How happy were those Sons of Men, who in times past were reputed Persons indued with that noble Gift, aut facere scribenda, aut scribere legenda, that is, either to do such things as deserved to be writ, or to write that which was worth the reading: Now that this ensuing Treatise is worth the reading, and practising too, notwithstanding the little Esteem and Value, that the present Age affords it, I shall endeavour to prove both from the great Antiquity, and Usefulness of this noble Sport of Cocking: A thing esteem’d so Sacred, and held in such high Veneration amongst the Antients, that, as Diodorus Siculus testifies, the Fighting-Cock was reckon’d one of the principal Gods worshiped by the Syrians.

And Rabby David, a learned Hebrew Doctor, interpreting the 2 of Kings ch. 17. v. 30, 31. where Nergal is spoken, of which is (as he says) a Cock of the Field, a Champion Cock, a Cock for War, or a Fighting Cock, and by them there Worshiped as a God in Samaria. Which at once denotes the high Esteem and Value, with the great Antiquity also, of these Warlike Birds. And AthenÆus and Dioscorides, both of them acknowledge the Fighting-Cock to be one of the Deities which the antient Greeks did greatly Adore. And that in their time there was an Altar found in a Vault far under Ground, whereon had been engraven’d a Cock, and inscribed thus

DEO MOUNO.

Which, as Macrobius also affirms, signifies One, or Only; and this Attribute they gave to the Cock, because he was the greatest, and almost the only Deity they Ador’d, the rest being accounted but his Assistants, and Coadjutors.

And Pliny in the tenth Book of his Natural History, sufficiently sets forth at large, the high and mighty Value and Respect that the antient Romans bore towards Fighting-Cocks, says he there:

These Birds about our Houses are our Centinels by Night, Nature has Created them to awaken and call Men up to do their Work; they have also a Sence and Understanding of Glory: Moreover, they are Astronomers, and know the Course of the Stars, they divide the Day by their Crowing, from three Hours to three Hours; when the Sun goes to Rest, they go to Roost: And like Centinels, they keep the Relief of the Fourth Watch; in the Camp they call Men up to their careful Labour and Travel: They will not suffer the Sun to rise and steal upon us, but they give us warning of it: By their Crowing, they tell us the Day is coming, and they foretel their Crowing likewise, by clapping their Sides with their Wings. Ye shall see them to march Stately, carrying their Neck bolt upright, with a Comb on their Heads, like the Crest of a Soldiers Helmet; and there is not a Bird besides himself that so oft looketh aloft to the Sun and Sky; and hereupon it is that marching thus Proudly as they do, the very Lyons (which of all wild Beasts be most Couragious) stand in Fear and Awe of them, and will not abide the sight of them.

So that hence may be inferred the great Use and Benefit that the Romans made of these vigilant Astronomical Monitors; Experience plainly taught them, what would be difficult to make some now-a-days to believe, Namely, that the Fighting-Cock is a Bird in himself both useful and profitable, as I shall prove more fully anon, to the silencing of all those whom Ignorance prompts to say any thing against it, for you know the abuse of a thing should not take away the right use of it; and if so, I don’t doubt but to clear the Point, against any one that shall oppose me herein; but before I leave this famous Philosopher, see here what Plinie yet farther says of Fighting-Cocks: —They are great Commanders, says he, and Rulers, and are made for War and Fighting; and the Countries from whence they first came, are grown into Name, being much renowned for their Breed, as namely, Tenagra and Rhodus in the first and highest Degree: in a second rank and place, be those of Melos and Chalcis. And unto these Birds (for their Worth and Dignity) the Purple Robe at Rome, and all Magistrates of State disdain not to give Honour. These rule our great Rulers every Day: And there is not a mighty Lord or State of Rome, that dare open or shut the Door of his House, before he knows the good Pleasure of these Fowles: And that which is more, the Soveraign Magistrate in his Majestie of the Roman Empire, with the regal Ensigns of Rods and Axes, carried before him, neither sets he forward, nor reculeth back, without Direction from these Birds; they give order to whole Armies to Advance forth to Battle, and again command them to stay and keep within the Camp.

These were they (says Plinie) that gave the Signal, and foretold the issue of all those Famous Foughten Fields, whereby we have Atchieved all our Victories throughout the whole World: In one Word, these Birds command those Great Commanders of all Nations upon the Earth.

