R. H.

“ And yet they fain would Fight; they came so near, Methought they meant into each other’s Ear To whisper Wounds; and when they could not rise, They lay and lookt Blows int’ each others Eyes, But now the Tragic Part! after this fit, When Norfolk Cock had got the best of it, And Wisbich lay a Dying, so that none, Tho’ sober but might venture Seven to One; Contracting, like a dying, Taper all His strength, intending with the Blow to fall: He struggles up, and having taken Wind, Ventures a Blow, and strikes the other blind. ”

“ If not for Combate, why was the Fighting-Cock created? why has he that extraordinary hardness and vallour peculiar to him alone given him? and for what other end was this Stout and Daring Champion made, if not to Fight? the common Dunghill Cock eats as well, and breeds as well, or better, and is as good about a house, and as useful in all other respects (Fighting only excepted;) so that if they were not made for that end, they had this excellency bestowed upon them in vain, and the Royal Bird that in valour so far excells all other penigerous Creatures must be but a useless thing at best. ”

“ SO then, if you are desirous to breed a Cock of the Game, whose delicacy of Shape, and Excellency of Heels, whose admirable hardness, and most exquisite deportment in all respects, may not only prove pleasing, but also profitable to you: Imprint these subsequent Lines in your Memory: so that when you come to breed a Bird of this sort, you may not be wanting or unacquainted in those Misteries practised by the ablest Masters, in the World at this day, in the Noble Sport of Cocking. ”

“ A Match in Strength, in Courage, and in Age, And with keen Weapons Arm’d, alike engage Each other they assault with furious Beaks, And their twin’d Plumes distain with Bloody streaks, Each nimble Warrior from the Mat-ment bounds, And wing’d with death, their heels deal ghastly Wounds By turns they take, by turns fierce stroaks they give, And with like Hopes, and Fears for Conquest strive. ”

“ But to silence such noises as these in a few Words, for no man that’s veterane in Cocking will be of this Opinion, seeing experience daily teaches us the contrary, and for that Gentleman that writ the Compleat Gamester, speaking of Cocks, does indeed give the preheminence to close heels, that is close striking, but when that’s done he requires true Courage, and absolute hardness in a Cock, without which he tells ye that he is not worth one Peny. ”

“ These are all sports that little profit bring: But noble Cocking is the Game I Sing, Worthy the greatest Captain, greatest King. This Pastime I above the rest prefer, In that it fits a Man for Peace or War. ”

“ It makes Men bold and forward for the Field, And learns them there rather to die than yield. Cocking does also Constancy create, And arms a Man to Wrestle with his Fate; Be it more happy, or severe, his Mind, Is still the same to a brave end Inclin’d. ”

“ And therefore, as ’tis a most notorious Crime in a Cock of the Game to be wild or shie, so it is as weak and silly in a Master, to Fight such a Bird, before he be familiaris’d, and made bold and gentle. ”

“ Cocking breeds courage where before was none, And makes men Stout and die that us’d to run, Cocking breeds cunning too, makes men contrive, And puts them in a way to live and thrive: And if the Pious Indians say true, It makes Men Witty, Good, and Godly too. ”

“ But now notwithstanding this that I have said, yet is not every Flat-Heeler always to be rejected, for the most Eminent Cock-masters of our Days are of opinion that if a Cock come of a good Race, and has true blood in him, and is not only fresh and full Feather’d, but also Sound and well shaped, that such a Bird with a good Hen, will breed as good Chickens as need to strike betwixt a pair of Wings, notwithstanding that he himself hath not the knack of Pointing true in his Fight: wherefore he ought (tho’ not for the Pit) yet for breed sake to be preserved, and wholly set apart for Procreation ”

“ Now having furnished your self with a breed that is stout and sure stricken; see then to the Shape, and know that here you ought to be very nice and circumspect, strictly examining every Part, and if by the severest scrutiny you find your Cock to be foul Grown, or disproportioned, reject him as a Bird unhandsome to look on, uneasy to Match, unwealdy in his Fight, oft times unfortunate in his Battle, and for these reasons ever unfit for breed, and consequently unworthy of your care, or least regard, notwithstanding the Stock be never so good from whence he is derived. ”

