SPORT IN THE OLDEN TIMES 



EARLY COCK-FIGHTING 



COCK-FIGHTING is said by old writers to have 

 been introduced into this country by the Romans, 

 who had adopted it from the Greeks 



It is hardly worth while pausing to enquire 

 whether this view of the origin of English cock- 

 fighting is correct or not; but it may be pointed 

 out that cock-fighting has been practised from 

 the very earliest times among people who never 

 came under either Greek or Roman influence 



Cornish tradition maintains that the Phoeni- 

 cians, who came to obtain supplies of tin, intro- 

 duced cock-fighting into that part of England, 

 and claims for Cornwall the distinction attaching 

 to the earliest home of English cocking 



It is highly probable that the natural pug- 

 nacity of cocks afforded amusement to the 

 inhabitants of this country long before the 

 Phoenician traders discovered Britain or the 

 Romans invaded us B 



