — Hornet by Drone 
 
 (Ch. — 1833) j Guiccioli by Boli Booty (Chanticleer — lerne) — Flight by Irish Escape — Young 
 I. Heroine by Bagot (Herod) — Heroine by Hero — sister to Regulus 
 
 ("Economist by Whisker (Waxy — Penelope) — Floranthe by Octavian — Caprice 
 -Echidna I by Anvil — Madcap by Eclipse — daughter of Blank — daughter of Blaze 
 
 (B.— 1838 1 1 Miss Pratt by Blackfolk— Gadabout by Orville— Minstrel by Sir Peter — 
 V. Matron by Florizel — Maiden by Matchem, &c. 
 
 /"Sultan by Selim( Buzzard — daughter of Alexander) — Bacchante by Williamson's 
 -Glencoe J Ditto (Sir Peter) — sister to Calomel by Mercury — daughter of Herod. 
 
 (Ch. — 1833) I Trampoline by Tramp — Web by Waxy — Penelope by Trumpator — Prunella 
 (. by Highflyer — Promise by Snap — Julia by Blank, &c. 
 
 rMuley by Orville (above) — Eleanor by Whisky — Young Giantess by Dioraed — 
 _Marpessa J Giantess by .Matchem — Molly Long Legs by Babraham, &c. 
 
 (B. — 1830) 1 Clare by Marmion (Whisky — Young Noisette) — Harpaiice(Gohanna) — Amazon 
 I. by Driver — Fractious by Mercury — daughter of Woodpecker, &c. 
 
 /"Touchstone by Camel (Whalebone by Waxy)— Banter by Master Henry — 
 J Boadicea by Alexander (Echpse) — Brunette by Amaranlhus, &c. 
 j Vulture by Langar — Kite by Mustard — Olympia by Sir Oliver (Sir Peter) — 
 t Scolilla by Anvil — Scota by Eclipse — Harmony by Herod — Rutilia, &c. 
 
 /■Rockingham by Humphrey Clinker (Comus— Clinkerina)— Medora by Swords- 
 
 _OrIando 
 (B.— 1841) 
 
 Miss 
 
 — Ratan 
 
 .Q CO 
 
 1= ':' 
 -11. 
 
 SO 
 
 3 o 
 o »o 
 
 J3 CO — 
 
 IT 
 
 o — 
 
 J3 CO 
 
 -sT- 
 
 rp . , , J man (Buffer by Prizefighter) — daughter of Trumpaior— Peppermint, &c. 
 iwicKennam 1 ElectressbyElection(Gohanna— Chestnut Skim)— daughter of Stamford— Miss 
 H-n.— 1B3B) (^ j^jy j^y Alfred- Manilla by Goldfinder— daughter of old England 
 
 /"Buzzard by Blacklock (above)— Miss Newton by Delpini — Tipple Cyder by 
 I King Fergus (Eclipse) — Sylvia by Young Marske (Marske) 
 /rh s 1 1 Daughter of Picton (Smolensko— daughter of Dick Andrews)— daughter of 
 (Ch.— 1841) (^ Selim (above)— dau. of Pipator — Queen Mab by Eclipse— dau. of Old Tartar 
 
 /"Melbourne by Humphry Clinker— daughter of Cervantes(Don Quixote) — dau. 
 ._ , , J of Golumpus— daughter of Paynator — sister to Zodiac by St. George, &c. 
 
 Daugtuerot i Lj^teth by Phantom (Walton— Julia by Whisky)— Ehzabeth by Rainbow— 
 (Br. 1844) ^^ Belvoirina by Stamford— sisier to Silver by Mercury— daughter of Herod 
 
 ("Castrel by Buzzard (Woodpecker — Misfortune by Dux) — dau. of Alexander 
 _ I — daughter of Highflyer— dau. of Alfred (brother to Conductor) by Matchem 
 
 " m _ R ) 1 ^^^^^^ ^y Peruvian— Musidora by Meteor— Maid of all Work by Highflyer— 
 I • ^°^'ii [_ sister to Tamdem by Syphon— daughter of Regulus— daughter of Snip 
 
 /"Touchstone by Camel (Whalebone by Wa.xy)— Banter by Master Henry— 
 Phryne J Boadicea by -Mexander— Brunette by Amaranthus— Mayfly, &c. 
 
 (Br.— 1840) 1 Decoy by Filho-da-Puta (Haphazard— Mrs. Barnet by Waxy)— Finesse by 
 1. Peruvian — Violante by John Bull — sister to Skyscraper. &c. 
 
 -■3 I" 
 
 ffl 
 
 Muley 
 - Moloch 
 (B.-1830) 
 
 -Rebecca 
 (B.-1831) 
 
 -Sandbeck 
 (B.— 1818) 
 
 .Johanna 
 Ch.-i8i3) 
 
 Plenipo- 
 - tentiary 
 (Ch.— 1831) 
 
 Pawn Jimior) 
 " (Br.— 1817 
 
 /"MuleybyOrville— Eleanor by Whisky— Young Gaintess by Matchem— Gaintess 
 J by Matchem— Molly Long Legs by Babraham, &c. 
 
 I Nancy by Dick Andrews— Spitfire by Beningbro'— daughter of Young Sir Peter 
 (. -daughter of Engineer— dau. of Wilson's A— dau. ol Hutton's Spot, &c. 
 
 /"Lottery by Tramp (above)— Mandane by Pot8os( Eclipse) — Young Camilla by 
 J Woodpecker — Camilla by Treniham — daughter of The Godolphin. 
 "i Daughter of Cervantes (Don Quixote— Evelina) — Anticipation by Beningbro' 
 L — Expectation (sister to Telemachus) by Herod— daughter of Skim 
 
 /"Catton by Golumpus— Lucy Grey by Timothy— Lucy by Florizel— Frenzy by 
 J Eclipse— daughter of Engineer— daughter of Blank— Lass of the Mill &c. 
 j Orvillina (sister to Orville) by Beningbro' (above)— Evelina by Highflyer — 
 L Termagant by Tantrum- Cantalrice by Sampson— daughter of Regulus 
 
 /"Selim by Buzzard— daughter of Alexander — daughter of Highflyer— dau. of 
 J Alfred— dau. of Engineer— Bay Malton's dam by Cade— Lass of the Mill, &c. 
 1 Comical's dam by Skyscraper— daughter of Dragon— Fidget's dam by Matchem 
 I, — sister to S«eetbriar by Syphon — dau. of Shakespeare — dau. of Cade, &c. 
 
 /"Emilius by Orville— Emily by Stamford— dau. of Whisky— Grey Dorimant by 
 J Dorimant— Dizzy by Blank— Dizzy by Driver— dau. of Smiling Tom, &c. 
 j Harriet by Pericles— dau. ot Selim— Pipylina by Sir Peter— Rally by -Trum- 
 l pator— Fancy by Florizel— daughter of Spectator— sisier to Horatius, &c 
 
 /"Waxy by Pot8os — Maria by Herod (above)— Lisette by Snap (Snip) — Miss 
 J Windsor by The Godolphin— sister to Volunteer by Young Belgrade, tie.' 
 I Pawn (sister to Penelope) by Trumpator— Prunella by Highflyer— Promise by 
 I. Snap — Julia by Blank — Spectator's dam by Partner, &c. 
 
w 
 
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 en CD 
 
 AND O'KELLY 
 
 -Voltaire, 1826 /Blacklock, 1814 
 
 \ Phantom mare, 1816 
 
 -MarthaLynn, 1837 ("Mulatto, 1823 
 i Leda, 1824 
 
 Irish Birdcatcher, f„. ., , „ « 
 - jQ,, '/Sir Hercules, 1826 
 
 ^•^ \Giuccioli, 1823 
 
 _Nan Darrell, 1844 /Inheritor, 1831 
 |Nell, 1 83 1 
 
 _Bay Middleton, rsultan, 1816 
 1833 jCobweb, 1 82 1 
 
 -Barbelle, 1836 fSandbeck, 1818 
 1 Darioletta, 1822 
 
 —Voltaire, 1826 /Blacklock, 1814 
 
 1 Phantom mare, 1816 
 
 ^Velocipede's Dam,jjuinper, 1805 
 
 ~ 1817 \ Sorcerer mare, 18 10 
 
 —Touchstone, 1831 jcamel, 1822 
 (^Banter, 1826 
 
 -Fair Helen, 1843 / Pantaloon 1824 
 (.Rebecca, 1831 
 
 _The Little Un-j^^, ^gio 
 known, J836 |Lacerta, 1816 
 
 -Bay Missy, X842 {SK?' ^'^^ 
 
 
 O w 
 
 "The Baron, 1842 
 
 ("Irish Birdcatcher, 1833 
 -[Echidna, 1838 
 
 _, , , „ rGlencoe, 1831 
 —Pocahontas, 1837 J Marpessa, 1830 
 
 ,, ,, _ ("Humphry Clinker, 1831 
 
 -Melbourne, 1834 jcervantes mare, 1825 
 
 fTouchstone, 1831 
 -Mowerina, 1843 ^^Emma, 1824 
 
 282 
 
APPENDIX P 
 
 WINNERS OF THE DERBY TRACING TO 
 ECLIPSE, MATCHEM, HEROD, ETC. 
 
 
 Owner 
 
 Winner 
 
 Sire 
 
 Tracing in Male 
 Line to 
 
 1780 
 
 Sir C. Bunbury 
 
 Diomed 
 
 Florizel 
 
 Herod 
 
 1781 
 
 Col. O'Kelly 
 
 Y. Eclipse 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 1782 
 
 Ld. Egremont 
 
 Assassin 
 
 Sweetbriar 
 
 Squirt (grand- 
 sire of Eclipse 
 
 1783 
 
 Mr. Parker 
 
 Saltram 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 1784 
 
 Col. O'Kelly 
 
 Sergeant 
 
 n 
 
 }) 
 
 1785 
 
 Ld. Clermont 
 
 Aimwell 
 
 Marc Antony 
 
 SpectatorandCrab 
 
 1786 
 
 Mr. Panton 
 
 Noble 
 
 Highflyer 
 
 Herod 
 
 1787 
 
 Lord Derby 
 
 Sir Peter Teazle 
 
 )> 
 
 }} 
 
 1788 
 
 Prince of Wales 
 
 Sir Thomas 
 
 Pontac 
 
 Marske (sire of 
 Eclipse) 
 
 1789 
 
 D. of Bedford 
 
 Skyscraper 
 
 Highflyer 
 
 Herod 
 
 1790 
 
 Ld. Grosvenor 
 
 Rhadamanthus 
 
 Justice 
 
 11 
 
 I79I 
 
 D. of Bedford 
 
 Eager 
 
 Florizel 
 
 Herod 
 
 1792 
 
 Ld. Grosvenor 
 
 John Bull 
 
 Fortitude 
 
 J) 
 
 1793 
 
 Sir F. Poole 
 
 Waxy 
 
 PotSos 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 1794 
 
 Ld. Grosvenor 
 
 Daedalus 
 
 Justice 
 
 Herod 
 
 1795 
 
 Sir F. Standish 
 
 Spread Eagle 
 
 Volunteer 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 1796 
 
 »» 
 
 Didelot 
 
 Trumpator 
 
 Matchem 
 
 1797 
 
 D. of Bedford 
 
 colt by 
 
 Fidget 
 
 Herod 
 
 1798 
 
 Mr. Cookson 
 
 Sir Harry 
 
 Sir Peter 
 
 Herod 
 
 1799 
 
 Sir F. Standish 
 
 Archduke 
 
 »> 
 
 n 
 
 1800 
 
 Mr. Wilson 
 
 Champion 
 
 PotSos 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 I80I 
 
 Sir C. Bunbury 
 
 Eleanor 
 
 Whisky 
 
 31 
 
 1802 
 
 D. of Grafton 
 
 Tyrant 
 
 Pot8os 
 
 9) 
 
 1803 
 
 Sir H. Williamson 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Sir Peter 
 
 Herod 
 
 1804 
 
 1805 
 
 Ld. Egremont 
 » 
 
 Hannibal 
 Cardinal Beau- 
 fort 
 
 283 
 
 Driver 
 Gohanna 
 
 Trentham (by 
 
 Sweepstakes) 
 Eclipse 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 
 Owner 
 
 Winner 
 
 Sire 
 
 Tracing in Male 
 Line to 
 
 1806 
 
 Ld. Foley 
 
 Paris 
 
 Sir Peter 
 
 Herod 
 
 1807 
 
 Ld. Egremont 
 
 Election 
 
 Gohanna 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 1808 
 
 Sir H. Williamson 
 
 Pan 
 
 St. George 
 
 Herod 
 
 1809 
 
 D. of Grafton 
 
 Pope 
 
 Waxy 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 I8I0 
 
 »i 
 
 Whalebone 
 
 fi 
 
 I) 
 
 I8II 
 
 Sir J. Kelly 
 
 Phantom 
 
 Walton 
 
 Herod 
 
 I8I2 
 
 Mr. Ladbroke 
 
 Octavius 
 
 Orville 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 I8I3 
 
 Sir C. Bunbury 
 
 Smolensko 
 
 Sorcerer 
 
 Matchem 
 
 I8I4 
 
 Ld. Stawell 
 
 Blucher 
 
 Waxy 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 I8I5 
 
 D. of Grafton 
 
 Whisker 
 
 )) 
 
 )i 
 
 I8I6 
 
 D. of York 
 
 Prince Leopold 
 
 Hedley 
 
 »» 
 
