Part 3

But this Etimology perhaps may appear impertinent to some who have not so great a regard to Cocks of the Game, as they deserve, but for the more ingenious sort of Men, such I mean as are true lovers of Cocking, I know will think nothing too much that tends to the promotion of these Warlike Birds. And if so? seeing then the _Shake-bag_ is a Cock judged able to fight with any thing, and has this Excellency attending him above the little Match-Cock, that you are never put to the trouble of matching, which oft proves both difficult and dangerous too, unless you are very skilful in handling: Also the great Game Cock is the more profitable Bird in that he carries away the Prizes given by Public Houses for their Custom, which serves not only to defray the Charge of Dieting of them, but also pays for their Walk the Year following; And therefore it is, that these _Shake-bags_, or great Game Cocks are by some Men much preferred before the small battle Cock, or little match Cock, call him which you will, and those think themselves the most happy (for the most part) that can gain a Bird of the largest Size, but in this they greatly err, who aim so much at Magnitude, for of _Shake-bags_ the largest rarely proves the best, and a wonderful great Cock, seldom proves a Winning Cock; for they generally strike over, and seldom, or never come to Point until they are so weakened with their Wounds, that they can do no good, wherefore I advise them, who ever they be, that delights in Shake-bags, to make choice of a cock that is neither above Eight, nor yet under Six Pounds weight, when first he is brought up from his Walk and put to Feed (for afterwards he will weigh lighter if rightly managed) and with such a Bird, if right bred and well Shaped, you may boldly venture to Fight the biggest Cock that ever trod upon a Turf; for ’tis two to one upon the lesser Cock’s side, because he not only lies under the great Cock, by which means he is secured from almost all his blows, which for the most part are stricken quite over, but he also has the advantage of under holds, and having Strength withall to strike Home, and Close, he seldom fails to win, nor is there any thing more common than to see the unwieldy Lubbers over wrestled, and by far less Cocks cut down and conquered, wherefore in my opinion, the Cock that weighs nine or ten Pounds, or more, and measures six or eight and Thirty, or perhaps nigh Forty Inches long, is by no means a fit Bird to Fight, for a well turned Cock of six Pound weight, shall with ease overcome such a useless Rumbo.

[Sidenote: Match not to be allowed in little Cocks.]

But by the way, you must note, that this Rule in lesser Cocks is not observeable, for altho’ a Cock of six or seven Pound weight, have Strength and ability sufficient to conquer a Cock of nine or ten Pound, yet it is almost impossible for a Cock that weighs but three Pound, to beat a Bird that weighs five or more, for, observe it, and you will find, that from a Cock of seven or eight Pound weight, down to the smallest match, or battle Cock that you can meet with, and he will with all the ease imaginable (when need requires it) bend himself in his Fight, and proportion his blows suitable to the size of the Cock with whom he contends, so that in short he takes him in the rising, and commonly Rucks him at the first coming in: And if meer chance prevent it not, a hold or two, serves to lay the little Cock dead upon the spot.

But to speak no more of the Shake-bag, for truly notwithstanding all that has been spoken in his commendation, yet is the little Battle Cock much to be preferred before him, and that amongst others, for these Reasons.

[Sidenote: Why little Cocks are better than great ones.]

First he is easily reared, and far cheaper kept all along afterwards, for the little Cock requires no more nor better maintainance than the common Dunghill Cock, whereas the great Game Cock must be choicely nursed and plentifully fed all his Life long, he knows not how to Labour nor will he ever learn to get his living, your hand must still sustain him or he comes to nothing, want quickly brings upon him the _Black-Sickness_, and the lazy lubber dies.

Secondly, the little Cock at a Year old becomes fit to Feed and Fight, whereas the Shake-bag must be two Year old, or more, e’er he is brought into the Pit.

