Although the cartographer John Speed refers to Red Horse Vale in 1606,[REF] the first clear mention of the Red Horse of Tysoe occurs in the 1607 edition of William Camden's Britannia [REF].
A second mention of the Red Horse was made in 1612 by the Warwickshire poet Michael Drayton,[REF] while another more explicit account was given by antiquary William Dugdale, who was given the task of recording features of interest around the country in case the Parliamentarians should seek to destroy them.