180 THE BANKIVA COCK. 



the amusements of Shrove-Tuesday, till so late as ] 

 the commencement of 1700. It was permitted in the ! 

 public schools as an amusement to the boys, the 

 preceptor, in some instances, being obliged to furnish 

 the victims, which served to lessen the expense of 

 these institutions, by collecting a certain rent or due 

 for each cock which was produced ; and in a parish in 

 the north of Scotland, according to the last Statisti- 

 cal Account, the schoolmaster's perquisites were the 

 cock-fighting dues, equal to one quarter's payment 

 of each scholar. 



Throwing at cocks is perhaps less known. The 

 following description is given by Brand, in his inte- 

 resting popular antiquities : " The owner of the 

 cock trains his bird for some time before Shrove- 

 Tuesday, and throws a stick at him himself, in order 

 to prepare him for the fatal day, by accustoming him 

 to watch the threatened danger, and, by springing 

 aside, to avoid the fatal blow. He holds the poor 

 victim on the spot marked out by a cord fixed to his 

 leg, at a distance of nine or ten yards, so as to be 

 out of the way of the stick himself. Another spot 

 is marked, at the distance of twenty-two yards, for 

 the person who throws to stand upon. He has three 

 shys or throws for twopence, and wins the cock if 

 he can knock him down, and run up and catch him 

 before the bird recovers his legs. In 1680 this cus- 

 tom was sanctioned in the environs of London, and 

 the proceeds applied to the poor-rates." 



A hen was also sometimes made use of in another 



