was in vogue in 1663, as shown in the passage 

 in Samuel Pepys's Diary quoted on pages 36-7 ; 

 and the directions for matching birds indicate 

 actual weighment in scales, a practice which 

 was certainly not universal in Charles II's time 



" The methods of fighting a main are : 



" To begin the same by fighting the lightest 

 pair of cocks (which fall in March) first, pro- 

 ceeding upwards, to the end ; that every 

 lighter pair may fight earlier than those that 

 are heavier 



"In matching (with relation to the battles) 

 it is a rule always in London 



" That after the cocks of the main are 

 weighed, and the Match Bills are compared 



4 ' That every pair of dead, or equal, weight 

 are separated and fight against others, pro- 

 vided that it appears that the main can be 

 enlarged, by adding thereto either one battle 

 or more, thereby " * 



As regards the period when matching cocks 

 by careful weighing came into vogue, Dr. 

 Robert Plott writing in 1686, the year after 

 Charles II's death, describes, and gives a 

 drawing of, an ingenious appliance for gauging 



* See Appendix C 