Thirdly, a Fortnights Diet serves the little Cock, whereas three Weeks is not sufficient time to fit the great Cock for the Pit: and besides all this, the little Cock not only requires less cost and care, but also when he comes to Fight he affords you most Pleasure and Delight, no sooner is he set down, but like Lightning he falls upon his Enemy, Dances a Bloody round, and in his sparring Capers higher than your Head, then links and never looses ’till his hold breaks, or his Adversary dies. They rise and fall together, still striving to the last which shall strike most, and hardest blows, Stabing each other without intermission, till Death conclude the Combat.—O rare Birds! what Pleasure upon Earth can equal this?

[Sidenote: The way and manner of great Cocks Fighting.]

But now the Shake-bag, or great Cock’s way of Fighting I confess is very different from the little Battle-Cock, and in my opinion far less delightful: for first when you set the great Cock down, he slowly moves towards the Warrior with whom he is to try his Fortune, and after twenty turns and hovers, perhaps he strikes a blow, then stands again, and either pecks, or may be scraps the Earth, as if he meant to Fight no more, or else were willing to see the effects of his first blow, e’er he a second struck; but first or last you shall have three or four of these long flights, and that he thinks sufficient for sparring; for after this, with _Spanish_ Gravity he strides up to his Enimy’s Beard, and takes a hold, and most irreverently there pulls and lugs him too and fro, to try whether he may with safety rise and strike; for nothing baulks a great Cock more than a Fall, because like Elephants, when down, they find it difficult to rise; wherefore they seldom strike but when their hold is strong, and then with their broad Lances they dig such Orifices in each others bulky Sides, that like a Cane drawn, when a Butt of Claret is set to Float, their stock of Blood flows forth, boyling in bubbles as it rolls along the surface of the Earth, till their Strength as well as Blood be so far exhausted, that they are forced to strike their Beaks into the Earth, and makes their languid Necks help to prop up their Sinking Bodies: so that set thus a little to bleed their last, the Handler he steps in, and with a pinch behind, hopes yet to make the dying Cock to rise and strike at all, though ten to one he nothing hit: however, if he but peck, it serves to prolong the time, and shews the hardness of the Creature, which indeed is all, and in my opinion the only Excellency that pertains to Cocks of this sort, and Magnitude.

But to leave every Man to his liberty, to make choice of which sort of Birds best please him, I shall proceed in the next place to set down such necessary Rules and Observations as shall be requisite to be understood by all such as are desirous to be absolute Masters in the true way of breeding these Royal Birds, both Match-Cocks, and Shake-bags.

_How to breed up Game-Cocks._

SO then, if you are desirous to breed a Cock of the Game, whose delicacy of Shape, and Excellency of Heels, whose admirable hardness, and most exquisite deportment in all respects, may not only prove pleasing, but also profitable to you: Imprint these subsequent Lines in your Memory: so that when you come to breed a Bird of this sort, you may not be wanting or unacquainted in those Misteries practised by the ablest Masters, in the World at this day, in the Noble Sport of Cocking.

_Of Cocks and Hens to Breed by._

First then know that the Cock which you intend to breed of, must be a Bird well descended, rightly Shaped, and sure Heel’d, he must also be Healthful, Fresh, and full of Feathers, nor let so much as his Tail be cut, for that greatly helps a Cock in his treading whereas the want of it many times causes Eggs to be defective, and prove adle, and come to nothing.

[Sidenote: To Cross the Strain in breeding is best.]

[Sidenote: When to breed great Cocks, and at what Age to Fight your Cocks.]

And now in the next place we come to the Hen which you purpose to breed of, for above all you must be exceeding careful herein, and therefore she must either be the Mother, or Sister of some admirable Cocks, who have been known to signalize their Valour in the Field of Honour, and not only they, but also their Progenitors to have been Champions renown’d for their Heroic deeds, your Hen also must be rightly Shaped, Healthful, Fresh, and full of Feathers, and for her Age it ought to be very different from that of the Cock, for if the Hen be old, then must the Cock be young, but if the Cock be old, your Hen must be young; and by no means let them be too near of Kin, for out of Brother and Sister, or Father and Daughter seldom or never good Cocks are bred, for they either prove thin, weak and ill Shaped, or else dull and false Heeled, and for the most part prove soft, and are apt to skut, if ever they come to be hewed, especially if they are great Cocks, for you must be much more cautious in breeding of them than you need be about the little match-Cock. And here note that _February_, _March_, and _April_, are the only Months for breeding, if you are for great Cocks: but if for small Cocks, _June_, _July_, _August_, or any time indeed serves for them, provided you allow them to be full a Year old before they Fight; but for the Shake-bag, he must be two Years old at least, before he comes into the Pit.

