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INTRODUCTION 



No pastime has ever held in England the 

 position which was held for centuries by cock- 

 fighting. 



Cock-fighting was, to quote the title of 

 an old treatise, "the pleasure of Princes"; 

 it was practised by the highest of the nobility and 

 by the ht/rf blest peasant. Love of "cocking " 

 permeated so^ty from top to bottom 



It is unpleasant to dwell on the shortcomings 

 of our ancestors, more especially upon a defect 

 which gave zest to their amusements ; for the 

 institution whose history is traced in the follow- 

 ing pages was hardly less cruel than bull-baiting 

 and bear-baiting 



The interest this now discredited institution 

 has for us in modern days arises from its former 

 popularity. There is no feature of social history 

 which sheds so much light upon our ancestors' 

 manners, customs and ways of thought 



It is difficult for us to enter into the feelings 

 of men who indulged in cock-fighting and 

 framed such rules as those which governed the 

 conduct of a 4t main " 



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