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CHAPTER XIX. 



THE PRIZE-RING AND THE COCKPIT. 



Author's Excuse for Referring to above— Dangerous Topics— Old Patrons— Prize-fighting: 

 V. Cock-fighting— Brutal and Degrading— Admiral Rous' Opinion— Ruffianism— 

 Result— Last Battles— Revival— Slavin and Smith— Marquis of Queensberry— New 

 System— Boxing and Cocking— Wilts and Cheshire a Hundred Years Ago— Major 

 Wheble— Harry Flowers—" White Piles "— " The Cheshire Drop "—The Cholmondeleys 

 — Egertons— Warburtons— Mexboroughs— Meynells— The Knowsley " Black-breasted 

 Reds"— A Great Doctor— " The Turf and the Sod"— Great Cock-fights— Great Men- 

 Earl of Derby— Enormous Stakes— A Great Cock-setter— His Fees— Squire Legh and 

 Major "Wliebie- A Level Thousand— A Match Made— More Great Men— Wiltshire v. 

 Cheshire— William Keate— Preparations for the Fight— The Company— The Men— The 

 Fight— Enthusiasm— Tremendous Fighting— Results— Major Wheble's Gallantry- 

 Remarks by the Author— Royal Cock-pit in 1805— A Prize-fight Thirty Years Ago— 

 Tom Sayers and John C. Heenan— Their Births— Early Days— Their Fights— Prepara- 

 tion for the Great Fight— The Attendance— The Men— Full Particulars of the Battle- 

 —After it— Opinion of the Author— How Both Fought— Belts for Both Men— Sub- 

 scription for Sayers — His Death— Heenan— Author's Opinion of Him— His Death — 

 Old Battles Compared with what are now called ".Fights."- Tom Sayers' Record. 



My hand shakes and my heart palpitates as I write the heading of this 

 chapter, knowing as I do how distasteful prize-fighting and cock-fight- 

 ing are to so many of the present day. In fact I don't think I should 

 have referred to these branches of old English sport but for the 

 fact of having come across a copy of the Licensed Victuallers' Mirror^ 

 in which is iven an account of how they were organised and carried 

 out a hundred years ago. The description is so interesting, I am 

 tempted into reproducing the article, as it delineates perfectly the 

 whole proceeding, and shows the class of society which surrounded 

 the prize-ring and cock-pit in old times. 



The subjects of this chapter are dangerous topics to ofi'er an opinion 

 on nowadays, but when the cream of the cream of English society 

 showed the interest in them which they did up to about thirty years 

 ago, as is described in the following account, they must have seen 

 some useful as well as exciting end to be gained therefrom, at all 

 events, as regards the prize-ring. 



I can't understand what good they could have ever seen eventuate 

 from the cock-pit. Beyond to view courage displayed in the highest 

 degree, there could be nothing gained by setting two poor birds to fight 

 to the death with artificial spurs, except brutal gratification of the lust 

 for gross and most abominable cruelty. No bird in creation— perhaps 

 no beast— has more courage, combined with combative propensity, than 

 the appropriately-named gamecock. To let two evenly-weighted birds 

 have a few bouts with the "gloves" {i.e., having their short-cut natural 

 spurs well padded) is good fun and does no injury to the combatants, 



