SHROVETIDE COCKING 



The earliest reference to cock-fighting in 

 England occurs in William Fitzstephen's Latin 

 tract describing London and the amusements 

 of the citizens in the time of King Henry II 

 (1154-1189). This old writer refers to the 

 cocking on Shrove Tuesday which remained 

 a schoolboy institution for centuries 



" Every year_also at Shrove Tuesday^ . . . . 

 the schoolboys do bring cocks of the game to 

 their masters and all the forenoon they delight 

 themselves in cock-fighting ; after dinner all 



_ - O ..Q; ' 



the youths go into the fields to play at the ball " 

 It is easy to understand why cock-fighting 

 should have been considered a peculiarly appro- 

 priate amusement for schoolboys. During the 

 ages when soldiers met hand to hand in battle, 

 personal courage and indifference to pain and 

 injury were held in the esteem those qualities 

 deserve : and the unflinching valour of the 

 game-cock, w T hich would fight to his last gasp, 

 furnished an object lesson by which youth 

 might profit 



Various records exist to throw sidelights on 

 the manner in which the sport was conducted 

 in former days 



Queen Elizabeth granted statutes for Hartle- 

 bury Grammar School which provided that 



