xt7jq23qvv1m https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7jq23qvv1m/data/mets.xml Hore, John Philip. 1886 books b98-53-42679586v1 English A.H. Baily, : London : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Horse racing Great Britain. Newmarket (England) History. Great Britain History Stuarts, 1603-1714. History of Newmarket : and the annals of the turf: with memoirs and biographical notices of the habitubes of Newmarket, and the notable turfites, from the earliest times to the end of the seventeenth century (vol. 1)/ by J.P. Hore. text History of Newmarket : and the annals of the turf: with memoirs and biographical notices of the habitubes of Newmarket, and the notable turfites, from the earliest times to the end of the seventeenth century (vol. 1)/ by J.P. Hore. 1886 2002 true xt7jq23qvv1m section xt7jq23qvv1m T H E HISTORY OF NEWMARKET, AND) THE ANNALS OF THE TURF. This page in the original text is blank. w F- F- T H E IHISTORY OF NEWMARKET, AND THE 4NNA4LS OF THE TURF. WITH MEMOIRS AND BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF THE HABITUES OF NEWMARKET, AND THE NOTABLE TURFITES FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE END OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. BY J. P. HORE. IV THREE VIOL UMES. VOL. I. FRONI THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE DEATH OF JAMES I. LONDON: A. H. BAILY AND CO., i5, NICHOLAS LANE, CANNON STREET, E.C. ii886. [All rights reserved.] This page in the original text is blank. PRE FACE. Ricii, as many of our counties are, in topographical and historical literature, Cambridgeshire has been so neglected in this respect that she may be termed the Cinderella of the Shires. Need we wonder, then, when this important county--whose metropolis is the seat of one of our most renowned and ancient Univer- sities-has hitherto found no scribe to worthily chronicle her rural records, that an obscure hamlet within her confines should be unnoticed by writers upon ancient topographical subjects Nevertheless, this erst obscure hamlet (to use a racing phrase) is, on " book form," four times as wicked as the infamous towns mentioned in Genesis (which were only once destroyed by fire), because after Newmarket became the Metropolis of the Turf, on three several times, it was almost reduced to ashes, and once nearly destroyed by water, by way of a change. Surely a place enjoying such a reputation to start with, does not deserve to languish any longer in obscurity; and being actuated with a desire to lift the veil which so long hid her blushes, viii PREFA CE. mainly accounts for the compilation of these volumes. Whether the subject is worth the pains its production incurred remains to be seen. It is a (very) plain un- varnished tale, told by a sportsman, for sportsmen, who has endeavoured throughout the work to faithfully depict scenes of bygone days in Newmarket by re- producing as closely as possible the characteristics and incidents of those times as they were then portrayed. The same course, but in a more marked degree, has been observed in compiling the Annals of the Turf. " Veracity is their only ornament "-to quote the words of a celebrated writer; " but it is an orna- ment beyond all others in historical anecdotes." The Annals are often crude, and sometimes may be found unpalatable - replete with bad spelling, shocking grammar, and wretched diction. If we want elegant orthography, etymology, syntax, and prosody, and all the flowers of rhetoric, these will be found abounding in the " Histories of the British Turf from the Earliest Times to the Present Day," by James Christie Whyte (2 vols., London, I840), and by James Rice (2 vols., London, 1879); but, unfortunately, the rhetoric seems to have crowded out the historical information given in our Annals from the earliest times to the end of the sixteenth century; the seventeenth century is but little better off; the eighteenth century is no more than a poor and imperfect summary of the Racing Calendars; and from the beginning of the nineteenth century to PREFACE. the present day, the works of those brilliant writers abound in " historical " inaccuracies of the most flagrant description. The memoirs and biographical notices of the habi/uds of Newmarket, and of the notable Turfites who flourished long long ago, will probably be inte- resting to the sportsman of our own times. " Memoirs are the materials, and often the touchstone, of history; " -to quote our favourite author again-who very truly adds, " And even where they descend to incidents beneath her notice, they aid the studies of the antiquary and moral philosopher." In conclusion, I must, in gratitude, tender my thanks to the Duke of Beaufort, the Earl of Pembroke, Edmund Tattersall, Esq., and M. Leopold de Roths- child, for contributing the cost of the illustrations. J. P. HORE. NEWMARK ET', May, 188;. ix This page in the original text is blank. CONTENTS. i AIE BOOK I. NEWMARKET AND THE TURF IN THE EARLY AND MIDDLE AGES ... .. . ... ... ... ... I BOOK LI. FROM THE ACCESSION OF HENRY VIII. TO THE DEATH OF ELIZABETH... ... ... ... ... ... ... 