( ~l )

as could be bred frorn thcm in Old Age, and

at that Difadvantage, tho' 1 allow fome Fowl
are fo verv cxcellcnt in their Nature, and retain a
good Shape fo perfeétly in Old Age, that they
brccd to a Miracle, but for want of a Supply
of Yourh and freíh Blood, will become ílack-
mcttled and íool-hardy in another Generation.

A Defcription of tbe true

G_-\ME-C o e K.
N defcribing the true Game-Cock, I fhall
I fpeak firf] of his Shape, whích is of fo grcat
Efficacy in Bartle, that he cannot properly be
faid to be corupleat without ir, not but there
are good Cocks of all Shapes,
A certain celebrated Breedcr fays, that a Cock
ought to be forrn'd in Manner likc a Sugar-
Loaf; which, in my Opinión, is a prepofterous
Compariíon, for the Truth of a Cock's Shapc
confifts in a true Proportion, neither too Iong,
nor too íhort, too bread, nor too fiar, too rhick
backward or forward, or too thin ; and tho' it
is allowed by at leaíl: two-thirds of Breeders,
rhat a Cock cannot be too thin backward, yet
I cannot íee that great Advantage ín it, and the
~efi:ion is, whether there is not as great
a Ncceffity for Strength backward as· for-
ward? A fht íided Cock, if his Lirnbs are flrong
and wcll proportioncd, will be very aétivc, and
hit
 ( !U )
hit deep ·; whereas a Cock that is too bread, un-
lefs he has a propcr Length with it, is apt to
tire and ílrike íhort, eípecially if he has too
rnuch Flefh ; therefore a Médium is to be ob-
fcrved in both, Lcngth is very neceffary if
Strength be added to it ; and what 1 mean by a
Cock' s being too long, is ha ving a long thin
.Body, and withal long Legs and Thighs, foch
ought not to :fight till three Years old ; for if
thcy fight fooner, tho' they have the Ad van-
tage of their Advcrfary in Height, yet they
are wanting in other Parrs, where Strength is
more rcquir'd ; but I arn far from advifing any
one to breed íhort F ow 1, nor indecd can they,
un!efs from Dwarfs, or clfe at the latter End of
the Scafon ; for rhcrc is more Danger of Fowl
being too long than too fhort, if bred early and
from youthful Stock. In fine, a Cock ought
to be form' d in Manner following ; Firft, He
fhould have a long Beam and well fet on~ arifing
almoft perpendicular from his Shoulder: Sccond-
ly, The Body ought to be upon a Mcdiu ..m, not
long, nor too fhorr, .and rather deep than fhal-
Iow : ThiLdly, His Lcgs onght to be rather
long than fhorr, efpccially if the Bod y be ftiffifh,
but if on thc contrary the Body be long as well
as flat, there is a Neceffity for a íhortifh Leg ,
for, as I ha ve obíerved before, Lc!:gth of Bod y
and Limbs togcther will not foit with a· two
Year ófd Cock: Laftly, His Thighs, whatevcr
Shape he is of, fhould be fhort ; for long aud
weak thigh'ct Cocks frequcntly break it thcm-
felvcs, fincc long Weapons ha ve becn fo much
1:1
 ( 13 )
in Eílcern ; nor can a Cock poffibly be adive
