Part 4

And now for the Roost of your Cock, which is one of the choicest things you are to look after in his Walk, for it makes or marrs a Cock I assure you; and therefore know, that there is nothing better than a Beam, or broad Struncheon, wraped round, and close with well twisted Thum-ropes of Hay, into which he may set his Claws, and by that means hold himself fast without stradling, or lying wide with his Legs: Whereas if his Roost be either small or narrow, he is forced to sit wide, and gripe hard, to hold himself on; and this many times spoils a good Cock, and makes him not worth a Groat, that might otherwise have been a Jewel of impreciable Value; and therefore be sure to be very careful and curious in the Roost: and see that the Floor be not too hard on which he is to light when he is to descend from his Roost, for that will be apt to break his Claws, and bruise his Feet, and make him Club-footed, and Gouty; neither is it good to give a Cock Meat either upon a Brick, Plaister, or Boarded-floor, for that will much harm the Bill, or Beak of a Cock, making it blunt, and dull, and many times breaks it quite off, to the spoyling of the Bird at present.

_Of Sparring young Cocks and its use._

And here by the way give me leave to recommend to you the frequent sparring of your young Cocks: I confess ’tis a thing practised by few or none, and by the generality of Cock-masters judged injurious and hurtful, and therefore much declaimed against; yet notwithstanding all this, I have practiced it for many Years, with good success and advantage; And do constantly affirm it to be one of the greatest helps that can be conferred upon a young Cock, provided it be performed by a Skilful Master, whose care and diligence may be manifested in the well ordering of the Cocks in these their early heats: And a better way I know not than this, which I have ever observed, and been very successful in.

First then, after you have placed a young Cock some little time at his Walk, where he Reigns like a supream Lord and Master over all, without the least controul, or molestation from any Antagonist, then take a Brother, or some other young Cock, as near to his Age and Size as may be, and go to this his Walk, and there, after having secured their budding Spurs, by putting them on little Hutts made for that purpose; _Take_ Ive-berry-leaves, Ground-Ive-leaves, _bruised with_ Herb of Grace, Sweet Butter, _and the fine Powder of brown_ Sugar-Candy, _mix these well, and make them into Pills as big as a large Bean_, give to each Cock a Pill, or two, and then turn them down in some green Field or Pasture, where they may run if they please, and by hard Wrestling and Sparring, heat themselves until they begin to close, and come to mouth it; then take them up and loose their Hutts, and bag them close, for should you permit them longer to Combat, they will by heavy strokes bruise and bather each other, and with deep mouthing displume themselves, and thereby make the damage far greater than the advantage would have been, had they been rightly managed.

Now the Bags wherein you put your heated Cocks, must be well lined with Rie Straw, and set in some warm place, for three or four Hours at least, and supposing it then near Roosting time, take the Cocks out of the Bags, and give to each a White-bread Toast, soaked in warm Urine, for there is nothing that tempers and cleanses a Cock after Sparring better than such a Toast. Also let the Head and Feet of the Cocks be well suppled, and bathed in warm Urine, and then put them up to Roost to the Hens, and so leave them to their Walks.

And thus if you serve your young Cocks once, or twice a Quarter, until they come to be of Age, fit to put up to Feed, you will find the good of it, in that they will grow both skilful and cunning in Fight; their Wind will be lengthened, their Sinews grow stronger, and their Joints more plyant, and flexible, and they in all respects more able, and powerful in Fight by much, than such as perhaps have hardly seen a Cock, or at least seldom or never been Sparred until they come to be put up and Dieted for Battle: And truly hence it is that we often see Cocks that have been well bred, Fight but very indifferently the first Battle, and come off but poorly, and all for want of early and often Sparring before they come to Fight.

_The method of Dieting, & feeding Game-Cocks._

But having gone thus far in Cocking, I shall in the next place, proceed to give some directions to know and understand the best way and means made use of by the ablest Cock-Masters of these times, in the way of ordering of Cocks, when put up to be Fed, or Dieted for to Fight: For I have often grieved to see a gallant Cock meerly lost and cast away for want of good feeding, and at the same time been no less sorry for the Owners of such Cocks, who perhaps were Gentlemen of Worth, and Quality, that delighted in the Royal Sport of Cocking, and with a World of Care and Cost, have brought up, and reared Cocks to be fit for feeding, and then unfortunately have put them into the hands of some unskilful Rascal that shall pretend to be a Feeder, tho’ he know no more than a Horse, how to Diet, or Order a Cock he should be Ordered to Fight. And hence it is that many an honest Gentleman looses his Mony, many a good Cock his Life, and both of them their Credit, and all for want of a good Feeder.

