A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE have latterly been held for farmers and mem- bers of the Herts Hunt at the end of the hunting season. THE HARPENDEN RACES This meeting is the only one in the county that has survived the test of time and fashion. The first meeting was held in the year 1848, and it has been held con- tinuously ever since. At one time it was considered quite an important meeting, com- ing as it did on the Friday before the Derby, and many were the favourites for that race that were 'knocked out' at the Harpenden meeting. Of late years however the number of race meetings has so much increased that several other races are held on the same day, and Harpenden now enjoys the reputation of being a small meeting with a well behaved local crowd, differing much from the rough crowd of a few years back who turned the Harpenden meeting into a byword of ruffian- ism. In close proximity to the Harpenden racecourse is the fine stud farm of Sir John Blundell Maple of Childwickbury, established some ten years ago. It is built on the most approved modern lines, with boxes and pad- docks for about 200 horses. It is the home of some of the best bred thoroughbred mares in the kingdom, but has not up to the present time produced any phenomenal racehorse. There are several smaller stud farms in the county where racehorses are bred, such as Holwell near Hatfield and Mr. Forest Tod's farm near Shenley. But in times gone by at least one Derby winner has been owned by a Hertfordshire man. Mr. Snewing, who lived near Wat- ford, was the owner of ' Caractacus ' (an appropriate Hertfordshire name), who won the Derby in 1862. COURSING In tracing the history of coursing as a national sport, and in comparing its de- velopment to that of other sports of less ancient origin, one notices with surprise how strangely consistent the advocates of coursing nowadays are to the rules of the sport and to the manner of conducting it as laid down by their ancestors. As long ago as 150 A.D. Arrian describes the mode of beating the ground to find the hares, and the mode of letting loose the greyhounds to chase them ; also the practice of some sportsmen of following the hounds on horseback, and of some of watching the course as best they could on foot drawn up in a line. And such points correspond almost exactly with what is done at the present day. Coursing was popular in Hertfordshire from the earliest days of her sporting history, and, as usual, we can turn to the annals of Queen Elizabeth's reign and find items of interest connected with it. The queen herself used greyhounds at Hat- field, and we read of her stationing herself, when not disposed to hunt, so as to get a good view of the coursing of the deer. The ' Laws of Coursing ' were drawn up by the Duke of Norfolk by order of Queen Elizabeth, and were agreed to by the nobility and gentry who followed the diversion in her reign, and these were recognized for many subsequent years. James I. was devoted to coursing, but con- sidered it inferior as a sport to hunting with a pack of hounds. He often enjoyed watch- ing the coursing on the Royston downs, and kept up the state and dignity of the ' keeper of the greyhounds,' which was one of many posts held by courtiers attached to the court. Many more or less private coursing meet- ings have from time to time been held in this county, but no public coursing club has ever existed for very long. Lady Salisbury at the beginning of last century held a meeting at Hatfield every year. On the first two days of the meeting the matches were run between her own hounds and those of her friends, but on the third day she permitted the public not only to be spectators of the sport, but also to enter and run greyhounds for the stakes. A picture of this coursing meeting at Hatfield was painted, and several coloured en- gravings of it are to be found in the county. These engravings are very interesting, as showing some of the practices of coursing in those days, and in depicting the costumes worn by the ladies and gentlemen about 100 years ago. It is a gay scene. About 150 to 200 gentlemen and ladies on horseback are watching the sport, the former in full hunting costume and the latter in long flowing habits. Lady Salisbury herself leads, in her sky-blue habit, which was the livery of the Hatfield Foxhounds, of which she was mistress at that time. It is difficult to understand how she could have ridden as hard across country as she was reputed to have done in such a garment as the excessively long habit in which she is depicted in this engraving. Besides the riders there are many pedes- 368
