Chapter D (4)

GAME—for the preservation of which such a succession of LAWS have been enacted, were, in many of the former preambles to the different ACTS of PARLIAMENT, extended to "the _Heron_, _Pigeon_, _Mallard_, _Duck_, _Teal_, _Widgeon_, or any _such Fowl_;" but in the present construction, GAME is generally considered to imply no more than the HARE, PHEASANT, PARTRIDGE, HEATH-FOWL, and MOOR GAME, which are the whole of what is intentionally included in the GAME LAWS; and what persons possessed of _certain qualifications_, as well as an ANNUAL CERTIFICATE, are empowered to kill. DEER of every description are also denominated GAME; but they are protected by LAWS appropriate to their peculiar preservation. RABBITS were also included in many of the earliest acts relating to GAME, but are now considered of no consequence, except in WARRENS, where being private property, and productive of annual profit, they have LAWS for the security of THE OWNER, with very heavy penalties annexed to their destruction. PROPRIETORS of DOVE-HOUSE PIGEONS have likewise legal means of redress, upon their pigeons being _wantonly_ shot at or destroyed. The _mallard_, _wild-duck_, _widgeon_, _teal_, &c. are not without LAWS for their increase, and proportional preservation. See DECOY.

GAME COCK.—The true-bred GAME COCK is a species of fowl almost peculiar to this country; his natural and instinctive courage will never permit him to yield to an opponent, however he may be superior in WEIGHT and STRENGTH; but he will, even under those disadvantages, continue to fight till literally _cut to pieces_. After the _loss of eyes_, with the body wounded and perforated in every part, when even the _use_ of his _legs_ are _gone_, and he is no longer able to stand, but lays extended upon _the sod_, with his victorious opponent exultingly CROWING over his mangled frame, he will continue to _shew fight_ with his _beak_, to the last remains of life.

Those NOBLEMEN and GENTLEMEN who have (from hereditary rule, and local custom) continued the sport of COCKING, in the neighbourhoods where their country mansions and landed estates lay, have been, and are, exceedingly circumspect and cautious in the BREED, lest any chance of contamination should _creep in_, by an injudicious, improper, or unlucky, _cross in the blood_; for as some HUNDREDS of POUNDS are frequently depending upon ONE MAIN, and that main upon the battle of _a single cock_, no such money can be betted with a probable or equal _chance_ of _winning_, unless the unsullied purity of the BREED is most accurately ascertained. In confirmation of which remark, it is to be observed, that whenever a COCK, in FIGHTING, declines the battle, no longer faces his adversary, but repeatedly _turns tail_, and _runs away_, his blood is no longer to be relied on; and such cock has not only his neck broke in the Pit, but the whole of that breed are destroyed, to prevent farther contamination, as well as future loss, disgrace, and disappointment.

GAME COCKS are bred of various colours, according to the fancy or opinion of different AMATEURS, many of whom have their favourite plumage; their colours are technically described by the variations in feather, and are as follow: The black or pheasant-breasted RED; the black-breasted GINGER; the speckle-breasted GINGER DUN; the black-breasted YELLOW DUCKWING; the turkey-breasted DITTO; the SMUTTY DUN; the BRASS-WINGED BLACK; and the SMOCK, which is a _milk-white_, having the appearance of a common _barn-door fowl_; and the odds are proportionally against them whenever they are brought TO PIT, which is now but seldom, the breed being nearly or quite destroyed.

Two opinions have always been, and still are, entertained respecting THE COCKS most proper to breed from, admitting the standard of _bone_, _strength_, _weight_, and _standing_, to be just the same. Some prefer breeding from A COCK who has WON many _hard-fought_ battles, by which his _own blood_ is so fairly proved; whilst others maintain the consistency of breeding only from the _full brothers_ of such, (who are called MAIDEN COCKS, as never having fought,) under an impression, that the former must have sustained material injury by the _wounds_ received, and the _blood lost_, in the battles he had formerly fought. However those who BREED GAME FOWL may differ upon this particular point, it is an opinion nearly unanimous, that if you breed entirely for the Pit, that no cock should be bred from younger than TWO, or more than SIX, years old. Although it is right to breed from a strong, bony, close-made, majestic, high-standing cock, yet it is by no means prudent so to do from cocks _much above_ match weight; that is to say, never to exceed FOUR POUNDS, TWELVE OUNCES, at the utmost; for should the HENS prove large also, the _progeny_ might run still more into _size_ and _bone_, and never fall into any match whatever.

In breeding GAME CHICKEN, to breed with success, there are some general rules, which should be strictly attended to, and invariably persevered in. No BROOD-COCK should walk with more than _four hens_; three being, in fact, fully sufficient. GAME HENS should never be permitted to bring forth a clutch of chickens before the _last_ week in FEBRUARY, nor after the _first_ week in MAY; those hatched in MARCH and APRIL are only adapted to THE PIT, and are always preferable, in SIZE and GROWTH, to those hatched at _any other_ season of the year. Hens after hatching should be _cooped asunder_, where the chickens cannot intermix; as the hens will not only _kill_ the _young_ of _each other_, but FIGHT THEMSELVES with the same inveteracy as THE COCKS. If a game hen, with chicken, retreats when attacked by another in the same state, her produce has been suspected to prove, in future, _defective in courage_; this opinion has, however, been founded upon false principles; because it is a very common circumstance for the younger hen to give place to an older, as it always is for THE STAG to submit to the OLD COCK, who must and will continue master of his walk.

During the first year after being hatched, they are called individually CHICKEN; from twelve months to two years old, they are termed STAGS, and from that period called COCKS, being then thought in _their prime_; but they are probably more so AT THREE, if properly walked. COCK CHICKENS should never be permitted to run too long together, but be separated as soon as they begin fighting _with each other_; and this ought to be the more strictly attended to, because it frequently happens, that out of a _whole clutch_, by neglect or inattention, what with _scalped heads_, _loss of eyes_, _broken beaks_, or _deformed feet_, not one has ever been brought to the scale.

