prescribed that any one indulging in foul play or not paying his
bets should be put into a large basket and drawn up to the roof of
the cockpit. This was called being basketed. A man well-known to the
sporting world, being once in this predicament, and notwithstanding
that he had no money in his pocket and could not expect his bets to be
taken, had the fever of betting so strong upon him that in spite of
his situation in the basket, he could not help vociferating, as the
odds varied, "I'll lay six to four--two to one--five to two--three to
one--four to one--five to one--a guinea to a shilling--the long odds,
ten pounds to a crown," to the no small diversion of the auditors and
spectators, who, at length, commiserating his case and attributing
his imprudence to an insurmountable passion for play, shortened his
punishment; and when a gentleman present gave him a small sum he took
the long odds all the way through, went off with a hundred guineas in
his pocket, and from this source alone became a very distinguished
character on the Turf.
In Hogarth's print of the cockpit, published in 1759, a shadow of
mysterious contour is thrown upon the floor of the pit, the origin of
which may be seen to be a gambler who, having been basketed for not
paying his debts, is vainly offering his watch as a pledge so that
he may be let down and allowed to take his place among the somewhat
ill-favoured crowd which is watching the battle. The principal
figure in this print represents a nobleman (Lord Bertie) who, though
stone-blind, was a zealous patron of cock-fighting, though it is
difficult to see how, under these unfavourable circumstances, the sport
could have had any attraction for him.
The Preston race-meetings used to be a great rendezvous for
cock-fighters. Lord Derby long held a distinguished place among the
patrons of the sod, and was reckoned one of the best judges of a cock
in England. The excellent walks which his Lordship owned on his own
estates, and the number of cocks he bred, ensured him a plentiful
supply of fine young birds; consequently his birds never had a feather
wrong; this, joined to their true blood, which made them show fight to
the last, and the skill of Paul Potter, his feeder, caused Lord Derby
to be the winner of many a Preston main.
The following is a specimen of a challenge to a cock match:--
CHALLENGE
The gentlemen of Windsor Forest having lost their annual opponent (who
is gone to reside in Somersetshire), wish to show thirty-one in the
main for five guineas a battle, and twenty the odds. Adding 10 byes at
two guineas a battle for two days' play, to fight at Wokingham, Berks,
between the present day and Whitsuntide. Any acceptance of the terms
may be made through the medium of this communication, which shall be
instantly acceded to and the necessary regulations made in proper form.
C.W.T. & M.
_February 22nd, 1794._
Though cock-fighting is now forbidden by law in England, a certain
amount of it still goes on in secret, whilst the sport flourishes
openly in the North of France and in Spain.
In former days there were regular families of cock-feeders or trainers.
The greatest authority on cock-fighting is said to have been Joe
Gilliver, who fought cocks for George III. and George IV. in the Royal
Cockpit at Windsor. He it was who fought the famous main at Lincoln
in 1815. On the occasion there were seven battles for five thousand
guineas the main and a thousand guineas a battle. Five battles were won
by Gilliver's birds.
The great-nephew of old Joe Gilliver still lives--the last of the
cock-fighters--at Cockspur, Polesworth. Over sixty years ago this
veteran[10] fought and won a main against Lord Berkeley in Battersea
fields, and within the last two decades he vindicated the honour of
the English game-cock at Lille, where some birds he took over proved
victorious--a particularly fine cock after a successful battle leaping
upon the body of its conquered opponent and emitting a series of lusty
crows.
Game-cocks are extraordinarily bold birds, and records exist of their
having even attacked men. A gentleman, for instance, passing down Park
Street was once surprised to find something fluttering about his head,
and turning round, received the spur of a game-cock in his cheek. He
beat off his antagonist, who, however, instantly returned to the
charge, and wounded him again in the shoulder. Another gentleman,
passing by at the same time, was also attacked by this feathered
desperado.
A game-cock bred by Mr. Hunt of Compton Pauncefoot, Somerset, in
1814, displayed extraordinary courage when three years old. A fox
having seized a hen, her cries drew the attention of the cock, who,
discovering the fox in the act of carrying off his prey, flew at
reynard, and at one blow killed him on the spot, and saved the life of
the hen. In 1820 this cock fought a gallant battle at Epsom Races, and
won at high odds against him.