58 BOOK III. ROYAL SOJOURNS AT NEWMARKET. JAMES I. I605-i614 ... 129 BOOK IV. ROYAL SOJOURNS AT NEWMARKET. JAMES 1. i615-i625 ( Con/inted) ... ... ... ... ... ...I69 BOOK V. MISCELLANEOUS OCCURRENCES AT NEWMARKET. i609-i625 275 BOOK VI. THE ANNALS OF THE TURF IN THE REIGN OF JAMES I. i605-i625 ... ... ... ... ... ... 326 This page in the original text is blank. THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET, AND THE ANNALS OF THE TURF. BOOK I. NEWMARKET AND THE TURF IN TILE EARLY AND MIDDLE AGES. Ancient British settlements in the vicinity of Newmarket-The Tumuli- Cinerary and other Celtic remains found therein-The Iceni race -Brief account of them by the Roman historians-Enter into an alliance with the Romans-Revolt under Ostorius-The league between Prasutagus and the Emperor-Tyranny of the Romans- Revolt of the Iceni under Queen Boadicea-Obtain a temporary victory-Their subsequent defeat by the Romans-Treatment of the Iceni after the conquest-The Roman-British coins-Those stamped with the figure of a horse-Peculiar to the Iceni race-Probable celebrity of their horses-Taxed by the Romans-Exportation of British horses to Rome-The Devil's Ditch-Brief survey and description of the structure-Probabilities as to its origin and objects -Newmarket and its vicinity during the Anglo-Saxon era-Royal residents at Exning-The East-Anglican sovereigns-St. Etheidreda -The origin of horse-racing in England-Introduced by the Romans -The primitive racehorse Its Eastern descent-The Spanish Legion-Their racehorses-Training difficulties during the Roman occupation of England-How overcome-Dissemination of Eastern blood-Prominent race-meetings in England under the Romans- The Turf during the Anglo-Saxon era-Probability of horse-races at Newmarket at this period-Progress of the Turf in England in the reigns of Henry II., Richard I., and John-The thoroughbred horses of the Middle Ages-Importation of Eastern blood-Examples- The first authentic description of a horse-race in the Middle Ages -Match between the Prince of Wales (Richard II.) and the Earl of Arundel-Owners up-The Earl's horse wins-Is bought by Richard II. for 4000- The Earl of Arundel-The Fathers of the VOL. I. B 2THE HISTORY OF NEWMAIRKET. Turf in the Dark Ages-Richard II.-Superiority of English horses in the Middle Ages-Celebrated in song and elegy-Their farce at home and abroad-English Turfites on the Continent-Racing at Milan, Florence, Pisa-Disastrous effect of the Civil Wars on the Turf in Enaland in the fifteenth century-The sport abandoned- Dispersion of racing studs-Foreign buyers-Purchases by the Dukes of Ferrara and \Iantua-Presents of English horses to the Duke of Ferrara from the Royal Stud at Eltham-The Middle Park in the Middle Ages-Legislation relating to horse breeding, etc.-New- market in the Middle Ages-Famous for displays of equestrian skill--Examples-The Earl of Pemibroke-The Earl of Gloucester and Ierfford-The Earl of Surrey-Newmarket and the vicinity in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries-The town nearly destroyed by a deluge in 1393-Royal visit in 1453-Manorial history of New- market-First mention of the town in I227-The Plague at Exning -Alleged removal of the market at Exning to Newmarket-Grant of Henry III. to Richard de Argentine to have an annual fair at New- market-The Lords of the Manor-The Argentines-The Alingtons -The Butlers-Local events-Bishop Jlierkes. AlrlHoUGH the earliest mention of Newmarket in the counties of Cambridge and Suffolk does not occur until the year A.D. I227, there is evidence that the vicinity of the Town and Heath was inhabited by the ancient Britons in almost pre-historic times. Two British tumuli on the borders of Newmarket Heath were opened in May, 1845, and in the following year an account of the examination of them appeared in the " Archaeological Journal " (vol. iii., p. 255). The first one described is in the parish of Bottisham. ft is placed on an elevated range of hills, forming an escarp- ment of the chalk, which makes it conspicuous for miles over the flat country around. This position, and the fact that an immense quantity of charcoal was found throughout the composition of this tumulus, Newmarket in Yorkshire occurs in medixeval documents, but its precise position is unknown. There is a town of the same name in Flintshire, North Wales; two in Ireland, in Co. Cork and Co. Clare and another in the United States of America. [BOOR 1. 