Sod ‘n’ Turf: A Symbiotic Relationship

Since the days of the Stuart kings, cockfighting had had a symbiotic relationship with horse racing. Indeed, at one time it was cockfighting rather than horse racing that was referred to as ‘the Sport of King’. As the latter sport became more organised around the beginning of the eighteenth century, it became increasingly common for cockfights to take place in conjunction with race meetings up and down the country. These were advertised in local newspapers and, ‘There will be cockfights in the forenoon during the races’, was a familiar addenda to many announcements the length and breadth of the country, from Penrith, Cumberland in the north, where horse races took place on Maiden Hill, to Fremington in North Devon in the south. They were a relatively easily arranged addition to the main event and satisfied a demand for those who liked to gamble on the outcome. They also added a frisson of excitement by exhibiting violence that could be viewed by spectators without them becoming directly involved. Like other blood sports they were enjoyed by large numbers of people. Race meetings lasted several days, a week was common, and their success depended on the cooperation of horse owners and having a programme that kept attendees entertained for the duration. In a forensic examination of cockfighting in Yorkshire during the early eighteenth century, Iris M. Middleton, records 222 cock matches at 33 locations, with 116 of these being held on holy days, 69 held on non-holy days and 37 where there was insufficient evidence to classify. Mirroring William Owen’s New Book of Fairs, which looked at fairs nationally, Middleton found that there were concentrations of cockfighting from Christmas through to Whitsun with the largest concentration (eighteen) at Easter; followed by Whitsun (sixteen); Midsummer ran it a close second with fifteen, while eleven cock matches were recorded at Christmas and New Year. Shrovetide, for so long the festival of cock-throwing and schoolboy cockfighting, yielded only seven. About 122 cock matches took place without horse racing, 66 (39%) took place with horse racing and 39 took place with racing on a holy day. The greatest number of matches took place in Leeds (eighteen), Wakefield (sixteen), York (sixteen), and Malton (ten), where throughout the 1740s there was sufficient interest in cockfighting for two inns to hold cock matches at the same time during race week, usually held at Whitsuntide or May Day.