Yorkshire Almanac The Flying Dutchman runs the Great Match against Voltigeur at the York races

13 May 1851: The Flying Dutchman runs the Great Match against Voltigeur at the York races

The Flying Dutchman and Voltigeur running the Great Match at York on the 13th of May 1851 for 1000 Sovereigns a side (Herring Sr.(?) 1852(?)).

C.J. Davison Ingledew. 1860. The Ballads and Songs of Yorkshire. London: Bell and Daldy. Get it:

Unedited excerpt

If an excerpt is used in the book, it will be shorter, edited and, where applicable, translated.

You sportsmen all both great and small, one moment now attend,
And listen with attention to these verses I have penn’d,
‘Tis of the Flying Dutchman I mean to sing my lay,
And tell you all the prizes too that he has borne away.
To the Flying Dutchman drink success who has so nobly run,
He’s beat the famous Voltigeur and show’d them how ’twas done.

The first place was Newmarket the Flying Dutchman run,
Where the July stake and a sweepstake of 400l. he won;
And then he went to Liverpool, believe me what I say,
A sweepstake of 1200l. the Dutchman bore away.
To the Flying Dutchman, &c.

At Doncaster in 1848, the truth I do unfold,
He carried off the champion stakes, likewise the two year old;
And then in 1849 he went to Epsom town,
And won the Derby stake 6,320l.
To the Flying Dutchman, &c.

Then in July, at Liverpool, no horse would with him run,
He walked over twice and there 850l. he won;
From there he went to Doncaster, and through the pelting rain,
With Charley Marlow on his back the Ledger did obtain.
To the Flying Dutchman, &c.

The foal stakes then at Doncaster, which was 400l. more,
No horse would run against him so the Dutchman he walked o’er;
Then at Newmarket he was match’d, but the Dutchman, I believe,
A forfeit of 500l. from Honeycomb received.
To the Flying Dutchman, &c.

Then for the Belivor stake the famous Flying Dutchman ran,
He took the prize; then at Ascot Heath the Emperor’s cup he won;
And at Goodwood too he won the prize, then to Doncaster came up,
He there was beat by Voltigeur running for the cup.
To the Flying Dutchman, &c.

Upon the thirteenth day of May in 1851,
The Flying Dutchman and Voltigeur upon York race course did run,
‘Twas for a thousand sovereigns, believe me what I say,
Which the Flying Dutchman has won and borne the prize away.
To the Flying Dutchman, &c.

No other horse was ever known to do what he has done,
For more than twenty thousand pounds in prizes he has won;
With Marlow mounted on his back, believe me what I say,
He never run a race but one, but he took the prize away.
To the Flying Dutchman, &c.

So to conclude and make an end, and finish up my song,
Unto the brave lord Eglinton, Flying Dutchman does belong,
So fill your glass and let it pass, and give a loud huzza,
For the Flying Dutchman stands unrivalled at the present day.
To the Flying Dutchman, &c.

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

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30 January 1709: Charles Boswell, king of the gypsies, is buried at Rossington, Doncaster

18 September 1831: William Wallett, an unemployed Hull clown, sets out to walk from Tickhill to Doncaster for the St Leger in home-made clothes

22 August 1572: The head of Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumberland and leader of the Catholic Rising of the North, is impaled on Micklegate Bar, York, where it stays for two years

20 September 1853: Ballad composed for the inauguration this day of Titus Salt’s palace for the manufacture of woollen fabrics

27 March 1634: In commercial Gothic urban legend, John Bartendale, a piper, is hung and buried at York, but awakes, is rescued and pardoned, and returns to the music business

19 October 1808: William Perigo of Bramley finds that Mary Bateman defrauded him in promising to cure his wife Rebecca’s palpitations, and suspects she died of poisoning

20 May 1606: James I’s courtier John Lepton rides from London to York in one day, and repeats the feat on the following four

7 January 1397: On the longest of the 42 days of his carnivalesque reign, boy-bishop John de Cave of York goes on a 200-mile begging spree

21 September 1874: The young of Nidderdale and Wharfedale celebrate Craven Lass’s victory amid urban railway tourists in the Pateley Bridge Races

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Although a brief search didn’t throw up the date for 1874, other mentions in the period suggest that the Pateley races were held on the penultimate Monday of September – the 21st in 1874 – and in corroboration the first (rugby) football match in Nidderdale was held on this day at Pateley Bridge between Harrogate and Pateley and district. Re the 1877 feast:

The weather was fine, and though threatening clouds hung about during the morning, the country people turned out in strong force. There was a large contingent of pleasure seekers from Harrogate and other towns within easy reach of Pateley Bridge, which is approached by a single line from Harrogate, and the trains were crowded to excess. Hence the one narrow street which gives the appellation of Town to Pateley Bridge was thronged long before the sports were to commence, but the people who flocked in from the surrounding villages found plenty of amusement. Bands of music paraded the town, and an itinerant nigger band excited the greatest admiration of their rural audience. The races, which were the chief item in the afternoon’s programme, were held in a field on the side of the river Nidd, and close to the town, and there was a very large company present. The entries for the various events were larger than on any previous occasion. Each event was run in heats, and though the proceedings can hardly be dignified by the name of sport, yet the contests produced much amusement. There were several gentlemen who might by way of compliment be called bookmakers present, but their offers were of the most illiberal description. The betting is, of course, not quotable, though there was a good deal of wagering for small money on the various races.
(York Herald 1877/09/25)

In 1863 a connecting train from Leeds to Pateley Bridge via Harrogate cost 5s. return 1st class or 2s. in covered carriages.

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