COCK CHICKEN, when first removed, at _three_ or _four_ months old, are placed where they continue to walk under an OLD COCK, and will continue obedient and submissive till _nine_ and _ten_, or sometimes TWELVE MONTHS old; the experiment is nevertheless too hazardous to be made; they had much better be taken to a MASTER-WALK in proper time, to avoid the probability of either _one_ or _both_ being SPOILED. The most eminent BREEDERS, as well as the most enthusiastic BETTERS, have one mode of endeavouring to fix a criterion, how far they can depend upon _the heel_, _the fight_, and _the blood_, of any particular BREED or CROSS they may have been induced to adopt. This experiment (dreadfully _cruel_ as it is) is termed "CUTTING OUT," and consists in _pitting_ such CHICKEN of _seven_, _eight_, or _nine_ months old, _unarmed_, against their own brothers, or others of superior _age_, _weight_, and _strength_, having SILVER SPURS; if the chicken, so unarmed, and without the least chance of success, continues the combat till completely _deprived of life_, without displaying the least tendency to cowardice, or consciousness of defeat, more of his brothers have the same severe and "fiery ordeal" to undergo, when, if the result is just the same, the _cross_ is admitted to be _good_, and the BREED is persevered in, till, from circumstances, the blood is thought to degenerate, when new crosses are adopted, and new experiments made. See COCKING, COCK-MATCH, and COCKPIT.

GAMING—is that destructive vice which has annihilated some of the most princely fortunes in this, and, perhaps, in every other kingdom: it is a whirlwind of devastating infatuation, which destroys every thing before it: like the effect of unrestrained fire, it continues its ravages so long as there is a single combustible to feed the flame. The most MAGNIFICENT MANSIONS, the most LORDLY POSSESSIONS, the most MAJESTIC "towering woods," and the most extensive FERTILE VALES, have been in _one night swept away_ by this infernal and definitive propensity. Thousands, educated in AFFLUENCE, and left in a state of the most flourishing INDEPENDENCE, have been reduced to the _greatest want_, and died _miserable repentants_ within the dreary CONFINES of a PRISON, by the certain effect of an attachment to this most dreadful of _all vices_, which the united WISDOM of the LEGISLATURE has so strenuously endeavoured to suppress. LAWS have been framed, and are rigidly enforced, for its _prevention_; heavy STAMP DUTIES have been laid upon CARDS and DICE, that those who use them may voluntarily contribute to the support of the State, by which both person and property are protected; and, as a farther proportional prohibition, no GAMING DEBT is recoverable BY LAW where the sum _sued for_ shall exceed TEN POUNDS. See BETTING.

GAMING-HOUSES—are those infamous NOCTURNAL RECEPTACLES of the most abandoned _iniquity_, where such scenes of villainy are in perpetual practice, that the most fertile pen must be inadequate to even a tolerable representation. These houses in the Metropolis, are, by the SPORTING WORLD, denominated "HELLS;" and so truly are they entitled to that sublime distinction, that the whole FORCE of MAGISTRACY has been most laudably and successfully exerted against them without exception. Houses of this description are appropriated only to the _purposes_ of _play_, and that of the most _unfair_ description. They are kept by SYSTEMATIC DEPREDATORS, "who shun the light;" men who have no _credit_ to _support_, no _reputation_ to _lose_; and who are as completely lost to every sense of shame, as they are completely banished from the respectable classes of society. Here it is where the young, the inexperienced, the injudicious, and the inconsiderate, sacrifice not only their OWN, and often the property of OTHERS, but _prostitute_ also that most invaluable GEM their INTEGRITY, and with it a PEACE of MIND never to be restored.

From the _first moment_ of entering such an iniquitous sink of POLLUTION, such a complication of VILLAINY, and such a combination of the most desperate and abandoned THIEVES, every infatuated adventurer may date the origin of _future misery_. Whether it be CARDS, DICE, E. O. or whatever GAME or NAME the speculative sport may be, the _credulous, unsuspecting dupe_ has no one CHANCE TO WIN, but inevitably every chance _to lose_, under the _certainty_ of their systematic depredation. Thus far in explanation of those HELLS, legally considered nuisances to society, as being prejudicial to the morals, and destructive to the property, of such individuals as unhappily fall within the vortex of so fashionable an influence; but there are other GAMING HOUSES of a superior order, and of the most magnificent description, supported in all the style of EASTERN SPLENDOR, by _annual_ contribution from the first characters in the kingdom, and called "SUBSCRIPTION HOUSES," to which none but their own INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS are admitted under any plea whatever; and these, as private houses, being ABOVE THE LAW, any member possesses, of course, the privilege of _ruining himself_, and reducing his _family_ to _beggary_, without transgressing the LAWS of HIS COUNTRY, or incurring the _censure_ of his best and most fashionable friends.

GAME-KEEPERS—are persons delegated by legal prescription, to provide GAME for the purposes of those by whom they are appointed, to PRESERVE and PROTECT it against a class of adventurers (denominated _poachers_) by night, as well as an unfair or improper destruction of it by day. Every LORD or LADY of a MANOR are authorized, by writing under their hands and seals, to empower a GAME-KEEPER to kill _within the said manor_, any HARE, PHEASANT, PARTRIDGE, or other game. If, however, such game-keeper shall _sell_ or _dispose_ of the game he shall so kill, without the _knowledge_ or _consent_ of the said LORD or LADY, and shall be convicted, upon the oath of _one_ witness, before a Justice of Peace, he shall be committed to the house of correction, and kept to hard labour for three months.

One GAME-KEEPER only can be appointed to kill game within one manor; in which he is authorized and empowered, by his DEPUTATION, to take and seize all guns, bows, greyhounds, setting-dogs, lurchers, ferrets, trammels, low-bells, hays, or other nets, hare-pipes, snares, or other engines, for the taking and killing of HARES, PHEASANTS, PARTRIDGES, or other game, within the precincts of such manor, in the possession of any person not qualified to keep the same. It does not appear by this act (23d Charles Second, c. xxv. s. 2) that a GAME-KEEPER is empowered to seize THE GAME, although he is authorized to take all instruments in use for the destruction of it.