Their Crowing out of Order too soon before their Hour, or too late, portendeth also, and presageth something remarkable, for well known it is, that by their Crowing at one time all Night long, they foresignified to the Boeotians, that noble Victory of theirs atchieved over the Lacedemonians. For this Interpretation, and Conjecture was given thereupon of a Fortunate Day (says Plinie) because that Bird never Croweth if he be Beaten or Overcome.

And at Pergamus every Year there is a solemn shew, exhibited openly to the People, of Cock-Fighting, as if Sword-Fencers were brought within the Lists to Fight at Outterance.

And Strabo, in Purchases Pilgrimage, extolling the Great and Royal exercise of Cocking, whence so many Benefits accrue to Mankind, if well observed, says also, that at Pergamus there was yearly Spectacles of Cock-Fighting offered where the Princes, Nobles and Gentlemen both old and young were sure to be, for as much as from hence they gathered not only and barely Courage and Audacity: But also did see the great necessity of a firm unshaken Resolution, with Perseverance and Stability of mind, even to the last Minute: So that by the Example of these unparallel’d Birds, the People in those Days were extimulated and spurred on to Great and Generous Enterprizes.

Nor did the Roman Empire shrink so long as Cocking was esteem’d in Rome. And ’tis reported of that Subtle, and most Victorious Emperor Severus, that when he was determin’d to Conquer (if possible) Great Britain, that to draw off his two Sons Antonine and Geta, from the Bewitching Vanities of the Theatre, and to prepare them in Mind the better to bear the many difficulties and hardships, that they must of Necessity undergo in the Prosecution of so great and bloody an Enterprize, as the subduing even Thule itself, which was then deemed the utmost Region of the North; he commands the Sport of Cock-Fighting, to be exhibited Dayly before his Sons, and the principal Officers of his Army, and that not only to make them emulous of Glory through the Performance of great Atchievements, but also to be firm and unshaken in the midst of Dangers, nay in Death itself.

And really were Cocking now-a-days exhibited to the People of this present Age wherein we live, by the supream Powers and Potentates of the World, for political ends. And certain Orators appointed at the same time to Comment thereupon, and in florid Speeches, Ductarious to War, and Marshal Exercises, and insinuating into the People the great magnanimous Temper and Disposition of these Heroic Birds, with variety of Inferences drawn from particular Passages and the great Essays that they discover to a judicious Eye, in their way and manner of Fighting. I Question not but Cocking would now produce as good Effects as then it did, and influence the British Valour to greater Things, than ever Roman Courage yet dared to Attempt.

Some Instances of this Practice, the Ingenious Nocoli-di-Conti has given in his History of Sumatra. This Kingdom is not only one of the greatest, but is also the most esteemed of all the Eastern Islands, insomuch that the Indians call it Tenarisem, or the delicious Land.

And for the Inhabitants, if we may credit, not only Di-Conti, but also Sir Ed. Michelborne and Sir James Lancaster, Men of Renown in Queen Elizabeth’s Days, and Famed for their Valour and great Integrity; these Knights, both of them, averr the Sumatrans to be a People truly Valiant and Magnanimous, and not only more Subtle and Politic, but also much more Just and Honest than any other of the Indians whatsoever.

None so much loved and courted, none so much by Enemies feared and dreaded, throughout all the East, as Sumatrans: where particular care is taken for the promotion of Cocking; for they annex stately Buildings to their Fanes and Temples, where they keep at public Charge, divers Fighting Cocks, which are brought forth, as the People come to Worship, and are fought in a spacious Court Eastward, on the Right-Hand of the Door of the House of their Gods: after which a certain Priest skilled in Cocking, and approved for his great Ability in Astronomy, and all natural Philosophy, having a voluble ready way of speaking, first takes up the conquering Cock, after the Battle is over, and presents him to their Deities, and then comes and takes up the slain Cock, and puts him into a Golden Cauldron, where he bathes his bloody Limbs in Sankereen; and then, with rich Gums and Spices, burns his Body upon an Altar made for that purpose; after which his Ashes are put carefully up in a Golden Pot, or Urn, there to remain for ever: And then the Brammen, or Priest makes a long Speech to the People, shewing the Excellency of Cocking, and the great Use and Benefit of it to all such as know how rightly to apply it, and Expatiates much upon the present Combate, drawing divers Inferences from the various passages and Transactions made use of by the late Foughten Cocks, shewing also the great Magnanimity, Courage, Skill, and Constancy of these Warriours.