Now that no Gentleman Cocker may ever hereafter dash upon this common Rock, on which so many have been split, provided they keep to the Directions given in the following Pages, wherein they shall find all the Secrets and most hidden Misteries in Cock-feeding, laid open to them in terms so plain and easie, that they shall be able both to correct and instruct the mercenary Feeder, who Diets Cocks for Hire, and heeds not how they speed, when once they are out of his hands, and perhaps knows as little how to manage them as they should be whilst they are in his Custody, and therefore to prevent your giving of Mony to have your Cock marred, or that you may not pay for his being Pined instead of being Fed (as divers have done) or if not so, perhaps suffocated thro’ too hot or too high feed, and want of due Sparring with other such like injuries, too often put upon poor Cocks, by ignorant unskilful Feeders, I shall here make known to the great greif and sorrow of all such selfish narrow Soul’d Cock-Masters, who have made it their business rather to conceal, and lock up, than to divulge and make known the rare Art of Feeding.

And take it thus: First when your Cocks are brought up to feed, see that they are fresh, full, and fine in their Feathers, and that their Wings are strong and good; Examine also their Legs, and Feet, whether they be clean, unclubed, and free from the Gout, and such like swellings, and have all their Claws, and whether their Bill, or Beak be firm, sharp and strong; what plight of Body they are in, whether they look ruddy about the Head; and if so (provided they are of Age) you may then cut their Tails, and put them into the Pens to Feed: And let the first Meat that you give them be of a cleansing, drying quality; and therefore good clean, dry Barly that is sweet and free from Seeds, Spirt, or Mouldings, is a proper Food enough for the three first Days, with fresh Water to drink along with it.

_When and how to Sparr your Game-Cock._

And now let them be lustily Sparred, and long Stived, especially if they are Fat, and full of Flesh. But if a Cock be poor and low in case, you must then be more moderate, and not Stive, and Sparr so hard, least you over do him, and perhaps quite Kill him, or at least worst him so far, that he may not recover it again of many Days, and therefore besure strictly to examine what plight your Cock is in before you either Sparr or Stive him, and see that after you have hutted your Cocks, and by that means secured their Heels, forthwith then give to each Cock a Pill, or Roll as big as a Walnut made up in two or three Parts, and prepared in the following manner.

_To make the Scowering Pill._

Take of white _Sugar-candy_, _Rosemary_, _Fetherfew_, _Ground-Ivy_ bruised, mingle these with Sweet Butter, let the _Sugar-candy_ be finely Powdered, and let these be well incorporated together, and just before you give the Cocks these Pills, put them into warm Urine; and these will cleanse a Cock of Grease, add to his Strength, and lengthen his Wind.

_When and how to Stive your Game-Cocks._

And after the Cocks have been Sparred (as aforesaid) let them take a Diaphoretic, or Sweating after this manner: First take off their Hutts, and then immediately Stive them very close in some warm Room, where no penetrating Air can come to annoy the heated Cocks; for otherwise they will loose the benefit of their Sparring, and in these Stoves you must leave the Cocks for three or four, six, eight or ten hours together, according as the Cocks are in Strength and Flesh; for a poor weak Cock will not bear long Stiving: And now in the Cock’s absence let their Pens be cleaned, and fresh Straw be put into them, and if need be, you may then alter their Perches higher, or lower, or remove them to another side of the Pen, as you see cause for it.

And when you take the Cocks out of the Bags or Stives, lick with your Tongue the Eyes and Heads of them, and so put them into their Pens, and so fill their Troughs with Cock-bread cut into small square bits, and steept in Urine, that so the Cocks may feed whilst ’tis warm; for this will cause their Scowering Pills to work and greatly cleanse, and purify both the Head and Body of your Cock.

_Of the several Ways of making Cock-bread._

Now to make Cock-bread aright, and at the same time, to have it suit with every Feeder’s humour, is a thing altogether impossible; seeing we are _quot Homines tot Sententiæ_.

