It is unknown to me when the pitched
battle first entered England; but it was probably brought hither
by the Romans. The bird was here before Caesar's arrival; but no
notice of his fighting has occurred to me earlier than the time
of William Fitz-Stephen, who wrote the Life of Archbishop Becket,
some time in the reign of Henry II. William describes the
cocking as the sport of school-boys on Shrove Tuesday. "Every
year, on the day which is called Carnelevaria (Carnival)--to
begin with the sports of the London boys,--for we have all been
boys--all the boys are wont to carry to their schoolmaster their
fighting-cocks, and the whole of the forenoon is made a holiday
for the boys to see the fights of their cocks in their
schoolrooms." The theatre, it seems, was their school, and the
master was the controller and director of the sport. From this
time at least the diversion, however absurd, and even impious,
was continued among us.'
'Although disapproved of by many, and prohibited by law, cock-
fighting continued in vogue, patronized even by royalty, and
commonly called "the royal diversion." St James's Park, which,
in the time of Henry VIII., belonged to the Abbot of Westminster,
was bought by that monarch and converted into a park, a tennis
court, and a cockpit, which was situated where Downing Street now
is.
Pages:
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316