93 



mound of earth about 20 feet across, sur- 

 rounded by boarding- to prevent the birds 

 falling 1 off, and covered with matting. There 



o o 



were six tiers of seats, and behind the upper- 

 most a gallery, where spectators might stand 



In 1 830 also a West country cocker challenged 

 All England to fight for seven successive years, 

 jo guineas a battle and 200 guineas the main, 

 in any London pit, the meeting to take place 

 during the week before Epsom Races 



Infinite care was taken of cocks on a 

 journey at this period. When Thomas Bourne, 

 the celebrated feeder who wrote, or dictated, the 

 article on cocking published in Rees' Cyclo- 

 pedia, fed for Colonel Buller, he had on one 

 occasion to convey cocks from Cheltenham to 

 fight a main for ^1,000 at Plymouth. He took 

 the birds in a van and spent nine days on the 

 journey, travelling at a walk with men in front 

 to remove from the road all large and loose 



o 



stones that might jolt the conveyance with the 

 cocks ! * 



Nothing more clearly illustrates the mental 

 attitude of the public mind towards cock-fighting 



* It must be borne in mind that the roads of England 

 in those days were very different from the roads of our 

 own time. Some information on this subject will be 

 found in Eayly Carriages and Roads, published by me in 

 1903. The description of a highroad by the famous 

 agriculturist, Arthur Young, will be found on page 89 of 

 that work 