 I8I7 
 
 Mr. Payne 
 
 Azor 
 
 Selim 
 
 Herod 
 
 I8I8 
 
 Mr. Thornhill 
 
 Sam 
 
 Scud 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 I8I9 
 
 D. of Portland 
 
 Tiresias 
 
 Soothsayer 
 
 Matcheni 
 
 1820 
 
 Mr. Thornhill 
 
 Sailor 
 
 Scud 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 I82I 
 
 Mr. Hunter 
 
 Gustavus 
 
 Election 
 
 11 
 
 1822 
 
 D. of York 
 
 Moses 
 
 Whalebone or 
 Seymour 
 
 Herod 
 
 1823 
 
 Mr. Udney 
 
 Emilius 
 
 Orville 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 1824 
 
 Sir J. Shelley 
 
 Cedric 
 
 Phantom 
 
 Herod 
 
 1825 
 
 Ld. Jersey 
 
 Middleton 
 
 II 
 
 1i 
 
 1826 
 
 Ld. Egremont 
 
 Lapdog 
 
 Whalebone 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 1827 
 
 Ld. Jersey 
 
 Mameluke 
 
 Partisan 
 
 Herod 
 
 1828 
 
 D. of Rutland 
 
 Cadland 
 
 Andrew 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 1829 
 
 Mr. Gratwicke 
 
 Frederick 
 
 Little John 
 
 )) 
 
 1830 
 
 Mr. Chifney 
 
 Priam 
 
 Emilius 
 
 J) 
 
 1831 
 
 Ld. Lowther 
 
 Spaniel 
 
 Whalebone 
 
 jj 
 
 1832 
 
 Mr. Ridsdale 
 
 St. Giles 
 
 Tramp 
 
 )i 
 
 1833 
 
 Mr. Sadler 
 
 Dangerous 
 
 )) 
 
 » 
 
 1834 
 
 Mr. Bateson 
 
 Plenipotentiary 
 
 Emilius 
 
 it 
 
 183s 
 
 Mr. Bowes 
 
 Mundig 
 
 Catton 
 
 J) 
 
 1836 
 
 Ld. Jersey 
 
 Bay Middleton 
 
 Sultan 
 
 Herod 
 
 1837 
 
 Ld. Berners 
 
 Phosphorus 
 
 Lamplighter 
 
 II 
 
 1838 
 
 Sir G. Heathcote 
 
 Amato 
 
 Velocipede 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 1839 
 
 Mr. VV. Ridsdale 
 
 Bloomsbury 
 
 Mulatto 
 
 » 
 
 1840 
 
 Mr. Robertson 
 
 Little Wonder 
 
 Muley 
 
 91 
 
 I84I 
 
 Mr. Rawlinson 
 
 Coronation 
 
 Sir Hercules 
 
 »» 
 
 1842 
 
 Col. Anson 
 
 Attila 
 
 Colwick 
 
 Herod 
 
 1843 
 
 Mr. Bowes 
 
 Cotherstone 
 
 Touchstone 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 1844 
 
 Gen. Peel 
 
 Orlando 
 
 11 
 
 t) 
 
 1845 
 
 Mr. Gratwicke 
 
 Merry Monarch 
 
 Slane 
 
 jf 
 
 1846 
 
 Mr. Gully 
 
 Pyrrhus the 
 First 
 
 Epirus 
 
 Herod 
 
 1847 
 
 Mr. Pedley 
 
 Cossack 
 
 Hetman Platoflf 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 1848 
 
 Ld. Clifden 
 
 Surplice 
 
 Touchstone 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 1849 
 
 Ld. Eglinton 
 
 The Flying 
 Dutchman 
 
 Bay Middleton 
 
 Herod 
 
 284 
 
APPENDIX P 
 
 
 Owner 
 
 IVinner 
 
 Sire 
 
 Tracing in Male 
 Line to 
 
 1850 
 
 Ld. Zetland 
 
 Voltigeur 
 
 Voltaire 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 1851 
 
 Sir J. Hawley 
 
 Teddington 
 
 Orlando 
 
 )> 
 
 1852 
 
 Mr. Bowes 
 
 Daniel 
 O'Rourke 
 
 Birdcatcher 
 
 )» 
 
 1853 
 
 )» 
 
 West Australian 
 
 Melbourne 
 
 Matchem 
 
 1854 
 
 Mr. Gull 
 
 Andover 
 
 Bay Middleton 
 
 Herod 
 
 1855 
 
 Mr. Popham 
 
 Wild Dayrell 
 
 Ion 
 
 Herod 
 
 1856 
 
 Admiral Harcourt 
 
 Ellington 
 
 The Flying 
 Dutchman 
 
 )} 
 
 1857 
 
 Mr. W. I'Anson 
 
 Blink Bonny 
 
 Melbourne 
 
 Matchem 
 
 1858 
 
 Sir J. Hawley 
 
 Beadsman 
 
 Weatherbit 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 1859 
 
 »i 
 
 Musjid 
 
 Newminster 
 
 a 
 
 i860 
 
 Mr. Merry 
 
 Thormanby 
 
 Melbourne or 
 Windhound 
 
 Herod 
 
 I86I 
 
 Col. Towneley 
 
 Kettledrum 
 
 Rataplan 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 1862 
 
 Mr. C. Snewing 
 
 Caractacus 
 
 Kingston 
 
 Herod 
 
 1863 
 
 Mr. R. C. Naylor 
 
 Macaroni 
 
 Sweetmeat 
 
 )) 
 
 1864 
 
 Mr. W. I'Anson 
 
 Blair Athol 
 
 Stockwell 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 1865 
 
 Count de Lagrange 
 
 Gladiateur 
 
 Monarque 
 
 » 
 
 1866 
 
 Mr. Sutton 
 
 Lord Lyon 
 
 Stockwell 
 
 )) 
 
 1867 
 
 Mr. H. Chaplin 
 
 Hermit 
 
 Newminster 
 
 >j 
 
 1868 
 
 Sir J. Hawley 
 
 Blue Gown 
 
 Beadsman 
 
 }) 
 
 1869 
 
 Mr. J. Johnstone 
 
 Pretender 
 
 Adventurer 
 
 )) 
 
 1870 
 
 Lord Falmouth 
 
 Kingcraft 
 
 King Tom 
 
 )> 
 
 I87I 
 
 Baron Rothschild 
 
 Favonius 
 
 Parmesan 
 
 Herod 
 
 1872 
 
 Mr. H. Savile 
 
 Cremorne 
 
 Parmesan 
 
 »• 
 
 1873 
 
 Mr. Merry 
 
 Doncaster 
 
 Stockwell 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 1874 
 
 Mr. Cartwright 
 
 George 
 Frederick 
 
 Marsyas 
 
 )) 
 
 187s 
 
 Prince Batthyany 
 
 Galopin 
 
 Vedette 
 
 )i 
 
 1876 
 
 Mr. A. Baltazzi 
 
 Kisber 
 
 Buccaneer 
 
 Herod 
 
 1877 
 
 Lord Falmouth 
 
 Silvio 
 
 Blair Athol 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 1878 
 
 Mr. Crawfurd 
 
 Sefton 
 
 Speculum 
 
 » 
 
 1879 
 
 Mr. Acton 
 
 Sir Bevys 
 
 Favonius 
 
 Herod 
 
 1880 
 
 D. of Westminster 
 
 Bend Or 
 
 Doncaster 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 I88I 
 
 Mr. Lorillard 
 
 Iroquois 
 
 Leamington 
 
 )j 
 
 1882 
 
 D. of Westminster 
 
 Shotover 
 
 Hermit 
 
 )) 
 
 1883 
 
 Sir F. Johnstone 
 
 St. Blaise 
 
 Hermit 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 1884 
 
 fMr. J. Hammond 
 tsir J. WiUoughby 
 
 St. Gatien 
 
 Rotherhill or 
 The Rover 
 
 n 
 
 
 Harvester 
 
 Sterling 
 
 >» 
 
 1885 
 
 Ld. Hastings 
 
 Melton 
 
 Master Kildare 
 
 I) 
 
 1886 
 
 D. of Westminster 
 
 Ormonde 
 
 Bend Or 
 
 )j 
 
 1887 
 
 Mr. Abington 
 
 Merry Hampton 
 
 Hampton 
 
 )» 
 
 1888 
 
 D. of Portland 
 
 Ayrshire 
 
 n 
 
 Ji 
 
 1889 
 
 )> )» 
 
 Donovan 
 
 Galopin 
 
 n 
 
 1890 
 
 Sir J. Miller 
 
 Sainfoin 
 
 Springfield 
 
 n 
 
 285 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 
 Owner 
 
 Winner 
 
 Sire 
 
 Tracing in Male 
 Line to 
 
 IS9I 
 
 Sir F. Johnstone 
 
 Common 
 
 Isonomy 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 1892 
 
 Ld. Bradford 
 
 Sir Hugo 
 
 Wisdom 
 
 )» 
 
 1893 
 
 Col. H. McCalmont 
 
 Isinglass 
 
 Isonomy 
 
 11 
 
 IS94 
 
 Ld. Rosebery 
 
 Ladas 
 
 Hampton 
 
 »» 
 
 189s 
 
 )) ij 
 
 Sir Visto 
 
 Barcaldine 
 
 Matchem 
 
 1896 
 
 H.R.H. the Prince 
 of Wales 
 
 Persimmon 
 
 St. Simon 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 1897 
 
 Mr. J. Gubbins 
 
 Galtee More 
 
 Kendal 
 
 )i 
 
 I89S 
 
 Mr. J. W. Larnach 
 
 Jeddah 
 
 Janissary 
 
 n 
 
 1899 
 
 D. of Westminster 
 
 Flying Fox 
 
 Orme 
 
 1) 
 
 
 H.R.H. the Prince 
 
 Diamond 
 
 St. Simon 
 
 
 1900 
 
 of Wales 
 
 Jubilee 
 
 JJ 
 
 1 90 1 
 
 Mr. W. C. Whitney 
 
 Volodyovski 
 
 Florizel II. 
 
 M 
 
 1902 
 
 Mr. J. Gubbins 
 
 Ard Patrick 
 
 St. Florian 
 
 n 
 
 i9°3 
 
 Sir J. Miller 
 
 Rock Sand 
 
 Sainfoin 
 
 I* 
 
 1904 
 
 Mr. Leopold de 
 Rothschild 
 
 St. Amant 
 
 St. Frusquin 
 
 11 
 
 1905 
 
 Ld. Rosebery 
 
 Cicero 
 
 Cyllene 
 
 1} 
 
 1906 
 
 Major Loder 
 
 Spearmint 
 
 Carbine 
 
 )) 
 
 286 
 
APPENDIX Q 
 
 RUNNERS FOR THE DERBY, 1906 
 TRACED TO ECLIPSE, ETC. 
 
 Owner 
 
 Horse 
 
 Sire 
 
 Tracing in 
 Male Line to 
 
 Major Loder 
 
 Spearmint (i) 
 
 Carbine 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 Mr. J. L. Dugdale 
 
 Picton (2) 
 
 Orvieto 
 
 II 
 
 D. of Westminster 
 
 Troutbeck (3) 
 
 Ladas 
 
 II 
 
 Mr. L. de Rothschild 
 
 Radium (4) 
 
 Bend Or 
 
 II 
 
 H.M. the King 
 
 Nulli Secundus 
 
 St. Simon 
 
 II 
 
 Mr. J. A. de Rothschild 
 
 Beppo 
 
 Marco 
 
 Matchem 
 
 Mr. Hall Walker 
 
 Black Arrow 
 
 Count Schomberg 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 Mr. R. Dalgleish 
 
 Buckminster 
 
 Isinglass 
 
 » 
 
 Mr. Reid Walker 
 
 Dingwall 
 
 Dinna Forget 
 
 Herod 
 
 Sir G. Farrar 
 
 Frustrator 
 
 St. Frusquin 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 Mr. A. James 
 
 Gorges 
 
 Ladas 
 
 » 
 
 Ld. Howard de Walden 
 
 His Eminence 
 
 Royal Hampton 
 
 »j 
 
 Mr. W. B. Purefoy 
 
 Lally 
 
 Amphion 
 
 )> 
 
 Mr. E. L. Heinemann 
 
 Malua 
 
 Marco 
 
 Matchem 
 
 Mr. Fairie 
 
 Plum Tree 
 
 Persimmon 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 Mr. J. B. Joel 
 
 Prince William 
 
 Bill of Portland 
 
 n 
 
 Mr. L de Rothschild 
 
 Minos 
 
 St. Frusquin 
 
 »» 
 
 Mr. W. Bass 
 
 Sancy 
 
 Diamond Jubilee 
 
 J» 
 
 Mr. E. A. Wigan 
 
 Sarcelle 
 
 Gallinule 
 
 n 
 
 Mr. R. de Monbel 
 
 Storm 
 
 Ermak 
 
 )i 
 
 Mr. G. Bird 
 
 colt by Teufel — 
 Slipaway 
 
 Teufel 
 
 Herod 
 
 Col. Kirkwood 
 
 The White Knight 
 
 Desmond 
 
 Eclipse 
 
 Lord Derby 
 
 Keystone II. (i) 
 
 Persimmon 
 
 II 
 
 Mr. W. Bass 
 
 Gold Rioch (2) 
 
 Bend Or 
 
 19 
 
 Miss Clinton 
 
 Snow Glory (3) 
 
 Ayrshire 
 
 II 
 
 D. of Portland 
 
 Quair (4) 
 
 Orme 
 
 II 
 
 Mr. D. W. Clarke 
 
 Sweet Mary 
 
 Cyllene 
 
 II 
 
 Mr. F. S. Watt 
 
 Provence 
 
 287 
 
 LeVar 
 
 II 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 Owner ' Horse Sire Tracing in 
 
 Male Line to 
 
 Mr. Fairie Shower Bath Isinglass Eclipse 
 
 Mr. J. B. Joel Waterflower Watercress ,, 
 
 Mr. S. B. Joel Portland Lass Bill of Portland „ 
 
 Lord Derby Victorious Florizel II. ,, 
 
 Mr. Reid Walker Isleta Isinglass „ 
 
 Sir F. Johnstone Shimose Simontault „ 
 
 288 
 
APPENDIX R 
 
 A CONTEMPORARY ADVERTISEMENT OF 
 ECLIPSE AT THE STUD 
 
 ECLIPSE 
 
 was got by Mask and bred by his late Royal Highness 
 the Duke of Cumberland at Cranbourn Lodge and was 
 sold when a foal for ^^45 and afterwards proved to 
 be the best horse in the Kingdom he won the following 
 Prizes at the undermentioned places in the years 1769 
 and 1770 (viz.) : 
 
