45 



5 Ibs. 3 ozs. was reached. The Devonshire 

 main was, in effect, a refinement of the orthodox 

 system 



The Battle Royal and the Welsh main were 

 the features of cocking to which its opponents 

 most strenuously objected : they were peculiar 

 to English cocking 



The usual system was to make a main consist 

 of an uneven number of battles 9, 15, 21 or 

 25, in order that one competitor might win a 

 majority 



COCKING AND RACING 



The great majority of cockers " fed," i.e., 

 trained their own birds : wealthy men employed 

 their own feeders ; but there were also feeders 

 who made it their business to train the cocks 

 of patrons for payment, as race-horse trainers 

 do now. The Duke of Rutland's accounts for 

 June, 1695, include this item: 4i To the cock 

 feeder at Leicester, for feeding 3 cocks, 7/6 " 



Ic is interesting to notice the relative im- 

 portance of racing and cocking in William Ill's 

 time. In March, 1699, racing and cock-fighting 

 were advertised to take place at S waff ham in 

 Norfolk. The racing consisted of one event, 

 a plate of 30 guineas ; the cocking lasted three 

 days. In regard to this it must be remembered 