that has a long Thigh, and, gcnerally fpcaking,
long Legs and Thighs go together; but tho' a
Man be ever fo curious, it is a difficult Matter
to bring Sha pe to Perfcction as well as other
~alifications, but ncverrhcleís, wc muft endea-
vour to come as near it as poílible, and he that
judgcs the bcfr, doubtlcís, will rnect with the
rnoít Succcís, Sorne that I am acquainted with
have attempted in vain to breed Fowl of a true
Shape, and now, like the Fox, think ita trifl.ing
~alification, but Aaivity ought to be the Stu-
dy of every Breedcr, and if Strength be added
to ir, together with a proper Lcngth, it is my
Deícriprion of a true íhap'd Cock,
Having íhewn, as near as 1 can, the propcr
Shape that a true Game-Cock ought to be form-
ed with, l íhall next endeavour to fhcw the
Neceffity of a good Extraérion. Mofl Breeders
are fond of Game, and make it thcir chief Aim
and Study of .Breeding, without confülting
whether there be Mettle with it or nor, or
whcther thcy fight in a handfome Manner, or in
a proper Place or not, if the Conftitution has
nct bccn impair'd by bad Managcment, or whc-
ther thcy beof an aaivc Shapc or not ; all thefe
Requifites ought to be confoltcd, or clfc Brecd-
ing of Cocks becomes very expeníive : 1 have
known feveral keen Sportíincn contcnted with
mere Game-Fowl for íevcral Y cars, and tho'
thcy could not win above two Fights of them,
yct wonld they not cenfure thcrn fo frrié.l:Iv as to
forfakc rhcm, but gcnerally imputed theirloíing
to
 ( 2-t )
to bad Feeding, and it is become vcry cornmon
to condemh the Feeder when it is the Brceder'
Fault only; for if Cocks are good in Natui
and quite healthful, they feldorn bring Diígrac
to thc Fcedcrs, 1 have already íhcwn the Dan-
ger of brceding out of Fowl that are tainted in
Conílitution, and to fnlfil my Defign of deícrib-
ing the true Garue Cock, obligcs me to rnake
ufo of the fame Caution with rcgard to Genealo-
gy, that thcrc be no Dcficiency in it fo long as
Memory can extend, for it is quite a parallcl
Caíe ; if there be a Taint, whether in their Na-
ture or Conftitution, it will difcover itíclf for
two or three Generations, and fometimes to the
fourth ; therefore it behoves Breeders to be
ftriéHy curious whenevcr they havc Occaíion for
a Croís, tó rnake Choice of fochas will rather
add than dirninifh in any of the bcfore-rnention'd
Particulars ; thus when a Cock is form'd of an
aétive Shape, and full of Ycuth and Vigour
without a Tinétuie of bad Blood in his Veins,
he may properly be call'd a true Gamc-Cock,
and inílead of having long and redious Battles,
occafion'd by Breakings out of Heat for Want
of Strcngrh, thofe will dif patch one or the other
in vcry fcw Blows, if thoroughly fed and proper-
, ly wcapon'd.
!Plnt diff ercnt [ ort s tbere are tbat excel i1t
tluir rcfpcEii::e IP ays of Fighti11g.