 1769 
 At Epsom 
 He won 50 guineas against 
 
 Mr. Fortescue's bay Horse Gower 
 Mr. Castle's bay Horse Chance 
 Mr. Fenning's chestnut Horse Tryal 
 Mr. Quick's brown Horse Plume 
 
 At Ascot 
 He won 50 guineas against 
 
 Mr. Fettyplace's bay Horse Cream de 
 Barbie 
 
 At Winchester 
 He won 100 guineas against 
 
 Mr. Turner's bay Horse Slouch 
 Duke of Grafton's grey Horse Chigger 
 Mr. Gott's bay Horse Juba 
 Mr. Bailey's bay Horse Caliban 
 He also walked over the Course for 50 
 guineas 
 
 At Salisbury 
 
 He walked over the Course for 100 
 guineas 
 
 Also won 30 guineas (the Bowl) against 
 Mr. Fettyplace's grey Horse Sulphur 
 Mr. Taylor's bay Horse 6 years old 
 
 At Canterbury 
 
 He walked over the Course for 100 
 guineas 
 
 At Lewes 
 
 He won 100 guineas against 
 
 Mr. Stroud's bay Horse Kingston 
 
 At Litchfield 
 
 He won 100 guineas against 
 
 Mr. Freetier's bay Horse Tardy 
 
 289 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 1770 
 
 At Newmarket 
 He won 400 guineas against 
 Mr. Fenwick's Diana 
 Mr. Stroud's bay Horse Pensionerr 
 Duke of Grafton's grey Horse Chigger 
 At the same place he won 150 guineas 
 against 
 Sir Charles Bunbury's Corsican 
 Aso at the same place walked over the 
 Course two different times for 100 
 guineas each 
 
 At Nottingham 
 He walked over the Course for 100 
 guineas 
 
 At York 
 He walked over the Course for 100 
 
 guineas 
 At the same place he won 319 guineas 
 against 
 Mr. Wentworth's Tortoise 
 Sir Charles Bunbury's Bellario 
 
 At Lincoln 
 He walked over the Course for 100 
 guineas 
 
 At Guildford 
 He walked over the Course for 100 
 guineas 
 
 He won on the whole 2149 guineas, and was never beat. He has since been kept 
 as a stallion, no horse being able to run against him — is now the Property 
 of Col. O' Kelly of Epsom in Surrey. 
 
 [Copied from the original Broadsheet in the possession of H.R.H. Prince 
 Christian of Schleswig-Holstein at Cumberland Lodge.] 
 
 290 
 
APPENDIX S 
 
 THE FIGURE SYSTEM 
 
 I HAVE been asked to add my opinion on the theory introduced 
 by Messrs. Bruce Lowe and William Allison, called " the Figure 
 System," to which allusion has been made here and there in previous 
 pages of this book. In my "History of the English Turf" 
 [Viriiie & Co.), I have already said all that seemed necessary on 
 the subject, and I can summarise here what was stated at length in 
 that book: Vol. i. pp. 153-158. Vol. ii. pp. 284, 433-439- ^ o\. iii. 
 650-653. 
 
 Sceptre's pedigree was interesting when she first began winning races, not 
 only because her sire Persimmon was a direct descendant of Eclipse through 
 Galopin and Voltigcur, but also because St. Simon's son had been mated to a 
 daughter of Bend Or, the grandson of Stockwcll. But the school which believed 
 in Messrs. Bruce Lowe and William Allison preferred to point out that, through 
 Ornament, Sceptre went back to Lily Agnes and finally to a " taproot " (or 
 " original mare ") which had not produced a classic winner in the female line 
 before St. Gaticn. Indeed, if the advice of this school had been followed, the 
 mating which produced Sceptre, Ormonde, Barcaldine, St. Gatien, and Isonomy 
 (to name no more) would never have taken place, because these animals 
 according to the "Figure System" belong to " Outside Families." According 
 to this system, breeding should be limited to the descendants of a few original 
 mares, and even if we grant that Ormonde, Sciptre and others were "exceptions," 
 this principle of limitation seems to me wholly contrary to every experience of 
 breeding and biology. 
 
 If Messrs. Lowe and Allison are correct, their explanation to-day of the 
 excellence of certain families must hold good as to the excellence of these same 
 families fifty or a hundred years ago. But who can prove to me that the Duke 
 of Grafton, Lord Jersey, or Lord Egremont (to quote names mentioned by Mr. 
 Lowe) thought about " taproots," ever considered the first dam without 
 considering the others, or ever paid more attention to female descent than to 
 lineage in tail-male. The only thing in breeding which is uniformly supported 
 
 291 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 by the numerous and intricate facts of modern pedigrees is the predominance of 
 Eclipse blood. Pedigrees are, however, so complicated nowadays that it is 
 possible to prove almost anything you please out of them — to your own satis- 
 faction, at any rate. Yet in such a pedigree as that of Minting, why are we to 
 concentrate all the virtues of his high descent on his first dam ? Or, in the 
 much simpler pedigree of Whalebone, why are we to neglect the Eclipse descent 
 of Waxy, and the Herod and Snap blood in Penelope, only to concentrate our 
 attention on one particular matron who (in Whalebone' s case) is to be picked 
 out of ten Royal mares, six unknown mares, Tregonwell's Natural Barb mare 
 (4 strains), Layton Barb mare (4 strains). Old Vintner's mare (3 strains), Byerly 
 Turk Bustler mare, Thwaites Dun mare. Old Woodcock, Old Pied mare, a 
 Godolphin mare ? Are we really to believe that the Duke of Grafton carefully 
 considered the possibilities of all these mares, and picked out Tregonwell's 
 Natural Barb mare, because her blood had proved successful in Goldfinder, 
 Woodpecker, Rhadamanthns, Daedalus, Waxy Pope, and Scud ? Or did His Grace 
 just send Matchem's great grand-daughter to Eclipse's grandson ? Did not these 
 two great names have more influence on him than anything connected with 
 Tregonwell's Natural Barb mare in the hundred years since her death ? If the 
 Duke was already aware of many other causes operating on breeding, consider 
 how much more complicated those causes would have become by the time that 
 such other descendants of hers in the female line had come into existence, as 
 Ladas, Canterbury Pilgrim, or Chelandry. 
 
 Take another famous modern instance ; Persimmon. He can be traced to 
 thirty-two original mares, the Burton Barb mare (twelve strains), Royal Mares 
 (seven), Tregonwell's Natural Barb Mare (four strains), and Byerly Turk Bustler 
 Mare (two strains), with others. Yet, says Mr. Allison, his excellence is due to 
 none of these, but to D'Arcy's Blacklegged Royal Mare, because, though he 
 inherits only one strain of her, she is his first dam, or " taproot." On Mr. 
 Allison's own showing, the value of these original matrons may be expressed as 
 the Burton Barb Mare, second ; and Tregonwell's Natural Barb Mare, first ; yet 
 he asks us to believe that Persimmon is what he is because of the D'Arcy Black- 
 legged Royal Mare whom they place seventh on their list. As a matter of fact, 
 Mr. Allison asks a good deal more ; for he asserts that, in the case of Persimmon 
 one strain ot a mare placed seventh on his list is better than twelve strains of a 
 mare placed second, and than four strains of a mare placed first. Nor do the 
 unlikely complications stop even here ; for animals so differently bred as West 
 Australian, Donovan, and Flying Fox can also be traced back to the same taproot 
 as Persimmon; he is therefore bound to admit that the influence of the magic 
 Blacklegged Mare is as great on the line from Blacklock through Voltigeur to St. 
 Simon, as it is on the line from Comus through Humphry Clinker to Melbourne; 
 and to this same amazing matron he must ascribe more influence in the breeding 
 of Perdita II. than he can award to Touchstone, Newminster, Lord Clijden, or 
 Hampton. Surely this is an exaggerated deference to sex, and a most unscientific 
 disregard for the lapse of time, apart from other considerations. 
 
 Mr. Allison's first few matrons, in the order of the merit he assigns to them, 
 have been already mentioned. It is curious that to find Eclipse's handsomest 
 and best son, PotSos, we have to go down that list, past the 20th, past the 30th, 
 to No. 38, Thwaites's Dun Mare, the " taproot " of the best horse of the eigh- 
 teenth century — if not the best, at any rate better than Goldjinder or Woodpecker 
 
 292 
 
APPENDIX S 
 
 (traced back to a matron 3 7 places higher, first on the list) ; better than Pheno- 
 nteiioit (;^6 places ahead); than Paymaster &n6. Justice (35 places^; than IVildair, 
 Sweet I'Villiatn or Plunder (34), than Trcnthain or Florizel (33). Now if we 
 admit Mr. Allison's contention that the influence of the original mare, the first 
 dam, the " taproot," is greater than anything else, there will certainly be a 
 greater chance of seeing that influence when her blood was purer than it could 
 be nowadays, when so many other complicating influences have been at work. 
 It is clear, in fact, that if the excellence of a modern racer can be traced to a 
 " taproot," the excellence of a horse of a hundred years ago could be much more 
 easily so traced. If, therefore, we are to ascribe the excellence of PotSos to 
 Thwaites's Dun Mare, we shall legitimately expect many other good sires and 
 winners to be equally descended from her. But there is one winner of the 
 Derby (Sir Thomas, 1788) to her name, and one only; and no more sires at 
 all. Even if we grant Mr. Allison his gallant predisposition for the influence of 
 mares, it is going rather far to ascribe to a far-off " taproot " the excellence of 
 a family containing such matrons as Promise, Prunella, Penelope, or Queen 
 Bertha; to subordinate the claims of Crucifix, Hermione, or Martha Lynn to those 
 of the Burton Barb mare ; to trace the quality of Stockwell or King Tom rather to 
 the dam of the two True Blues than to Pocahontas. It will be seen, in fact 
 that we are asked by Mr. Allison, first to admit the vast assumption that female 
 influence in breeding is greater than male influence, and secondly to admit the 
 still vaguer hypothesis that certain taproots in the early eighteenth century 
 represent a more valuable female strain than any mare whose name occurs in 
 subsequent crosses of the pedigree. This is asking too much. The doctrine 
 of restriction to a few mares (operating in conjunction with the invariable draw- 
 backs of " fashionable sires") is to my mind the final objection to a theory 
 which tries to reduce Nature to Mathematics, and will never succeed in 
 doing so. 
 
 The famous order of merit in which Messrs. Lowe and Allison first produced 
 their list of " taproot " mares v^as merely the accidental result of the mathematical 
 calculations they selected being applied in a certain year. That result would 
 have been different a hundred years before. It is constantly being altered by 
 every racing season that followed its publication. By 1903, the "first" family 
 had become fourth, the " sixteenth " had gone up fifth, the " third " had dropped 
 to seventh, and so on. The " fourth " had risen to the first because Rock Sand 
 had won ;^22,633; but Mr. Allison traced its success to the Layton Barb Mare. 
 He did not, however, explain how the matron who appeared as sixth in his ori- 
 ginal order of merit, had totally disappeared from the first twenty in a list com- 
 piled according to money won in the classical races of 1903 and in others chosen 
 by himself. On the other hand it seems curious that a family he originally 
 valued as sixteenth should, owing to Sceptre, rise to be fifth ; or that a family he 
 originally placed fourteenth should, owing to Pretty Polly, prove itself sixth in 
 1903. 
 
 If we consider the number of mares in the General Stud Book, it seems clear 
 that his " Number Two," with nearly 200 more mares to represent it, will by 
 that very fact of numerical superiority obtain an immediate explanation of its 
 having risen two places higher than his "Number One" family, at the end of 
 the year just quoted. You cannot apply Mathematics to Nature. If you 
 appear to succeed in one year, you break down the next. The extraordinary 
 
 293 
 
ECLIPSE AND O'KELLY 
 
 collection of statistics published by Mr. Allison in 1901 can never be the 
 breeder's gospel of salvation which Mr. Bruce Lowe thought he had discovered. 
 It may be a monumental record of the facts of racing up to the dawn of the 
 twentieth century, and as such it will always retain my admiration and esteem. 
 But it is more nearly related to the past than to the future. It is more useful 
 as a record of certain relationships and descents than as a guide to fresh alliances. 
 
 Those who have read this history of Eclipse with understanding 
 will be more inclined to find their guide for the future in the fact 
 that the only stallions in Weatherby's first Stud Book now repre- 
 sented in tail-male on the English Turf (1906) 2.X& Matchem, Herod, 
 and Eclipse ; that Eclipse enormously predominates over the first 
 two ; and that in Eclipse s strains those of Birdcatcher, Blacklock, 
 and Touchstone, are in their turn considerably predominant over 
 all the others. These results are not mathematical calculations. 
 They have been produced by the slow survival of the fittest in 
 the course of nature during the last hundred and fifty years of 
 English Racing. 
 
 Since Messrs. Bruce Lowe and William Allison produced their 
 theory, Natural Science has made many notable advances. In the 
 " British Medical Journal" for December 22, 1906, may be studied 
 a remarkable paper on " The Physiology and Pathology of the 
 Nucleus," which of course I can only summarise in the briefest 
 manner here ; but I quote it as a complete contradiction of the 
 theory that the dam (or for that matter the sire either) can exercise 
 any preponderating influence upon the characteristic excellence or 
 personality of her foal. The properties which distinguish the 
 individuals of any race or family from the individual of any other 
 race or family are to be traced back to the constitution of a single 
 cell, the fertilised ovum from which that individual has been 
 developed ; and the nuclear composition which dominates the 
 morphology of the individual cell dominates likewise the properties 
 of the individual. Dr. J. George Adami, Professor of Pathology at 
 McGill University, Montreal, has shown in the paper to which I 
 have referred that, according to the latest investigations of modern 
 science, this nuclear matter is contributed, to an equal and 
 corresponding extent, by both parents ; and throughout the 
 development and re-division of the fertilised ovum this equal 
 
 process of contribution from each of the two parents is continued. 
 
