5 



such always Was the array of fighting birds 

 mustered on the occasion that the day of the 

 festival from morning till night used to be 

 spent in fighting out the battles 



li For weeks after, the school floor retained 

 its deeply stained blotches of blood, and 

 the boys would be full of exciting narratives 

 regarding the glories of gallant birds who had 

 continued to fight until their eyes had been 

 pecked out, or who in the moment of victory 

 had dropped dead in the cock- pit " 



Shrove Tuesday cocking by schoolboys was 

 not a minor feature of the sport. It was an 

 institution that contributed much to obtain for 

 cock-fighting the place it held for centuries 

 among our ancestors. The taste acquired by 

 boys in their schooldays remained with them 

 throughout life, and the knowledge acquired in 

 early years made the cock-pit the natural resort 

 of men 



COCK-FIGHTING IN PLANTAGENET TIMES 



There is dearth of information about cocking 

 for many years after Fitzstephen wrote. 

 The next mention of it occurs in a letter 

 written by King Edward III to the Sheriffs of 

 London, on i2th June 1365 * 



* History of London. By Wm. Maitland, F.S.A. (1739). 



