THE BULLDOG 385 



he is a low-fronted, cloddy, and compact dog, with nothing of the 

 Terrier in his appearance, quiet, gentle, and docile in his demeanour, 

 very slow to anger, yet when aroused not a whit the inferior of his 

 ancestors, in courage and endurance. 



Mr. Crafer thus wrote of bull-baiting in the First Edition of this 

 work : 



" Baiting the bear and the bull was undoubtedly a very ancient 

 pastime, and was patronised by persons of both sexes of the highest 

 rank, as recorded in cases where King Henry II., Queen Mary, 

 Princess Elizabeth, etc., were interested spectators. 



The bull being very different in its mode of combat from other 

 animals, caused bull-baiting to become a distinct sport, for which a 

 distinct class of dog was exclusively kept. One author says : ' The 

 Bulldog exhibits that adaptation to the uses to which he is rendered 

 subservient which we see in every race of dogs ; and we have only 

 to suppose the peculiar characters of the animal, called forth from 

 generation to generation by selection, to be assured that a true 

 breed would be formed. This has been so in a remarkable degree 

 in the case of the Bulldog. After the wild oxen of the woods were 

 destroyed, the practice was introduced, so early as the reign of 

 King John, of baiting the domesticated bull and other animals, and 

 thus the breed of dogs suited to this end was preserved, nay, 

 cultivated, with increased care, up to our own times, 7 centuries 

 after his larger and coarser brother ' Allan vautre, kept only to bait 

 the bear and wild boar/ had become extinct on account of the 

 cessation of its employment. The introduction of the sport referred 

 to is thus given in the ' Survey of Stamford ' : ' William, Earl 

 Warren, lord of this town in the time of King John (A.D. 1199 to 

 1216), standing upon the castle walls of Stamford, saw two bulls 

 fighting for a cow in the meadow till all the butchers' dogs, great 

 and small, pursued one of the bulls (being maddened with noise 

 and multitude) clean through the town. This sight so pleased the 

 said earl that he gave all those meadows (called the Castle Meadows) 

 where first the bull-duel began for a common to the butchers of the 

 town, after the first grass was eaten, on condition they find a mad 

 bull the day six weeks before Christmas Day for the continuance of 

 that sport every year.' 



A yet ignobler band is guarded round 

 With dogs of war the bull their prize ; 

 And now he bellows, humbled to the ground, 

 And now they sprawl in howlings to the skies. 



Now bull ! now dogge ! 'loo, Paris, loo ! 

 The bull has the game : 'ware horns, ho ! 



In bull-baiting the object the dog was required to effect was 



25 