 294 
 
APPENDIX S 
 
 Whatever else may be involved in this discovery, it is at all events 
 clear, for our present purpose, that a horsebreeder who depended 
 solely on the sire's blood would be as unlikely to achieve success as 
 one who rested all his hopes upon the potency of a particular dam's 
 family. A blend is essential ; but Dr. Adami can only help the 
 breeder so far as to assure him that both sire and dam have an 
 equal share in the result. 
 
 295 
 
INDEX OF HORSES 
 
 [TVizs Index does not contain any reference to either Preface or Appendicesi\ 
 
 Achievement, 222 
 Adolphus, 47 
 Adonis, 113 
 Adventurer, 24 
 Agnes, 222 
 Aim well, 26, 225 
 Alabaculia, 5, 6, 78 
 Alderman, 184 
 Alcides, 49 
 Aleppo, 70 
 Alexander, 107 
 Amato, 154 
 Amelia, 167 
 Ambrosio, 17S 
 Ancaster Turk, 24, 220 
 Andover, 23 
 Antinous, 51, 55 
 Antiochus, 112 
 Anvil, 167, 171 
 Arab, 50 
 Arabian, 50 
 Ard Patrick, 28, 223 
 Ariadne, 72 
 Ascetic, 28, 29 
 Ascetic Silver, 2 
 Ascham, 52 
 Aspasia, 114 
 Assassin, 26, 225 
 Atlas, 96 
 Atom, 107 
 Augusta, 114, 116 
 Ayrshire, 24, 222 
 
 Babraham, 49, 51 
 
 Bachelor's Button, 226, 227 
 
 Badger, 107 
 
 Bajazet, 82 
 
 Bamboo, 107 
 
 Bandy, 62 
 
 Barcaldine, 225 
 
 Baronet, 167 
 
 Bartlett's Childers, 25, 70, 72 
 
 Basilicas, 73 
 
 Bay Bolton, 70 
 
 Bay Malton, 46, 52, 57, 220 
 
 Bay Middleton, 23 
 
 Bear, 71 
 
 Beau Clincher, 1 1 4 
 
 Beaufremont, 46 
 
 Bellario, 83 
 
 Bellerophon, 72 
 
 Bellina, 62 
 
 Bendigo, 2, 26, 156 
 
 Bend Or, 18, 23, 66, 222, 230 
 
 Beningborough, 223 
 
 Beppo, 226 
 
 Betty O ! 46 
 
 Birdcatcher, 25, 222 
 
 Blacklegs, 24, 25, 45 
 
 Blacklock, 87, 220, 223, 224, 225 
 
 Blair Athol, 222 
 
 Blaisdon Conqueror, 20 
 
 Blank, 50, 78 
 
 Blink Bonny, 27, 225 
 
 Bloody-shouldered Arabian, 17, 204 
 
 Blue Gown, 23 
 
 Bobadil, 185 
 
 Bolton Mogul, 45 
 
 Boniface, 113 
 
 Bonny Black, 204 
 
 Bonny Face, 114 
 
 Boreas, 52 
 
 Boudrow, 113 
 
 Brilliant, 61, 71, 77, 82, 83 
 
 Briseis, 72 
 
 Britannic, 28 
 
 Brutus, 107 
 
 Bucephalus, 8, 82, 83 
 
 Buffcoat, 50 
 
 Bustler, 24, 45, 73 
 
 Byerley Turk, 3, 24, 26 
 
 297 
 
INDEX OF HORSES 
 
 Cade, 45, 49, 50 
 Cadville, 223 
 Caiman, 2 
 Calash, 170 
 Caliban, 77, 82 
 Caller Ou, 222 
 Camarine, 133 
 Cambuscan, 222 
 Camel, 28, 221, 222 
 Cantab, 75 
 Carbine, 28, 29, 221 
 Cardinal Puff, 57 
 Careless, 45, 96 
 Caroline, 23, 221 
 Cato, 49 
 Ceres, 62 
 Chance, 77 
 Chanticleer, 184 
 Charles XII., 154 
 Chaunter, 114, 116 
 Chigger, 62, 83 
 Childwick, 85 
 Chrysolite, 72 
 Clanville, 82 
 Clarinet, 1 14 
 Clementina, 167 
 Cleopatra, 166 
 Claudius, 52 
 Clio, 107 
 Cloister, 227 
 Clyde, 85 
 Coelia, 72 
 Colonel, 23, 118 
 Common, 226 
 Conductor, 114 
 Coneyskins, 24, 25 
 Confederate, 114 
 Copenhagen, 29 
 Coriander, 184, 223 
 Cornet, 1 1 1, 114 
 Corsican, 84 
 Cossack, 23 
 Cotherstone, 222 
 Crab, 26, 49, 72 
 Cracker, 49 
 Crazy, 113 
 Creampot, 50 
 Creeper, 167 
 Creeping Polly, 223 
 
 Creme de Barbade, 8 1 
 Crimp, 50 
 Crucifixion, 223 
 Cullen Arabian, 49 
 
 Daedalus, 23, 62 
 
 Dairymaid, 68 
 
 Daniel O'Rourke, 155 
 
 Dapper, 49, 50, 57 
 
 Dart, 75 
 
 D'Arcy White Turk, 24, 45, 73 
 
 D'Arcy Yellow Turk, 24, 45 
 
 Darley Arabian, 3, 9, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 
 
 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 70, 73 
 Defence, 221, 222 
 Desdemona, 72 
 Deri Sing, 166 
 Devonshire Steady, 46 
 Diamond Jubilee, 223, 226 
 Diana, 83 
 Didelot, 27, 225 
 Dingwall, 226 
 Diomed, 28, 113, 167 
 Dion, 178 
 Doncaster, 66, 222 
 Donovan, 220, 223 
 Don Quixote, 166 
 Dorimond, 49, 50 
 Dormouse, 49, 50 
 Dumpling, 46,49. 5°. Si 
 Dungannon, 87, 114, 128, 129, 136, 159, 
 
 160, 167, 170 
 
 Eclipse, 65-88, 131-158 
 
 Eleanor, 185 
 
 Elis, 131 
 
 Emilius, 223 
 
 Emma, 75, 220, 225 
 
 Empress, 87 
 
 Endymion, 94 
 
 Escape, 159, 162, 167, 170, 183, 184, 185 
 
 Evergreen, 178 
 
 Exotic, 51 
 
 Faith, 62 
 Falcon, 72 
 Fanny, 178 
 Favourite, 51 
 Feather, 78 
 Fenwick Barb, 24 
 Fidget, 167, 178 
 
 298 
 
INDEX OF HORSES 
 
 Filho da Puta, 226 
 
 Firetail, 226 
 
 Flirtella, 167 
 
 Flyfax, 51 
 
 Flying Childers, 12, 70, 71, 80, 226 
 
 Flying Dutchman, 23 
 
 Flying Fox, 28, 220, 222, 226, 230 
 
 Forrester, 82 
 
 Fortitude, 167 
 
 Fox, 46 
 
 Foxhunter, 46 
 
 Gallem, 49 
 
 Gallopade, 114 
 
 Galopin, 87, 223, 230 
 
 Galtee More, 28, 226 
 
 Gamester, 23 
 
 Garrick, 30, 72, 73 
 
 George Frederick, 222 
 
 Gift, 5 1 
 
 Gimcrack, 47, 48, 51, 52, 61, 62, 136 
 
 Ginger, 71 
 
 Gladiateur, 104, 222, 226 
 
 Gladiator, 222 
 
 Glaucus, 113 
 
 Godolphin Arabian, 49, 70, 83, 132 
 
 Godolphin Barb, 3, 22, 24, 26, 73 
 
 Goldfinder, 65, 83 
 
 Goodwood, 61 
 
 Governor, 178 
 
 Gower, 77 
 
 Grey Diamond, 184 
 
 Grey Hautboy, 70 
 
 Grey Wilkes, 70 
 
 Gulliver, 169 
 
 Gunpowder, 87, 107, 114, 116, 117 
 
 Hackler, 28 
 
 Hambletonian, 87, 104, 178, 223 
 
 Hampton, 221, 230 
 
 Hannibal, 27, 225 
 
 Haphazard, 178 
 
 Hartley Mare, 70 
 
 Hautboy, 25, 65, 70, 73 
 
 Havannah, 75 
 
 Hazard, 46 
 
 Hebe, 72 
 
 Helmsby Turk, 24, 73 
 
 Hephestion, 72 
 
 Hermione, 61 
 
 Hermit, 28, 157, 221, 222 
 
 Herod, 3, 4, 21, 23, 26, 27, 44, 46, 49, 
 
 51. 55> 70. "3. 114, 220, 224, 225 
 Highflyer, 70, 104, 107, 132, 167, 220, 
 
 223 
 Hobgoblin, 45. 7° 
 Hoby, 178 
 Holocauste, 17 
 Horatius, 50 
 Horizon, 107 
 Hussar, 45 
 
 Hutton's Bay Barb, 24, 43 
 Hutton's Grey Barb, 24, 45 
 Hutton's Royal Colt, 45 
 Hyperion (afterwards Garrick), 30, 72 
 
 Irish Birdcatcher, 222, 223 
 Isinglass, 223, 226 
 Isonomy, 223 
 Ithuriel, 28, 29, 221 
 
 Jeddah, 23 
 Jenghis Khan, 20 
 Joe Andrews, 107 
 John Bull, 62, 167 
 Jolter, 49 
 Juba, 82 
 Jimo, 113 
 Jupiter, 112, 159 
 
 Keppel Barb, 49, 50 
 
 Keystone II., 223 
 
 Kilwarlin, 2, 26, 136 
 
 Kincsem, 222 
 
 King Fergus, 87, 107, 220, 223 
 
 King Heremon, 116, 117 
 
 King Herod, 51, 52 
 
 Kingston, 82 
 
 King Tom, 1 9 
 
 Knowsley, 179 
 
 Kroonstad, 85, 136 
 
 Ladas, 23, 222 
 Lally, 154 
 Lapdog, 23, 121 
 Leeds, 50, 204 
 Leviathan, 72 
 Lily Agnes, 220, 224, 225 
 Lily of the Valley, 1 1 3 
 Lister Turk, 24, 25 
 Little Red Rover, 155 
 
 299 
 
INDEX OF HORSES 
 
 Little Wonder, 154, 223 
 Lofty, 46 
 Longbow, 28, 221 
 Lord Clifden, 28, 221 
 Lord Lyon, 23, 222, 226 
 Luna, 72 
 Luster, 49 
 
 Mab, 25 
 Macaroni, 222 
 Mademoiselle, 167 
 Magpie, 61 
 
 Maid of the Mint, 28, 221 
 Maid of the Oaks, 62 
 Malton, 62, 136 
 Malua, 226 
 Marco, 226 
 Maria, 220 
 
 Markham Arabian, 9, 10, 11, 13, 21, 24 
 Marske, i, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30, 45, 48, 65, 
 67. 70. 7i> 72, 73> 75. 79. ^°3, loS. 
 lis, 218. 23s 
 Merrry Hampton, 222 
 Masquerade, 72 
 Matchem, 3, 4, 21, 23, 27, 44, 46, 87, 
 
 220, 225, 226 
 Matchless, 46, 82, 83 
 Meliora, 46 
 Melton, 2, 230 
 Memnon, 23 
 
 Mercury, 107, iii, 113, 114 
 Merryman, 45 
 Meteor, 29, 87 
 Middleton, 23 
 Milksop, 49, 107 
 Minting, 2, 23, 28, 221 
 Mirza, 113 
 Miss Agnes, 222 
 
 Miss D'Arcy's Pet Mare, 24, 25, 45 
 Miss Harvey, 92 
 Miss Windsor, 49 
 Mogul, 45. 70 
 Monarque, 222 
 Monk, 113 
 Montagu, 24 
 Montesquieu, 72 
 Moorcock, 178 
 Moro, 49 
 Moses, 23 
 
 Mowerina, 223, 224 
 Muley Moloch, 26 
 Musjid, 222 
 Musket, 28, 29, 221 
 
 Narcissus, 72 
 
 Navigator, 47 
 
 Nestor, 75 
 
 Newminster, 24, 28, 221, 222 
 
 Nike, 62 
 
 Nutwith, 26 
 
 OCTAVIUS, 223 
 
 Oglethorpe Arabian, 24 
 
 Old Clubfoot Mare, 25 
 
 Old Country Wench, 25 
 
 Old Ebony, 22 
 
 Old Montague, 73 
 
 Old Montague Mare, 73 
 
 Old Snap, 81, 84 
 
 Old Tartar, 112, 113 
 
 Orlando, 222 
 
 Orme, 25, 222 
 
 Ormonde, i, 2, 131, 152, 156, 157, 
 
 224, 225, 226 
 Orphan, 45 
 Orville, 24, 223 
 Osbech, 136 
 Othello, 82, 223 
 Oxford, 223 
 
 Partisan, 232 
 
 Partner, 26, 45, 46 
 
 Partnership, 45 
 
 Peeper, 45 
 
 Pegasus, 167 
 
 Penelope, 104, 220 
 
 Pensioner, 83 
 
 Perion, 155 
 
 Persimmon, 20, 35, 131, 157, 223 
 
 Petrarch, 28 
 
 Petronel, 221 
 
 Phantom, 45 
 
 Pharaoh, 49, 50 
 
 Phenomenon, 114 
 
 Phosphorus, 159 
 
 Pipator, 184 
 
 Placida, 23 
 
 Pledge, 220 
 
 Plenipotentiary, 223 
 
 300 
 
INDEX OF HORSES 
 
 Ploughboy, 107 
 
 Plume, 78 
 
 Pocahontas, 221, 222 
 
 Pope Joan, 220 
 
 Portia, 46 
 
 PotSos, 28, 62, 73,87, 107, 113, 136, 
 
 159, 220, 221, 223 
 Pretender, 222 
 Pretty Polly, 227 
 Priam, 133, 223 
 Primrose, 114 
 Prince Charles, 178 
 Prince William, 20 
 Prospero, 50 
 Proserpine, 72 
 Prunella, 220 
 Pulleine's Arabian, 24 
 Pumpkin, 72, 226 
 Purity, 72 
 Pyrrhus, 59 
 Pythos, 71 
 
