The school master directed the battles in the 

 school or in the pit attached, and the bodies of 

 the slain were his perquisite : in this connection 

 it may be noticed that the meat of a cock killed 

 in fight was held in particular esteem for the 

 table. The school master also claimed as his 

 perquisite any cock which refused battle when 

 put on the pit : this bird was called a " fugee," 

 and w T e may safely conjecture had his neck 

 wrung without compunction 



The "cock pence" sometimes amounted to 

 a considerable sum ; at Applecross, Rosshire, 

 in 1792, the minister was the school master and 

 the " cock-fight dues " were equal to a quarter's 

 payment for each scholar * 



Henry Miller the celebrated geologist, gives f 

 a description of cock-fighting at the Cromarty 

 Grammar School which he attended. Miller 

 was born in the year 1802 ; his remarks there- 

 fore apply to the period 1812-15 or thereabout 



14 The school, like almost all other grammar, 

 schools in Scotland, had its yearly cock-fight, 

 preceded by two holidays and a half during 

 which the boys occupied themselves in 

 collecting and bringing up the cocks. And 



* Statistical Account of Scotland, Sir John Sinclair (1792). 

 I My Schools and School Masters 