The high spirit of the game-cock was once strikingly manifested in a
naval action.
By some mistake or other a particularly fine bird was sold with a
number of other fowls to Captain Berkeley of the _Marlborough_, 74, for
his sea-stock. The purchase was made previous to the departure of the
British fleet that sailed under the gallant Lord Howe, in the month
of May 1794, about which time the cock was deposited in the coops on
board, for the purpose of being brought to table. On the glorious 1st
of June, the fate of the above ship, the intrepid bravery of whose crew
led her into the hottest scene of action, hung in the balance. The
enemy's shot had destroyed all the convenience made on her poop for
keeping the live stock, and the fowls were flying about in different
parts of the ship. Some time after the engagement had commenced, all
her masts were shot away by the board, and smoke, hurry, and alarm were
general. When the main-mast went, broken off about eight feet from the
deck, the cock immediately flew to the stump, where he began to flutter
his wings, and to crow with all the exultation so commonly observed in
a conquering bird; a circumstance so singular in its nature, that the
tars who were viewing it conceived a noble resolution from the example,
and actually maintained the same sense of triumph as did the cock,
until victory and glory crowned the gallant contest.
The spirit of the noble bird became the subject of much observation
when the ship arrived in the Hamoaze, and many curious spectators came
from different parts of the country to see the feathered hero who had
so proudly vindicated the conquering spirit of Old England.
Some time after a silver medal was struck by the orders of Admiral
Berkeley; it was hung upon the neck of the old game-cock, who in the
parks and around the princely halls of Goodwood passed the remainder of
his downy days in honoured ease.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 7: He is described in contemporary sporting records as
wearing this, though the author has been unable to discover exactly
what a "boat hat" was. The French still make use of a similar
expression, calling a particular kind of straw hat a "_canotier_."]
[Footnote 8: This lady's first husband had been Sir Duke Giffard, and
Mrs. Mellish was one of several daughters she had by him. The writer
is indebted to Mr. Henry Mellish of Hodsock Priory for this and other
interesting details of his ancestor's career.]
[Footnote 9: The outrangership of Windsor Forest was originally
instituted for the protection of the deer between Windsor Park and the
river Wey, but in 1641 it was decided that no part of Surrey except
Guildford Park (afterwards granted away) belonged to the Forest, and
the post became a sinecure, keeping a salary of £500 a year. About the
time of the American War, however, when votes were valuable, this was
increased to £900.]
[Footnote 10: An interesting interview with William Gilliver appeared
in _Fry's Magazine_ for March 1909.]
VII
Prevalence of wagering in the eighteenth century--Riding a horse
backwards--Lord Orford's eccentric bet--Travelling piquet--The
building of Bagatelle--Matches against time--"Old Q." and his chaise
match--Buck Whalley's journey to Jerusalem--Buck English--Irish
sportsmen--Jumping the wall of Hyde Park in 1792--Undressing in the
water--Colonel Thornton--A cruel wager--Walking on stilts--A wonderful
leap--Eccentric wagers--Lloyd's walking match--Squire Osbaldiston's
ride--Captain Barclay--Jim Selby's drive--Mr. Bulpett's remarkable
feats.
In the eighteenth century the bloods of the day bet on anything and
everything. A well-known spendthrift, for instance, made a practice
of backing one raindrop to roll down a window quicker than another--a
practice which gave rise to the following lines:--
The bucks had dined, and deep in council sat,
Their wine was brilliant, but their wit grew flat:
Up starts his Lordship, to the window flies,
And lo! "A race!--a race!" in rapture cries;
"Where?" quoth Sir John. "Why, see the drops of rain
Start from the summit of the crystal pane--
A thousand pounds! which drop with nimblest force,
Performs its current down the slippery course!"
The bets were fix'd--in dire suspense they wait
For vict'ry pendent on the nod of fate.
Now down the sash, unconscious of the prize,
The bubbles roll--like pearls from Chloe's eyes,
But ah! the glittering charms of life are short!
How oft two jostling steeds have spoiled the sport.
Lo! thus attraction, by coercive laws,
Th' approaching drops into one bubble draws--
Each curs'd his fate, that thus their project cross'd;
How hard their lot, who neither won nor lost!