By the 25th George Third, c. v. s. 2, every _deputation_ of a GAME-KEEPER granted to any person, by any LORD or LADY of any MANOR in England or Wales, shall be _registered_ with the CLERK of THE PEACE of the county in which such manor lies; where he shall receive a certificate of such registry, upon payment of ONE GUINEA, and one shilling to the Clerk, for the same. A game-keeper omitting to register his deputation, and to take out his certificate, for _twenty days_, to forfeit TWENTY POUNDS. The certificate must be renewed _annually_; and upon the appointment of a NEW GAME-KEEPER, a _new certificate_ must be taken out; and the person formerly acting under the old certificate is no longer _qualified_ to _kill game_, but liable to all the penalties of this act.

In addition, a few general remarks may be useful. A GAME-KEEPER having no other qualification than his _deputation_ and _certificate_, is not entitled to KILL GAME out of the precincts of the manor for which he is appointed. Nor is he empowered to demand THE NAME, or a SIGHT, of the CERTIFICATE of any qualified person _out_ of his _own_ district; unless he is qualified to kill game in his OWN RIGHT, (exclusive of his deputation,) and is possessed of his THREE GUINEA certificate; in which case he may do either or both. But let it be remembered, that, although he is QUALIFIED to KILL GAME in his own right, and acts under a _deputation_ for a certain specified MANOR, he is liable to the penalty prescribed by the Act, if he is informed against for, and convicted of, killing game out of that manor, without being previously possessed of the three guinea certificate. Any GAME-KEEPER killing or taking a hare, pheasant, partridge, or other game, under colour of being for the use of the Lord of the Manor, and afterwards SELLING and DISPOSING thereof, without the consent of the said LORD of the MANOR, upon conviction, on the complaint of such Lord, and on the oath of one witness, before a Justice, shall be committed to the house of correction for three months, and there kept to hard labour.

GAME LAWS.—The laws framed for the PRESERVATION of THE GAME, are, by the different ACTS of PARLIAMENT, during several successive reigns, become so truly voluminous, and in many instances thought so truly complex, that it is impracticable to reduce any moderate abridgement of the whole within the intentional limits of this Work. But as many of the former Acts (at least _many_ of the _clauses_ in those Acts) though unrepealed, are in practice almost obsolete, it is proposed (divested of legal tautology) to bring a review of the existing parts of the GAME LAWS as they now stand, and as they are now acted upon, into as concise a point of view as the subject will admit; and so perfectly free from ambiguity, as to be rendered perfectly clear to the most moderate comprehension: at least as much so, as can be expected upon LAWS, that, after all the refinement of CENTURIES, after all the investigation and deliberation of the different LEGISLATURES, and the advantages derived also from the sage opinions of the most learned in THE LAW, are certainly less respected, and less effectual, than any other part of the code to be found in the statute books of this realm. Whether it is, that they are less understood, less palatable to those interested in their effect, or but feebly and partially executed, is a matter only to be ascertained by time, and such future arrangements as may probably take place.

Persons held legally qualified to kill game, must be in the full and undisputed possession of a FREEHOLD LANDED ESTATE, producing a clear 100_l._ _per annum_; or possessed of a lease, or leases, for ninety-nine years, or any longer term, of the clear yearly value of 150_l._ other than the heir apparent of an Esquire, or other person of higher degree. ESQUIRES, as defined by LAW, are the younger sons of NOBLEMEN, and their heirs male for ever: the four Esquires of the King's body: the eldest sons of BARONETS, of KNIGHTS of the BATH, of Knights Bachelors, and their heirs male in the right line. A JUSTICE of the PEACE is also an Esquire for the time he is in the commission, but no longer.

Persons of higher degree than Esquires, are COLONELS, SERJEANTS AT LAW, and DOCTORS in the three learned Professions; but neither Esquires, nor any of these, are qualified to kill game, unless they have the requisite estate mentioned; though their SONS are qualified without _any_ estate. This, however unreasonable it may seem, has been fully decided to be the true construction of the Act. In addition to every necessary QUALIFICATION by ESTATE, according to the construction of all former Acts, it is enacted, by 25th George Third, c. 1. s. 2, That every person in Great Britain who shall use any dog, gun, net, or other engine, for the taking or destruction of game, shall every year, previously to his using the same, deliver in a paper, or account in writing, containing his name and place of abode, to the CLERK of THE PEACE of the county where he shall reside, (or his deputy,) and annually take out A CERTIFICATE of having so done, for which he is to pay THREE GUINEAS, and one shilling to the Clerk for his trouble in making out the same; which certificate shall bear date on the day whereon it is issued, and remain in force from thence until the first day of July then after, and no longer. Such certificate may be demanded by the _unqualified_ as well as QUALIFIED; and if the Clerk of the Peace shall refuse to grant such certificate when demanded, he is liable to the penalty of TWENTY POUNDS.

Any person, qualified or unqualified, who shall be in pursuit of game, without having obtained such certificate, shall be liable to the penalty of TWENTY POUNDS. It is also provided in the said Act, That every person having obtained a certificate, who shall find _any other_ person in pursuit of game also, it shall be lawful for him (after having produced his own certificate) to demand from such other person, the certificate to him issued of having conformed to the said Act; and on such demand, such person shall produce such certificate, and permit the same to be inspected; and on refusing to produce the same, and also refusing to give his CHRISTIAN and SURNAME, and place of residence, or giving _a false name_ or place of residence, he shall forfeit the sum of FIFTY POUNDS.