 Queen Mae, 46, 112, 113 
 Queen of Scots, 167 
 Queen of Sheba, 166 
 
 Ranger, 46 
 
 Recovery, 113 
 
 Regalia, 222 
 
 Regulus, 24, 45, 46, 49, 50, 52, 67, 72, 
 
 82, 83, 87 
 Regulus colt, 50 
 Remus, 49 
 
 Rhadamanthus, 23, 62 
 Rib, 49 
 
 Richmond, 178 
 Robin, 178 
 Rocket, 52 
 Rockingham, 57 
 Rock Sand, 223, 226 
 Roquebrune, 223 
 Rose, 49 
 Rosicrucian, 221 
 Rouge Rose, 66 
 Rowton, 133 
 Royal Hampton, 25 
 Ruler, 178 
 Rydal, 222 
 Rydal Mount, 2 2 i 
 
 Sabra, 136 
 St. Amant, 223 
 St. Blaise, 223 
 St. David, 167 
 St. Mirin, 2 
 St. Serf, 24, 222 
 St. Simon, i, 2 
 St. Victor Barb, 24 
 Saltram, 24, 114, 166, 167 
 Sampson, 4, 6, 57, 82, 131, 153, 155 
 Saraband, 2 
 Sarpadon, 1 1 3 
 Scaramouch, 107, 113 
 Sceptre, 223 
 Schedoma, 159, 187 
 Scota, 114, 116, 117 
 Scrub, 107 
 Selim, 51 
 Serjeant, 114 
 Serpent, 167 
 
 Shakespeare, 70, 71, 72, 73 
 Sharke, 72, 136 
 Shock, 49, 7 I 
 Shotover, 222 
 Silvio, 23, 45 
 Sir Harry, 186, 188 
 Sir Hercules, 221, 222 
 Sir Joshua, 92 
 Sir Thomas, 26, 225 
 Sir Visto, 27, 225 
 Skim, 50 
 
 Skylark, 28, 184, 221 
 Slipaway, 226 
 Slouch, 82 
 Smoker, 46 
 Smolensko, 27, 225 
 Snake, 25, 72 
 
 Snap, 48, 50, 75, 83, 107, 113, 114 
 Snip, 71 
 Sober, 178 
 
 Soldier, 26, 116, 117, 203 
 Solon, 57 
 Sorcerer, 159 
 Spaniel, 23, 221 
 Spearmint, 2, 16, 28, 220, 221 
 Spectator, 26, 82, 113, 225 
 Speedwell, 45 
 
 Spiletta, I, 24, 25, 28, 30, 65, 67, 68, 
 70. 73. 76, 83, 105, 218 
 301 
 
INDEX OF HORSES 
 
 Spina way, 1 1 8 
 
 Sportsmistress, 230 
 
 Spot, 45 
 
 Springfield, 24 
 
 Squirrel, 49, 75 
 
 Squirt, 24, 25, 45, 70, 72, 83, 225 
 
 Star, 49 
 
 Stately, 45 
 
 Steady, 45, 68, 75 
 
 Sterling, 24, 223, 230 
 
 Stockwell, 18, 20, 118, 221, 222, 223 
 
 Stringer, 71 
 
 Sulphur, 82 
 
 Sultan, 24, 52 
 
 Surplice, 232 
 
 Sweepstakes, 27, 77 
 
 Sweet William, 62, 136 
 
 Swiss, 84 
 
 Sylvia, 49 
 
 Syphon, 72 
 
 Sysonby, 230 
 
 Tadcaster, 66 
 
 Tandem, 167 
 
 Tardy, 82 
 
 Tartar, 45, 46, 50, 51, 112 
 
 Tartar filly, 50 
 
 Teddington, 222 
 
 Tertius, 26 
 
 Teufel, 226 
 
 The Bard, 2, 154, 155 
 
 The Baron, 222 
 
 The Emperor, 222 
 
 Thunderbolt, 159 
 
 Timothy, 28 
 
 Tiny, 107 
 
 Teresias, 23, 37, 220, 225 
 
 Tom Tinker, 51 
 
 Tortoise, 83 
 
 Touchstone, 28, 29,81, 145, 220, 221 
 
 222 
 Toxophilite, 28, 221 
 Traveller, 167 
 Trentham, 27, 59, 225 
 Trenton, 28 
 Trial, 78 
 
 Trifle, 159, 167, 187 
 Trophy, 52 
 
 Troutbeck, 220, 221, 222 
 Troy, 116 
 True Blue, 22 
 Trumpeter, 220 
 
 Vedette, 87, 223 
 
 Venus, 113 
 
 Vertumnus, 113, 128, 129, 159, 167 
 
 Vintner mare, 25 
 
 Virago, 114 
 
 Vivaldi, 159, 186 
 
 Vixen, 45 
 
 Volodyovski, 223 
 
 Voltaire, 24, 87, 223 
 
 Voltigeur, 87, 223 
 
 Volunteer, 46, iir, 113, 114, 128, 129, 
 
 159. 170. 171 
 Walnut, 178 
 Wanton, 75 
 Warble, 28, 221 
 Warlock, 118 
 Water, 159, 186 
 Waxy, 28, 220, 221 
 Waxy Pope, 23, 220 
 Weatherbit, 24 
 Web, 1 04, 221 
 
 West Australian, 27, 118, 225, 226 
 Whalebone, 23, 28, 104, 220, 221, 222 
 Wheel of Fortune, ii8 
 Whipper-in, 46 
 Whisker, 23, 104, 166, 221 
 Whistle Jacket, 70 
 Whitelock, 87, 223 
 Windermere, 232 
 Woful, 104, 221 
 Woodcock, 72 
 Woodpecker, 57, 186 
 Wormwood, 45 
 Wrangler, 159, 186, 187 
 
 Xanthus, 170 
 
 Young Cade, 51, 77, 107 
 Young Eclipse, 87, 113 
 Young Gimcrack, 107 
 Young Marske, 72 
 
 Zemire, 178 
 
 Zinfandel, 20, 131, 153, 223, 227 
 
 302 
 
GENERAL INDEX 
 
 [This index does not contain any reference to either Preface or Appendices.] 
 
 Abingdon, 107 
 
 Abingdon, Lord, 72, 73, 79, 97, 112, 115, 
 
 162, 220 
 Aboriginal stock, 19 
 " Acis and Galatea," 124 
 Adam, Dr., 141 
 Adam, Mr., 184 
 Addison, 42 
 Africa, 13, 16 
 Alba, 8 
 
 Albemarle, Lord, 40, 55, 56 
 Aldridge, Mr., 183 
 Aleppo, II, 13, 15, 204 
 Ale.xander, 8 
 
 Alexander, King of Scotland, 9 
 Alexandria, 15 
 Alfred, 9 
 
 Allison, William, 5, 22 
 Almack's, 55, 193 
 Amelia, Princess, 56, 67 
 America, 28, no, in 
 American War, 1 1 1 
 " Anazah," 11, 12, 15, 22 
 Ancaster, Duke of, 46, 50, 52, 72, 84 
 " Aneisa," 12 
 Annesley, Mr. A., 162 
 Annuity, Chifney's, 183 
 Anson, 34 
 
 Arab, 8, 11, 12, 20, 21, 30, 86 
 Arab points, early traces of, 8 
 Arab, points of the, 18 
 Arabia, 14, 19 
 Arabian, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 19, 21, 70, 71, 
 
 72, 74 
 Arabs, 14, 17, 18 
 Archer, 7, 8 
 Argos, 66 
 
 Armytage, Sir George, 160, 161, 162 
 Ascot, 81, 133, 226 
 Ascot Cup, 22 
 Asia, 16 
 Askrigg, 104 
 
 Aston, Sir Willoughby, 162 
 
 Athelstan, 9 
 
 Athenae, 66 
 
 Atkinson, William, 127, 128 
 
 Atlantic, 34, in 
 
 Atlas, 1 3 
 
 Audley, Lord, 197 
 
 Australia, 17, 28, 29, 30, 66 
 
 Ayrton, Mr., 162 
 
 Babylon, 7 
 
 Bagdad, 15 
 
 Bailey, Mr., 82, 160, 161 
 
 Baldock, Mr., 160, 161 
 
 Ballymurchoe, 92 
 
 Balmoral, 135 
 
 Bamfylde, Sir C, 162 
 
 Banks, Peggy, 40 
 
 Banks, Sir Joseph, 143 
 
 Barb, 10, 13, 14, 20, 22, 24, 74 
 
 Barbarcis, 1 1 
 
 Barbs, Professor Ridgeway's theory of, 13 
 
 Baringdon, Lord, 162 
 
 Barnet, 137 
 
 Barton, Mr., 184 
 
 Barry, Hon. J. S., 162 
 
 Barrymore, Lord, 57, 63, 160, 162, 184 
 
 Barrymore, Richard, 95 
 
 Barton, Mr., 61, 184 
 
 Basra, 15 
 
 Beacon Course, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 57, 71, 
 
 82, 84, 227 
 Beau Astley, 55 
 Beau Brummell, 193 
 Bedford, 40 
 
 Bedford, Duke of, 113, 160, 161, 162, 184 
 Bedford House, 63 
 Bedouins, 12 
 Belfast, Lord (afterwards Lord Donegal), 
 
 159, 161, 162, 163, 167, 168, 169, 170, 
 
 171, 172, 177, 178, 179, i8q, 181, 183, 
 
 184, 187, 192, 193, 195 
 
 303 
 
GENERAL INDEX 
 
 Bentinck, Lord George. 6i, 131 
 
 Bentinck, Lord Edward, 162 
 
 Berkshire Downs, 9, 55, 68 
 
 Berlin, 139 
 
 Betting, 102-3 
 
 Betts, Samuel, 104 
 
 Beyrout, 15 
 
 Birch, Thomas, 127 
 
 Bird, Thomas, 183 
 
 Bishop, Ned, 109 
 
 Birthplace of Eclipse, 67-69 
 
 Black, Robert, 135 
 
 Blacksmith's bill, 203 
 
 Black Watch, 37 
 
 Blake, Mr. C, 84 
 
 Blake, Mr. Patrick, 84 
 
 Blanc, M. Edmond, 106, 222 
 
 Blends of blood, 26 
 
 Blenheim, 35 
 
 Blenheim, Mr., 143 
 
 Blunt, Wilfrid Scawen, 5, 12, 13, 16, 18, 20 
 
 Boadicea, 9 
 
 Bolingbroke, Lord, 49, 51, 84 
 
 Bolton, Duke of, 162 
 
 Bond, Mr. Edmund, 117, 132, 139, 140, 142 
 
 Bond, Edmund, 202, 203 
 
 Bookmakers, 100 
 
 Bootmaker's bill, 204 
 
 Bordeaux, 216 
 
 Boringdon, 97 
 
 Bosanquet, Professor, 7 
 
 Boscawen, 34 
 
 Bott, Mr., 160, 161 
 
 Bourkhardt, Mr., 210 
 
 Bowes, Hon. Geo., 113 
 
 Bowes, Mr., 22 
 
 Bowes, Thomas, 161 
 
 Bowyer, Sir G., 211 
 
 Boyes, Mr. W. Osborn, 137 
 
 Boyne, 54 
 
 Bradshaw, Mr., 161 
 
 Brand, Mr. Thomas, 43, 162 
 
 Brandenburg Anspach, 35 
 
 Breeding, 104 
 
 Breeding, complication of, 4 
 
 Bridgewater, Duke of, 49, 50, 52 
 
 Brighton, 96, 159, 167, 178, 201 
 
 British Museum, 45, 71, 86, 91, 144 
 
 Britons, 9 
 
 Broadhurst, Mr., 113, 160 
 
 Brockbank, Mr., :i9, 120 
 
 Brooks's, 42, 58, 70 
 
 Broughton, 41 
 
 Browne, Benjamin, 105 
 
 Bruce-Lowe, 5, 22 
 
 Brydges, James (Duke of Chandos), 123, 124, 
 
 125 
 Buckingham, Duke of, 91 
 Buckingham, Marquis of, 198 
 Bullock, Thos., 97, 113, 141, 160, 162 
 
 Bunbury, Lady, 62 
 Bunbury, T. C, 97 
 Bunbury, Sir Charles, 1, 47, 52, 61, 62, 83, 
 
 84, 96, 97, los, 113, 143, 144, 160, 162, 
 
 18s 
 Burdett, Sir F., 216 
 Burford, Earl of, 162 
 Burke, Edmund, 4, 33, 58, 60 
 Burlton, Mr., 84, 162 
 Burnett, Mr. J. R. F., 74 
 Burney, Fanny, 33 
 Bute, 55 
 Buttercramb, 1 1 
 Byrne, R., 105 
 Byron, Lord, 44 
 
 Calais, 59, 216 
 
 Calvert, Mr., 61 
 
 Cambridge, Duke of, 204 
 
 Campbell, Captain, 67, 68 
 
 Canada, 66, iii 
 
 Cannons, 99, 110, 112, 122, 123, 124, 126, 
 
 128, 130, 134, 137, 138, 140, 144, 168, 
 
 169, 170, 172, 17S, 177, 201 
 Canonbury, 123 
 Canterbury, 82, 167 
 Canterbury, Archbishop of, 127 
 Carleton, Sir John, 42 
 Carlton House, 55, 114, 115, 184 
 Carlisle, Lord, 84, 100 
 Carholme, 84 
 Carthage, 15 
 Caryatides, 55 
 Castle, Mr., yj, loi 
 Cavalry, value of, 15 
 Cavendish, Lord George, 160 
 Celbridge Abbey, 71, 92, 191, 2l8 
 Celestial Beds, 55 
 Celtic, 4 
 
 Central Arabia, 12, 14, 15 
 Central Asia, 14 
 Chad worth. Lord, 44 
 Chambers, Mr., 161 
 Champreaux, Monsieur, 109 
 Chandos, Duke of, 112 
 Chantilly, 85 
 