_How to make the ordinary Cock-bread._

Some fancy that the common Bakers Bread is as good as any: Others will tell you that there must be some _Bean_, or _Pease_ Meal put amongst it, and a few _Anniseeds_, with the Whites of Eggs; and this is the best Cock-bread say they.

_Another Receipt for to make Cock-bread._

But there are others will tell you, that you must take of _Wheat_, _Pease_, _Beans_, and _Oates_, of each a like quantity in _Meal_, or _Flower_ finely dressed, with the Juice of _Liquorish_, and a little _Sack_, or strong _Stale-Beer_, with Brown _Sugar-candy_, _Anniseeds_, _Carroway-seeds_, mixed together: But if the Season be very hot, you must put _White-Wine_ instead of _Sack_, and as much common Ale as will make the Flower up into Dough, with the Whites of ten or twenty Eggs, and a Yolk or two amongst them; and this they take to be the best sort of Bread for to Feed Cocks withall.

_How to make the best sort of Cock-bread._

But in my opinion there is yet a better sort than any of these, and I make it thus, _viz._ of the best and finest Wheat-meal, I take three-quarters of a Peck, and one quarter of Oat-meal of the purest sort, and first of all mix these well together; then add the Whites of twenty new laid Eggs, four Yolks, an Ounce of the best extract of _Liquorish_, and as much of the fine Powder of brown _Sugar-candy_, a quarter of an Ounce of _Anniseeds_, and _Carroway-seeds_ grossly bruised, with a Lump of good sweet _Butter_ as big as your fist at least, and a quarter of a Pint or more of the best _White-Wine_ that can be bought for Mony, with three or four spoonfulls of Syrup of _Clove-gilliflowers_ put into it, and a Date or two, with some Candyed _Eringo Roots_ cut very small so that it may be scattered into every part, and let these Ingredients be all well worked together, in some Tub, or Pan fit for that purpose, with your hands, until you are Satisfied that they are thoroughly incorporated.

Then take _Wood-sorrel_, _Ground-Ivy_, _Featherfew_, _Dandelion_, and _Burrage_, of each a like quantity, and distill them in a cold Still, and add three or four Spoonfuls of the pure Juice of _Lemmons_ to every Pint of distilled Water; And add as much of this Julip as will serve to make all into a good stiff Past; let this be wrought quick, and made into little flat Loaves, which ought to be a day or two old before you spend them, and then being well rasped, or pared, so that none of the burned or brown outside remain, they may then be cut and given to the Cocks, as aforesaid.

And this I take to be the best and fittest sort of Bread for English Cocks, it being a Food that does greatly strengthen and exhillate them, and at the same time cools, and keeps them Temperate in their Bodies, provided you have regard to the Season; for in Hot Weather, or where the Climate is more than ordinary hot, there must be more of the cooling Ingredients added; and fewer, or a less quantity of those that are hot in Nature.

_Of other Food used by some for Game-Cocks._

There are those that think the finest Wheat-bread, with good store of hot Spices in it, and soaked or sprinkled only with the simple Water or Juice of _Wood-sorrel_ to be the best of Food for a Cock.

And some again heed not what Bread they have, so that they have but good store of Flesh to give their Cocks, crying that up for the best and strongest Food.

But in my opinion these extreamly err in fancying Flesh to be Food fit for a Cock, these carniverous Sots understand not the nature of these valiant sort of Birds, who force such unnatural food upon them, nor is it possible for a Feeder to make a Cock strong, and at the same time Fight cool, and be long winded with such sort of Diet.

_How a Game-Cock should be Fed before he Fights._

But suppose your Food to be either this, or that, or what you like best, be it what it will, yet is this on all hands agreed on by every one that pretends to Feeding, that the last Meal you give your Cock before he Fights must be common Manchet-bread, such as the Bakers usually make, with good store of Barm therein, and what they sell at every Market; for this sort of Bread is ever very light and goes off quick, it being soon digested, leaves the Craw or Crop of a Cock fine and clean, and so it ought to be when your Cock Fights, for otherwise you do in effect but throw your Cock away.

And tho’ ’tis highly necessary to bring a Cock into the Pit clean and empty, yet you may, and ought to give him five or six little bits of par’d _Pippin_ put into a Cup, or Dish of Spring Water, out of which let him pick the Apple, and drink a little if he pleases, of the Water: Or, for want of Apple, you may (as I said before) give your Cock a bit of White-bread, and drink after it, and so turn him into the Pit to try his Fortune.