And lastly, he applies it so Pertinently to all that are present, in Terms so fit and suitable, that it conduces greatly to their Edification, grounding in them a firm and stable temper of Mind, with an unshaken Valour, whereby they are now truly said to be a People Invincible; And verily I am of Opinion, that from hence at first came that Saying so common amongst us still, viz. He is gone to Church to see a Cock-Fight: And at this Day there are divers Places up in the East where Cocking is accounted a thing Sacred, and in great Use amongst them, as Magellan assures us.

For, says he, both in Borneo, Calegan, and Pulaoan, Cocks for the Game are kept, and are of Sacred use amongst them, but eat not of their Flesh, that being forbidden by the Bramens, or Priests.

That great Man, the highly Celebrated Selden observes Cocking to be a thing of great Use, and much admir’d by rising Marshal Men, who with keen Swords cut out good Fortune to themselves, from the doubtful Loyns of Fate. And there is not a surer sign of a Nations or Peoples degenerating into effeminacy, and so consequently falling into Poverty and utter Ruin, than when they totally change the Warlike Exercise of Cocking for mimical Plays, silly Dancing, and such like Fopperies. Rome itself was a sad Instance of the Truth of this, when the proud Eagle stripd off all her Gaudy Plumes, lay naked and expos’d to the Rage, and Fury of the depopulating Goths and Vandals.

Gustavus Adolphus, when he came to rescue the then King of Denmark, out of the Tallons of German Power, told the distressed Prince, that he had now nothing to fear, since he was well assured that the Imperialists had given up the Gantlet, and had nothing left but a fringed Glove for their Guard, for instead of Cock-Fighting (says he) and Martial Exercise, they seem wholly to be devoted, and given up to Effeminate Dancing, and inervating Drunkenness, two Infallible Signs of a sinking People, as that Warlike King full well observed and after with his Sword made good what he then said, which wrought so upon the distressed Danes at that time, that they have been Noted ever since to be very great Cockers.

And Sir William Corly, who for some Years together was Resident in the Danish Court, assures his Country-men that a right bred English Cock, was at that Day accounted a Bird of Impreciable value in the Court of Denmark, and that not only the young Princes, but the then present King Christian himself was a great Admirer of the royal Sport of Cocking, insomuch that they not only appoint set times (says he) but do also hang out costly Ensigns, and Rich Flags, whereon is portrayed both the place, and also the very Gesture of the Cocks, as they at Rome, to which we find Horace alludeth;

Their Cockings also are attended with variety of Martial Aires, and loud Bellonian Notes, with preparatory Sounds of War, which first usher in the Cocks unarmed into the Pit, where both they and the Weapons with which they are to fight, are exposed to the view of all the Spectators that are present, after which they are taken up, and immediately heeled, and then set down to Fight.

For when a Cock of the Game is first brought into the Pit, to be shown, he only makes a Flourish, and takes a lofty turn, or two. But when he is heeled, and put in for the Battle, they then compose their Bodies according to the rules of Art, for the better warding of themselves, and the readier wounding of their Adversaries. And this the late King Christian the First, of Denmark, was pleased to take Notice of at public Cocking, where he professed that the Royal Sport, so sweetly Sung by the Mantuan Swan, upon Ascanius Son to Æneas, who first brought it out of Troy, was only an imitation of Cock-Fighting.—Thus the Poet.

See here, says the King, how the Cocks Advance now one against another, sometimes retiring, sometimes pursuing, sometimes in one Form, and sometimes in another, what variety of Strokes, what Diversity of Fight is here shown in this one Battle; were I to lead an Army against the Grand Infidel of Constantinople, I would chuse none but Cockers for my Commanders; nor should any common Soldiers be utterly Ignorant of this useful Exercise of Cocking.

So great an Esteem had his Majesty the late King of Denmark for Cocking. And that famed Hero, the young Swedeland King, at the Head of a Handful of Men, cuts through the frozen Muscovites, and makes the Haughty Czar, amidst his mighty Numbers tremble, and beg for Peace, resolving never hereafter to draw his Cimiter against a professed Cocker, as his Swedeish Majesty is notoriously known to be, and has been from his very Cradle almost.

And the great Hector of Europe, the most Christian King, Lewis the Fourteenth of France, is said to complain of nothing so much as the want of Cocking in his Country, where the Climate is such, that a Cock of the Game cannot bear the serenity, or rather the over Sharpness of the Air, which penetrates the otherwise hardy Bodies of these Martial Birds, to such a degree, that in a few days time they become so dull, heavy, and heartless, that they have no mind to Fight, and quickly after fall into some incurable Disease, such as the Black-Sickness, the Roop-evil, and the like, of which they soon die.