 Chariots, earliest use of, 7 
 Charles Edwjird, Prince, 38 
 Charles I., 10 
 
 Charles IL, 22, 41, 42, 136 
 Charlton, Colonel, 163 
 Chartris, 97 
 Chatsworth, 96 
 Chauvel {?), Major, 200 
 Chelsea, 140 
 Chester Cup, 45 
 Chesterfield House, 123 
 Chesterfield, Lord, 133, 134 
 Chichester, Hon. G. A., 170 
 Chichester, J. P., i6i 
 
 304 
 
GENERAL INDEX 
 
 Chifney, Sam, 159, 165, l8i, 183. 184, 185, 
 
 187, 188 
 China, 30 
 Chios, 66 
 
 Chitticks, Dr., 117 
 Christ, 8 
 
 Church, John Barker, 160 
 Church rates, 206 
 Church service, 121 
 Churchwarden's duties, 206 
 Cider Cellars, 215 
 Clare, Lord, 96 
 Clarendon, Earl of, 163 
 Clarges Street, 95 
 Clark, Henry, 141 
 Clark, Mr. Bracy, 68, 80, 81, 131, 132, 139, 
 
 140, 141, 142, 144, 145, 153 
 Clay Hill, 86, 89, 106, 107, no, 118, 131, 160, 
 
 201 , 202 
 Clermont, Lord, 26, 62, 97, 98, 160, 163, 172, 
 
 184 
 Clift, Mr. William, 141 
 Climate, effects of, 29, 30 
 Clintz, 177 
 Clive, 34 
 Cloister, 227 
 
 Club, foundation of the Jockey, 43 
 Clydesdale, 9 
 Coatesworth, 46 
 Coleman, Mr., 139 
 Coleraine, Lord, in 
 College, Royal Veterinary, 138 
 Colophon, 66 
 Colour in horses, 17 
 Colours, O' Kelly's racing, 114 
 Colours, racing, 40, 84, 162-3-4 
 Commission, military, no 
 Commons, House of, 58, 59 
 Concannon, Mr., 159, 163, 167, 178, 179, 180, 
 
 185, 186, 187, 210 
 Conformation of Eclipse, 80, 146 
 Conformation, principles of, 155 
 Congreve, John, 193 
 ConoUy, 133 
 
 Conolly, Lady Louisa, 218 
 Conway, General, 62 
 Conway, H. S., 39, 55 
 Cook, Mr., 135 
 Cookson, Mr. J., 163 
 Coopers, Worshipful Company of, 56, 69 
 Copenhagen, 137 
 Corbett, Edward, 161 
 Cork, 191 
 Corlett, Mr., 221 
 Cornwall, Mr., 71 
 Cosby, Mr., 134 
 Cossacks, 53 
 " Count, The," 1 10 
 County Carlow, 92 
 Coventry, Hon. T. W., 1&3 
 
 Crabbet Park, 5, 16, 18, 20 > 
 
 Cradock, Mr. J., 134 
 
 Cradock, Thomas, 134 
 
 Cranbourn Chase, 68 
 
 Cranbourne Lodge, 40, 68, 72 
 
 Craven, Lord, 163 
 
 Cricket, 40, 41 
 
 Croft, Mr., 71 
 
 Crofts, Mr., 25 
 
 Croke, Mr., 160, 161 
 
 Cromwell, lo, 38 
 
 Crosby, Mr., 161 
 
 Cross and Jostle, 107 
 
 Cross, Mr., 88 
 
 Crouch, Mrs., 124 
 
 CuUoden, 31. 38, 39, 53, 135 
 
 Cumberland, Duke of, 31, 33, 35, 38, 41, 43, 
 44, 45. 46, 48, 50, 51, 52, 54, 55, 57, 61, 
 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 71, 73, 75, 100, 104, 
 109, 135, 204 
 
 Cumberland Farm, 56, 65, 69 
 
 Cumberland Gate, 39 
 
 Cumberland Lodge, 40, 53, 54, 67, 68 
 
 Cumberland Road, 56 
 
 Cunobelin, 9 
 
 Curran, Mr., 198, 214 
 
 Curwen, Mr., 25 
 
 Cyprus, II 
 
 Cyrene, 1 5 
 
 Damascus, 15 
 
 Dane, 4 
 
 Daniell, Lady, 55 
 
 d'Anterroches, Comte, 37 
 
 Daphnee, 8 
 
 Darall, Thos., M.P., 124 
 
 Darley, Mr., 11,13 
 
 Darwin, 5 
 
 Davers, Sir Ch., 163 
 
 Davis, Wm., 97, 109 
 
 Dawson, Daniel, 178 
 
 Dawson, P., 97 
 
 Dawson, Matthew, 80, 137 
 
 Dawson, Mr., 184 
 
 Day, John, 133 
 
 Dease, Sir Gerald, 218 
 
 Debrett, 4 
 
 de Brim, Due, n 
 
 Defenneh, 8 
 
 Delme, Mr. E. H., 163 
 
 Denmark, 139 
 
 Denning, Mr., 134 
 
 Derby, Earl of, 97, 163 
 
 Derby, the, 17, 22, 23, 27, 28, 32, 43, 61, 
 62, 98, 107, III, 113, 164, 113, 154, 358, 
 166, 167, 170, 176, 177, 178, 183, 185, 
 186, 220, 221, 222 
 
 Derby winners, blood of, 26 
 
 de Robeck, Baron, 161, 162 
 
 305 
 
 U 
 
GENERAL INDEX 
 
 de Rothschild, Leopold, 41 
 
 D'Estrees, Marshal, 53 
 
 Dettingen, 33, 35, 53 
 
 Devonshire, Duke of, 49, 50 
 
 de Walden, Lord Howard, 153 
 
 Ditch In, 85 
 
 Dodsworth, Mr., 163 
 
 Doggett, 41 
 
 Doncaster, 47, 56, 57, 131 
 
 Doncaster Cup, 22, 178 
 
 Donegal, Lord, iii 
 
 Donegal, Marquis of, 96 
 
 Donoughmore, Lord, 191, 207 
 
 Dorking, 69 
 
 Dorset, Duke of, 100, 108 
 
 Douglas, Thos., 97, 112 
 
 Dover, 59 
 
 Doyle, Sir Francis, 69 
 
 Draper, Sir Wm., 98 
 
 Drayton, 68 
 
 Druid, The, 69, 81, 107, 108, 112 
 
 Dublin, 96, 126, 135, 191, 216 
 
 Ducros, 125 
 
 Duke, Sir James, 28 
 
 " Duke, the," 35 
 
 Duke William Augustus, 52 
 
 Dundas, Sir Th., 163 
 
 Durand, Mr., 176 
 
 Durand, J. H., 161 
 
 Durdans, 79, 137 
 
 Durden, 90 
 
 Dutton, Mr. Ralph, 185 
 
 Dymark, Champion, 160 
 
 Dymoke, 162 
 
 Dysart, Lord, 92 
 
 Eastern blood, early traces of, 9 
 
 East Ilsley, 68 
 
 Eaton, 29, 222 
 
 Ebbisham, 106 
 
 Eccles, 67 
 
 Eclipse compared with Herod and 
 
 Matchem, 27 
 Eclipse, conformation of, 146 
 Eclipse, flaws in pedigree of, 25 
 Eclipse's gallop, 144 
 Eclipse, geometrical proportions of, 147- 
 
 151 
 Eclipse hoof, the, 133 
 Eclipse's hoofs, 1 34-36 
 Eclipse Road, 56, 69 
 Eclipse's skin, 137 
 Eclipse's skeleton, 138 
 Eclipse's tail, 136 
 
 Edgeware, 122, 168, 172, 175, 176. 206 
 Eden, Sir Robert, 72 
 Edward VII., 35, 62, 67 
 Edwards, Sydenham, 140 
 Eglinton, Earl of, 163 
 
 Egremont, Lord, 26, 62, 97, 109, 113, 159, 
 
 163, 177 
 Egypt, 7, 13 
 
 Eighteenth-century life, 32 
 EUesmere, Lord, 85, 136 
 Elliott, 34, 100 
 Elsenham, 79 
 Elstree, 137 
 
 Elton (EUers), George, 76 
 England, i, 2, 6, 11, 12, 13, 16, 20, 22, 30, 
 
 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36, 39. 40, 41, 44, 59. 
 
 60, 92, 93, 100, 105, III, 122, 130 
 England, Dick, 101, 109 
 English Channel, 35 
 Epsom, 75, 76, TJ, 78, 80, 81, 86, 94, 96, 
 
 106, 107, 109, no, 118, 122, 131, 137, 
 
 154, 176, 192, 201, 202 
 Errall, Mr., 41 
 Esmonde, Sir John, 92 
 Esmonde, Sir Thomas G., 93, 127, 191 
 Essex, 56, 69 
 " Esther," 124 
 Euphrates, 11,15 
 Europe, i, 14, 16, 85 
 European, 12 
 Euston, 61 
 Ewart, Professor James Cossar, 5 
 
 Face glands, 19 
 
 Falmouth, Lord, 118 
 
 Farnham, Lord, 84 
 
 Featherstonhaugh, Sir Henry, 43 
 
 Femur, importance of a long, 156 
 
 Fen wick, Mr., 46, 83, 86 
 
 Fenwick, Mr. W., 163 
 
 Fenwick, Sir John, 22 
 
 Fetherstonhaugh, Sir H., 163 
 
 Fettyplace, Mr., 81, 82 
 
 Figure-system, 4, 22. See Appendix S. 
 
 Fisher, Kitty, 100 
 
 Fitzgerald, Henrietta, 92 
 
 Fitzherbert, Mrs., 52 
 
 Fitzpatrick, 78 
 
 Fitzwilliam, Earl, 163 
 
 Fielding, 33 
 
 Flanders, 39 
 
 Flaws in Eclipse's pedigree, 25 
 
 Fleet Prison, 99 
 
 Flesselle, M., 142 
 
 Foley, Lord, 58, 59, 97, 98 
 
 Foley, Mr. Thos., 84 
 
 Foljambe, Mr., 57 
 
 Fordham, George, 181 
 
 Fortescue, Mr., yy 
 
 Fontenoy, 31, 33, 36, 37, 38, 53, 91, 94 
 
 Fouquet, 123 
 
 Fox, 33, 40, 48, 55, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 84, 
 
 96. 100 
 Fox-Strangeways, Lady Susan, 61, 62 
 Frampton, Tregonwell, 89, 94 
 
 306 
 
GENERAL INDEX 
 
 France, 28, 139, 143, 146 
 Freeman's Journal, 92, 208 
 Freeth, Mr., 82 
 Funeral of George II., 54 
 
 Gainsborough, 34, 55, 178 
 
 Gallop, action in, 157 
 
 Gallop, Eclipse's, 144 
 
 Galloway, Mr., 160 
 
 Gambling, loi 
 
 Gamgee, Joseph, 142 
 
 Gamgee, Professor, 131, 139 
 
 Gardom, Mr., 202 
 
 Garrard, 114, 191, 203 
 
 Gascoigne, Mr., 184 
 
 Gascoigne, Sir Thomeis, 163 
 
 Gascoyne, Mr., 163 
 
 Gentleman's Magazine, 121, 126 
 
 Geometrical proportions of Eclipse, 147- 
 
 151 
 George I., 35 
 
 George II., i, 33, 35, 40, 48, 53, 62, lOO 
 George III., 55, 60, 68, 199 
 George IV., 35, 48, 104, 134, 136 
 Germany, 28, 53, 139 
 Ghassan, 15 
 Gibbons, Grinling, 124 
 Gibraltar, 34 
 
 Gilbey, Sir Walter, 5, 9, 29, 69, 74, 79 
 Gilray, 101 
 Glenwood, 92 
 Godolphin, Lord, 116 
 Golden, Mr., 160 
 Gelding, Mr., 161 
 Goldsmith. 33 
 Goldsmith's bill, 205 * 
 
 Gonzaga, 10 
 
 Goodesson, Mr., 160, 161 
 Goodricke, Mr. H., 163 
 Goodwood Cup, 22 
 Gott, Mr., 82 
 Goulding, Mr. R. W., 204 
 Gower, Lord, 45, 49, 50, 51, 71 
 Grafton, Duke of, 43, 50, 51, 61, 62, 75, 82, 
 
 83, 84, 97, 100, 104, 108, 160, 161, 220 
 Graham, Dr., 55, 113 
 Graham, John, 160 
 Granby, Lord, 49 
 Grand National, 227 
 Grattan, H., 92, 202, 216, 217, 218 
 Great Britain, 97 
 Great horse, the, 10 
 Greenwich, 1 1 
 
 Greville, Hon. Mr., 51, 55, 61, 163 
 Greyhound's action, 1 56 
 Grosvenor, General, 133 
 Grosvenor, Lord, 48, 50, 51, 52, 62, 84, 97, 
 
 98, 109, 160, 184 
 Grosvenor, Sir Richard, 62 
 Guadaloupe, 34 
 
 Guildford, 84, i8i 
 
 Haig-Brown, Mrs., 125 
 
 Haleb, ii 
 
 Half Moon Street, 201 
 
 Hallett, 123, 124, 125, 128, 178 
 
 Halsy, J. M., 105 
 
 Hamilton, Duke of, 43, 163 
 
 Hamilton, Mr., 160, 175 
 
 Hammer, the, 104 
 
 Hammond, John, 104 
 
 Hampdon, Lord, 187 
 
 Hampton Court, 50, 135 
 
 Handel, 112, 124 
 
 Hanger, George, 96, iii, 114 
 
 Hannibal, 15 
 
 Hanover, 40, S3, 67 
 
 Hargreaves, Mr. Arthur, 67 
 
 Harleydon Course, 57 
 
 Harpur, 171 
 
 Harpur, Sir Harry, 72 
 
 Harvey, Mary O' Kelly, 90, 92, 128 
 
 Harvey, Philip Whitfield, 92, 191 
 
 Harvey, Whitfield, 92, 121, 192 
 
 Hastenbeck, 53 
 
 Hastings, 15 
 
 Havannah, 55 
 
 Havering-atte-Bower, 75 
 
 Hawke, 34 
 
 Hawkins, 44 
 
 Hay, Lord Charles, 37 
 
 Hayes, 55 
 
 Hayes, Captain M. H., 5, 30, 147, 148, 152, 
 
 153. 154. 155. 156 
 Hayes, Catherine, 94 
 Hayes, Charlotte, 89, 99, 109, no, 118, 128, 
 
