Bull-baiting

“ The suffering which constituted the great delight of the sport was even worse than this, in bull-baiting, for the bull gored or tossed the dogs to death more frequently than the bear worried or crushed them. ”

“ A few additional details of the sport are given in the following contemporary description of a bull-baiting. "They tie a rope to the foot of the ox or bull, and fasten the other end of the cord to an iron ring fixed in a stake, driven into the ground; so that this cord, being 15 foot long, the bull is confined to a sphere about thirty foot diameter. Several butchers or other gentlemen who are desirous to exercise their dogs, stand round about, each holding his own by the ears; and when the sport begins, they let loose one of the dogs; the dog runs at the bull ”

“ Bull-running and bull-baiting was an attraction only rivalled by bear-baiting. The corporations of some towns had a by-law forbidding butchers to exhibit bull beef for sale, unless the animal had previously been baited by dogs for the amusement of the populace. ”

“ Some years since, when bull-baiting was more common than in the present improved state of civilization, a juvenile amateur, at an entertainment of this kind in the north of England, confident in the courage and purity of blood in his bull-dog, laid a wager "that he would at four distinct intervals deprive the animal of one of his feet by amputation, and that after every individual deprivation he should still attack the bull with his previous ferocity ”

“ The breed is by no means so numerous as formerly, in consequence of the gradual decline of bull-baiting, and the great number taken abroad, for many of which very great prices were obtained. The natural ferocity, strength, and thirst for blood, in this animal, rendered them a formidable nuisance in their unrestrained state, and they are now seldom seen at their full liberty, either in town or country; the owners, from a proper fear of the law, finding it more prudent to keep them properly confined. ”

“ Men have been maimed for life, and even gored [Pg 224] to death, in bull baiting frays, held in front of the Carlisle town hall. A large ferocious animal, known as the "Linstock bull," was baited no less than three times. It once broke loose from the ring; threw the multitude into wild disorder ”

“ He speaks of bull-baiting as being, "it must be confessed, at the expense of an animal which is not by any means a party to the amusement; but then," he adds, "it serves to cultivate the qualities of a certain species of dogs, which affords as much pleasure to their owners as greyhounds do to others. It is no small recommendation to bull-dogs that they are so much in repute with the populace." In a second speech, May 24, 1802, he said that he believed "the bull felt a satisfaction in the contest, not less so than the hound did when he heard the sound of the horn that summoned him to the chase. ”

“ The cruel and disgusting custom of bull-baiting is still kept up in the country, and the condors are employed to add to the terror and sufferings of the unhappy bull. Before the unfortunate animal is driven into the circus, his back is laid bare with a lance, and one of the birds, which has been starved for a week or more, is bound upon it. The famished condor immediately attacks the raw, quivering flesh of the poor beast; and while it is thus engaged, the bull is driven into the midst of the arena, to afford amusement to the savage spectators. ”

“ Imperfect: as these traditions are we are enabled by their help to see the origin and meaning of the Sheffield "bull week." It was the practice at Tutbury in Staffordshire to cut up and divide the bull, for Dr. Plot, in concluding a long account of the bull-running in that town tells us that "the minstrels had him for their own, and might sell, kill, and divide him amongst themselves as they thought fit." [2] Bull-baiting seems to be a survival of sacrifices of that animal formerly made in England. ”

“ Of bull-baiting, of cock-fighting, of various barbarous pastimes of our fathers we know nothing now save by hearsay; but it is safe to say that whereas bull-baiting and cock-mains have long been prohibited by law, the most cruel sport remains unpenalised and undiscouraged ”

“ The regulation, made more than a century later, which forbade butchers to kill bulls that had not been baited, may therefore not have been a new one. It is possible, however, that the 15th century edict had no reference to the popular "sport" of bull-baiting, as Kelly supposed, but merely provided for the baiting or stall-feeding of cattle before slaughter, as a similar order made at Cambridge certainly did. ”