It is to be observed, that persons taking out A CERTIFICATE, who are _not qualified_ by former Acts to KILL GAME, derive no privilege from their certificate so to do; but, nevertheless, remain liable to all the penalties of former acts, if informed against, and prosecuted to conviction. It, however, appears, upon the experience of the last seven years, that since the privilege of killing game has contributed so largely to the exigencies of the State, less _litigation_ has prevailed upon the score of PRESERVATION. Indeed, there is now so little fear of an information, that almost every person having taken out a certificate, erroneously considers himself _nominally_ entitled TO KILL; in full confirmation of which, the list of those who have obtained certificates in the different counties, may be inspected at the STAMP OFFICE, upon the payment of _one shilling_, where will be found the names of hundreds who do not individually possess an independent TWENTY POUNDS _per annum_ upon the face of THE GLOBE.

In all cases where the penalty does not exceed 20_l_. the JUSTICE of PEACE shall, upon information or complaint, summon the party and witnesses to appear, and proceed to hear and determine the matter in a summary way; and, upon due proof, by confession, or the OATH of _one_ witness, give judgment for the forfeiture; and issue his warrant for levying the same on offenders goods, and to sell them, if not redeemed within six days; rendering to the party what overplus there may happen to be; and if goods sufficient are not found to answer the PENALTY, the offender shall stand committed TO PRISON for _six calendar months_, unless the penalty be sooner paid. Any offender feeling himself aggrieved by such judgment, may, upon giving security, amounting to the value of the forfeiture, with the costs of affirmance, APPEAL to the next GENERAL QUARTER SESSIONS, when it is to be heard and finally determined; and in case the judgment be affirmed, Sessions may award such costs incurred by appeal as to themselves shall seem meet. JUSTICES may mitigate penalties; so that the reasonable charges of officers and informers for discovery and prosecution, be always allowed over and above mitigation, and so as the same does not reduce the penalty to less than a moiety, over and above the costs and charges.

Restrictions for killing GAME are as follow: No PARTRIDGE to be killed between the 12th of February and 1st of September, under a penalty of FIVE POUNDS. No PHEASANT between the 1st of February and 1st of October, under the like penalty. GROUSE, or RED GAME, only from August 12th to December 10th. HEATH FOWL, or BLACK GAME, from August 20th to December 10th. BUSTARDS from December 1st to March 1st. No time is limited for the killing of HARES, provided they are not illegally taken. No GAME whatever is to be killed or _taken_ sooner than ONE HOUR before SUN RISING, or later than ONE HOUR after SUN SET, under a penalty of 5_l_. to the qualified or unqualified. Killing game on SUNDAY, or CHRISTMAS-DAY, liable to the same penalty as killing game during the night.

Any unqualified person exposing a HARE, PHEASANT, PARTRIDGE, or other game, to sale, is liable to a penalty of 5_l_. For selling a HARE, PHEASANT, PARTRIDGE, or other game, qualified or unqualified, 5_l_. If either are found in the shop, house, or possession of any POULTERER, SALESMAN, FISHMONGER, COOK or PASTRY-COOK, or of any person not qualified in his _own right_ to KILL GAME, or entitled thereto under some person so qualified, it shall be deemed an exposing thereof to sale.

Unqualified persons _using_ any _engine_ to kill or destroy HARES, PHEASANTS, PARTRIDGES, or other game, liable to a penalty of 5_l_. as well as _keeping_ and _using_ GREYHOUNDS, SETTING DOGS, or any engines to kill or destroy HARES, PHEASANTS, PARTRIDGES, or other game, are liable to a penalty of 5_l_. The _keeping_ or _using_ being individually or jointly liable to the forfeiture of 5_l_. as well as for killing, so it should appear, from the plain construction of the Acts, that if the informations are _separately laid_, first for "_keeping_ and _using_," and secondly "for KILLING," conviction must inevitably follow for both, if sufficient evidence is produced to confirm the offence. Informations must be laid within SIX CALENDAR MONTHS, before a JUSTICE of PEACE, or by action of debt, bill, plaint, or information. The whole penalty to be given to the informer, with _double costs_, if brought on in WESTMINSTER HALL. Summary conviction, half to the _informer_, and half to _the poor_. These are the penalties annexed to former Acts, independent of the Act respecting annual certificates to be taken out from the CLERK of the PEACE, to KILL (or go in pursuit of) GAME; without which, incurs an _additional_ penalty of 20_l_. to the unqualified, making the forfeiture 25_l_. and of 20_l_. to the QUALIFIED, who becomes only liable to that single penalty, for killing, or attempting to kill, game without the annual certificate so prescribed to be taken out.

A QUALIFIED PERSON cannot come upon another man's ground to KILL GAME, without being liable to an ACTION for _trespass_; and an unqualified person for trespassing, shall pay full costs: but if a person qualified to kill game, sustains an ACTION for _trespass_, and the damage shall be found under 40_s_. he shall in such case pay no more COSTS than DAMAGES; this being a most equitable construction, to prevent paltry and personal litigations. It has been decided by the highest legal authority, that any unqualified person may go out to beat hedges, bushes, and mark birds, in company with any qualified person, to see the game pursued and taken, without being liable to any penalty, provided he has no DOG, GUN, or ENGINE, of his own, individually, to assist in its destruction.

It would be unfair to conclude this subject, which has for centuries occasioned such a diversity of opinions amongst the SUPERIOR CLASSES, and diffused so much discontent amongst the _lower_, without submitting to _both_, a very EMPHATIC and literal extract from JUDGE BLACKSTONE, in his comment upon the Forest Laws, in which he has this particular passage.

"From a simple principle, to which, though the FOREST LAWS are now mitigated, and by degrees grown entirely obsolete, yet, from this root has sprung a _bastard-slip_, known by the name of the GAME LAWS, now arrived to, and wantoning in, its highest vigour; both founded upon the same unreasonable notions of permanent property in wild creatures, and productive of the same tyranny; but with this difference, that the Forest Laws established only one MIGHTY HUNTER throughout the land; the GAME LAWS have raised a little NIMROD in every manor."

