Chapter II: Part 2

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._

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._

The Mallady called the Pipp, proves of dangerous consequence if not soon lookt after, for they are hereby rendred unable to Feed; and unless speedily prevented by uncaping the Tongue, they pine away, and die for want of Food, tho’ set in the midst of a Grainery.

And therefore when you see a White Scale upon the tip of your Cock or Hen’s Tongue, you must with a Needle, or your Thumb-nail get it clean off, and rub the end of the Tongue well with Salt.

_To Kill Lice in Cocks or Hens._

Lice also are an infirmity common to Cocks and Hens, and usually proceeds from some one of these three things, either thro’ Poverty, and want of Food, or else from foul corrupt Food, or for want of Sand, Ashes, or the like, to bath, and cleanse themselves in.

Now they are cured by taking Pepper pounded small, and put into warm Water with which let them be well washed.

_Of the Gout and its Cure._

The Gout is a certain swelling either in the Claws, or Ball of a Cock’s Foot; it is sometimes hard, and sometimes soft and poosy, but ever hot and burning, and is a very troublesome Malady, and seldom so thoroughly cured as to render the Cock fit either to Fight or Breed after.

’Tis a hereditary distemper in some Cocks; but in others it proceeds from Wounds and loss of Blood, especially when once they begin to grow old, and Humours to grow predominant in them.

I shall here for the Readers benefit mention a trial of Skill which I made upon a very choice Cock of my own, thro’ the help and assistance of a Gentlewoman whose extraordinary Skill both in Physic and Surgery was well known and greatly Celebrated by all that were acquainted with her.

Now the Cock was about two Years old, fresh, fine, and in good tune when I sought him, and he came of a rare Breed, and was delicately Shaped, and sparr’d as fine as most Cocks that ever I saw in all my Life; but for all this meeting with a blow in the Throat at his first coming into the Pit which choaked him up, and being also veined in the Foot at the same time, from which wound he lost a World of Blood, he was at last very hardly, and with much difficulty beaten.

However I was offered half a Peice for him as he lay in my Hands seemingly Dying, but I refus’d it: And taking him Home observed the afore-mentioned method, ordering him as is directed for Cocks after Battle, (_Page_ 67) by which means I soon recovered him and (as I thought) had him perfectly well.

But truly it was not long before I found I was under a mistake, for my Cock began to Limp, and grow Gouty, by reason of a Humour which fell down into that Foot in the which he was veined, and had lost such a great quantity of Blood when he fought last, so that in short it began to heat and swell betwixt the Claws, yet was it not very dicernable.

However I took him up, and having carefully searched his Foot, and for some Days applied Shoe-makers-Wax to it, but finding it not to do, and the Gout growing worse, I took him to the ingenious, and most Skilful Gentlewoman aforesaid, who promised me to do her best for the recovery of my valiant Cripple.

At first she Poultised his Foot, and after that applied the most violent drawing Salves, but to no purpose; for neither _Venice Turpentine_, nor all the Vehement things that she could think on would do any thing; until she applied _Burdock_ Leaves to it, in the nature of a Poultise, and that, after some time did draw it, and brought away abundance of viscous, putrified Matter.

After which she tried to heal the Wound, but to no purpose, for it broke out again, whereupon I took out the Ball or Frog of the Cock’s Foot, and the Gentlewoman healed it again, but it swell’d after this and broke of itself, and run at several Places, so that I was forced a second time to cut out the Ball of my Cock’s Foot, and then after long Salving, with the Application of some drying Powders it was healed up firm and well, and his Foot proved sound and good to his dying Day, but was greatly Clubbed and ugly to look upon, yet did he breed good Chickens and fought divers admirable Battles after this, to my great delight and satisfaction.

And this I only mention by the way, to shew that if you will but use care with some little cost, and add thereto Pains and Patience, most Distempers will be found curable.

_Of the Black Sickness._

The _Black Sickness_ is a Disease so highly destructive to Cocks of the Game, that Men try in vain to cure that incurable Distemper, when once it is got into the Blood, and the Cock or Hen begins to blacken about the Head, and grow Sick withal, no Medicine as yet was ever found that could retrieve a Cock from Death in such a condition.