_Of the Place proper to Feed at._

But whether you breed big or little Birds, when once you have pitched upon your Cock and Hen for that purpose, see that you place them at a private Walk, where they go undisturbed and free from the molestations of other Poultry: for if a neighbouring Cock do but happen to come within the confines of your Walk, he may do you a double diskindness; first by putting upon you a spurious breed, a hatch of ill-natur’d Bastards of his own getting; secondly, by Bathering of your Cock, so as to render him unfit for breed, and make his Chickens nothing worth. For when once a Cock is surfeited, he either fails to tread, or if he does tread, he is sure to get distempered feeble Chickens; and a Cock is this way the most apt of any to take a deadly surfeit, for being both foggy and full of Feathers, he is soon heated and overstrained, and for want of Stiving, his Blood grows stagnant, congeals, and becomes glutinous, not being able to circulate as Nature requires, for the carrying off of such humours as are by this means raised to so contagious a degree, that the whole Fabric of his Body becomes deeply infected with a Pluretic, or some such like Malady, which seldom is discovered in time, and so for the most part proves incurable: so that you may see by what has been said, that another Cock is not to be endured within Crow of your breeding Walk, nor indeed other Hens, though there be no Cock with them, for they also in a great measure will be injurious to your Breed: For a Cock is a most solacious Creature, naturally Hot, and extreamly lustful, and when prompted thereto by variety of Mates, he is apt to over-tread himself amongst his fresh Mistresses, whilst those you intend him for, have least of his Strength bestowed upon them, and assure your self this, that these Chickens which are thus got but in part, will prove but to the halves; and therefore when you have a Cock, and Hens to your mind, see that your Walk be secure from all other Poultry before you turn them down to breed, and in no case put above two Hens to your Cock at a time, if you would have your Chickens lusty and strong; your Walk also ought to be well watered and to yield a competency of Meat, both for your Cock and Hens during the time of treading, for as they should not be kept low and poor, so neither may they be fed Fat, for that will render them unfit for Procreation, making the Cock to tread seldom, and to yield but little Seed, and the Hens no less guilty of false conceptions bringing forth abortive Eggs without Shells, filled with nothing but Wind and slimy Matter, which never comes to good, and therefore your Hand must here be gauged.

_Of the Place proper for the Hens to lay in, and the manner of ordering the Eggs._

Near unto the Roost, which ought carefully to be secured from all sorts of Vermin, if you have the conveniency of putting up a little Tablet, or Garret, where some artificial Nests may be made to entice your Hens to lay there, I would advise you to, for the better security of your Breed: And when your Hen first begins to Lay, if you are desirous to have her sit quickly, let all her Eggs remain together in the Nest, only do you carefully see to the turning of them once a Day, until she sits, and afterwards also, if the Hen do not save you that trouble, which you may know by marking an Egg, if you do but take notice when she is off her Nest, but if you would have good store of Eggs, and are in no hast of your Cock, then only let the last Egg remain in the Nest, to entice her to come there again to lay, and take the rest and put them carefully up into some Wheat-barn, in a Baskit, Pan, or little Tub fit for the purpose, and there keep them with turning, and that very gently too, until you find your Hen inclineable to sit.

[Sidenote: The Hens that lay the Eggs best to sit them.]

