44 



between Lord Rcss and Mr. Frampton, 25 

 cocks a side at 5 guineas the match and ^500 

 the odd. The King was present at the first 

 day's sport, w r hich comprised six battles ; the 

 main was continued daily until the whole 

 twenty-five matches had been fought out. 

 Mr. Frampton's cocks won sixteen out of the 

 twenty-five 



VARIOUS KINDS OF MAINS 



A ;< long main " lasted four days or more ; a 

 '' short main " consisted of two or three days' 

 cocking. A " Welsh main " was fought out 

 in the same way as a modern coursing match ; 

 eight or sixteen cocks, all about the same 

 weight, viz., about 4 Ibs. 4 ozs., were entered 

 and drawn to fight in pairs ; and the winners 

 in each match were paired until the two 

 surviving winners met in the final. The 

 Welsh main at a later period was most popular 

 in the North of England 



The ' Devonshire main " seems to have 

 been peculiar to Devon and Cornwall. In this 

 the matches were fought by "set weight." A 

 pair of birds each of 4 Ibs. were matched, then 

 a pair of 4 Ibs. i oz., then a pair of 4 Ibs. 2 ozs , 

 and so on, each pair weighing announce each 

 more than the last till the maximum of 



