Scotland’s ‘Idle Gulls and Kites’

The first book dedicated to cockfighting to be published in Scotland was William Machrie’s Essay Upon the Royal Recreation and Art of Cocking (1705). It follows a succession of such books that had appeared over the previous century in England, books that no doubt could be obtained by fellow cockers north of the border. Machrie praises the gentlemen of Edinburgh for having erected a cockpit in the links at Leith to promote cockfighting in and around the city. The cockpit was established around 1683 and may have been built to coincide with the visit to Edinburgh of the Duke of York, later James VII, who has been credited with introducing cockfighting to Scotland. Leith, the port of Edinburgh, was in the 1660s, a sporting heartland. Apart from the cockpit, golf was played on the links, the Company of Archers practiced at the butts, there was a bowling green and horse racing. Many of these sports had been long established; cockfighting was no exception and was practiced all over Scotland to coincide with the religious festivals of the Christian year. Although descriptions of cockfighting are remarkably consistent, there is no consistency about which religious festival was favoured for engaging in the activity, with accounts from the Hebridean Islands suggesting it took place there during more than one festival.