they fight with 'short heels' the gaffs or spurs are 1 . inches long; if with 'long heels' inches long; these gaffs or spurs are of steel, though some- of the old aristocrats had them made of silver. The birds are matched by weight: those within two ounces of each other's weight are matches. The tights are conducted according to the local rules of the district, which vary considerably. although the variations are all modifications of the old English rules. Dis tinct sets of rules govern the United States and Canada; another set, England ; yet others, France and Belgium.
When the pairs have been matched they are taken to the ring, examined and certified. and turned down to fight, on the ground (matted or carpeted or otherwise as the ease may be). After that the setters-to are not to touch them, unless they either hang in the mat, or on each other. or on the edge of the pit, until they leave off fighting as long as a person can count a pre scribed number aloud. Then the setters-to take up the cocks, carry them into the middle of the pit, deliver them on their legs, beak to beak. After each cessation of the combat, they are set to again in the same manner, and continue the fight until one cock refuses or is unable to fight, or is killed.
Large sums used to he staked, as much as $5000 a match and 825.000 a main having been laid by the Earl of Derby in 1830. Ills bird, are a famous breed to the present day. The Welsh main (now discontinued) was the most sanguinary form of lighting; as ninny as sixteen cooks would be matched; then the eight victors, then the four survivors, then the final two, until but a single cock remained alive.
During the latter half of the nineteenth cen tury the sport of cock-fighting was made illegal throughout Great Britain. In America it is similarly prohibited in nearly all the States of the Union, either expressly or by laws for the prevent ion of cruelty to animals, In some States, where it is not forbidden by the statutes of the State, it is in some instances made illegal by local laws.
For early history, consult: Markham, The Pleasures of Princes, or Goodmen's Recreations (London, 1614) ; Fairfax, Complete Sportsman (London, 1764) ; Blain, Mural Sports (London, 1853).