GAMES OF ART—are those in which the skill, judgment, and penetration of the player are immediately concerned, and upon which alone his success must entirely depend. In this class are included BILLIARDS, CHESS, DRAUGHTS, CRICKET, FIVES, TENNIS, BOWLS, and some others, as well as a few upon the CARDS; but as the latter are always subject to DECEPTION, and completely subservient to the _slipping_, _sliding_, and _cutting_ of the most FAMILIAR FRIENDS, (even in private families,) they are, with propriety, much more entitled to the appellation of CHANCE than of ART, particularly where the unsuspecting player has the _perpetual chance_ of being ROBBED, without the mortification of knowing the main-spring of depredation. However expert those may be, who indulge and excel in GAMES of ART, two things should ever be predominant in memory; always to play with an invariable philosophic PATIENCE and SERENITY, never to seem affected by a temporary run of ill-luck or momentary advantage, any more than agitated by the exulting irritation of a successful opponent. The run on one side may as suddenly be reversed to the other; a chance that petulance and ill-humour may probably destroy. PRUDENT PLAYERS never engage in matches of any kind where _four_ or _more_ are concerned, except amongst their most intimate acquaintance; particularly at the public tables of the Metropolis, where it is the custom for _three_ to poll _one_, and divide the spoils after the PIDGEON has been _plucked_; a very fashionable mode of playing at both BILLIARDS and WHIST; by which an infinity of necessitous and unprincipled adventurers procure a daily subsistence.

GAMES OF CHANCE.—Those games are so called, which depend solely upon the turning up of a CARD, or the uncertain "HAZARD of THE DIE." When fairly played, without any latent deception on _one_ side or the _other_, they are considered truly equitable between the players, who are then said "to PLAY UPON THE SQUARE," without a point of advantage, the whole being dependent upon, and decided by, the EFFECT of CHANCE. The celebrated nocturnal game of HAZARD, at which such immense property is annually LOST and WON, at the most fashionable and powerfully-supported GAMING HOUSES, is known to be the first and fairest GAME of CHANCE, upon which an adventurer (determined to encounter the probability of ruin) can possibly venture to STAKE HIS MONEY: on the contrary, it must be admitted, that the torrent of villainy, and unprincipled prostitution of _affected_ integrity, have made such rapid and unprecedented strides to perfection, that the most experienced SPORTSMEN must despair of being enabled to _play upon the square_, after so many GAMBLERS of FASHION have, within a few years, been detected with _loaded dice_ in their possession.

The game of E O, so plausibly deluding to all classes, particularly to rustics upon the different country COURSES and RACE GROUNDS, is the most _deceptive_, and most _destructive_, of any ever yet displayed for the purpose of public attraction; it may be very candidly placed in a parallel line with those _low_ and _rascally_ inventions of HUSTLING in the HAT, and PRICKING in the BELT, to both which an infinity of _cunning countrymen_ become infatuated dupes, to the great emolument and gratification of that horde of miscreants, who subsist only upon the credulity and ignorance of the inexperienced, avaricious, and unsuspecting.

GANGRENE—is a _technical_ term, which in FARRIERY, as in SURGERY, implies the first stage of MORTIFICATION or PUTREFACTION.

GASCOIN, OR GASKIN,—of a horse, is that part of the hind quarter extending from the stifle (or inferior point of the thigh approaching the belly) to the bend of the hock behind; upon the shape, strength, and uniformity of which, the property, action, and excellence of the horse very much depends. If the GASKINS are wide, and divide below the tail in a curvilinear arch on the inside, with a prominent swell of the muscle on the outside, it is not only indicative of great strength, but adds considerably to the symmetry and value of the horse, when viewed behind. A horse well formed in the gaskins, is seldom badly shaped in the fore quarters; nor are they, in general, horses of inferior action; exclusive of which, they are insured from the very aukward DEFECT of _cutting_; no small inconvenience to a TRAVELLER with a _weary_ horse upon a _long_ journey.

GATE-NET.—A GATE-NET is a principal part of the _stock in trade_ of an expert and experienced POACHER; and, in respect to HARES, the most destructive nocturnal instrument that can be brought into use. They, at a certain hour in the dead of night, when hares are sure to be at feed, are fixed to the third bar of the gates of such fields as have _green wheat_, _young clover_, or any other where (by daily observation) they are known to use; when being fattened to the ground under the lower bar by means of wooden forked pegs, _a lurcher_ is turned over the gate, who having been trained to the business, and _running mute_, scours the field in a circuitous direction; when the _victims_, thus suddenly and unexpectedly alarmed, make immediately for the gate, (by which they entered,) when the dog being close at their heels, at least not far behind them, they have no alternative, but to rush into the net, where becoming entangled, they meet their destruction. In this way _three_ or _four brace_ are taken in a plentiful country at one adventure. The only likely mode of rendering such attempts _abortive_, is by painting the lower bars of the gate _white_, which will occasion the hares to shun the gateway, and have recourse to their meuses; if GAME-KEEPERS and SPORTSMEN will but occasionally examine which, to take up the _well-intended wires_, it will, at any rate, go a great way towards preventing such incredible havoc and wholesale destruction.

GAZEHOUND;—the name by which the species of DOG we now term GREYHOUND was formerly called. With what propriety an animal of almost _every colour_ should be equally denominated _grey_, does not appear; any more than at what particular period the change in appellation may have taken place. As the pursuit of the GREYHOUND is entirely by _sight_, and not by _scent_, it should seem that GAZEHOUND would be the most proper distinction of the two, and that the present is no more than a perversion from the original.

GELDING—implies a horse divested of his TESTICLES, by which he is deprived of the act of COPULATION, and of farther PROPAGATION. For particulars of the operation, see CASTRATION.

GIFT OF GOING—is a phrase from the sublime vocabulary of the horse-dealing fraternity, and implies a horse's possessing a much greater portion of _speed_ in _action_, particularly in TROTTING, than could well be expected from his shape and external appearance. When a horse is shewn for sale, having little to recommend him, rough in his coat, low in condition, aukward in shape, and without a single _point_ of _attraction_, if he can scramble along at the rate of twelve or thirteen miles an hour, he is then said to possess the "gift of going," which is to compensate for every other deficiency.

