Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-04-02
THE HORSE IN FICT ION
WRITERS OF ROMANCE HAVE
sLraHTED PRINCE OF ANIMALA
The Novelist and the Poet Have Little
Acquaintance With Horse
manship.

&>@~~~>>S>>~Es
From the Author.
Though poets and novelists have in count
less works written in vague and general
praise Of the horse. when one begins to
delve into particulars one realizes that the
writer of fiction has, a rule. been always
rather shy Of this subject. The novelist
and the poet have not. one begins to dis
cover much real acquaintance with horses
and Craftsmanship. and a survey of the lit
erature Of the last century almost con-
vinces one that writers. as class, prefer
to leave the achievements OF the noblest
Of all domesticated animals rather severely
alone. Few creators of romance have. in
fact, cared to particularize on a subject
which, adequately dealt with offers many
attractions.
Byron. it Is true. strikes stirring note
in the poem of "Mazeppa," that spirited
and romantic setting of old Polish or
Cossack tradition. Byron gathered his ma
terials for ''Mazeppa" from voltaire's His
tory OF Charles XIII" and makes his hero.
the aged hetman Of the Ukraine Cossacks.
| recount his terrible ride to Charles on the
night following the disastrous battle Of
Pultowa. According to Byron, Mazeppa,
young Polish gentleman. detected in an
Is seized. bound to the back Of an unbroken
horse fresh from the wilds of Ukraine. and
driven forth into the forest and the wilder
ness. The tale is finely told in Byrons best
manner. yet when one begins to inquire
closely into the particulars one finds that
poetical license has been somewhat too
freely made use OF. For two days and
nights. according to Byron. Mazeppa's steed
carries him In a career SO headlong that
even the tireless wolves which pursue them
are left behind. Now. wolves. 1t Is well
known, will run down the best horse in
the world; while any one who Is acquainted
with horses and their capabilities will bear
out the writer In his affirmation that no
horse ever foaled could pursue a rapid
flight, unchecked for forty-eight hours
However at the end of that time. even the
steed portrayed by Byron begins to flag.
He swfms with his burden across a mighty
river. and presently sinks dowa upon the
Ukraine steppe. where Mazeppa Is rescued
and unbound by natives of that wild dis
trict. Among these people the hero makes
MS nome, In years to come rising to the
position of hetman or prince Of the Ukraine
Cossacks
Scott and the Horse.
Sir Walter Scott understood horses prob
ably good deal better than did Byron. and
In the Lady of the Lake FItzjames' chase
OF the stag. reused in Glenartney forest, is
with a frst-rate horse feasible enough
Fitz3ames however. appears to have been
a more enthusiastic hunter than he was a
good horse master. and having oyerridden
nus good gray from Glenartney to the
| shores of Loeb Katrine the generous beast
Yields up its life and stretched its stiff
limbs to rise no more Scott, however,
\ paints an incident that still occasionally
inappens. even In fox hunting. and his
knowledge of the ground described and of
the limits of a horses endurance has pre-
vented him from depicting the impossible
IN ms SPIRITED account Of the great run with
| a Glenartney stag.
Harrison Ainsworth's weli-known de-
scriptfon of Dick Turpin's ride to York al
most rescues "Rookwood'' from the region
OF rather cheap meiodrama. Turpin. OF
course, never performed the ride in ques-
ton. ride. as Ainsworth describes IT, prob
ably far beyond the limits of any single
horses endurance. Nevertheless. so wen
IS the famous highwaymans gallon de-
scf1beu. and SO much pains has the novel
| list displayed in the management of his part
of his tale, that good Black Bess and her
Immortal course will probably live In Gfiction
to delight schoolboys for generations, yet TO
come. 3
The Highwayman's Mount.
Among English nove,ists whYte Melville
certainly knew more about horses and
their capabilities than any other. In
| ''Katerfelto'' he has made the highway
! mans gray nag. OF which John Garnett be-
comes possessed. almost as much the hero
of his tale as the man who bestr1des it. The
hunt on ExTnoor is exceliently well done,
and katerfelto's leap for freedom a leap
which saves bis master and is the undoing
of Parson Gale and his black geiding Cas-
sock, is admirably set forth. The stallion
katerfelto. according to Whyte Melville is
never again captured, and becomes the
semi-feral progefiitor of much of the moor
land pony stock of West Somerset and
North Devon. There may be. as Melville
hints, some substratum of truth at the bot
| tom of this romance "Satanella" is an
other of Whyte MelviIle's tales which min
| giles the fortunes of handsome black mare
with the story of beautiful but ill-starred
| woman.
Among other famous horsemen and horses
OF fiction. Starlight and his good nag in
Robbery Under Arms, naturally occur to
one, while the great ride of Umslopogaas
| so graphically Set forth by Rider Haggard
In Allen Quartermain,'' is an excellent
piece OF work. strong. exciting and not
oVerdone in coloring. Taken as a whole
however, fiction is somewhat surprisingly
poor In domain where 1t might have been
expected to reap many laurels, and horses
and their feats have been but little utilized
Ride of the Welsh Knight.
Turning from the realm of fiction to that
| of hard facts one recalls three great and
marvellous rides. First, that of the Welsh
Knight of the Shire, who rode up to Lon
don on the spur from his own home to re-
cord his vote in favor OF that act of sue
| cession which established the present dy-
nasty on the throne of Britain. The squire
reached Westminster literally in the very
nick of time, and his casting vote decided
the fate OF the Stuarts and the rise of
their Hanoverian cousins One Of the great
est of all historic rides was that of young
Robert Carr from London to Edinburgh, to
carry to James l the tidings of the death
of Queen Elizabeth. Cars ride, accom-
piished practically without rest or respite
on relays of horses. still stands to the pres
snt day as one of the finest of all achieve
ments IN endurance and horSemanship
Sir Harry Smiths ride from Cape Town
to Grahamstown, on the outbreak of the
Kafhr war. in 1884. is beyond doubt one
or the most striking feats in horsemanship
ever recorded. He accomplished the dis
tance-610 miles-in six days. picking I'D
| raw, grass-fed cape ponies as he went
along. and accomplishing his Journey sue