cocker's manual. 87 



Fisher, Eaton, Overton and Lun were thought highly of in this ca- 

 pacity by those great patrons of the sod, Lord Lonsdale, Wexborough, 

 Hamilton, Northumberland, Warburton, Halton, Wharton, Bullock, 

 Halford, etc., as were the feeders Brombey, Lister, Watling, Lauley, 

 etc. I thought to have given something more than the mere names 

 of those past celebrities, but space will not permit, and I would just 

 remark that Owen Prolyn was generally supposed to equal any man 

 that ever entered a pit. Porter, too, was very clever, whilst at the 

 Royal pit Dick Fleming was always supposed to be several battles 

 ahead in the long main of any setter ever entering there, and the old 

 chant, "I've seen Dick Fleming handle cocks," is still remembered 

 by many a sexagenarian. His father was a great feeder and a rival of 

 the celebrated Nash, and both young Nash and Fleming were no mere 

 adepts at that art. But in this line none could be found to equal 

 Joseph Gilliner, publicly pronounced to be the greatest feeder that 

 ever lived. But all these, along with their opponents. Potter Weight- 

 man, Philips, Woodcock, and a host of others have many years since 

 passed away, and were succeeded by Bailey, Brough, Parker, Morton, 

 Bootal, Jones, Gillham, Davis, Faultless, Calicott and others. 



For some time past the police have been constantly on the alert to 

 stop all fighting in England, so that it has to be carried on in private. 

 The Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals hound them on, and 

 many good men amongst them think cocking a most cruel sport, 

 whilst they are practicing much worse cruelties every day. All of 

 Nature's laws are cruel, from the spider that ensnares the fly to the 

 hawk that pounces on the bird, but vain man would be wiser than his 

 maker, and it is one of the wise laws of the Creator that this battle of 

 life should be carried on, we will suppose a cock in his native wilds is 

 armed with spurs more fatal than even with steel, for with them two 

 strong combatants die, whilst with the steel one would probably come 

 off scathless. I would ask, what are those spurs provided by nature 

 for ? When the old cock becomes infirm he is engaged by a younger 

 and more lusty rival and soon falls a victim ; and well it is so, as he 

 is thus saves from decrepitude, hunger and a lingering death, while 

 his younger rival's- progeny keeps up nature's standard of excellence, 

 and it is no more cruel to. look at two fowls that are only following 

 their own natural instincts and inclinations and in which they cannot 

 be forced than it would be were they to fight in their natural wild 