V
·
Arions are the Sorts of Cocks which go un-
der thc Dcnornination of Garnc-Fowl,
thac
 ( 1.,5 )
, riát are not worthy of it, yet appear as fuch in
.+he Eye of thoíe, who have not Judgment to
~liftinguifh righdy .betwixt a true Game-Cock
.¡nd the rnany different Sorts that in Reality are
not fo ; my Defign therefore íhall be, to de-
fcribe foch as are worthy, which confifr of
thrcc different Sorts, the firft of which I
call, the A8ive and Ready F~ghti11g Cock, the
fecond 1 term, the B1tt1-dog Kind, and the third
theArtf11t FightingCock.; when Fowl are cqual-
ly fed and oT equal Goodnefs, what is it that
muft give Succefs but íuperior Aétivity and
Truth of Fighting; and l have oftcn obícrv'd,
when Men of Judgment_comc into a Pit where
they are entire Strangers to Fowl, they bet their
Money according to the Behaviour of them in
Fighting, and when fome think it Odds on one
Side, 'tis Six to Four in thcir Opinion, on thc
contrary.
This Firft Sorr, which I call the ready
fighting Cock, if thcy are in pcrfed; Con-
dition, have the Ad vantage of any other, for by
breaking in upan a Cock in that furious Man ...
ner, it fruílrates the Defign of the Adverfary
tho' ever fo well intcnded, which if purfu'd, as
any Cock of Mcttlc will do, muft beat the beft
flow Cock that can be bred, becaufe we daily
fee, that a Blow is a Battle givcn at the Begin-
ning; but if this Sort are not. in good Condition,
they are much the woríl of thc three, their faft
Fighting then will be of no Service to thcrn,
but rather occafion them to tire, and let a flow
Cock knock them clown at the Iaít. I havc
D feen
 '( 16 )
íecn many cxccllent Brccds of this Kind, but I
think nonc are fo worthy of being takcn No-
rice of as Mr Hencage's Dog-Kemiels, more par-
ticularly the Right Norrils, which werc brcd
from the Old Nonpareit Dog-Kennel Cock, and
out ofSir ff7i11dfor Huulocl/« Hens, which Fowl
fought in every Main more or Jcfs againft Lord
Exeter ; indecd there was one Main which
chicfly coníiíted of thern, bcat at Loutb, bcing
the fccond Main that was fought, which was ap-
parentl y thrown away by bad Feedíng; and I
am of Opinión, that if thc Feeders had under-
taken thc contrary Pcns, it would have beata
hollow Main in Behalf of Mr Heneage ; the
worfi Failing belonging to thefe Cocks, was
thcir \X/ant of being a proper Size, w hich was a
grca t Misfortune. .
In the laft Main of the four, tho' it was won
by Mr Heneago in great Exrrernity, having fe.
ven Battlcs to win focccffively to win the
Main, yet thcrc was a grcat many óf the R~(l,ht
Norrils that fell out of Match, which went irn-
mcdiarcly from thcnce to Grantbam, being for-
ty Miles, to affift Mr Turncr againft Mr lholm-
lt;·, moft of which fell into Match, and all won
cxcept one that prov'd excccding good, which
was bear, without any Difgrace to him, by a
flrait Ey'd Cock, Son of rhe Old'Plimoutb of
tritki11s, and out of thc Favouritc Bricl:-BrMjlcd
Hcns, which carne from an unknown Part of the
World.
Thc Sccond Sort I arn to treat of, is what I
call the Bu/Jrdc'g Kind, and differs as much from
,_ · rhe
 ( '27 )
the Random fighting Cock, as a Bull-Dog does
from a Maftiff ; this Sort of Cocks, ro anfwcr -
thcir Defign in Fightiog, ought to be furnifh'd
wirh Strength fuitable to ir, and fomewhat of
more Bonc than the former, for as the other
cxcclls by Aél:ivity, fo thcfe require Strength in
a particular Manncr, to accompliíh their End :
It is obfcryable in this Sort of Cock:s, that thcy
are never in a Hurry, and feldom known to fpar,
bur kccp thcir Ground and :íland it fairly Blow
for Blow, always coming in a Place where' thev
are fine to do Execution. 11r Boflom', who I
madc mention of in the Second Error.. was as fa-
mousfor his Dtfck-wim;sof this exaél: Kind, as Mr
ljc11ea.r1.ewas for his Do._~-Kamets, which excel-
led differcnrly ; and it may not be amifs to ob-.
ferve, that thc Sixícorc Guineas which was
fought for three Years together at Lincol», by
Snbfcription, was won evcry Year by his Fowl,
but índccd thcy werc Cocks form'd on Purpofe
for that Bufincfs, having Strength to go tho-
rough with their Battlcs, and a Death Blow en-
tail'd upon the Family. _ The original Cock,
call'd by the Name of the Old D11ck-WÍ1{~, he
had from Smitb of T'etcrborougb, which
muft be allowed by all thcr knew him, to be as
fine a Cock as E;¡gJa11d cvcr brcd : He fought
four Years together at Liucoln, Horfe Races, be-;
íidcs other Times; and in thc eighth Ycar of bis
Agc, alruofl blind, and gouty footed, he beata
fine, frdh Cock, in ícw Blows ; and what was
very rcmarkablc in him, he ncver fought "·ith-
out eirhcr brcaking or hcnding Smitl/s Wcapons
D ~ . almoíl