2 THE ANCIENT BRITONS. which is of large size, measuring about ninety feet in diameter, although the deposit was, in comparison, very trifling, induces the supposition that it had been used as a site for a beacon-fire, to guide the traveller over the wild waste of fen-country which spreads in all directions around, and hence, possibly, the name of the " Beacon course." The excavation of this tumulus in I845 was made from east to west, commencing from the eastern side, in the direction of its centre, in which, at a depth of about three feet, there was found a cinerary urn in an inverted position,.slightly tilted on one side, and surrounded by charcoal and burnt earth. It was filled with charcoal, but contained only one small fragment of bone. This vessel, which was of the simplest manufacture, moulded by the hand, and sun-baked, measured in height five inches, and its diameter at the largest part was five inches and a half. From the deep red colouring, and the general appear- ance of the surrounding soil, it would seem that a small hole had been first dug, charcoal and bones burnt in it, the vase placed on the fire in an inverted position, and the whole covered up. About ten feet eastward of the central deposit, on the south side of the line of excavation, and -half a foot deeper, a deposit of fragments of bone was found apparently calcined, but with little charcoal or burnt earth, forming a layer not more than three inches thick, and two feet in cir- cumference. There were several pieces of the skull, a portion of the alveolar process, inclosing a tooth, apparently that of a young person, pieces of the femur and clavicle, and other fragments. A little to the BOOK 1.] 3 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. north of this spot there appeared a mass of charcoal and burnt earth, containing nothing of interest. After digging five or six feet deeper, operations were dis- continued; and on the next day shafts were excavated from the centre, so as completely to examine every part, without any further discovery, and in every direction charcoal was found mingled with the heap, not in patches, but in fragments. The other barrow was raised in a less conspicuous situation, about three hundred yards down the south slope of Allington Hill, part of the same range situate about a quarter of a mile to the south-west. Both are marked in the Ordnance map. An entrance was obtained from the east-north-east, passing south-south- west through the centre of the mound. Here a thin layer of charcoal appeared extending many feet in every direction. Amongst the soil thrown out, portions of two vases, broken, probably, at a previous opening, were found, " sufficing to prove that this had been an early Celtic, and not Roman deposit." One was the lip of a vase of red ware, the other a portion of a jar of the usual coarse, unbaked pottery, of black colour. In this tumulus were found two small rounded pieces of hard chalk, of the lower strata, called clunch. One was a perfect ball, smooth, measuring an inch in diameter; the other was of the same size, ground down in a regular manner, reducing it to a turbinated shape. It had been probably intended to perforate these as beads; a specimen of the same material, ground down in a similar manner and perforated, is in the possession of Mr. Collings. [BOOK I. 4 THE ICENI RA CE. It is very uncertain for what purpose the objects designated by Mr. Collings as beads were fabricated. They are frequently found in tumuli or earthworks, and remains of early occupation. They are mostly formed of indurated clay, bone, or stone, sometimes almost spherical, whilst other specimens are of flattened form, perforated in all cases, in the direction of the smaller diameter. They vary from about one to two inches in diameter. The conjecture appears probable that they may have been used in connection with the distaff, and the occurrence of such an object in a tumulus might thus serve to indicate the interment of a