THE BANKIVA COCK. 179 



to assist in getting rid of the many mysterious forms 

 which the embellishment of their story required. 

 During the season of the Welsh ceremony of the 

 plygan or cock-crowing, the cock was supposed to 

 exert this power through the night to the utmost ex- 

 tent, an old opinion finely described by Shakspeare : 



Some say that ever against that season comes 

 Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated, 

 The bird of dawning singeth all night long ; 

 And then, they say, no spirit walks abroad ; 

 The nights are wholesome ; then no planets strike ; 

 No fairy takes ; nor witch has power to charm, 

 So hallowed and so gracious is the time. 



But the most disgraceful purpose of luxury, fa- 

 shionable amusement, or whatever it may be termed, 

 to which this noble bird has been subjected, is that 

 of cock-fighting. It is generally allowed to have 

 been a Grecian institution, and at its commencement 

 to have been held in the estimation of a rite entirely 

 religious and political. By degrees its serious cha- 

 racter became lessened, and it was practised with all 

 its cruelties, and the zest heightened by the gam- 

 bling propensities of its greatest supporters. It is 

 supposed to have been introduced to this country in 

 the time of the Csesars, and became a royal pastime. 

 In India it has also been long known, and perhaps 

 carried to a greater extent than among any other 

 people, whole fortunes and properties being staked, 

 and even wives and children risked, upon the event 

 of the contest. In England, with what was called 

 " throwing at cocks," it formed a prominent part in 