_What Water is best for Cocks._

Some Feed their Cocks twice a Day, and others three times, and Water them after each Feeding, and that for the most part with common Fountain Water; but the following _Barly Water_ is the best, especially in the Summer, and indeed all the Year long, where the Climate is any thing hot and Sultery: As in _Jamaica_, _Madera_, _Bermudas_, _Guardeloope_, and _Pettiguavers_.

For this Water excellently cools, and wonderfully refreshes the Vital Spirits that labour under Heat; it has also a cleansing quality, and is highly restorative where Feaverish Distempers afflict the Body; and therefore to be preferred before simple, or Common Fountain Water.

_To make Barly Water._

Take _Barly_ and boil it in Spring Water, and let it stand to cool and settle; then pour off the Settlings, and give this to your Feeding-Cocks.

_Concerning the Method of Trimming Game-Cocks._

And for the Trimming of a Cock it is a thing so well known to almost all that ever saw a Cock of the Game, that I need not say any thing of it, but leave every Country to follow their own Fashion; for I must tell you that I have known some Feeders more angry when they have been told this, or that way is best, or looks most genteel, than a _Spaniard_ when he is told of his Trunk Breeches, who strait claps his hand upon his Sword cries, _Sacrament, me breech te boon breech by Gar, dam your French Fashions_.

_Of the Heeling of Game-Cocks._

And for the Heeling of a Cock there can no certain Rule be given for that, because the way, and manner of some Cocks Fighting requires their Heels to be set extreamly high; others exceeding low: This Cock must have his Heels fixed narrow, and that Cock as wide as they can be set.

And therefore I would let no man Heel a Cock, unless he has first seen him Sparr, and know his way of Striking, let him be never so great an Artist at Heeling, I heed not that; but think him fittest to Heel the Cock, that fed him, and has seen him Sparr.

_The Methods of Matching Cocks._

Then as for Matching of Cocks, ’tis now all the Mode of late to Weigh them, so that be they thick or thin, long or short, they take their chance, falling in according to Weight, let their Shape be never so different.

But in my opinion, the good old way of Matching small Cocks is still the best way, and most exact; to Measure them by Hand, and Match by the Eye (if the Handler have any Skill) will make them fall in tite: Besides, a Cock that is well fed shall Weigh far lighter than one that is ill Fed, or not Fed at all.

_Concerning the right Handling of a Cock._

I Come now to the Handling of a Cock, wherein a great deal of Art is required; and divers niceties, which ought very curiously and strictly to be observed, and carefully performed also: For there is both a Lady’s Hand, and a Hawk’s Eye, a Fox’s Head, and a Lion’s Heart, to be found in every skilful Handler; and he that is wanting in any one of these, is a Person very unfit to have the management of a Cock, when turned into the Pit to Fight.

For a rough Handler will make his Cock affraid of him, and perhaps make him run away when he is sorely wounded, rather than stay to be griped by so heavy a Hand as his Master carries.

And if he be a Man that is not quick in discovering of Wounds, be they either given or received by his Cock, he can never play his Bird of War to the best advantage.

And farther, if he be not cunning in his Handling, either to get, or sometimes to avoid a Blow, and that without being discovered by the adverse party, he is unfit for the Office.

And lastly, he must be bold, and fearless, and as well Patient as Painful and Laborious in handling his Cock to the last, for whilst there is Life, there is Hope, if your Cock be true bred, and Fortune has more than once turn’d the Scale, and given the Victory to the dying Cock even at the last minute of the Battle.

_How the Wounded Cocks, after Battle, should be ordered._

And now in the next place we come to direct you how to order your Cocks after they have fought.

First then, as soon as the Battle is over, and you have taken up your Cock, whether he has won or lost, (if you deem him worth the saving) forthwith search him all over, and as many of his Wounds as you can find, you must speedily suck very clean, and by that means draw all the Blood and clutters out of them, then wash him with warm Urine, and give him a Roll or two of your best Scowering, and so stove him up very soft, and warm for two or three Hours or more, and then drawing him out of the Bag by the Fire side, or some other warm place, where no Air can come to harm him, gently open his Wounds, and pour into them the Oyl of Turpentine, and let it be somewhat more than just warm, yet let it not be scalding hot neither; and be sure to see that it be the best of the sort: Then give him five or six bits of soft White-bread diped in warm Urine.