And let me here warn you never to set your Eggs (if you have any regard for them) as some ignorant Persons do, under Crows, Turkeys, Ducks, Dunghill Hens, or the like, for certainly, there is nothing that more depraves a gallant parcel of Eggs, than putting them under such Hens as those, who differ so much in nature from the Bird that layed them: And this is seen by such as are Crow-hatched, for tho’ the Egg were got and laid by the best Cock and Hen in the World, yet such a Bird when he comes to Fight do nothing but lug, and pull, and hardly ever strike as he ought to do; and if they are Duck-hatched, then they will strike short, snutter, and be always upon their Noses: And as for those that are hatched under a Dunghill-Hen, if ever they are put to it, to Fight in Blood for the Battle, ’tis ten to one that they skut, and run away, being in Nature more hers that sat them than they are the Hen’s that laid them, for we reckon the Egg after it receives the Tread, to be Nourished but nine Days by the Hen before she lays it, whereas the Hen that sits it, is twice as long before it be hatched, so that from hence it may reasonably be inferred, that the Chicken is more the Hen’s that sits, and Hatches it, than hers that laid the Egg, but sat it not; and therefore, I chuse rather the Chickens that are Hatched by the same Hen, that laid the Eggs.

[Sidenote: Runners and Standers not good to breed together.]

Know also, that if you take Eggs of a Hen that comes of a Strain proceeding from a straining Fight, and put them under a Hen to Hatch them that is by Nature a Runner, your Chickens will prove meer Mongrils, and have a kind of nodling Fight with them, which is by no means commendable in a Cock of the Game, and for this Reason, never put a Cock that has a standing Fight to a Hen that is of a shifting Breed, for such Birds rarely prove well foughten when they come to be tried.

[Sidenote: Broody Hens commonly hated by the Cock.]

Now when your Hen is disposed to Sit if you can with conveniency remove the Cock from that Walk, it will be a thing very grateful to your Hen, who now no more delights in the Company of the Cock, nor the Cock in hers, she slights his Court-ship, and by her froward carriage oft times provokes him not only to dismantle, and strip her of her Plumes, but also deprive her of her Life, unless she quit her self better in her escape, for Broody Hens are ever hated by Cocks of the Game, especially such Cocks as have in bloody Battles been engaged: but a Young unfoughten Cock is not so dangerously cruel towards a Sitting Hen, and therefore be farther trusted especially when the Walk cannot well be spared.

_How the Chickens are to be brought up._

[Sidenote: Perfuming needless.]

During the time that your Hen Sits you must be careful in this, that when she comes off her Nest, she may readily meet with her Craw full of good sweet Oats, and fresh Water, but give her no Barly until she have hatched; and in her absence from her Nest be you careful to turn her Eggs if need require it, and see that no Hawk haunt the House whilst the Hen Sits: and when she is hatching you must be very diligent in taking away her first Chickens from her, least she quit her Nest too soon, and leave many of her Eggs unhatched: give to each Chicken a little bit of White-bread, and dip their Bills in new Milk, and then put them into a Basket of Sheeps Wool close covered, and place it by the Fire until Night, at which time you must also feed them again as before, and so put them under the Hen as she Sits upon her Nest, to hurk them all Night, and the next Day when she comes off her Nest with her Flock, be they more or less, you must be sure to put them into some dry warm place, where plenty of Groats, Groundmalt, and such like Food may hourly be offered unto them, and a shallow Sawcer of new Milk set for them to drink and bibble in, and at the Fortnights end give them only Barly to eat, and fresh Water to drink, and now (if it may be) let them have the benefit of the Sun, and be admitted to walk in some Court, or Garden, where they may bather and dust themselves in some Sun-shiny Bank, or Sandy Walk, which is a thing that much delights and forwards Birds of this sort, and as their Strength increases let their Walk be enlarged, but withall remember that Weesles, Cats, and Kites are mortal Enemies to these young Duellers, and that a nasty Sink, or Dunghill-hole is a most destructive thing to Chickens, for they endanger, and breed ill humours in the Body, causing the Roop, Rot-gut and such like dangerous Diseases to come upon them betime, which are Maladies seldom or never cured; and therefore a walk that is clean, and dry, is ever to be best esteemed for breeding Birds of this kind. But for Perfuming either the Chickens, or the Room where they Roost, or by way of Antidote, to give them the blades of choped Leeks, Skellians, or such like things, to prevent the Roop, and other Diseases, proceeding either from foul feed, or ill smells, are things in my opinion altogether needless, and may as well, or better be let alone, than made use of; for certainly they avail nothing towards the preservation of Health in Birds of this sort; for when once they are able to eat it, give them but their fill of good Barly, and fresh Water, with once in three Days a handful of Wheat, or bread crums, and a clean Walk to range in, and you need do no more, for thus managed you will see them thrive and come to your Hearts content.