“ And there the sport enjoys an endowment and so flourishes wonderfully, outdoing in the fame of its bull-baiting all other towns and parishes in the county of Berks. The endowment arose in this way. One, George Staverton, a lover of the sport, having himself, it is said, been gored by a bull, charged his estate with £6 a year to provide a bull for baiting. Whether he meant it as a revenge on the whole bull race for his injuries, or, as the expression of a good-natured wish, that others should enjoy the sport from which he had himself received so much pleasure, we are left to guess. ”

“ Occasionally we hear of the cruel sport of bull-baiting, though not till the latter half of the eighteenth century. In 1763 the keeper of the DeLancey Arms on the Bowery Lane gave a bull-baiting. Brooklyn was specially favored in that respect during the Revolution, when the British officers took charge of and enjoyed the barbarism, [Pg 218] and Landlord Loosely of the King’s Head Tavern helped in the arrangements and advertising. Good active bulls and strong dogs were in much demand. The newspapers of the times contain many advertisements of the sport. One in poor rhyme begins ”

“ ROUGH SPORTS. Bear-baiting — Bear-gardens — Bull-baiting — Description — Extra ordinary bull bait — Cock-fighting — Cock-pits — Value of matches — Training.
But all amusements at this time were not so innocent as the foregoing: there were fiercer and more blood-stirring excitements for the men. Take bear and bull baiting. The former was dying out, and was no longer as popular as it was during the reigns of Elizabeth, James I., and Charles I.
Slender. ”

“ To the fox, {403} badger, polecat, weasel, rat, and even the poor domestic cat, the terrier is a most implacable enemy. For the purposes of BADGER BAITING, they have, by the lower classes, been crossed, and bred in and in with the bull-dog, which has enlarged the produce of those crosses, and increased the natural ferocity, as a greater stimulus to that particular sport now so fashionable with the sons of the cleaver, since the practice of BULL-BAITING has been so happily upon the decline. ”

“ The men of New York enjoyed rugged and cruel sports such as would not be tolerated at the present time. Among these were bear-baiting and bull-baiting. Bear-baiting became rare as the animals disappeared from the neighborhood and became scarce. Bulls were baited on Bayard’s Hill and on the Bowery. A bull was baited in 1763 at the tavern in the Bowery Lane known as the sign of the De Lancey Arms. John Cornell, near St. George’s Ferry, Long Island, gave notice in 1774 that there would be a bull baited on Tower Hill at three o’clock every Thursday afternoon during the season. ”

“ It always aims at the front, and generally fastens upon the lip, the tongue, the eye, or some part of 109the face; where it hangs in spite of every effort of the bull to get away from it.
Many stories are told us of this most cruel sport; but of late years the inhuman custom of baiting the bull has been almost entirely laid aside, and there are now few Dogs of this kind to be seen. The great danger of the Bulldog is, he always makes his attack without barking. ”

“ John Houghton, in his Collection for Improvement of Husbandry and Trade, [190] gives a vivid account of the baiting of the bull. He says:
The bull takes great care to watch his enemy, which is a mastiff dog (commonly used to the sport) with a short nose that his teeth may take the better hold; this dog, if right, will creep upon his belly that he may, if possible, get the bull by the nose; which the bull as carefully strives to defend by laying it close to the ground, where his horns are also ready to do what in them lies to toss the dog; and this is the true sport. ”

“ Erasmus speaks of the "many herds of bears" which he saw in England "maintained for the purpose of baiting." The baiting was accomplished by tying the bulls or bears to stakes, or when possible releasing them in an amphitheatre, and pitting against them bull-dogs, bred through cen121turies for strength and ferocity. Occasionally other animals, as ponies and apes, were brought into the fight, and the sport was varied in miscellaneous ways. Some of the animals, by unusual courage or success, endeared themselves to the heart of the sporting public. ”

“ There is no maddened rush of an angry bull. He stops for an instant with a startled look—surprise, and hurt wonderment, and "what for?" written on his face as plain as man can talk. A baiter inside the ring with a blanket shook out at his side stands just ahead of him. The bull charges the blanket—no danger to the man—the gate is shut, and the baiters with their blankets held out at their sides get the bull more and more into fighting trim. ”