female. Some northern antiquarians, however, have regarded such perforated balls, or beads, as weights used in fishing, either for line or nets. The tribe of the Iceni, whose headquarters were at Exning, on Newmarket Heath, is mentioned by different ancient writers, though under a variety of names. That of " Iceni " is the form under which it appears in most copies of Tacitus, and that which is generally adopted. By Ptolemy they are called the Simeni (tLXevot, or, as some copies give it 'IuEvo&), and their chief town is said to be Venta (OV'Qra). The ninth Iter of Antoninus is from Venta Icenorum (or Iciorum) to Londinium, and the geographer of Ravenna makes mention of the same town, but under the form Venta Cenomum. We learn from Tacitus An urn somewhat similar to that described above was found by some labourers employed to remove one of the Barrows on the Beacon Hill in May, I815. See "Archxologia," vol. xviii., app. p. 436. London, 1817. BOOK I.] 5 THE HISTORY OF NE WMARKE T. that the territory of the Iceni cannot have been far distant from Camulodunum. There is a class of coins which are principally found in the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, possessing sufficient peculiarities of type to distinguish them as the currency of an independent tribe. On some of these coins the in- scription ECEN occurs, which has been thought to refer to the name of the tribe, and doubtless justifies the reading ICENI, in preference to SIMENI, or any of the other forms. A tribe called Cenimagni is specified among those who, after the surrender of the Trino- bantes, sent ambassadors, and submitted themselves to Julius; and it has been suggested by Camden, and accepted by some other writers, that in the first portion of this name we are to recognize that of the Iceni. The principal facts which are known in connection with this tribe are those of Tacitus (" Annals," lib. xii. cap. 31, el seq.). In A.D. 50 the Iceni are spoken of as a powerful nation, and unbroken by war, because they had voluntarily entered into an alliance with the Romans. At that time, however, they came into, collision with the invaders, and were defeated by Ostorius, after which it would appear that they retained a kingly form of government only by sufferance of the Romans. This may be gathered from the testamentary disposition of one of their kings, who, in A.D. 6i, when next the Iceni are mentioned, it would seem was but recently dead. This king, Prasutagus by name, renowned for his immense wealth, made the Roman emperor and his own two daughters his joint heirs, thinking by this [BOOR I. 6 THE ICENI COINS. expedient to place both his kingdom and family beyond the reach of injury. How this arrangement succeeded is well known; the tyranny of the Romans having brought about the sanguinary revolt under Boadicea, the widow of Prasutagus, in which the Iceni, in conjunction with the Trinobantes and other tribes not accustomed as yet to the Roman yoke, destroyed the Roman garrison town of Camulodunum and some other Roman stations. No less than seventy thousand of the Romans and their allies are said to have been slaughtered before Suetonius Paulinus, the Roman governor and general, was in a position to engage with the insurgents. In the engagement, however, which ensued, the defeat of the Britons was complete, their army having been nearly annihilated, and Boadicea driven to end her life by poison. From this time forward there is no mention of the Iceni in the pages of Roman history. Nearly all the gold and silver coins of the Iceni bear on the reverses the figure of a horse. Many of these horses, however, show a peculiarity in the pellets' on the shoulder, and the hairy or branched character of their tails, which is confined to the Roman-British coins of this district. The inscriptions on these coins, as far as at present known, are ECEN, ECE, SAE-IV, AESv, ANTED, and CAV () DVRO. The first person who suggested the attribution of coins of this class to the Iceni, was Sir Thomas Browne, the author of "Pseudodoxia Epidemica." In his " Hydriotaphia' (p. 7, ed. i669) he relates that at the two Caistors, by Norwich and Yarmouth, " some British coynes of T"ows 1-] 7 7HE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. Gold have been dispersedly found; and no small number of Silver-pieces near Norwich, with a rude Head upon the Obverse, and an ill-formed Horse on the Reverse, with Inscriptions IC., DURO, T., whether implying fcen4; Duro/riges, Tascia, or Trinobanfes, we leave to