40 COMMON BlilTISn ANIMALS 



In 1582 an accidei)t occurred at Paris Garden; 

 the scaffolding, crowded with spectators, suddenl}'^ 

 fell, and more than one hundred persons were killed 

 or severely wounded. As this accident happened 

 on a Sunday it was considered by many to be a 

 heaven-sent curse on this form of entertainment, but 

 nevertheless, the Bear Gardens continued to be 

 popular, and we find that Evelyn visited the Bank- 

 side Garden on June 16th, 1670, of which visit he 

 writes in his diary : " I went with some friends to 

 the Bear Garden, where was cock fighting, dog 

 fighting, beare and bull baiting, it being a famous 

 day for all these butcherly sports, or rather barbarous 

 cruelties. The bulls did exceeding well, but the 

 Irish wolfe-dog exceeded, which was a tall grey 

 hounde, a stately creature indeede, who beate a 

 cruelle mastiff. One of the bulls toss'd a dog f-ull 

 into a lady^s lap as she sat in one of the boxes at a 

 considerable height from the arena. Two poore 

 dogs were killed, and so all ended with the ape on 

 horseback, and I most heartily weary of the rude 

 and dirty pastime." 



Shakespeare lived for a time on Bankside, not far 

 from Paris Garden, and near the Garden were the 

 theatres, the '^ Rose," the " Hope," the " Swan," and 

 the " Globe." So popular was bear-baiting in 

 Shakespeare's time that the bears were known by 

 name in the same way as the public now become 

 familiar with the names of famous racehorses. 



In ' Merry Wives of Windsor,' Act 1, Scene 1, 

 Slender, speaking to Mistress Anne Page, says : 



