THE GAME FOWL. 241 



out to be brought up at different farm-houses or cottages, and 

 regularly looked after by old Roscoe, as Cocker, who kept a 

 regular book, in which they were entered as correctly as any 

 tradesman or mercantile firm would keep their accounts : so 

 that at any moment Roscoe could tell Lord Derby how many 

 Cocks he had of any particular sort, of what age, and where 

 they each were, in case any should be wanted, or for the pur- 

 pose of selecting the combatants for each main. It was neces- 

 sary to ascertain that no other Cock was kept by the farmer, 

 nor one too near a brood walk, nor any Turkeys, nor other 

 nuisances that might injure the Cocks by setting them fight- 

 ing ] neither were the people allowed to hoffle the Hens, so as 

 to prevent their scratching. These, and various other such 

 matters, as the Dubbing, as the comb-cutting the young Cocks 

 was called, the marking of the Chickens, &c., were the office 

 of Roscoe, for whom a horse was always kept, that he might 

 be able to go round to the distant farms, &c., and see that all 

 was right, or else remove the birds elsewhere. The Chickens, 

 as soon as hatched, were marked and then put out to nurse 

 among the cottagers of the neighbourhood, who were allowed 

 to keep as many Hens of any kind as they liked, and often 

 obtained thus a sort of cross breed, which obtained some 

 sort of notoriety. They were also paid a certain sum for each 

 Chicken taken away. When Lord Derby was about to fight 

 a main, he used to look over his Cock Book and select a cer- 

 tain number of each of the sorts he might choose for that par- 

 ticular main ; orders were then given to Roscoe to bring up 

 such Cocks from such and such a walk in his book, and those 

 selected as fit were placed under his care in a particular build- 

 ing at Knowsley, till the Trainer or Feeder could come and 

 gee to them, which was always at a particular period before the 

 public main. These birds were then put up by the Feeder as 

 he would have done for the main itself, and Lord Derby, with 

 % few friends in his confidence, assembled to witness the trial, 



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