 129 
 Haymarket, 90 
 Heath, Mr. Justice, 178 
 Heathcote, Sir Gilbert, 161 
 Heathcote, Sir R., 186 
 Height of thoroughbreds, 154 
 Hendon, 122 
 Henry VIII., 10, 191 
 Henwood, 179 
 Heron, Sir John, 74 
 Heron, Sir Richard, 205 
 Hermes, 170 
 Herrick, Wm., 161 
 Higgins, Mr. F., 198 
 HUl, loi 
 
 Hillmann, Mr. Aubrey, 137 
 Hills,Maj.-Gen. Sir John, 5, 131, 147. 155. 157 
 Hilsborough House, 63 
 Hilton, John. 104 
 Hippocrene, 133 
 Hira, 15 
 
 Hobhouse, Mr., 216 
 Hockeral, 59 
 Hogarth, 100 
 
 307 
 
GENERAL INDEX 
 
 Holdernesse, Lord, 40, 55 
 
 Holland, 137 
 
 Holly Lodge, 67 
 
 Holme, Mr. John, 46 
 
 Holt, Mr., 161 
 
 Home Park, 30 
 
 Homer, 66 
 
 Honeywood, Sir J., 163 
 
 Hoof, the Eclipse, 133 
 
 Hoofs of Eclipse, 134-36 
 
 Horse and Hound, 223 
 
 Horse, authorities on the, 5 
 
 Horse, first rider of, 7 
 
 Horse, points of a, 147 
 
 Horton, Mrs., 52, 100 
 
 Houghton, 92 
 
 House of Commons, 197, 198, 199 
 
 Household accounts, 195-6 
 
 House-rent, 196 
 
 Howard, Bernard, 61 
 
 Hudson, Mr. Richard, 69 
 
 Huguenot, 36 
 
 Hull, Mr., 160 
 
 Humerus, proportion of scapula to, 157 
 
 Humerus, slope of, 156 
 
 Hunter, John, 143 
 
 Hurley, Nathaniel, 204 
 
 Hutchinson, Mr., 104 
 
 Hutton, Mr. D'Arcy, 31, 45, 47 
 
 Hutton, Mr. John, 71, 83 
 
 Hyde, 171 
 
 Hyde Park, 39 
 
 Hymen, Temples of, 55 
 
 IcENi, 9 
 
 Ilford, 137 
 
 Ilsdey, 68 
 
 India, 30 
 
 Institut de France, 1 39 A 
 
 Inverness, 38 
 
 Iran, 30 
 
 Ireland, 29, 30, 38, 71, 90, 93, 97, 125,' 136, 
 
 216 
 Irish politics, 197 
 Isle of Dogs, 69 
 Islington, 123 
 
 Jamaica, 134 
 James I., 10, 13 
 
 Janson and Harpur, Messrs., 119 
 Jean, Robert Tilson, 106 
 Jenison, Mr., 43 
 Jennings, Mr., 163 
 Jennings, Alcibiades, 58, 78, 98 
 Jersey, Earl of, 163 
 
 Jockey Club, 31, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 47, 48, 
 57, 61, 65, 70, 84, 94, 97, 102, 103, 104, 
 
 107, 108, 109, 110, lis, 133. 134. 136, 
 
 159,185. 192 
 Jockey Club, Andrew O'Kelly in the, 159 
 
 Jockey Club, foundation of the, 42 
 Johnson, Dr., 89, 94, 95, 96 
 Johnson, Samuel, ^^ 
 Jubilee, 18 
 Julius Caesar, 9 
 Junius, 33 
 
 Kate's Gore, 68 
 
 " Keheilan," i, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 22 
 
 Kennedy, Dr., 122, 193 
 
 Kennedy, Polly, 100 
 
 Kensington, Lord, 161 
 
 Kent, Duke of, 204, 209 
 
 Key, Sir John, 160 
 
 Kildare, 94 
 
 King's Plate, 79 
 
 Kingston, Duke of, 50, 84, 107, 113 
 
 Kloster Seven, 39, 53 
 
 Knavesmire, 83 
 
 Knollys, Lord, 135 
 
 Kohl, 1 1 
 
 Konigsmarck, Aurora, 36 
 
 Koran, 15 
 
 Lad, Councillor, 160, 161 
 
 Ladbroke, Mr., 161 
 
 Ladbrook, Mr., 172 
 
 Lade, Lady, 95 
 
 Lade, M., 97 
 
 Lade, Sir John, 95, 96, 112, 113, 163 
 
 Lake, General, 159, 188, 190 
 
 Lake, Mr. Warwick,i63, 165 
 
 Lake, Thomas, 124 
 
 Lagos, 33 
 
 Langdale, Charles, 202 
 
 Langdale, Major, 90 
 
 Langridge, Mr. Arthur, 140, 141, 142 
 
 Lankester, Professor E. Ray, 5, 20 
 
 Language, fashionable, 62 
 
 Larmiers, 19 
 
 Lascelles, Lt.-Gen., 200 
 
 Lauderdale, Earl of, 163 
 
 Lawrence, Mr. John, 7.2, 73, 80, 85, 101, 143 
 
 Leech, Mr., 109 
 
 Le Clerc, Miss, 163 
 
 Leicester House, 35 
 
 Leicester, Sir J. F., 164 
 
 Leicester Square, 35 
 
 Leigh, Colonel, 184 
 
 Leinster, Duchess of, 218 
 
 Leinster, Duke of, 198 
 
 Lennox, Lady Sarah, 48, 60, 218 
 
 Leopold, H.R.H. Prince, 204 
 
 Levant, 22 
 
 Lewes, 137, 166, 167 
 
 Libyan, 9 
 
 Lichfield, 82 
 
 Ligonier, John, 36, 37, 38 
 
 Lincoln Heath, 65, 84 
 
 Lincoln, Lady, 40 
 
 308 
 
GENERAL INDEX 
 
 Lindeneau, Count, l6i 
 
 Lindsay, Sir David, 124 
 
 Linnaean Society, 139 
 
 Linnaeus, 137 
 
 Little Mary, 53 
 
 Lochee, 89, 90 
 
 Locke, Mr., 120 
 
 Loder, Major, 28 
 
 Loftie, Mr., 123, 124 
 
 Loftus, Lord, 198 
 
 London, 58, 59, 143 
 
 Londesborough, Lord, 118 
 
 Longchamps, 85 
 
 Long distance racing, 85 
 
 Lonsdale, Earl of, 164 
 
 Loudoun, Countess of, 207 
 
 Loughborough, 134 
 
 Low Countries, 40, 53 
 
 Lowther, 26 
 
 Lowther, John, i6o, 161 
 
 Lowther, Sir James, 49, 50, 51, 52, 168, 174 
 
 Lydekker, Mr., 5, 19 
 
 Lyndon, Barry, 89, 94 
 
 Lyon, Miss, 193 
 
 Lyons, 138, 142, 143 
 
 Macedon, 8 
 
 MacMahon, 114 
 
 MacMahon, Rt. Hon. J., 184 
 
 Mahomet, 15 
 
 Mahoney, 213 
 
 Mainwaring, Sir H., 164 
 
 Man, Isle of, 96 
 
 Mann, Sir Horace, 40 
 
 Mantua, 10 
 
 March, Lord, 44, 46, 49, 50, 51, 57, 70 
 
 Marco Polo, 30 
 
 Mares, famous brood, 23 
 
 Mares, list of. from 1788 to 1798, 160-1 
 
 Mares, pure-bred Arab, 22 
 
 Markham, Mr. John, 10 
 
 Marlborough, 35, 36 
 
 Marlay, Dean, 92 
 
 Marlay, Thomas, Chief Justice of Ireland, 
 
 217 
 Marriage Bill, 59, 60 
 Marsh, Lord, 49 
 Marshal Saxe, 31, 36, 37, 38, 40 
 Marske, 45, 47, 71 
 Marston, Captain, 159, 188, 189 
 Martin, Mr., 160 
 Martindale, Mr., 87, 104 
 Mason, Captain, 200 
 Maulbry, Sir J., 202 
 Mauretanian, 9 
 Maynooth, 205 
 
 Measurement, difficulties of, 145, T52 
 Measurements of Sampson and Zinfandel, 153 
 Mecca, 1 5 
 Mecklenburgh, 136 
 
 Mediterranean, 9, 11, 13 
 
 Medley's Coffee House, ^^ 
 
 Medley, John, loi 
 
 Merewell, 170 
 
 Merriott, S.. 78 
 
 Meshed, 15 
 
 Meyuell, Mr., 61, 75 
 
 Michell, Mr., 191 
 
 Mickleham, 69, 77, 79 
 
 Middlesex, 105, no, in, 125, 137, 176 
 
 " Mile a minute," 88 
 
 Milsintown, Lord, 164 
 
 Militia, the, 199 
 
 Minden, 33 
 
 Mitchell, Mr., 45 
 
 Moira, Lord, 191, 207, 209. 210 
 
 Monmouth, Duke of, 42 
 
 Montagu, George, 54 
 
 Monson, Lord, 164 
 
 Montgoraerie, Lord, 164 
 
 Montolieu, Mr., 164 
 
 Montpellier, 138, 143 
 
 Moorcroft, Dr., 161 
 
 Moorcroft, Mr., 139, 142 
 
 Moore, Sir John, 44, 46, 50, 51, 61 
 
 Morewell, 170 
 
 Morgan, Councillor, 160 
 
 Morland, George, 204 
 
 Mountford, Lord, 41 
 
 Muir, J. B., 162 
 
 Munday, Jack, 10 
 
 Rlunro, Sir Robert, 37 
 
 Murray, Lord George, 38 
 
 Museum, British, 20 
 
 Mutiny Act, 5 3 
 
 Mycenae, 7 
 
 Najd, 3,11,12,13,14,15,18,19,30 
 
 National Biography, Dictionary of, 121. 143 
 
 Nelson, 191, 193 
 
 Netherby, 9 
 
 New Barnet, 69 
 
 Newcastle, Duke of, 10, 13, 40, 53, 54 
 
 Newmarket, 9. 17, 36, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 48, 
 49, 51. 55. 57. 58, 59. 60, 61, 62, 63, 71, 
 72, 79, 82, 83. 84, 85, 87, 95, 96, 98, 104, 
 113, 115, 132, 133, 136, 166, 167, 170, 
 177, 185, 186, 187 
 
 Newton, Sir M., 172 
 
 New York, 139 
 
 Nile, 8 
 
 Nile Delta, 8, 1 5 
 
 " Nolkejumskoi," 53 
 
 Norfolk, Duke of, 160 
 
 Norfolk House, 63 
 
 Norman, 4 
 
 Northern Syria, 11 
 
 North, Lord, 22, 33, 60 
 
 Northumberland, Duke of, 50, 84, 143 
 
 Northumberland House, 63 
 
 309 
 
GENERAL INDEX 
 
 North-west Africa, 1 3 
 Nottingham, 74, 83 
 Nowlan, Lieut., 134, 135 
 Numidian, 15 
 
 Oakly, Jack, 76, 77, 78, 131 
 
 Oaks, 17, 22, 43. 62, 107, 113, 114, 136, 154, 
 
 185, 220, 221 
 Oatlands, 135 
 Oats, price of, 177 
 O'Brien, Lady Susan, 48 
 O'Brien, Nelly, 100 
 Odiham, 75, 143 
 Ogilvy, Mr., 85 
 O'Kelly, Colonel, 7, 44, 63, 64, 65, 71, y^^ 7^, 
 
 80, 82. 88 
 O'Kelly, Dennis, 65, 69, 77, 83 
 O'Kelly, Dennis (the elder), 89-130 
 O'Kelly family, 92 
 O'Kelly I., 89-130 
 O'Kelly n., 159-190 
 O'Kelly, Mary, no 
 O' Kelly's racing colours, 114 
 O' Kelly's stud, Ii6 
 O' Kelly's will, 127 
 Old Q., 57, 58, 63, 70 
 Olympic Games, 8 
 One Thousand, 22 
 Oppet, 7 
 
 Orford, Lord, 45, 49, 51, 61 
 Orleans, Duke of, 109 
 Ormond, Duke of, 39 
 Orton, 45, 78, 83, 133 
 Osborne, John, 74 
 Osnaburg, Bishop of, 190 
 Ossory, Lord, 61, 84 
 Othello, 191 
 Oxford, Lord, 204 
 Oxfordshire, 72 
 
 Pace, ancient and modern, 2, '226 
 
 Pace of Arab and thoroughbred, 20 
 
 Palmyra, 15 
 
 Palmyrene, 12 
 
 Pall Mall, 40, 54, 84, 100 
 
 Panton, Mr., 49, 51, 52, 71, 97 
 
 Panton, Mr. Thomas. 164, 185 
 
 Paris, 58, 59, 96, III, 139, 143, 216 
 
 Parker, Mr., 114, 193 
 
 Parkhurst, George, 181 
 
 Parrot, O'Kelly's, 120-123 
 
 Parsons, Nancy, 100 
 
 Parthenon, 8 
 
 Payne, Tom, 55 
 
 Pedigree, flaws in Eclipse's, 25^ 
 
 Pegasus, 133 
 
 Pelham, Mr., 160 
 
 Percival, Mr., 80 
 
 Persia, 1 5 
 
 Persian Gulf, 15 
 
 Peterborough, 32 
 
 Petre, Lord, 6i 
 
 Pharsalus, 8 
 
 Philip II., 8 
 
 Phillips, Mr., 160, 169 
 
 Philonicus, 8 
 
 Piccadilly, 42, 57, n8, 122, 126, 141, 183 
 
 Pietremont, 5, 15 
 
 Pigott, Mr., 84, 109 
 
 Pindar, 15 
 
 Pinner, 134 
 
 Pitman, R. B., 137 
 
 Pitt, Mrs., 40 
 
 Pitt, William, 33, 40, 55 
 
 Plaistow, 56, 69 
 
 Plast, 91 
 
 Plumer, Lady, 125 
 
 Plumer, Rev. C. J., 137 
 
 Plumer, Sir Thos., 137 
 
 Politics in Ireland, 197 
 
 Pomfret, Lady, 204 
 
 Pond, Mr. John, 41 
 
 Poole, Sir Fernando, 164 
 
 Pope, Alexander, 191 
 
 Pope, Mrs., 142 
 
 Portland, Duke of, 44, 87, 102, 204, 224 
 
 Portraore, 49 
 
 Post-obit, Lord Belfast's, 169 
 
 Powell, William, 124 
 
 Pratt, Mr.. 72, 104, 164 
 
 Prejvalsky, 14 
 
 Pre-orbital depressions, 19 
 
 Prince of Wales, 35, 40, 52, 55, 58, 96, 107, 
 109, 114, 134, 135, 159, 160, 161, 162, 165, 
 166, 167, 174, 181, 183, 192, 198 
 