Yet in the hottest Climates in the World, in the most Burning Regions, such as Frying-pan Bay, and also in the Frigid Zone, where everlasting Winter seems to dwell, are Cocks of the Game frequently known both to Live, Breed, and Fight, and that as well as in any of the most Mild and Temperate Climates of the World, where they are kept, France and one part of Spain only excepted, which is a Wonder, and the natural cause a Secret as yet undiscover’d.

In Holland they are common, and Cocking is there greatly practised, and much encouraged by the States: And really it were to be wished that our own Nation were but as much inclined to countenance and encourage so innocent an Exercise as Cocking; and how great would the benefit be, if in nothing else, the good effects of it would soon be seen in this, that it would divert the English Gentry from effeminate Dancing, Whoring, and Drinking, which are three Evils grown now almost Epidimical.

For want of Cudgel-playing, and Cocking, Men take to Drinking, and Dancing, and now wear Swords more for shew than Service: a Basket-hilt, with a Blade three Inches broad, such as our Valiant Ancestors had wont to wear, is now derided by the effeminate Fops of our Days, who chuse to hazzard their Lives and Fortunes in the fatal Arms of a diseased Mistress, rather than venture a push at single Rapier, or take a turn at Back-sword with a skilful Antagonist, where with their flaming Blades they might hew bright Honour from the Errors of their Adversary, and gild their memories with Applause in immortal Date.

And verily a better expedient to rouse the drowsy Courage, and thaw the frozen Vallour of a People lull’d with soft Ease, and degenerated into base and servile Effeminacy, there cannot be found out than Cocking.

Next to which Sword-play, and Wrestling are the most Laudable and Masculine Recreations, and after these Hunting, provided it be a Chace that has somewhat of Audacity in it, as the Lion, Bear, Wolf, or Boar, all which are Bold and Noble Chases.

But to run Whooting after a poor timmÉrous Hare, or ride mading over Hedge and Ditch in pursuit of a Fox, that perhaps has pinched two or three Geese, or snap’d a Lamb from some unwary Shepherd, and is therefore by Diana doomed to Die and briskly followed by her rural Maids, dressed up each in her Cap and Feather, but for the Sons of Mars, to be drawn forth after so feeble a Chase, is really a very mean, and but little better than a base ignoble Divertisment, that spends a Man’s Time, wasts his Treasure, and profits him nothing: whereas Cocking fits a Man either for Peace, or War, and creates both Courage, and Constancy, with Good-nature, and ingenuity all glued together, according to the Poet, where he says thus;

And Cleveland in one of the sweetest Poems that ever was Pen’d, tells us,

And verily in all my life, I never knew that Man yet that was a Perfidious Man, or a real Coward, and yet loved Cocking intirely, so dissonant is Cocking, and Cowardice, nay so inconsistent they are with each other, that it is Morally impossible for a Coward unfeignedly to love Cocking, and therefore some timerous Souls to avoid the odium of Cowardice, have feigned a liking to Cocking.

And how any one can prove Cocking to be unlawful or wicked, I cannot imagine, seeing God Almighty has no where declared against it, neither has any Nation under Heaven ever made any Law against it, but divers have been made for it.

If not for Combate, why was the Fighting-Cock created? why has he that extraordinary hardness and vallour peculiar to him alone given him? and for what other end was this Stout and Daring Champion made, if not to Fight? the common Dunghill Cock eats as well, and breeds as well, or better, and is as good about a house, and as useful in all other respects (Fighting only excepted;) so that if they were not made for that end, they had this excellency bestowed upon them in vain, and the Royal Bird that in valour so far excells all other penigerous Creatures must be but a useless thing at best.

But ’tis plain Nature intended the Fighting-Cock to be a Bird of great use, and benefit to Mankind in several respects, as has already been sufficiently noted: for this Bird by his Fighting teaches Man Skill, and prompts him to be Stout and truely Valiant.

And though perhaps some few that understand not the right use of Cocking, may follow it for ill ends.

But what’s all this to the purpose? I would fain know, shall an innocent practice be forbidden to all, because some particular Persons make ill use of it? what think you, did that sober King do well, when he commanded all the Vines in his Dominions to be cut down, and by that means starved all his Subjects, because some few of his Slaves were Drunk?

But must Cocking therefore be laid aside, because some do abuse the greatest Blessings? no, by no means, but rather where we have one Pit now, let us have two for the time to come; and as we ought, let us improve this Exercise for the general good of Mankind, to which end it was undoubtedly intended.

Thus I think I have fully proved this Sport to be very honourable, and of ancient standing, and a thing in itself both Useful and Profitable.