higher conjecture." Gale, in his " Itinerary of Antonious" (4to ed. I 709, p. i09), seems to refer to the same coins, and is, indeed, probably quoting Sir Thomas Browne. White, in the description of his Plate of British Coins (I773), also refers a coin of the type Plate xv., No. 3, to the Iceni ; and Akerman, " Num. Chron.," vol. i., p. 83, expresses his opinion that this class of coins is peculiar to Cambridgeshire. To Mr. Beale Poste, however, belongs the credit of having been the first to engrave a series of these coins in one plate, as coins of the Iceni (" Archaeological Associations Journal," vol. iv., p. 107), and this attribu- tion was corroborated by Mr. C. Roach Smith, in "Num. Chron.," vol. xv., p. 98. Commercial intercourse between the Phcenician inhabitants of Tyre and the ancient Britons is sup- posed to have occurred some time between B.C. 1200 and B.C. 6oo, and chiefly consisted of minerals, cattle, and the skins of wild animals. Later on we know beyond doubt British horses- "Practised alike to stop, to turn, to chase, To dare the shock, or urge the rapid race "- were so beautiful, so admirably trained, and so much admired, that they were exported to Rome in con- siderable numbers for the chariot and for mounting cavalry. And after the Roman conquest of Britain [BOOK T. 8 THE ICENI HORSES. had taken place, these horses, like other products of this country, were heavily taxed by the conqueror. Camden tells us that for the tribute payable by the Britons coins were stamped for this purpose. As the coins of the Iceni, above mentioned, bore on the re- verses the figure of a horse, we may safely deduce that, even in those early times, the vicinity of New- market was celebrated for its horses. This inference is apparently confirmed by the presence of the word Tascio, or Tacia, or some abbreviation of it, on these Brito-Romano coins-a word said to be derived from task or lascu, which means, " in the original language of Britain," any load, burthen, or tribute imposed by the Tag, or prince, and that all the money so stamped had been coined for no other purpose than to pay the tribute or taxes imposed by the Romans, and levied upon certain products of the Britons. The following survey of, and remarks upon, the Devil's Ditch at Newmarket, are derived from a paper contributed by A. J. K. to the " Gentleman's Magazine," January, i845: In the month of August, 1842, I had the opportunity of making some notes, founded on personal inspection, of the structure of that very remarkable ancient military earthwork on Newmarket Heath, in Cambridgeshire, popularly called the Devil's Dyke. As I am not aware that any particular survey of this strong and very extensive line of defence has been made, the report of my examination of it may not be unacceptable. I surveyed it at a spot called The Links, where it remains Henry's " History of Briton," vol. i. Boos J.] 9 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. very bold and perfect, about a quarter of a mile south of the turnpike gate, which stands where it is crossed by the high road from Newmarket to London and Cambridge. I ob- tained, in a rough way, the following measurements, which cannot, however, greatly err from the truth. This formidable vallum or rampart was commenced probably at its southern extremity, where the Ordnance map of Cambridgeshire marks the site of an ancient entrenched camp at Wood Ditton; there are also some tumuli northward of that place in front of the dyke, called, traditionally, " The Two Captains." Wood Ditton is evidently a name associated with the dyke, implying the wood on the ditch. The work is continued northward, across Newmarket Heath, in a straight course of eight miles, to a stream near the village of Reach, whose appellation, from the Saxon, pcecan, indi- cates the point to which the dyke reached or extended (see the Plan), so that its right flank rested on streams and marsh lands, and its left on a forest tract. The vallum being thrown up on the eastern side, shows that the entrenchment was in- tended to secure the plain of Newmarket against an enemy approaching from the westward by a barrier, impregnable if properly defended. Such, indeed, it must have been, for the escarpment of the rampire from the bottom of the ditch in the most perfect places measures not less than ninety feet, and is inclined at an angle of seventy degrees. On the top of the rampart is a cursus, or way, eighteen feet in breadth, sufficiently wide for the passage of cavalry or chariots. I