And Secondly, Sharp Heels claim your Care, and Regard, for should you
have a Cock as hard as Steel, and one that will strike as many blows as
there are Stars, or single Sands betwixt _Dover_ and _Calis_, yet if he
fall too short, or strike too wide, and so fail to Point; what avails
his vigorous Holds and many Stroaks, when there no Execution follows?
such a Cock at first indeed may make a fair Show, and Fight a while
with as much Grace, and seeming Gallantry, as if he Pointed true, and
so fool the forward Better out of his Mony, who sees him act at present
as if he scorned to be conquered by any thing but himself.
————_Vt nemo Ajacem possit superare nisi Ajax._
But alass a little time will shew how vain such a Cock’s endeavours
are, and withall discover to the Judicious Eye, the mighty difference
betwixt a right Heeler and a Cock that cannot Point: And therefore I
say, that next unto Hardness, and Valour, you must have respect unto
Close-heeling, that is true Pointing, not but there are many ways to
help a Cock and make him Point well, that otherwise would do it but
indifferently (as I shall hereafter shew) yet if he be not naturally a
Sharpheeler, and Point tolerably true of himself, you can never confide
in him as otherwise you might, neither is he worth your keeping in my
opinion, wherefore ’tis my advice, that in your Election of Cocks,
you be very curious in examining their Lineage; and if you find their
Progenitors were dull heel’d, wide, or short stricken, by no means be
prevailed upon to except of such a Breed, but on the other hand, if
you find they are descended from sure Heelers, such as have ever been
noted to Point true, and Point well in the Battles, then boldly venture
upon such a Bird, and doubtless you will find the good effects of his
generous nature, in the well discharging of his Battle, let him either
Winn, or lose: And as your Credit is hereby secured, so (if a right
Cock-master) you are content, and better pleased to see your Cock die
hard, and be handsomely beat, rather than basely, or by meer chance, or
the like to win his Battle.
For so sometimes I confess it falls out, and tho’ it be very rare, yet
I have seen a false-bred, foul foughten Cock matched against a true
Heeler, which has carried the Battle, broad Gold to grey Groats, till
on a sudden by a meer chance, or as the vulgar Cocker terms it, by an
unlucky Blow, the delicate Heeler has been Killed, and the worthless
Warriour has won the Day, tho’ little to his own, or his Master’s
Honour, for the Victory is wholly attributed to a meer Chance, and in
such a case nothing of Praise can redound to the conquering Cock. So
that you see if you have an ill-natur’d Bird that to a wonder winns
a Battle against a good Cock (which really is a thing that rarely
happens) yet you no Credit gain thereby, and therefore you had better
commit such a Cock to the Pot, than to the Pit, and more Profit you
will find in stewing him for the Table, than in stiving him for the
Battle, when once you discover him to be a Bird defective in his
Heeling.
[Sidenote: Vid. Bradbury _and_ Willis.]
But now notwithstanding this that I have said, yet is not every
Flat-Heeler always to be rejected, for the most Eminent Cock-masters
of our Days are of opinion that if a Cock come of a good Race, and
has true blood in him, and is not only fresh and full Feather’d, but
also Sound and well shaped, that such a Bird with a good Hen, will
breed as good Chickens as need to strike betwixt a pair of Wings,
notwithstanding that he himself hath not the knack of Pointing true
in his Fight: wherefore he ought (tho’ not for the Pit) yet for breed
sake to be preserved, and wholly set apart for Procreation; seeing his
Progeny ever proves good, and fit for the Field of War, if the Strain
be crossed in breeding.
[Sidenote: Vid. Aristotle.]
And who then (say they) would Pot so fine a Bird, whose Sire was a rare
Heeler, and perhaps a Brother or two of the same hatch, were as good as
ever struck, and for a need they’ll undertake to find you Forty Cockers
that shall swear it down upon any Pit in _Europe_, that what the great
_Stagerite_ maintained concerning Men, holds good in Fighting-Cocks
also, for (say they) you shall seldom observe a Chicken take after his
Sire, when as nothing is more common than to see them in all respects
imitate an Uncle, a Grandsire or some such near Relation.
Now I confess this is a point of Philosophy which some of our greatest
Cock-masters maintain to that degree, that ’tis hard to argue them out
of it: And therefore that I may not appear absolutely repugnant to them
herein, I shall only say this (and leave them to enjoy their opinion)
that if a Flat Heeling Cock that is well descended, and come of a
good race (according to the Maxim they maintain) ought to be prised,
and set apart for breeding; I am sure it ought to pass currant and
unquestioned, as an Axiom in Cocking beyond dispute, that a Bird that
is right bred, and in himself a true Heeler also, is best and safest,
if not the only Bird to breed on; for I must allow room it seems for
the Flat Heeler (if he be well descended) but when that’s done, the
best Pointer is the best to breed of, in my opinion.