II 



cock-pit to pass the resolution that the sport 

 should immediately cease on their property * 



Cockers then built by subscription " the 

 Royal Cock-pit " in Tufton Street, which 

 remained their head-quarters until 1833, when 

 it was made illegal f to keep a house for cock- 

 fighting in London 



The Plumpton Letters afford us a glimpse of 

 cocking at the end of Henry VIIl's reign. 

 Sir Henry Saville writes on 5th May, 1546, to 

 v his cousin Plumpton asking him to come to 

 Sheffield and " see our good cocks fight, if it 

 please you to see the manner of our cocking. 

 There will be Lancashire of one part and 

 Derbyshire of another part and Hallamshire of 

 the third part. I perceive your cocking varieth 

 from ours for ye lay but the battle ; and if our 

 battle be but ^10 to ^"5, there will be ^10 to 

 one lay or the battle be ended " 



From which it appears that even at this date 

 cock-matches between counties were in voinie. 



o 



During Queen Elizabeth's reign (1558-1603) 

 cocking flourished. In Philip Stubbes' Ana- 

 tomy of Abuses, published 1583, we read that 

 " people flocked thick and three-fold to the 

 cock-fights " which were held on appointed 



* Light Come, Light Go. By Ralph Nevill (1909) 

 f 3 Wm. IV, C. 19, sec 29 