Besides the huge sums which were lost at games (in 1793, £22,000
changed hands in a single day between two players at some
billiard-rooms in St. James's Street), a great deal of money was
frittered away in matches of an eccentric kind.
In 1722, for instance, a number of young men subscribed for a piece
of plate, which was run for in Tyburn Road by six asses, ridden by
chimney-sweepers. Two boys rode two asses on Hampstead Heath for a
wooden spoon, attended by above five hundred persons on horse-back.
Women running for Holland smocks was not uncommon; and a match was even
projected for a race between women, to be dressed in hooped petticoats.
Considerable sums of money are said to have changed hands over these
events, whilst a wager of £1000 depended on a match between the Earl of
Lichfield and Mr. Gage that the latter's chaise and pair should outrun
the Earl's chariot and four. The ground was from Tyburn to Hayes, and
Mr. Gage lost through some accident.
In 1735, Count de Buckeburg, a well-known German author, on a visit to
England, laid a considerable wager, that he would ride a horse from
London to Edinburgh backwards, that is, with the horse's head turned
towards Edinburgh, and the Count's face towards London; and in this
manner he actually rode the journey in less than four days.
At the end of the eighteenth century an officer trotted fifteen miles
from Chelmsford to Dunmow in one hour and nine minutes with his face to
the tail.
The eccentric wager made by George, Lord Orford, an ancestor of the
present writer, is well known. The latter, in 1740, bet another
nobleman a large sum that a drove of geese would beat an equal number
of turkeys in a race from Norwich to London. The event proved the
justness of his Lordship's expectations, for the geese kept on the road
with a steady pace, but the turkeys, as every evening approached, flew
to roost in the trees adjoining the road, from which the drivers found
it very difficult to dislodge them. In consequence of this, the geese
arrived at their destination two days before the turkeys.
This nobleman, who, by his eccentricities, had acquired the name of the
mad Lord Orford, trained three red deer to draw him in a light phaeton,
and in this uncommon equipage he frequently made excursions to some
distance, in Norfolk and Suffolk, till a singular adventure taught him
the danger of the practice.
One morning in winter, when the scent lay well on the ground, he was
taking one of his common drives towards Newmarket; his way was over the
heath. It happened that a pack of hounds, being out for a chase, took
scent of the deer, opened and followed in full cry. The deer caught the
death sound, took the alarm, and set off at full speed. It was in vain
his Lordship endeavoured to pull them in; fear of death was greater
than fear of their lord, and they dashed off towards Newmarket, a place
they were well accustomed to. The dogs were at their heels, but the
deer were sufficiently in advance to reach the inn they were accustomed
to put up at, when they dashed into the yard, with their terrified lord
close at their heels, and the hounds not far behind them; the ostlers,
however, exerted themselves to get the gates fastened before the hounds
came up, when the whipper-in called them off.
In 1758, Miss Pond, daughter of the compiler and publisher of _Ponds
Racing Calendar_, wagered a thousand guineas that she would ride a
thousand miles in a thousand hours. This feat she accomplished (it is
said on one horse) by the 3rd of May, having begun in April. A few
weeks later Mr. Pond rode the same horse in two-thirds of the time.
Even the most trivial things were utilised for losing or winning money.
A Yorkshire sportsman won a considerable bet on the extreme extent
to which a pound of cotton could be drawn in a thread by one of the
Manchester spinning jennies; the loser betted that it would not reach
two miles in length; but, upon measurement, it was found to exceed
twenty-three.
A young man of the name of Drayton undertook for a considerable sum
to pull in a pound weight at the distance of a mile, that is, the
weight had to be attached to a string a mile in length, and Drayton to
stand still and pull it to himself. The time allowed for this singular
performance was two hours and a half. The odds were against him, but he
won his wager.
A printer at Chester for a wager picked up 100 stones each a yard
apart, returning every time with them to a basket at one end of the
line, in 44-1/2 minutes, it having been betted that he would not
complete his task within 47 minutes.
So great was the love of betting amongst sporting men that when they
were on a journey they would wager as to what they might meet with
next. This method of gambling was afterwards made into a regular game
which was called "Travelling Piquet." This was defined as a mode of
amusing themselves, practised by two persons riding in a carriage, each
reckoning towards his game the persons, or animals, that passed by on
the side next them, according to the following estimation:--
A parson riding on a grey horse Game
An old woman under a hedge do.
