A HISTORY OF NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 



a disastrous season ; Messrs. A. O. Jones and 

 J. A. Dixon, with Barnes, Flowers, and J. Gunn, 

 appear in both tables : 



BOWLING AVERAGES 



Shaw (A.) 

 Shaw (J. C.) 

 Morley 

 Attewell . 

 Mclntyre . 

 Flowers 

 Shacklock . 

 Barnes . 

 Hallam 



BOWLING AVERAGES (coat.) 



Runs Wickets Averages 



Wass ...... 19,836 999 19-855 



Gunn(J) 18,565 795 23-280 



J. A. D.xon .... 4,777 l68 2873 



A.O.Jones .... 6,959 214 32-11 



SCORES EXCEEDING Two HUNDRED 



Shrewsbury 



Gunn (W.) 



A. O. Jones 



Iremonger 



Gunn (J.) 

 J. A. Dixon 



OLD-TIME SPORTS 



Some of the sports and pastimes which con- 

 tributed to the amusement of our forefathers 

 continued in various parts of Nottinghamshire 

 down to the end of the 1 8th century, and even 

 in some cases until the beginning of the igth 

 century. Bull-haiting, which, after an existence 

 of seven centuries, was finally suppressed by Act 

 of Parliament in 1835, was a very popular di- 

 version in this county. The rope was tied 

 round the horns of the bull, and one end fas- 

 tened to a ring attached to a post driven into 

 the ground, the bull being confined to a space 

 of about 30 ft. diameter. Then the well- 

 trained bull-dogs of the butchers ' and other 

 gentlemen ' were one by one let loose at the 

 poor animal, which tried usually without suc- 

 cess to keep them at bay. If the bull's horns 

 were so sharp that there was a danger of the 

 dogs being impaled, their points were placed in 

 sheaths. On one occasion an old man named 

 Leavers was looking on at one of these exhibi- 

 tions when a dog tossed by the bull fell at his 

 feet. The owner, enraged, abused him for not 

 catching the dog, according to rule, whereupon 

 Leavers replied, ' I am for the bull ' a saying 

 which afterwards became a local proverb. At 

 Carlton bull-baiting was sanctioned on the plea 

 that it rendered the beef tender, while at 



Worksop the practice seems to have been com- 

 pulsory, a by-law of the lord of the manor 

 providing ' that every person who shall kill a 

 bull, except he shall first bait him at the bull- 

 ring, shall forfeit three shillings and fourpence.' 

 In order to comply with this by-law, passed, it 

 is said, with the object of preventing people 

 from purchasing bull-beef unknowingly, the local 

 authorities placed a bull-ring on the Lead Hill, 

 and it existed there until the middle of the i8th 

 century. There were also bull-rings at Burton 

 Leys, in the inclosure at the Leather Bottle 

 Inn at Hockley, and another near Angel Row 

 in the market-place at Nottingham. 



Upon the mayoress for the time being fell the 

 responsibility of finding the rope, for which she 

 received one shilling from everyone who took 

 up the freedom of the town. Afterwards, in 

 lieu of this sum, the butchers paid the 'Lady of 

 the Mayor' the sum of three shillings and four- 

 pence, which was called pin-money, for every 

 bull killed. 



Bear-baiting was another favourite sport, and 

 in a book belonging to the corporation of Not- 

 tingham, written early in the i6th century, 

 occurs the following curious entry : Item. The 

 said Mayre for tyme being is lykewise to give 



410 



