The Father of the Turf, Tregonwell Framp-ton Esqre. of Moreton, in Dorsetshire - Keeper of the Running Horses at Newmarket, to their Majesties William the Third, Queen Anne, George the First, and George the Second; Died 12th. of March 1727 Aged 86 years, 1791 (Primary Title)
After, John Wootton, English, ca. 1682 - 1764 (Artist)
John Jones, American, 1782 - 1854 (Engraver)
Unidentified collectors mark lower right.
Printed beneath image lower center: Engraved (from an Original Painting by Mr. Wooten) by John Jones Engraver Extraordinary to H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, & Principal Engraver to H.R.H. the Duke of York./ THE FATHER OF THE TURF,/ Tregonwell Frampton Esq.re of Moreton, in Dorselshire,__ Keeper of the Running Horses at Newmarket, to their MAJESTIES William the Third,/ Queen Anne, George the First, & George the Second; Died 12th of March 1727__ Aged 86 Years./ This extraordinary Character was born in the Reign of King Charles the First, when the Sports of Horse Racing commenced at NEWMARKET, and he was owner of the celebrated Horse DRAGON, whose Portrait appears/ in a Frame in the Back Ground.___ The most remarkable event in the lives of this Gentleman & his Horse Dragon, is most pathetically depicted by Dr. John Hawkesworth (in No. 37 of the Adventurer) in the following words, supposed to be spoken by the/ Horse in the Elysium of Beasts and Birds.__ "It is true", replied the STEED "I was a favourite, but what avails it to be the favourite of caprice, avarice and barbarity! My tyrant was a Man who had gained a considerable fortune by play, particularly by racing.__ I had/ "won him many large sums, but being at length excepted out of every match, as having no equal, he regarded even my excellence with malignity, when it was no longer subservient to his interest. Yet I still lived in ease and plenty; and as he was able to sell even my plea-/"sures, though my labour was become useless, I had a seraglio in which there was a perpetual succession of new beauties. At last, however, another competitor, appeared. I enjoyed a new triumph by anticipation; I rushed into the field, panting for the conquest; and the first heat/ "I put my master in possession of the stakes, which amounted to 1000 Guineas. Mr___ the proprietor of the mare that I had distanced, notwithstanding this disgrace, declared with great zeal, that she should run the next day against any gelding in the world for/ "double the sum; my master immediately accepted the challenge, and told him, that he would the next day produce a gelding that should beat her; but what was my astonishment and indignation, when I discovered that he most cruelly and fraudulently intended to/ "qualify me for this match upon the spot; and to sacrifice my life at the very moment in which every nerve should be strained in his service. As I knew it would be in vain to resist, I suffered myself to be bound; the operation was performed, and I was instantly mount-/ "-ed and spurred on to the goal. Injured as I was, the love of glory was still superior to the desire of revenge; I determined to die as I had lived, without an equal; and having again won the race, I sunk down at the post in an agony, which soon after put an end to my life."/ "When I had heard this horrid narrative, which indeed I remembered to be true, I turned about in honest confusion, and blushed that I was a man."/ Published as the act directs....[erased].. be sold by the Proprietor J. Bodger, Land Surveyor, Stilton, Hunts & at No. 53 High Holborn. Mr Weatherly, Racing Calendar Office No. 7 Oxendon Street Haymarket & at Mess.rs Tattersalle, London, at the Coffee Room, Newmarket; Also at all the Principal Towns in England.__ See the Seven Companion Prints in Racing Calendar Book 1790, Last Page.
Gift of the Friends of Sporting Art
Catching Sight: The World of British Sporting Print, VMFA, August 31, 2013 - July 13, 2014
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
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