GIMCRACK,—the name of a horse who was of great celebrity upon the turf, and for two or three years beat most of his time. He was foaled in 1760; got by CRIPPLE, (a son of the Godolphin Arabian;) dam by GRISEWOOD'S _Partner_, and his pedigree was of the best blood; but being too small for a stallion of eminence, produced no winners of note. He was followed by YOUNG GIMCRACK, a good horse for GIVE and TAKE PLATES, particularly at four heats.

GINGER—is an aromatic spicy root, brought to us from the EAST and WEST INDIES, in a preserved as well as in its natural state. In the former it is used as a stomachic and sweetmeat by the superior orders: in the latter it is common in all the shops, consisting of flat-knotted branches, of which the whitest, and least stringy or fibrous, are the best. It is a very useful ingredient in many compositions for the internal diseases of horses, particularly in the FLATULENT CHOLIC, commonly called FRET. Houses in the country, remote from towns, where horses are used and fed upon peas haum, and other winter fodder, frequently producing such disorders, should never be without a small quantity of this article: two ounces bruised, and boiled in ALE or GRUEL, then drained off, and the liquor given with a horn, would prove an excellent substitute for medicine upon many emergencies.

GIGS;—a term almost obsolete for what are now called FLAPS, a kind of flaccid fleshy enlargement on each side a horse's jaw, which, in his mastication, frequently falling between the grinders, is productive of pain, and prevents the horse from eating. If they are long and thin, they may be completely taken off by a pair of scissars, and the wounds washed with a strong solution of alum in water: if they are too fleshy and substantial for this mode of extirpation, they may be slightly scarified with a BISTORY, or ABSCESS LANCET, and after having been left to bleed for a proper length of time, may be stopped, and the parts constringed by the solution already described.

GIRTHS—are those well-known articles made from woollen web, and used for keeping the saddle in a safe and proper position. These, to prevent GALLING, should be made of ELASTIC, and not the _tight_ wove web, which being more _rigid_ and _harsh_, is the more likely to LACERATE during the _heat_ and _friction_ of a long chase. Observation should be made that girths are never too short, so as to have the buckle below the pad of the saddle, either on one side or the other; for want of which judicious and sportsman-like attention, WARBLES, SITFASTS, and WOUNDS, very frequently ensue.

GIVE AND TAKE PLATES—are those where the HORSES carry WEIGHT according to their HEIGHT, by the regulated standard of _four inches_ to a HAND. The fixed rules for a GIVE and TAKE are, that horses measuring FOURTEEN HANDS, are each to carry nine stone; above or below which height, they are to carry seven pounds, _more_ or _less_, for _every inch_ they are HIGHER or LOWER than the FOURTEEN HANDS fixed as the criterion.—Example: a horse measuring FOURTEEN HANDS, _one inch and a half_, will carry nine stone, ten pounds, eight ounces; a horse measuring THIRTEEN HANDS, _two inches and a half_, will carry only eight stone, three pounds, eight ounces; the former being one inch and a half above the FOURTEEN HANDS, the other one inch and a half below it. The weight is, therefore, added, or diminished, by the eighths of every inch, higher or lower weight in proportion; and these PLATES were so exceedingly popular some few years since, that very few country courses were without one of this description.

GLANDERS—is, perhaps, without exception, the most dreadful, and certainly destructive, disease to which the horse is incident. No exertions have been wanting on the part of the most eminent professional men (particularly in France) to discover the means of successfully counteracting the justly-dreaded virulence of this disorder; but hitherto with so little the appearance of progress, that it is almost an invariable custom to render the subject an immediate VICTIM to DEATH, so soon as he is ascertained to have become the VICTIM of DISEASE. There are never wanting SPECULATORS, or SPECULATIVE WRITERS, so long as "a doubt remains to hang a loop upon;" and many of these both _speak_ and _write_ as prompted by their _pecuniary_ sensations, and the sale of the NOSTRUM it is their personal interest to promote. These, of course, promulgate not the probability, but the _certainty_, of _cure_, and may, in so doing, possibly prey upon the credulity of those who are equally strangers to the origin of this disease, its progress, its effects, or its termination.

After the great variety of opinions which have taken place; after all the investigations made by every class of the most diligent inquirers in anatomical dissections, as well as by various other means, three facts are incontrovertibly established: first, that the disease is INFECTIOUS; secondly, that it is CURABLE; and lastly, that the LUNGS of every HORSE _dying_ under the _disorder_, or _killed_ during _its progress_, have been either partially, or totally, destroyed. This demonstrated beyond the power of contradiction, what does it prove? Why, very clearly, to the judicious and scientific, who are inquisitive to experience, and open to conviction, that this disorder is in direct affinity to the PULMONARY CONSUMPTION of the HUMAN SPECIES; but that the horse having no means of throwing off the morbid matter by _expectoration_, as is the case with us, NATURE, in her strong and inexplicable efforts for relief, propels the putrid discharge through the nostrils of the animal; whereas with the HUMAN FRAME, the _wasting_ of the _lungs_ passes through, and is discharged by, the mouth; and this, to the experienced practitioner, and learned inquirer, will hold forth the most unequivocal and satisfactory proof, that the GLANDERS is a virulent CONSUMPTION of THE LUNGS, by the _corrosive_ property of which discharge (become inveterate) the glandular passages are proportionally affected.

Much judicious observation, and professional knowledge, is requisite to discriminate between this disease, and others bearing _a part_ of its _appearances_: many horses are too hastily deemed GLANDERED, which are _not so_; and others as ignorantly said to be labouring under A COLD, and its _consequence_, till a whole stable has been affected, and every horse lost. The distinguishing traits are a discharge from one or both nostrils, of a viscid, slimy, and fœtid matter, having a kind of greasy tinge upon the surface: it is glutinous in its property, hanging to, and becoming dry and barky, upon the internal edges of the nostrils: it is white at the beginning, and grows darker in proportion to the duration and inveteracy of the disease; it becomes yellow, ash-colour, green, and lastly, tinged with blood, at which time, as well as before, it is dreadfully offensive: previous to this stage, indurated tumefactions have taken place under the jaws, the frame is daily more and more emaciated, the eyes sink gradually in their orbits, the appetite totally ceases, the body becomes almost motionless, seeming a mere lifeless trunk, till it falls to the ground a mass of perfect putrefaction.