_When Cocks shou’d be Dub’d and Penn’d._

Let them Walk till the young Cockerils begin to disagree, and when once you find they are inclineable to quarrel, and raise up civil-Wars amongst themselves, you must speedily take them up, and if they are strong enough, cut their Combs and Wattles, and not before; for if you cut them too early, there will be no Comb remaining either to grace or guard the Head, and he’ll look so Capon like, that you will hate to see him when turned into the Pit. But on the other hand, if you let them wear their Wattles a Year, or may be five Quarters, as some unwisely do, they will then be heavy headed, and in spight of Fate must needs loose a World of Blood, which of all things is the most hurtful to a Cock of the Game; and, therefore, as you may not before a Quarter old at soonest, so you may not exceed three Quarters at the farthest, before you dub your young Cocks, for the Reasons aforesaid: And in cutting, if you observe this for a Rule, to leave the Comb round like a Half-moon, it will make the Cock appear as it were Roman-nos’d, or Hawk-bill’d, and will not only be a good guard to his Head, but will render him much handsomer to look upon: Whereas close cutting makes them appear sneaking, and also much weakens the Beak of a Cock, and by that means many times looses the Battle. But when you Cut, or Dub your Cocks, be sure to put them up into the Pens for a Week, or more, until you find their Wounded Heads begin to shell and heal; and this imprisonment will be of double advantage to the young Cocks, for it will both acquaint them with the Pens, and give you the advantage of often handling of them, which is the most compendious way to make them become tame and gentle, without which qualification, or good property, a Cock (tho’ never so well bred) is not to be trusted to Fight for any considerable Wager: for should he come to be sett, it is ten to one he skuts, and basely quits the Pit, and that more for fear of being handled by the feeder, than hurt by the other Cock, and so looses the Battle for want of prehandling, and being made tame, and gentle before he comes to Fight: And therefore, as ’tis a most notorious Crime in a Cock of the Game to be wild or shie, so it is as weak and silly in a Master, to Fight such a Bird, before he be familiaris’d, and made bold and gentle.

_When Cocks should be set out to Walk, and where._

And now in the next place, after this Penning, and his Wounded Head is got well, you must send him to a Walk, where (like an absolute Monarch) he may Reign without controul, and be beyond the hearing of the hourly challenges of neighbouring Cocks, which is a thing apt to stir their Choller, and therefore it is that Captain _Markham_ so much commends a Lodge, a Grange-house, or Mill, because that, for the most part, they are places remote, and far from Neighbours. And as you are always to chuse a Walk that is grac’d with Solitude, having green Fields, or pleasant Meadows on one hand, with Mountainous, Hilly, dry Ground on the other, and a murmuring Brook, or twatling Rivelet, or in their stead some pleasant Pools, or Ponds of clear sweet Water, with a good Barndoor, or else some loving Hand from the House that may daily afford plenty of Corn, especially if the Cock be large; So should you, if possibly you can, avoid the having of too many Hens in your Walk, for look how many above six your Cock walks with, so many Mates has he too many; and, indeed, had he but two or three it’s enough, and the Walk would be the better: for many Hens make a Cock to tread often, and much treading greatly debilitates a Bird of the Game, and makes him feeble when he comes to Fight; tho’ length of time and good Feeding will much restore a Cock that is decayed by hard Treading.

_Of a proper Roost for Cocks._