Gallops

For the reading group meeting on Wednesday, August 30, we'll be discussing the first volume of David Gray's short stories, entitled Gallops. Keep in mind that these stories were probably originally published in magazines during the 1890s and early 1900s. Does that sound familiar? These are American stories comparable to those of Somerville and Ross. Not all the stories are hunting-related. There are certainly racing stories and horse-dealing stories.

Some biographical information on David Gray, 1870 - ?

From Six Centuries of Foxhunting: An Annotated Bibliography
The Hitchcock Edition of David Gray: Gallops, Gallops 2, Mr. Carteret. New York: Derrydale Press, 1929. Three octavo volumes with a total of 533 pp., with illustrations by Paul Brown. Limited to 750 numbered copies, with volume 1 signed by Mr. Gray. Red cloth. Issued with cardboard slipcase.

Gray, like Gordon Grand, was an attorney and occasional writer (he did write a couple of plays that appeared briefly on Broadway). His three books of fiction are centered in the American horse community with much on foxhunting, steeplechasing, and descriptions of rural life.

Gray was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Ireland from 1940 to 1947. While minister there, he enjoyed a great friendship with Edith OE Somerville, who visited with him and his family many times throughout the war years.


From British and American Sporting Authors, David Gray (1870 - )
David Gray, United States Minister to Eire for some years, was born and brought up in the United States. Graduating from Harvard University in 1892, he took up journalism, writing several charming hunting stories, which were afterwards published collectively, under the title of Gallops. At this time, Mr. Gray was living in the Genesee Valley country, and hunting with Major Wadsworth's hounds, and some of the characters bore an unmistakable resemblance to the members of the Genesee Valley Hunt field. Gallops was an instant success, and was followed, a few years later, by another volume, which he called Gallops II, and, after a further interval by Mr. Carteret and Others.

I well remember the popularity of the stories when they first came out. People who did not know Mr. Gray asked who he was, where he hunted, and where he had acquired the knowledge and experience in America which made it possible for him to bring to his stories such an intimate atmosphere of the hunting field. When I heard from friends that he had hunted behind Major Wadsworth's Hounds, in The Genesee Valley, I realized at once from whence it had come. Although Mr. Gray's stories in Gallops and Gallops II are typical of American hunting, one or two of them contain characters which are so typically British that it is easy to see that the writer also had had experience in the hunting fields of England, and this is even more apparent in the third volume of hunting stories, Mr. Carteret and Others, which came out a few years later. I have often wondered why Mr. Gray did not indulge in further "Gallops." They may not have been, in one sense of the word, great literature, but, to my way of thinking, they gave the best picture of the American hunting field that had been produced up to that time, and were later dramatized in the play which, under the title of "Gallops," had a most successful run in New York.

Links to online versions of the books:
The first thing you'll see is the book in a format to be read online.  Scroll down for downloads in various formats.  The easiest way to proceed is to use the cable to connect your reader to your computer and then download directly to the reader.

Gallops

Gallops 2

Mr. Carteret



 

Foxhunting in North America

For the July 2017 meeting of the reading group, we read Foxhunting in North America by Alexander Mackay-Smith. We all agreed that the book is packed with valuable information. For someone who has never hunted, this is probably not the best book. Once someone has started hunting and wants to know more, this is exactly the book to give to that person.

Some biographical information on Alexander Mackay-Smith, 1903-1998.

From the United States Eventing Association Hall of Fame
There is possibly no one who has done more to further the interests of all equestrian sports during this century than Alexander Mackay-Smith. Author, scholar, horseman and visionary leader, Mr. Mackay-Smith left no stone unturned when it came to promoting those causes that were dear to him.


From Six Centuries of Foxhunting: An Annotated Bibliography
Mackay-Smith grew up in Manhattan, and after graduating from Harvard Law School, worked in the administrations of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He began hunting in his late twenties, and over the course of the next 70 years became one of the most influential individuals in the American equine world. He was the MFH for the Blue Ridge Hunt, 1936-1942, and the Rock Hill Hounds, 1939-1942, and was the co-founder and curator of the National Sporting Library as well as editor of Chronicle of the Horse from 1952 to 1975.

He was an accomplished musician who began playing the violin at age 12 and furthered his study of that instrument between graduation from Harvard and attending Harvard's graduate school. This love of music was instrumental in his researching foxhunting songs and eventually publishing The Songs of Foxhunting in 1974.

His books are important and certainly part of his legacy. However, the organizations that he helped found are perhaps more important – the list of these organizations includes the United States Pony Club, North American Riding for the Handicapped Association, United States Combined Training Association, National Sporting Library, Cleveland Bay Society, Morven Park International Equestrian Institute, Virginia Thoroughbred Association, American Remount Association, Clarke County Historical Association, and American Academy of Equine Artists.

Mackay-Smith wrote the introductions to a dozen or more equine titles written by others, and also wrote three books on racing: The Racehorses of America, 1832 -1872, published in 1981; The Colonial Quarter Race Horse (1983); and Speed and the Thoroughbred (2000).