GNAWPOST—was a country PLATE HORSE of some celebrity, winning several for some years in succession. He was bred by MR. SHAFTOE; was foaled in 1767; and got by SNAP out of _Miss Cranbourne_, who was got by the Godolphin Arabian, and bred by the then great Duke of Cumberland.

GOLDFINDER;—the name of one of the molt valuable and successful horses ever bred or trained in this kingdom: he beat nearly every horse of his time, and won almost every stakes he started for. He was bred by MR. SHAFTOE; foaled in 1764; got by SNAP; dam by BLANK; grand-dam by REGULUS, and the six preceding generations by ARABIANS, BARBS, and TURKS, up to the natural Barb mare, constituting one of the richest pedigrees in the annals of RACING BLOOD.

GODOLPHIN ARABIAN—was the property of LORD GODOLPHIN, and produced more capital winners as A STALLION, than any horse that covered before his time in this kingdom. His progeny became equally eminent as stallions, to the whole of which are we principally indebted for the unprecedented eminence and superiority of the various studs so plentifully established in different parts of the country. He was the sire of _Cade_, _Regulus_, _Blank_, _Babraham_, _Bajazet_, and a long list of _et ceteras_. See BARBS.

"GONE AWAY!"—is the exhilarating communicative HOLLOA! from one sportsman to another in STAG or FOX hunting, when the game breaks from large coverts, and _goes away_; at which time, if it was not for this friendly rule, invariably observed, those who happen to be _up the wind_, would be inevitably _thrown out_, and the hounds have got miles, before the most distant part of the field knew any thing of the matter. To prevent the mortifying probability of which, those nearest the chace and the hounds, instantly vociferate the enlivening signal of, "GONE AWAY!". This being repeated by the _next_ in succession, it is re-echoed by _a third_, and so on till it vibrates through the whole chain; and it must be acknowledged, there is not a more gratifying moment in the progress of a chase, than to see the distant effort of every individual, to recover his lost ground, and get in with the hounds.

GORGED;—the common and vulgar term for swelled legs, when their enlarged and distended state has been occasioned more by _severe_ and _hard_ work, than the effect of HUMOURS originating in a fizey or morbid state of the blood. A horse having his back sinews flushed, and legs thickened, so as to go short and stiff in action, but not _broken down_, is said to be _gorged_. Having the same appearances from humours, or a viscidity of the blood, he is then said to be _foul_, and must be relieved by PURGATIVES or DIURETICS, assisted by a great deal of hand-rubbing and regular friction. Gorged horses should be blistered, and turned out in time, by which they frequently get _fresh again_: continued at work too long, they _break down_, and become cripples.

GOULARD.—The article so well known by this name, and so constantly brought into use upon many emergencies, is the EXTRACT of LEAD; which is prepared by, and may be obtained of, almost every druggist in the kingdom. Its excellent properties are universally admitted as a CORROBORANT, a REPELLENT, a SOLVENT, and an almost infallible remedy in well-proportioned topical applications to _inflammations_, _strains_, _bruises_, or _recent tumefactions_: but some degree of professional knowledge, and experimental practice, is necessary to insure a probable certainty of effect. Upon the first discovery of this article, it was brought into use in _very small_ quantities, and a teaspoonful or two only were directed to be added to a quart of spring water, which was then termed _Vegeto Mineral Water_, and in certain cases (particularly of the eyes) looked up to as A SPECIFIC. Long experience, and attentive observation, have, however, justified its utility in _much larger_ proportions, particularly with HORSES; where, in severe strains, or long-standing lamenesses, less than _four ounces_ to a pint of CAMPHORATED spirits cannot be brought into use with any expectation of success.——As a mild repellent to SWELLINGS, BRUISES, WARBLES, &c. two ounces of the extract, two ounces of camphorated spirits, and a pint of water, will be a proper proportion. In defluxions and inflammation of the eyes, one ounce of each, with a pint and half of water, will be found a very useful composition.

GOURDINESS—is another rustic or provincial term for SWELLED LEGS, but of a different description, implying the kind of _dropsical laxity_ of the SOLIDS, submitting to pressure, and recovering from its indentation when the pressure is removed. This kind of swelling is a gradual approach to the disorder called GREASE, at which it will soon arrive, if not counteracted speedily, by such EVACUANTS and ALTERATIVES as may be thought most applicable to the case.

GRASS—is that well-known produce of the earth, which is the proper food for horses in a state of NATURE, EASE, and INDOLENCE; but not of sufficient nutritive property for horses engaged in either SEVERE, LABORIOUS, or ACTIVE exertions. Horses taken up from grass, and put suddenly to work, labour under an immediate and perceptible disquietude; the contents of the intestines are soon evacuated in a STATE of LAXITY, the frame displays a profusion of FOUL and FŒTID PERSPIRATION, the body bespeaks its own DEBILITY, and the perseverance of a few days demonstrates its EMACIATION. To horses having been whole months in constant use and work, alternately accustomed to diurnal drudgery, and the routine of the manger, GRASS, with its conjunctive LIBERTY, must prove a sweet, a comfortable, a proper, and a healthy change: it not only, by its own attenuating property, proportionally alters the PROPERTY of the BLOOD, but affords, by the comforts of EASE and EXPANSION, a renovation of elasticity and vigour to the relaxed sinews, the exhausted spirits, and the battered frame.

