IOO 



The Gallowgate Pit attached to the Bay 

 Horse Inn, Newcastle-on-Tyne, was the last 

 public pit used in England ; there is every 

 reason to suppose that mains were fought there, 

 without undue ostentation, for many years after 

 the passing of the Act of 1849 : but the place 

 escaped the attention of the authorities until 

 1874 when it was " raided" by the police 



As a legal sport, or at least as one which the 

 law was not empowered to put down, cocking 

 continued in Scotland until recent years, though 

 apparently it was not often practised. In April, 

 1895, nine battles were fought in a field near 

 Bishopton in Renfrewshire before a large 

 crowd ; the affair was carried through without 

 concealment and without hindrance, the High 

 Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh having 

 ruled, in 1892, that cocking was not illegal. 

 Attention was drawn to the matter in the 

 House of Commons, and the Lord Advocate 

 promised a Bill to make the law of Scotland 

 uniform with that of England 



MODERN SALE OF COCK SPURS 



A sale of cock spurs and other matters 

 connected with the sport took place in June, 

 1903, at Messrs. Sothebys. The spurs included 

 some curiosities. One pair illustrated the 