have been told that, some years since, fragments of bronze furniture of chariot wheels were dug up near the line of dyke, but I cannot verify the information. On the top of the rampart I thought I could distinguish faint traces of a parapet of turf. The whole was probably strengthened by a line of palisades or stakes. It will be readily imagined how strong a defence this steep and bristled wall of earth must then have formed. Even now, to ascend its outward base from the bottom of the ditch is a feat of no small difficulty and labour. The excavation for the work was made in the solid stratum of chalk, which lies on Newmarket Plain next under [BOOK I. TO KTHE DE VIVS DI TCH. the vegetable mould; the rampire was doubtless faced with green sods, and nature has continued the surface of sward to this day. About seven miles to the westward, crossing the high road, and running nearly in a parallel line, is another ditch and rampart, called the Fleam Dyke, which may be rendered, from the Saxon, the dyke of flight or refuge (Fleam), as it probably was for the inhabitants of East Anglia, being an obstacle against the assaults of the Mercians. I have not yet had the opportunity of comparing the construction of the Fleam Dyke with that of the Devil's Dyke; it varies very little in extent from the latter; it is called also, from the length of its course, the Seven-Mile Dyke. On the inner or eastern side of this work, near the high road, is a considerable tumulus, called in the maps, Matlow Hill. I am strongly disposed to think that the Devil's Dyke, and perhaps other lines of entrenchment of a similar character in the neighbourhood, were constructed by the Roman legions at an early period in Britain. Camden enumerates three military dykes in Cambridgeshire besides the Devil's Dyke, the strongest of them all. The Roman forces, after obtaining their first footing in Britain, occupied and colonized some eligible positions in Kent, Middlesex, and Essex; we find them at the time of the revolt of Boadicea at Camulodunum (Col- chester), Verulamium (St. Alban's), and Londinium (London). The Trinobantes and Iceni were perhaps the first British districts which received the Roman yoke.... The first mention of the Devil's Dyke in history is found in the Saxon Chronicle under the year 905, which tells us that the land of the East Angles was laid waste between the dyke and the Ouse, as far northward as the fens. The dyke was termed in the Norman period St. Edmunds Dyke, because the jurisdiction of the abbots of Bury St. Edmunds extended so far westward. The description of the dyke by Abbo Floxiacensis, a writer of the tenth century who had visited Britain, as quoted by Camden (edited by Gibson), is remark- able for its brief accuracy. Speaking of East Anglia, he says, that on the west " this province joins to the rest of the island, BOOK I.] I I THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. and consequently there is a passage; but to prevent the enemies', frequent incursions it is defended by a bank like a lofty wall, and a ditch." A reference to the sketch and section accompanying these notes will at a glance show the appropriate character of Abbo's words.... I have hitherto omitted to mention that I observed some fragments of Roman tile scattered near the dyke, and that it appears to have been cut through in forming the present high road from Newmarket to Cambridge. That is some evidence for its very high antiquity. I recommend the explorator of this interesting fortification not to fail to visit the dyke at the Links, to descend into the fosse, and obtain the view I have given of its course, ascending the rising grounds southward in the direction of Wood Ditton. It will then be allowed I have drawn no exaggerated picture of the work. On the race- course at Newmarket its character is not so bold; it has been broken through in order to form apertures for the running horses at places which the general name of gates (i.e. gaps) has been. given, and the rains of centuries have had more effect in reducing its features. If opportunity should occur, I shall be happy at some future period to survey the entrench- ments marked in the Ordnance map at Wood Ditton, and to trace the dyke to its termination at Reach. The question in the meantime still lies open, whether the Devil's Dyke is a Roman or a Saxon work, and any informa- tion tending to settle that point, conveyed through the medium of the " Gentleman's Magazine," will be received with satisfaction. The