To the penurious and the unfeeling (equally insensible) it is sufficient, that a horse, worn to the bone with _constant work_, and _want_ of _food_, is "TURNED TO GRASS" in the winter, when there is _none to be eaten_; or during the months of JULY and AUGUST, when a horse loses more FLESH by persecution from _flies_ (if not well protected by shade, accommodated with plenty of water, and an equal plenty of grass) than he can acquire by any advantage arising from LIBERTY alone; which some people seem to conceive all that is required, and that the poor animal, CAMELION like, "can live upon the air." It should be recollected, that in the animal œconomy, substance only can beget substance, (see ALIMENT;) and no horse will be likely to accumulate flesh, or become FAT, whose means of living are _poor_.

Impoverished rushy moors, and lank half-rotten autumn grass, (particularly after _wet_ summers,) will prove much more likely to produce DISEASE, than produce CONDITION. Those who turn out horses to grass with a cough upon them, particularly if from a WARM STABLE in a _cold season_, may expect to take them up with a short, husky, laboured asthmatic increase of the original complaint, or with tubercles formed upon the lungs; and those who _turn out_ in the winter season, with a hope of obtaining the cure of CRACKED HEELS, or SWELLED LEGS, may probably _take up_ with a confirmed GREASE, particularly if the constitution should lean a little to _blood_, and _pedigree_ of that description.

The utility and advantages of physic were never better understood, or more clearly ascertained, than at the present moment of general improvement: experienced sportsmen, and rational observers, however doubtful they may have been, are now convinced of its propriety, and never deviate from its practice. They invariably _cleanse_ at the _end_ of the HUNTING SEASON, and repeat the ceremony _after_ taking their horses up from grass, previous to getting them into condition. Let those who doubt the consistency, try the experiment, and they will be soon convinced, how little _one_ will be enabled to stand a WINTER'S WORK with the _other_.

GRAVELLED.—A horse is said, by the lower classes, to be GRAVELLED, when broken particles of _flints_, or small _pebbles_, are insinuated between the outer SOLE of the FOOT and the WEB of the SHOE. This injury is seldom sustained, but where the shoe is formed _too flat_ upon the _inner surface_, (without its proper protecting concavity,) when pressing too close, whatever extraneous substance gains admission, is there confined, and, from the stricture, has no possible chance of extrication. The degree of pain, or tenderness, depends entirely upon the mildness or severity of the case, and the length of its duration. The road to relief is the same; the shoe should be tenderly taken off, by one nail at a time, in preference to tearing it off by main and sudden force, (according to custom;) the sole should be well fomented with good hot milk and water, then covered with an EMOLLIENT POULTICE of linseed powder, milk, and two table spoonsful of olive oil, letting the same be repeated daily, till the inflammation has subsided, and the tenderness gone off; when the bottom of the hoof may be hardened by _two_ or _three_ applications of a sponge dipt in vinegar _boiling hot_ before THE SHOE is replaced.

GREASE.—The GREASE is a disorder particularly affecting the CART or DRAFT HORSES of this country, but is seldom or rarely observed amongst horses of a superior description: its seat is cutaneous, and it first discovers itself by a stagnation of the fluids, and as consequent inflammatory enlargement above and about the fetlock, attended with pain and stiffness, _more_ or _less_, according to the state of the subject, or the severity of the attack. If proper means are not immediately taken, and judiciously persevered in, a degree of virulence, much trouble, and tedious attendance, unavoidably ensue. The skin, by its preternatural distension, soon assumes a greasy kind of transparency, having an irregular scaly appearance upon the surface, from whence (particularly when put into action) exudes a thin oily ICHOR, which, when become of long duration, is frequently tinged WITH BLOOD, but always of a _filthy unctuous_ property, and _greasy_ to the _touch_.

As it advances in unrestrained progress, it increases the growth of the hoof around THE CORONET, rendering it of a _soft_, _spongy_, and _diseased_ appearance: by the corrosive and fœtid property of the discharge, it soon affects and putrifies THE FROG, which it centrically _corrodes_, and lays the foundation of CANKER in the FOOT. As it becomes more inveterate, so it proportionally extends itself, and affects the surrounding parts; the small apertures from whence the ferous ichor originally oozed, now become malignant ULCERS, intersected by warty excrescences, and watery bladders of a _poisonous_ appearance. Arrived by length of time, want of care, and probably by the use of improper medicines, or injudicious treatment, at this its second stage, it assumes a more formidable appearance, and every symptom, as well as the limb, continues to increase: what were before only CADAVEROUS ULCERS, now become (in a partial degree) _barky eschars_, intermixed with _growing tetters_, from amidst which trickles down, in smoaking heat, the acrimonious sanies, or corrupted matter, which seems to excoriate as it passes, and soon deprives the part of hair; the little that is left serving only as so many conductors, from whence flows in streams the morbid matter, now become so truly offensive, that a horse, in such state, should be separated from others, lest fumes so incredibly noxious should, from the miasma, lay the foundation of disease with horses perfectly sound.

The GREASE may originate in either an INTERNAL or an EXTERNAL cause; as well as be transmitted by hereditary taint (of SIRE or DAM) from one generation to another. An impure and acrimonious state of the blood, unattended to till it has acquired morbid malignity, must display itself in some part; and with horses of the kind described, it generally appears in the extremities, where the CIRCULATION is _languid_, and the _least able_ to make RESISTANCE. Horses too long continued in MOORS of long _lanky_ grass, intermixed with rushes, or in MARSHY MEADOWS of a _swampy_ soil, where, in the dreary months of AUTUMN and WINTER, their heels are _never dry_ for _weeks together_, is a very probable foundation of permanent GREASE, or some other CHRONIC complaint, the original cause of which is _seldom_ adverted to, perhaps _never_ recollected. Cutaneous disorders not properly eradicated by MERCURIALS or ANTIMONIALS, but injudiciously thrown upon the circulation by REPELLENTS; the sudden absorption of a plentiful flow of milk, when a colt is taken from the dam; an extreme plethora, with a fizey viscidity of the blood; or any of those causes which too much relax the texture of THE SOLIDS, or impoverish and stagnate THE FLUIDS, may be more immediately or remotely productive of this disease.