And then gently take your Wounded Cock and put him into the Bag again, and let him not feel the Air till his swelling be abated, and his Wounds well nigh Healed up, which will be in a day or two’s time, provided his Wounds are not too deep, and numerous: And then you must put him into the Pens, where you may feed him twice a Day with Bread or Barly, and once a Day dress his wounds, as aforesaid, until he is fully cured; and then turn him out to his Walk to Grass, and pick Gravel till you find him fit to send to Feed again for another Battle.

_A Remedy for any Green Wound in Cocks._

The Powder of _Herb-Robin_ is rare good for a Green Wound in a Cock, if after you have bathed his Wounds in Stale, you put it into a fine Ragg, and pounce the Sore therewith.

_Another for the same._

The greater Wild _Daisy_ is also a Wound Herb of good respect both for inward, and outward Wounds; and used in Oyls, Ointments, and Salves: the Leaves being bruised, and applied to any part that is Swell’d and hot, doth dissolve it, and temper the Heat.

_An excellent Remedy for the Eyes._

The Juice of _Daisies_ droped into the running Eyes of any Cock that hath received a blow, or bruise therein, seldom fails to heal them, and that quickly too.

_Another for the same._

_Ground-Ivy_ is an admirable thing for a Cock that is hurt in the Eye; take a Leaf or two, and chew it in your Mouth, and spit the Juice into the Eye of the Wounded Cock, and it will not only cure the present Malady, but prevent the growth of Films, Haws, Warts, and the like, which are things very destructive to the Eye-sight.

_Another for the same._

Take also young Hazell Twigs, and crush them hard, and they will yield a Drop or two of Juice, and with this dress your Cock’s Eye that has any Haw, Web, or Film a coming, and it will speedily Cure it.

_An easy Purge for Cocks._

_Dandelion_ or _Piss-a-bed_, vulgarly so called, is of an opening, cleansing quality, and therefore a good Cock-herb, if rightly applied, and fitly made use of; but some Feeders make too much use of it.

_For the Gangreens and Cankers in Cocks._

The Meal, or fine Flower of _Darnell_ is very good to stay Gangreens, and other such like fretting, and eating Cankers, and Putrid Sores, which often happen to old Wounded Cocks, towards their later end.

_An excellent healing Remedy for Wounds._

The Juice of _Fox-glove-leaves_ is of rare use to cleanse, dry, and heal any Sore in a Cock of the Game, be it a green Wound, or of long standing.

_A great Cooler for Feeding Cocks._

_Sorrel_ is moderately cold, and dry, somewhat binding, and cutteth tough humours, it cools the Blood and greatly provokes Appetite, and therefore is a rare thing for a Cock in his Food when the Season is hot, it being one of the best Coolers that I know.

_A Remedy for the Looseness in Cocks._

The Leaves of _Box_ are very binding, and of Singular use for Cocks of the Game that are troubled with a loosness, and too much Scowring, provided you powder the Leaves, and mix therewith a tenth part of the inner Bark of _Elm-tree_: Sift this Powder thro’ a fine Searce, and make it up into Pills with Sweet Butter, and give it the Cocks in two or three Pills as big as large Filberts, and let them Fast an Hour or more after them before they Eat or Drink.

_For the Flux._

If your Cock, or Hen of the Game have the Flux, which often times happens thro’ the overmuch eating of moist Meat, I have known them divers times cured by giving them scalded Pease Bran, and truly ’tis a Medicine that seldom fails to effect the Cure.

_When a Cock is Costive._

_Featherfew_ opens and Purges well, and is therefore to be made use of for Cocks that are apt to be Costive, and too much bound in their Bodies.

_How to Cure the Roup._

Another Malady there is that these Birds of Game are incident to, which is commonly called the Roup, which like to a filthy Boyl, or swelling you may discover upon the Rump of your Cock, or Hen Chicken; and it will in a short time (if not prevented) corrupt the whole Body.

You may first perceive it by the staring, and turning back of the Feathers that are about it; and if you purpose to cure it, you must speedily pull away those Feathers, and lay the Place open so as to thrust out the Core; and then Syringe the place well with Salt and Urine, after which lay some Tarr thereon, and the Cure will be effected.

_How to cure the Pipp._