A cat looking out of a window 60
A man, woman, and child in a buggy 40
A man riding with a woman behind him 30
A flock of sheep 20
A flock of geese 10
A post-chaise 5
A horseman 2
A man or woman walking 1
Death itself was not infrequently made the subject of a wager. Just
before two unfortunate men, hung at the Old Bailey, were _dropped off_,
a young nobleman present betted a hundred guineas to twenty "that the
shorter of the two would give the last kick!" The wager was taken, and
he won; for the other died almost instantly, whilst the shorter man was
convulsed for nearly six minutes.
So great was the mania for wagers at this epoch, that even the clergy
were affected by the prevailing craze. A young divine, in the vicinity
of Edinburgh, declared himself ready to undertake for a wager of a
hundred guineas to read six chapters from the Bible every hour for six
weeks. The betting was ten to one against him.
In France matters were much the same as in England.
The Duc de Chartres, the Duc de Lauzun, and the Marquis de FitzJames
once competed in a foot-race from Paris to Versailles for two hundred
livres; this was won by the Marquis de FitzJames.
The Duc de Chartres bet a considerable sum with the Comte de Genlis
that the latter would not go from Paris to Fontainebleau and back
before he (the Duc de Chartres) had pricked 500,000 pinholes in a piece
of paper. The Comte de Genlis was the winner by several hours.
The wager of the Comte d'Artois as to the building of Bagatelle is
historical. He bet Marie Antoinette 100,000 livres that he would erect
a palace on a certain site in the Bois de Boulogne in six weeks.
Nine hundred workmen were employed night and day, whilst patrols of the
Swiss Guard seized any building materials which might be of use on the
roads in the vicinity--these, it must, however, be added, were paid
for. At the end of the six weeks the Comte d'Artois entertained Marie
Antoinette at a splendid fête in the completed house.
Matches against time were common. In 1745 Mr. Cooper Thornhill rode
three times between Stilton and Shoreditch--two hundred and thirteen
miles--in eleven hours and thirty-four minutes on fourteen different
horses. Six years later, Captain Shafto won £16,000 by winning a wager
that he would cover fifty miles in two hours. He was allowed as many
horses as he pleased.
Not a few of these matches against time were carried out under most
whimsical conditions.
On 22nd August 1774, for instance, Anthony Thorpe, a journeyman baker,
at the Artillery Ground, ran a mile tied up in a sack, in eleven
minutes and a half.
In 1773 a London to York match was run, the winner, a mare, taking
forty hours and thirty-five minutes to complete the journey.
A sensational match of a more sporting description was the ride of
George IV., when Prince of Wales, to Brighton and back, a journey of
one hundred and twelve miles, which the Royal sportsman is said to
have performed on one horse in ten hours.
A wonderful ride was that performed in 1786 by a featherweight jockey
at Newmarket, who rode one horse twenty-three miles in two or three
minutes under the hour.
The Duke of Queensberry ("Old Q.") was at one time fond of sporting
matches, in which he generally came off victorious, for he was a
shrewd man. In 1789, during the Newmarket October Meeting, he and Sir
John Lade, mounted on a brace of mules, rode from the Ditch in for
£1000. This ludicrous race, which was very anxiously and obstinately
contested, terminated in favour of the Duke.
Mr. Thomas Dale was also the hero of a donkey match at Newmarket, where
he rode one hundred miles in twenty-two hours and a half on an ass;
£100 to £10 was laid against this being done within twenty-four hours.
Old Q., when Earl of March, for a wager, sent a letter fifty miles
within an hour by hand, which was cleverly effected by the missive in
question being enclosed in a cricket ball and thrown from one to the
other by twenty-four expert cricketers.
On another occasion Old Q. made a bet of a thousand guineas that he
would produce a man who would eat more at a meal than any one Sir John
Lade could find. The bet being accepted, the time was appointed, but
his Grace, not being able to attend the exhibition, wrote to his agent
to know what success, and accordingly received the following note:--
MY LORD,--I have not time to state particulars, but merely to acquaint
your Grace that your man beat his antagonist by a _pig and apple-pye_.
(Signed) J.P.