 Prince of Wales's Stakes (1785), 97 
 
 Prince Regent's Lane, 69 
 
 Princess of Wales, 40 
 
 Proportions of Eclipse, geometrical, 147 - 
 151 
 
 Prussia, 53 
 
 Quebec. 34 
 
 Queen Anne, 35, 42, 48 
 
 Queensberry, Duke of, 43, 46, 48, 57, 58, 161 
 
 Queen Victoria, 18, 118 
 
 Quiberon Bay, 33 
 
 Quick, Mr., 78, loi 
 
 Quorn, 134 
 
 Racing Calendar, 42 
 Racing colours, 50, 162-3-4 
 Racing colours, O'Kelly's, 114 
 Racing, " The Duke's," 49 
 Racing, Yorkshire, 45 
 Radcliffe, Colonel. 164 
 Radclifte, Mr. Delme, 164 
 Ramillies, 35 
 Ramsbottom, Mr., 161 
 Ramsden, Sir W., 23 
 
 310 
 
GENERAL INDEX 
 
 Ranelagh, Lord, 191, 195, 205 
 
 Ras-el-Fedawi, 1 1 
 
 Record Office, 10 
 
 Record times, 228-9 
 
 Redoubt d'Eu, 37 
 
 Red Sea, 12, 15 
 
 Regency, 40 
 
 Regency Bill, 53 
 
 Relics of Eclipse, 65 
 
 Restoration, 32 
 
 Retaining fee, 108 
 
 Reynolds, 34, 61 
 
 Rhodes, 66 
 
 Richardson, 33 
 
 Richardson, Mr., 16 1 
 
 Richmond, 40, 45, 177 
 
 Richmond, Duke of 60, 98, 164 
 
 Richmond Green, 41 
 
 Ridgeway, Professor Wm., 5, 13, 30 
 
 Ridley, Sir M. White, 164 
 
 Roberts, Lord, 18 
 
 Rockingham, Lord, 33, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 56, 
 
 57,61,67.84, 153 
 Rodney, 34 
 Roman empire, 15 
 Rome, 9 
 Romney, 34 
 Roper, Dr., 134 
 Roper, Mrs. E. J., 134 
 Rose, Rev. Mr., 160, 162 
 Roseberry, Lord, 79, 137, 225 
 Rotten Row, loi 
 Roum, 30 
 Round Course, 84 
 Round Court, lor 
 
 Rous, Admiral, 61, 81, 87, 154, 155 
 Routh, Mr., 83, 174 
 Rowlandson, 93, 94, lOl 
 Royal Academy, 34, 191 
 Royal racing, 35 
 Royal Veterinary College, 138 
 Russians, 53 
 Rutter, Mr., i6i 
 Rutland, Duke of, 164 
 Rycot, 72 
 
 Sackville, Viscount, 164 
 
 Sahara, 14 
 
 St. Albans, 176 
 
 St. Albans, Duke of, 164 
 
 St. Angelo, 9 
 
 Saint Bel, Vial de, 5, 65, 81, 131, 132, 138, 
 
 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 145, 146, 147, 
 
 152, 153, 154, 155.203 
 St. Bartholomew's, 123 
 St. James's, 42, 57, 59, 106 
 St. James's Park, 35 
 St. Leger, 17, 22, 23, 26, 29, 33, 43, 57, 104, 
 
 131, 136, 221 
 St. Leger, the first, 57 
 
 St. Paul, Major, 159 
 
 St. Paul, Major Horace, 188 
 
 Salamis, 66 ^,^ 
 
 Sale of Eclipse, 74 
 
 Sales, famous, 118 
 
 Salisbury, 75, 82 
 
 Sandwich, 40, 41 
 
 Sandwich, Lord, 48 
 
 Sanson, 5 
 
 Sartorius, 67, 78, 81, 165, 220 
 
 Saville, Hon. R. L., 164 
 
 Savoy Chapel, 144 
 
 Saxe, Marshal, 91, 94 
 
 Saxon, 4 
 
 Saxonbury, 137 
 
 Scapula, proportion of to humerus, 157 
 
 Schleswig-Holstein, H.R.H. Prince Christian, 
 
 54, 67, 68 
 Schmidt, Father, 124 
 Schmidt, Gerard, 124 
 Schomberg House, 48, 54, 67 
 Schooling, price of, 212 
 Scotland, 9 
 Scott, BiU, 134 
 
 Sedan-chair, adventure of the, 95 
 Sedley, Sir C, 164 
 Selinus, 7 
 Selwyn, 100 
 Severus (Emperor), 9 
 Shafto, Mr., 43, 45, 49, 50, 51. 75 
 Shamiza, 12 
 Shad well, 106 
 Shannon, Lord, 198 
 Shelbume, Lady, 63 
 Shelley, Sir John, 164 
 Sherborne, 97 
 Sheridan, 33, 58, 209 
 Sherwood, John, 106 
 Shire, 9, 20 
 Shire horse, 20 
 Shoulder, slope of, 1 56 
 Sicily, 7 
 
 Singleton, John, 78 
 Sire of Eclipse, 70-73 
 Skeleton, Eclipse's, 138 
 Skin, Eclipse's, 137 
 Smith, Captain, 160, 161 
 Smith, General, 164 
 Smith, John, II2 
 Smith, Mr. N. Hanckey, 21 
 Smollett, 33 
 Smyrna, 66 
 Society racing, 61 
 Sondes, Lord, 164 
 Sons of Eclipse, 220 
 South Africa, 1 1 
 Sparkes, Joseph, 183 
 Specialisation of breeds, 14 
 Speed, comparative, 226 
 Spencer, Lord, 197, 198 
 
 311 
 
GENERAL INDEX 
 
 Spilsbury, James, Ii8 
 
 Sporting Calendar, 42 
 
 Stacie, Jack, 109 
 
 Stacpoole, George, 215 
 
 Stacpoole, Miss Charlotte, 214 
 
 Stacpoole, Richard, 215 
 
 Stakes, Prince of Wales's (1785), 97 
 
 Stamford, Earl of, 171, 172 
 
 Stammar, 12 
 
 Standish, Sir Frank, 159, 164, 177 
 
 Stanmore, 125, 176, 203 
 
 Stanmore Parva, 122 
 
 Stapleton, Mr., 46 
 
 Star and Garter, 40 
 
 Steele, 42 
 
 Sterne, 33 
 
 Stevens, Mr., 183 
 
 Stifle-joint, 156 
 
 Stirling, Mr., 161 
 
 Stockbridge, 167 
 
 Storace, Signora, 124 
 
 Stowe, 91 
 
 Strad broke, Earl of, 8 1 
 
 Strand, loi, 144 
 
 Strathmore, Lord, 112 
 
 Strathmore, Earl of, 112, 160, 161, 163 
 
 Stride of Eclipse and Charles XII., 154 
 
 Strode, Mr., 82 
 
 Stroud, Mr., 83 
 
 Strutt, Colonel, 161 
 
 Stubbs, 68, 71, 74, 75, 79, 81, 86, 125, 144, 
 
 15s 
 Stud Book, II, 24 
 Stud, Eclipse at the, 86 
 Stud, O'Kelly's, n6 
 Stud, the O' Kelly, 172-3-4, 188 
 Stuttgart, 137 
 Suffolk, 9 
 Surrey, 75, no 
 Sussex, 68 
 
 Sussex, Duke of, 191, 193, 204, 207, 208, 209 
 Swinburn, Mr., 173 
 Switzerland, 139 
 Sykes, Sir M. M., 164 
 Sykes, Sir Tatton, 28 
 Syria, 14 
 Syrian, 12, 15 
 
 Tarleton, Colonel, 164 
 
 Tattersall, Mr., 65, 70, 71, 74, 86, 107, :i6, 
 
 118 
 Tattersall's, 65, 104, 113, 136, 203 
 Taylor, Captain, 170 
 Taylor, Mr., 82 
 Teheran, 15, 30 
 Tempest, Sir H. V., 164, 178 
 Tetherington, loi, 109 
 Teutonic, 4 
 Thackeray, 94, 99 
 " The Duke," 35 
 
 Thessaly, 8 
 
 Thoroughbred, English, 3 
 
 Thoroughbreds, height of, 154 
 
 Thrale, 95 
 
 Throckmorton, Sir William, 21S 
 
 Thurlow, 33 
 
 Thynne, Tom, 36 
 
 Ticonderoga, 34 
 
 Tighe, Sterne, 192 
 
 Times, record, 228-9 
 
 Titchfield, Lord, 200 
 
 Tootell, Mr., 122, 137, 138 
 
 Trafalgar Square, 10 
 
 Tregonwell, Mr., 22 
 
 Tregonwell Frampton, 32, 33 
 
 Trentham, Lord, 71 
 
 " Tristram Shandy," 33 
 
 Turf Annual, 78 
 
 Turk, 10, II, 13, 14, 22, 73 
 
 TuUow, 93 
 
 Turner, Mr., 82 
 
 Turner, Sir Charles, 57, 164 
 
 Turner, Sir G. P., 213 
 
 Tweedie, Maj.-Gen., 5 
 
 Two Thousand, 22, 226 
 
 Twycross, 109 
 
 Tyburn Gate, 39 
 
 United Kingdom, 66 
 Upper Grosvenor Street, 55 
 
 Vane, Sir Frederick, 161 
 Vanhettem, 124 
 Vans, 131 
 Vauxhall, 98 
 Vaux-le-Vicomte, 123 
 Vavasour, Sir W., 164 
 Venison from Cannons, 20? 
 Vere, Lord, 164 
 Vernon, Admiral, 39 
 Vernon, Captain, 44 
 Vernon, Hon. R., 57 
 Vernon, Mr. R., 51, 71, 85 
 Veterinary College, Royal, 138 
 Villiers, Hon. George, 160 
 Vincent, Mr. J. E., 68 
 Voltaire, 38 
 
 Waddington, 84 
 
 Waldegrave, Earl of, 51 
 
 Walking, action in, 157 
 
 Wallace, Sir T., 164 
 
 Walpole, Horace, 33, 35, 39, 41, 48, 53, 54, 
 
 55. 59. 62, 100 
 Walsh, Mr., 180 
 Walton, Mr., 75 
 Wantage, 68 
 Warner, Mr., 96 
 War Office, 55 
 Warren, Mr. J. B., 164 
 
 313 
 
GENERAL INDEX 
 
 Warwick, 170 
 
 Waterford, Bishop of, 92 
 
 Waterloo, 29, 62, 92 
 
 Watling Street, 122 
 
 Watridge, John, 170 
 
 Weatherby, James, 42, 177 
 
 Weatherby's, 104, 115, 116 
 
 Webb, Sir John, 160, 164 
 
 Wedgewood, 91 
 
 Welbeck, 204 
 
 Wellington, Duke of, 29, 35, 36, 40, 103 
 
 Welsh Harp, 1 22 
 
 Wentworth, Mr., 57, 82, 83, 85 
 
 Westminster Abbey, 92 
 
 Westminster, Duke of, 62, 66, 106, 112, 118, 
 
 221 
 West Indies, 66, 134 
 Weybridge, 135 
 Whaley, Buck, 89, 96, 126 
 Whaley, Colonel, 165 
 Whaley, Mr. W., 159, 165, 169, 170 
 Whalley, Captain, 126 
 Whip, the, 136 
 
 Whitchurch, 122, 124. 130, 206 
 White Horse, 9 
 White, Mr., 161 
 White's, 42, 100 
 Whiting, John, 78 
 Whyte, 74 
 Wicklow, 92, 94 
 Wildman, Mr., 46, 63, 64, 65, 69, 74, 75, 7^, 
 
 TT, 78, 81, 82, 106 
 Wilkes, 33 
 
 Will, O' Kelly's, 127 
 
 Will of A. D. O'KeUy, 214 
 
 Willesden, 105 
 
 William IV., 133, 136 
 
 WiUiam the Conqueror, 1 5 
 
 William III.. 54 
 
 WiUis's, 193 
 
 Wilson, Mr., 173 
 
 Wilton, Lord, 43, 165 
 
 Winchelsea, 178, 216 
 
 Winchester, 77, 81, 167, 181 
 
 Winchilsea, Earl of, 165 
 
 Windsor, 39, 57, 68, 108 
 
 Windsor Castle, 56, 67 
 
 Windsor Park, i, 31, 39, t^i, 56. 67 
 
 Winn, Sir Roland, 165 
 
 Wolfe, 34 
 
 Woodcock, Mr., 75 
 
 Workington, 25 
 
 Worley, Wm., 135, 136 
 
 Wright, Mr., 161 
 
 Wyatt, 139 
 
 Wycombe, 159, 182 
 
 Wyndham, Chas., 97 
 
 Wyndham, Hon. C, 165 
 
 Wynn, Sir W. W., 165 
 
 York, 11,35,45,46,65,83, 113 
 York, Duke of, 42, 96, 135, 136, 199 
 Yorkshire, 9, 17, 45, 46, 48, 57, 71, 90, 92, 125 
 
 177 
 Yorkshire racing, 45 
 Youatt, 29 
 
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