Part 4 - Arabians, Barbs, and Turks.

The HELMSLEY TURK was an old D. of Buckingham's, and got Bustler, &c.

PLACE'S WHITE TURK, was the property of Mr. Place, stud-master to Oliver Cromwell, when Protector, and was the sire of Wormwood, Commoner, and the great grand dams of Windham, Grey Ramsden, and Cartouch.

ROYAL MARES. King Charles the Second sent abroad the master of the horse, to procure a number of foreign horses and mares for breeding, and the mares brought over by him, (as also many of their produce) have since been called Royal Mares.

DODSWORTH, though foaled in England, was a natural Barb. His dam, a Barb Mare, was imported in the time of Charles the Second, and was called a Royal Mare. She was sold by the stud-master, after the King's death, for forty guineas, at 20 years old, when in foal (by the Helmsley) with Vixen, dam of the Old Child Mare.

The STRADLING, or LISTER TURK, was brought into England by the D. of Berwick, from the seige of Buda, in the reign of James the Second. He got Snake, the D. of Kingston's Brisk and Piping Peg, Coneyskins, the dam of Hip, and the grand dam of the Bolton Sweepstakes.

BYERLY TURK, was Captain Byerly's charger in Ireland, in King William's wars (1689, &c.) He did not cover many bred mares, but was the sire of the D. of Kingston's Sprite, who was thought nearly as good as Leedes; the D. of Rutland's Black-Hearty and Archer, the D. of Devonshire's Basto, Ld Bristol's Grasshopper, and Ld Godolphin's Byerly Gelding, all in good forms; Halloway's Jig, a middling horse; and Knightley's Mare, in a very good form.

GREYHOUND. The cover for this foal was in Barbary, after which both his sire and dam were purchased, and brought into England, by Mr. Marshall. He was got by King William's White Barb Chillaby, out of Slugey, a Natural Barb Mare. Greyhound got the D. of Wharton's Othello, said to have beat Chanter easily in a trial, giving him a stone, but who, falling lame, ran only one match in public, against a bad horse; he also got Panton's Whitefoot, a very good horse; Osmyn, a very fleet horse, and in a good form for his size; the D. of Wharton's Rake, a middling horse; Ld Halifax's Sampson, Goliah, and Favourite, pretty good 12st. plate horses; Desdemona, and other good mares; and several ordinary plate horses, who ran in the North, where he was a common stallion, and covered many of the best mares.

D'ARCY WHITE TURK, was the sire of O. Hautboy, Grey Royal, Cannon, &c.

D'ARCY YELLOW TURK, was the sire of Spanker, Brimmer, and the great great grand dam of Cartouch.

The MARSHALL, or, SELABY TURK, was the property of Mr. Marshall's brother, stud-master to King William, Queen Anne, and King George the First. He got the Curwen O. Spot, the dam of Windham, the dam of the Derby Ticklepitcher, and the great grand dam of the Bolton Sloven and Fearnought.

CURWEN'S BAY BARB, was a present to Lewis the Fourteenth from Muley Ishmael, King of Morocco, and was brought into England by Mr. Curwen, who, being in France when Count Byram, and Count Thoulouse (two natural sons of Lewis the Fourteenth) were, the former, master of the horse, and the latter an admiral, he procured of them two Barb Horses, both of which proved most excellent stallions, and are well known by the names of the Curwen Bay Barb, and the Thoulouse Barb. Curwen's Bay Barb got Mixbury and Tantivy, both very high-formed galloways, the first of them was only thirteen hands two inches high, and yet there were not more than two horses of his time that could beat him, at light weights; Brocklesby, Little George, Yellow Jack, Bay Jack, Monkey, Dangerfield, Hip, Peacock, and Flatface, the first two in good forms, the rest middling; two Mixburys, full brothers to the first Mixbury, middling galloways; Long Meg, Brocklesby Betty, and Creeping Molly, extraordinary high-formed mares; Whiteneck, Mistake, Sparkler, and Lightfoot, very good mares; and several middling galloways, who ran for plates in the North. He got two full sisters to Mixbury, one of which bred Partner, Little Scar, Soreheels, and the dam of Crab; the other was the dam of Quiet, Silver Eye, and Hazard. He did not cover many mares except Mr. Curwen's and Mr. Pelham's.

The THOULOUSE BARB became afterwards the property of Sir J. Parsons, and was the sire of Bagpiper, Blacklegs, Mr. Panton's Molly, and the dam of Cinnamon.

DARLEY'S ARABIAN, was brought over by a brother of Mr. Darley, of Yorkshire, who being an agent in merchandize abroad, became member of an hunting club, by which means he acquired interest to procure this horse. He was sire of Childers, and also got Almanzor, a very good horse; a white legged horse of the D. of Somerset's, full brother to Almanzor, and thought to as good, but meeting with an accident, he never ran in public; Cupid and Brisk, good horses; Daedalus, a very fleet horse; Dart, Skipjack, Manica, and Aleppo, good plate horses, though out of bad mares; Ld. Lonsdale's mare, in a very good form; and Ld Tracy's mare, in a good one for plates. He covered very few well bred mares except Mr. Darley's, who had very few well bred besides Almanzor's dam.

SIR J. WILLIAMS'S TURK, afterwards Mr. Turner's of Suffolk, got Mr. Honeywood's two True Blues, the elder of them was the best plate horse in England for four or five years; the younger was in a very high form, and got the Rumford Gelding, and Ld Onslow's Grey Horse, middling horses, out of road mares. It is not known that this Turk covered any bred mares, except the dam of the two True Blues.

BELGRADE TURK, was taken at the seige of Belgrade, by General Merci, and was sent by him to the Prince de Craon, from whom he was a present to the Prince of Loraine; he was afterwards purchased by Sir Marmaduke Wyvill, and died in his possession about 1740.

CROFT'S BAY BARB, was got by Chillaby, out of the Moonah Barb Mare; he got some horses that could run a little, but was a bad stallion.

GODOLPHIN ARABIAN. Of this valuable stallion (strange as it will undoubtedly appear) scarce any records are extant; all that can be discovered after strict enquiry, is, that he was a brown horse, about fifteen hands high, that he was first the property of Mr. Coke, and given by him to Mr. Roger Williams, keeper of the St. James's Coffee-House, by whom he was presented to Ld Godolphin, and that he continued in his Lordship's possession, as a private stallion, till his death. To those who are thoroughly conversant with the Turf, it would be superfluous to remark, that he undoubtedly contributed more to the improvement of the breed of horses in this country, than any stallion before or since his time; it would be equally unnecessary to enumerate his get; to those who are less acquainted with the annals of racing, the names of Cade, Regulus, Blank, Babraham, and Bajazet, may serve as a proof of the remark; and it may not be amiss to observe, that almost (if not entirely so) every superior horse of the present day, partakes of his valuable blood. - He died at Hogmagog, in 1752, in the 29th year of his age, and is buried in a covered passage, leading to the stable, with a flat stone over him, without any inscription. - In regard to his pedigree, from all that can be collected, none was brought over with him, as it was said, and generally believed he was stolen. - It may be trifling to notice the extraordinary affection shewn by this horse to a cat, who lived in his stable, which was more particularly manifested by his extreme inquietude on the death of that animal. We mention this circumstance merely to account for the introduction of a cat in the portrait of the Godolphin Arabian, to which the reader is referred for an accurate representation of him.