“ The bull has tasted blood, and is now savage without contradiction. In the next round perhaps he disembowels a horse, unseats the rider, and chases him to the barrier. The steed does not die at once, but careers wildly around the ring till caught by the lassoers. The arena is full of dust and turmoil; everything flies before the horned enemy, his eye almost emitting lurid sparks, and his long tail streaming in the air. ”

“ He charges from one to the other, with no more danger to the trained athletes on foot than there would be to a hound after a rabbit.
But the rabbit has a chance for its life—the bull none.
And now another baiter comes with two harpoon spears on handles two feet long decked with ribbons, and tempts the bull to charge him. The bull accepts the challenge, and as he charges the trained baiter side-steps, and, as the bull passes, plants his harpoons in the bull's sides. ”

“ There is more risk to those who share in a bull-fight than in knocking ponies about on the polo-ground at Preston, sawing their mouths and breaking their shins, or in worrying the fox over the pastures of Leicestershire. As for that cold-blooded, cowardly, treacherous recreation of the contemplative man, flinging bait to a harmless defenceless fish, and luring him to a painful end, it is a piece of deliberate barbarism not to be mentioned in the same breath with bull-fighting. ”

“ So a baiter on a horse, rides up and jabs the bull's shoulder with his spear, and another rider jabs him on the other side. The bull wheels to catch his tormentor, who is out of harm's way on his horse. The bull charges back and forth, from rider to rider, until one of them deliberately reins his blinded horse directly in range of the bull, who rips its entrails out. The rider deftly and easily dismounts; the blinded horse is down, and the bull finishes him with a thrust or two, and the crowd goes mad with "delight." ”

“ It is incredible with what audacity those boys dart under him, twist his tail, and jump on his back; incredible too is the agility with which they dodge the blows. Sometimes the bull with a sudden turn strikes some one, knocks him down, tosses him in the air, or lifts him high on his horns; again he upsets at one blow a half dozen, and bull and men disappear in a cloud of dust, while the spectator fears for an instant that{238} some one has been killed. Nothing of the kind! The intrepid capeadores jump up with bruised limbs and dusty faces, shrug their shoulders, and face him again. ”

“ His lance penetrates the attacking animal, and its cruel head can be seen sliding along the ribs beneath the hide. The bull, ignorant of what is hurting him, persists, and makes every effort to get near his persecutor. He reaches the horse with a horn. The horse's breast is protected by a heavy leather frontlet, or apron, but he gets his horn under this. There is a pushing and tussling match that recalls a foot-
ball scrimmage of the most approved sort. The bull cannot endure the increasing pain, he backs out and extricates himself. ”

“ It is law that no bull that has once entered the ring shall live. Curious to know what was to be the fate of this animal, I sprang over the barrier and hurried across to the gate by which he had disappeared. There I beheld a scene that forever dispelled any notion that the task of the matador is an easy one, however simple it may look from the tribunes. The bull was threshing to and fro within a small corral, bellowing with rage and lashing the air with his tail. ”

“ He denied having done so. "Feel in your pockets," said the bull. There was, indeed, an apple in one of his pockets, but he was willing to throw it away. "That would not help us," said the bull again. At the same moment a troll with three heads came running towards them, roaring: "Why do you steal my apples?" "Come, if you dare!" cried the bull; and seizing the troll on his horns, he threw him high in the air. "You may have them all," shouted the troll, "if you will leave me alone." "That depends upon your giving us the black horse which is now in your stable," answered the bull. ”

“ Sometimes, instead of ripping with the antlers, he would rear straight up, and slash the bull mercilessly with his knifelike hoofs. For a time, the bull doggedly maintained the unequal struggle; but at length, feeling himself grow tired, and realizing that his foe was as elusive as a shadow, he lost heart and tried to withdraw. But the buck's blood was up, and he would have no withdrawing. He followed relentlessly, bounding and goring and slashing, till the helpless bull was seized with panic, and ran bellowing along the fence, looking vainly for an exit. ”