Thomas Darley
Encyclopedia
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
(Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
) during the reign of Queen Anne
Anne of Great Britain
Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
. He is famous for having bought an Arabian colt that became an important part of the history of the Thoroughbred breed.
Darley was born in Aldby Park
Aldby Park
Aldby Park is a country estate in the village of Buttercrambe near the village of Stamford Bridge in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.Built circa 1725 by Jane, sister of that Thomas Darley who had sent to Aldby the celebrated "Darley Arabian"...
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, England. His father was Richard Darley and his mother Dorothea was a daughter of the regicide Thomas Waite (Wayte)
Thomas Waite (regicide)
Thomas Waite, also known as Thomas Wayte was an English soldier who fought for Parliament in the English Civil War, a member of the Long Parliament, and one of the regicides of King Charles I....
.
In 1702 Darley while in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
bought an Arabian colt
Colt (horse)
A colt is a young male horse, under the age of four. The term "colt" is often confused with foal, which refers to a horse of either sex under one year of age....
from Sheikh Mirza
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...
for his father, Richard Darley. There are conflicting stories about how much Darley exchanged or paid for the colt but had made arrangements to send him back to Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
. The Colt
Colt (horse)
A colt is a young male horse, under the age of four. The term "colt" is often confused with foal, which refers to a horse of either sex under one year of age....
was foaled in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, late March or early April in the year 1700. The horse, a bay, was tall for an Arabian horse
Arabian horse
The Arabian or Arab horse is a breed of horse that originated on the Arabian Peninsula. With a distinctive head shape and high tail carriage, the Arabian is one of the most easily recognizable horse breeds in the world. It is also one of the oldest breeds, with archaeological evidence of horses...
of the time was 15 hands when described by Darley in a letter to his brother dated 21 December 1703. The horse whose original name was "Ras el Fedowi," translated as "The Headstrong One", became immortalised as the "Darley Arabian
Darley Arabian
The Darley Arabian was one of three dominant foundation sires of modern Thoroughbred horse racing bloodstock, the other two being the Godolphin Arabian and the Byerley Turk. This bay Arabian horse was bought in Aleppo, Syria by Thomas Darley in 1704 and shipped back to Aldby Park in England, where...
".
In Thomas Darley's own words, "he was immediately striking owing to his handsome appearance and exceedingly elegant carriage". Although he never raced, he covered mares at Aldby Park
Aldby Park
Aldby Park is a country estate in the village of Buttercrambe near the village of Stamford Bridge in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.Built circa 1725 by Jane, sister of that Thomas Darley who had sent to Aldby the celebrated "Darley Arabian"...
from 1705 until 1719, and lived until the advanced age of 30. His genes added speed to those of stronger English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
horses
Horse breed
Horse breed is a broad term with no clear consensus as to definition, but most commonly refers to selectively bred populations of domesticated horses, often with pedigrees recorded in a breed registry. However, the term is sometimes used in a very broad sense to define landrace animals, or...
of the time. Through his offspring, including his great grandson, the famous and never beaten Eclipse
Eclipse (horse)
Eclipse was an outstanding, undefeated 18th-century British Thoroughbred racehorse who was later a phenomenal success as a sire.-Breeding:...
, he has had the greater influence of the three foundation stallions of the Thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
breed. His bloodline is said to be present in about 95% of today's Thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
racehorses.
Ancestry
External links
- http://www.tbheritage.com/Portraits/DarleyArabian.html
- http://www.bloodlines.net/TB/Bios/DarleyArabian.htm
- http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/Misc/Descriptions/NRY/ButtercrambeArabian.html)