“ Runners and Standers not good to breed together.
Know also, that if you take Eggs of a Hen that comes of a Strain proceeding from a straining Fight, and put them under a Hen to Hatch them that is by Nature a Runner, your Chickens will prove meer Mongrils, and have a kind of nodling Fight with them, which is by no [Pg 38] means commendable in a Cock of the Game, and for this Reason, never put a Cock that has a standing Fight to a Hen that is of a shifting Breed, for such Birds rarely prove well foughten when they come to be tried. ”

“ For truly I am of opinion that these Cocks that happen to be worsted in their Fight so far as to be disabled, and put past striking, and do then stand like stocks without pecking, or making any resistance whilst their Antagonist hews them down (though they die upon the spot) yet are they nothing worth, seeing they want the true Valour, and innate Courage, which does indeed peculiarly belong to the right bred Cock, who never fails to strike, or peck whilst he has either Blood or breath left in him. ”

“ For a rough Handler will make his Cock affraid of him, and perhaps make him run away when he is sorely wounded, rather than stay to be griped by so heavy a Hand as his Master carries.
And if he be a Man that is not quick in discovering of Wounds, be they either given or received by his Cock, he can never play his Bird of War to the best advantage. ”

“ For though you daily take your Bottle, and Cock, as long as the Season lasts, yet you ne’er fail to attend the Man of God, when Sunday comes, early you to the Temple Ride, and there before the Alter offer up your Orizons with all the fervency immaginable, and in the Afternoon, when by the Sexton call’d, you bring the Priest back in your Coach well refreshed by a good Dinner, and a cheerful grace-cup after it, which enables him to perform Evening service briskly, and with a Laudable Voice pronounce a Blessing on you when the Vesper’s over. ”

“ And let me here warn you never to set your Eggs (if you have any regard for them) as some ignorant Persons do, under Crows, Turkeys, Ducks, Dunghill Hens, or the like, for certainly, there is nothing that more depraves a gallant parcel of Eggs, than putting them under such Hens as those, who differ so much in nature from the Bird that layed them: And this is seen by such as are Crow-hatched, for tho’ the Egg were got and laid by the best Cock and Hen in the World, yet such a Bird when he comes to Fight do nothing but lug, and pull, and hardly ever strike as he ought to do ”

“ Mean time the wary Wisbich walks and breaths His active Body, and in Fury Wreaths His comely Crest, and often looking down, He whets his angry Beak upon the Ground. This done they meet, not like that Coward Breed Of Æsop’s; these can better Fight than Feed; They scorn the Dunghill, ’tis their only Prize, To dig for Pearls within each other’s Eyes. They Fought so nimbly that ’twas hard to know, To th’ Skilful, whether they did Fight or no; If that the Blood which dy’d the fatal Floor, Had not born Witness of’t. ”

“ Ground-Ivy is an admirable thing for a Cock that is hurt in the Eye; take a Leaf or two, and chew it in your Mouth, and spit the Juice into the Eye of the Wounded Cock, and it will not only cure the present Malady, but prevent the growth of Films, Haws, Warts, and the like, which are things very destructive to the Eye-sight. ”

“ But ’tis plain Nature intended the Fighting-Cock to be a Bird of great use, and benefit to Mankind in several respects, as has already been sufficiently noted: for this Bird by his Fighting teaches Man Skill, and prompts him to be Stout and truely Valiant. ”

“ But whether you breed big or little Birds, when once you have pitched upon your Cock and Hen for that purpose, see that you place them at a private Walk, where they go undisturbed and free from the molestations of other Poultry: for if a neighbouring Cock do but happen to come within the confines of your Walk, he may do you a double diskindness ”

“ Experience plainly taught them, what would be difficult to make some now-a-days to believe, Namely, that the Fighting-Cock is a Bird in himself both useful and profitable, as I shall prove more fully anon, to the silencing of all those whom Ignorance prompts to say any thing against it, for you know the abuse of a thing should not take away the right use of it ”

“ Let them Walk till the young Cockerils begin to disagree, and when once you find they are inclineable to quarrel, and raise up civil-Wars amongst themselves, you must speedily take them up, and if they are strong enough, cut their Combs and Wattles, and not before; for if you cut them too early, there will be no Comb remaining either to grace or guard the Head, and he’ll look so Capon like, that you will hate to see him when turned into the Pit. ”