paid in connection with cock-fighting. There 

 are numerous entries of sums paid into " the 

 hand of the King's Grace " for gaming : his 

 losses at dice, cards, " tables," shovelboard, 

 " Pope July game," and shooting matches are 

 recorded ; the sums paid to falconers, pheasant 

 breeders, to horse trainers and the riding boys 

 of the royal racing stables are set down, but 

 there is no mention of cocking 



The absence of payments in connection with 

 cocking or the cock-pit seems to indicate that 

 Henry VIII did not take any personal part in 

 the sport 



Before going further it is well to point out 

 that there were three cock-pits at Westminster 

 at different times. The earliest, that attributed 

 to Henry VIII, was part of Whitehall Palace, 

 and occupied the site of the present official 

 residence of the first Lord of the Treasury 

 No. 10 Downing Street. The building was 

 used as a theatre by King Henry VI IPs 

 successors Queen Elizabeth, King James I 

 and King Charles I 



In those days the street we know as White- 

 hall did not exist ; the grounds of Whitehall 

 Palace were bounded by the Thames on the one 

 side, and on the other lay the Park, on whose 

 northern side stood St. James's Palace 