A curious wager which led to litigation was one between Old Q., when
Lord March, and Mr. William Pigot. The latter and Mr. Codrington
being together at Newmarket, it was proposed to run their fathers
against each other. Mr. Pigot's father was upwards of seventy, and
Mr. Codrington's father little more than fifty. The chances were
calculated, and Mr. Codrington, thinking them disadvantageous to him,
declined the bet, whereupon Lord March agreed to stand in his place,
and mutual notes were interchanged. Mr. Pigot's note was:--
I promise to pay to the Earl of March 500 guineas if my father dies
before Sir William Codrington.
WILLIAM PIGOT.
The Earl's was:--
I promise to pay to Mr. Pigot 1600 guineas in case Sir William
Codrington does not survive Mr. Pigot's father.
MARCH.
The fact was that Mr. Pigot's father was then actually dead, but that
was wholly unknown to the parties.
It was contended on the part of Mr. Pigot, that, as he could not
possibly win, he ought not to lose, and it was compared to a ship
insurance. If the policy upon a ship had not the words "lost or not
lost" inserted, and the ship should be actually lost at the time of
making that policy, it would be void.
For the plaintiff it was argued that the contract was good, because the
fact being wholly unknown to the parties, it could not influence either.
The wager was held to be good, and the plaintiff obtained a verdict of
£500, the amount of his wager.
The most important match made by the "evergreen votary of Venus," as
Old Q. was called, was in 1750, when, as Lord March, he bet Count
O'Taafe, an Irish gentleman notorious for eccentricity, one thousand
guineas that a carriage with four wheels could be devised capable of
being drawn at not less than nineteen miles within an hour.
Wright of Long Acre exhausted all the resources of his craft to
diminish weight and friction; the harness was made of silk combined
with leather. Four thoroughbreds, with two clever light-weight grooms,
were selected, and several trials, causing the death of some horses,
were run. On August 29, 1750, the match came off over a course of
a mile at Newcastle, many thousands of pounds being wagered on the
result, which was favourable to Lord March, the carriage being drawn
over the appointed distance well within the hour. Three of the four
horses which drew the machine had won plates. The leaders carried about
eight stone each, the wheelers about seven, and the chaise, with a boy
in it, about twenty-four. The time was 53 minutes 27 seconds.
The print (here reproduced) was published in 1788 by J. Rodger, after
the original painting by Seymour, which is now, I believe, in the
possession of Lord Rosebery.
Large sums were laid upon very trivial and useless performances, and a
certain number of individuals, well-known for their physical strength,
used to undertake to carry out all sorts of queer tasks.
In 1789 a man called Shadbolt, a respectable innkeeper at Ware, called
Goliath on account of his great muscular powers, undertook, for a
considerable wager, to run and push his cart from Ware to Shoreditch
Church (a distance of twenty-one miles) in ten hours, which he easily
performed within the space of six hours and a few seconds, without
the least appearance of fatigue. Great sums were won and lost on the
occasion.
All sorts of curious wagers were laid in Ireland. The celebrated Buck
Whalley, for instance, once jumped over a carrier's cart on horse-back
for a bet. This he did from an upper story of a house, quantities of
straw being laid on the other side of the cart.
Thomas Whalley, known as Jerusalem Whalley, owing to the journey
which he made for a wager to Jerusalem, was the son of a gentleman of
very considerable property in the north of Ireland. His father, when
advanced in years, married a lady much younger than himself, and
left her a widow with seven children.
[Illustration: THE CHAISE MATCH.]
Thomas Whalley was the eldest son of this family, and had a property
of £10,000 per annum left him by his father. At the age of sixteen he
was sent to Paris to learn the French language and perfect himself
in dancing, fencing, and other elegant accomplishments. The tutor
selected to accompany him was not able or desirous of checking young
Whalley's extravagance. The latter purchased horses and hounds, took a
house in Paris, and another in the country, each of which was open for
the reception of his friends. His finances, ample as they were, were
found inadequate to the support of his extraordinary expenses, and,
with the hope of supplying his deficiencies, he had recourse to the
gaming-tables, which only increased his embarrassments. In one night
he lost upwards of £14,000. The bill which he drew upon his banker, La
Touche, in Dublin, for this sum was sent back protested, and it became
necessary for him to quit Paris. On his return to England, however, his
creditors (or rather the people who had swindled him out of this money)
were glad to compound for half the sum.