generations of mankind rapidly pass away, but the monuments which their labour has erected on the surface of the earth remain. Tradition generally affords an uncertain or exaggerated view of their origin, if remote, or, at a loss for its traces, proclaims them the work of demons. Written records are sometimes scanty, or altogether wanting. Documents and relics are often worthless, if not submitted to critical analysis. In many cases the aid of actual survey and delineation, and of the mattock and spade, must be resorted to. Coins, military weapons (observing whether these be of brass or iron), relics of domestic utensils or sepulchral rites, [BOOK I. 12 PLAN OF DFVII.S UYKF, NEWIIARKIFl. t2. "I w - 0l- E :1 Cs- ID 40 0C 0 C/) 0 Ct EXNING. may then be sought for, and, as these are evidences generally capable of comparative and chronological classification, they become of importance, and in the hands of a judicious collector are no longer rubbish unfit to occupy that most valuable of commodities entrusted to our husbandry-time. According to the best authorities the Devil's Ditch was the boundary between the two Saxon kingdoms of East Anglia and Mercia while the Heptarchy lasted, and although we have no definite evidence of the town of Newmarket, per se, having existed prior to the Middle Ages, it seems that this unnamed hamlet formed a part of Exning in the Anglo-Saxon era. Exning may be said to have decayed in the same ratio as New- market increased in importance and prominence. Formerly the parish of Exning comprehended the whole of what is now that of Newmarket, and its church was the mother-church to which the flock of the latter resorted. Consequently Newmarket may claim, as a portion of Exning (in those days of geographical ambiguity) the honour of being the birth-place of St. Etheldreda, a daughter of Anna and Hereswitha, king and queen of East Anglia, circa A.D. 630. Exning was anciently called Ixning-a word evidently derivable from that of Iceni, by which Caesar and Tacitus described the inhabitants of Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk. There is no name in the calendar of female British saints more fertile of strange incident and marvellous adventure than that of our St. Etheldreda; and one of the most See Baudrand's Geography, p. 503, edit. Paris, 1682; and Camden, Mag. Brit., vol. v., p. 220, edit. orig. BooK I.] 13 4HE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. curious manuscripts extant in this country, forms the precious repository of her achievements. Now, having regard to the fact that in com- paratively modern times royalty was so closely associated with Newmarket, we are induced to give a brief memoir of St. Etheldreda,7 as she was one of the earliest sovereigns connected with the Town, some six hundred years before it was even christened; and may she not without profanity be termed the Patron Saint of the Metropolis of the Turf 1 Born at Exning, about the year 630, Etheldreda, daughter of Anna, king of the East-Angles, and Hereswitha his queen, was bred and educated there under the supervision of her illustrious parents, from whom she received the first im- pressions of religion and virtue. In her childhood, the mild- ness of her temper, and innocence of behaviour, joined with the beauty of her person, rendered her the delight of all that were about her; but that which was most observable in her constitution at that time of her life, was a serious turn of mind, and a bent to religious duties. It was very early that she devoted herself to the service of God, and had formed in her mind a design of preserving in a virgin state during life, a species of piety in that age held in high esteem, and requisite to Christian perfection, which this princess was generally thought to have carried to a pitch of heroism. The amiableness of her person, heightened by those excel- lent endowments of mind she was possessed of, in a court where the most exalted piety and the strictest virtue were considered as the highest and noblest accomplishments, could not fail of exciting the admiration of many, and made her name celebrated in the other Saxon courts. There were several persons of the highest rank who became suitors for The Liber Eliensis. See Wharton, vol. i., pp. 593-688; Gale, vol. i. pp. 463-525. [BOOK 1. 14 ST. ETHELDREDA. her in marriage; but as the princess had already formed in her mind a different scheme of life, and was bent on a religious retirement from the world, she declined every offer that could be mad