I. Animals, how tutored by the Jugglers.--Tricks performed by
Bears.--II. Tricks performed by Apes and Monkeys.--III. By Horses
among the Sybarites.--IV. In the thirteenth Century.--V. In Queen
Anne's Reign.--VI. Origin of the Exhibitions at Astley's, the
Circus, &c.--VII. Dancing Dogs.--VIII. The Hare beating a Tabor,
and learned Pig.--IX. A Dancing Cock.--The Deserter Bird.--X.
Imitations of Animals.--XI. Mummings and Masquerades.--XII.
Mumming to Royal Personages.--XIII. Partial Imitations of
Animals.--XIV. The Horse in the Morris-dance.--XV. Counterfeit
Voices of Animals.--XVI. Animals trained for Baiting.--XVII.
Paris Garden.--XVIII. Bull and Bear Baiting patronised by
Royalty.--XIX. How performed.--XX. Bears and Bear-wards.--XXI.
Baiting in Queen Anne's time.--XXII. Sword Play, &c.--XXIII.
Public Sword Play.--XXIV. Quarter Staff.--XXV. Wrestling, &c. in
Bear Gardens--XXVI. Extraordinary Trial of Strength.
I. ANIMALS HOW TUTORED BY JUGGLER
One great part of the joculator's profession was the teaching of bears,
apes, horses, dogs, and other animals, to imitate the actions of men,
to tumble, to dance, and to perform a variety of tricks, contrary
to their nature; and sometimes he learned himself to counterfeit
the gestures and articulations of the brutes. The engravings which
accompany this chapter relate to both these modes of diverting the
public, and prove the invention of them to be more ancient than is
generally supposed. The tutored bear lying down at the command of his
master, represented by the engraving No. 51,[756] is taken from a
manuscript of the tenth century; and the bear in No. 59[757] is from
another of the fourteenth. I have already had occasion to mention these
two delineations; and the two following, from a manuscript in the
Bodleian Library,[758] require no explanation.
[Illustration: 71. TUTORED BEAR.--XIV. CENTURY.]
[Illustration: 72. TUTORED BEAR.--XIV. CENTURY.]
The next represents
[Illustration: 73. A BEAR STANDING ON HIS HEAD.]
This and the following are from a book of prayers in the Harleian
Collection,[759] written towards the close of the thirteenth century.
[Illustration: 74. BEAR AND MONKEY.]
I shall only observe, that there is but one among these six drawings in
which the animal is depicted with a muzzle to prevent him from biting.
The dancing bears have retained their place to the present time, and
they frequently perform in the public streets for the amusement of
the multitude; but the miserable appearance of their masters plainly
indicates the scantiness of the contributions they receive on these
occasions.
II.--TRICKS PERFORMED BY APES AND MONKEYS.
Thomas Cartwright, in his Admonition to Parliament against the Use
of the Common Prayer, published in 1572, says, "If there be a bear
or a bull to be baited in the afternoon, or a jackanapes to ride on
horseback, the minister hurries the service over in a shameful manner,
in order to be present at the show." We are not, however, hereby to
conceive, that these amusements were more sought after or encouraged
in England than they were abroad. "Our kings," says St. Foix, in his
History of Paris, "at their coronations, their marriages, and at
the baptism of their children, or at the creation of noblemen and
knights, kept open court; and the palace was crowded on such occasions
with cheats, buffoons, rope-dancers, tale-tellers, jugglers, and
pantomimical performers. They call those," says he, "jugglers, who play
upon the vielle, and teach apes, bears," and perhaps we may add, dogs,
"to dance."[760]
Apes and monkeys seem always to have been favourite actors in the
joculator's troop of animals. A specimen of the performance of a
monkey, as far back as the fourteenth century, is represented by the
last engraving; and the following is from another of the same date,
already referred to, in the Bodleian Library.[761]
[Illustration: 75. A TUMBLING APE.]
Leaping or tumbling over a chain or cord held by the juggler, as
we here see it depicted, was a trick well received at Bartholomew
fair in the time of Ben Jonson; and in the induction, or prologue,
to a comedy written by him, which bears that title, in 1614, it is
said, "He," meaning the author, "has ne're a sword and buckler man in
his fayre; nor a juggler with a well educated ape to come over the
chaine for the king of England, and back again for the prince, and
sit still on his haunches for the pope and the king of Spaine." In
recent times, and probably in more ancient times also, these facetious
mimics of mankind were taught to dance upon the rope, and to perform
the part of the balance-masters. In the reign of queen Anne, there
was exhibited at Charing Cross, "a wild hairy man," who, we are told,
danced upon the tight rope "with a balance, true to the music;" he
also "walked upon the slack rope" while it was swinging, and drank a
glass of ale; he "pulled off his hat, and paid his respects to the
company;" and "smoaked tobacco," according to the bill, "as well as
any Christian."[762] But all these feats were afterwards outdone by a
brother monkey, mentioned before, who performed many wonderful tricks
at the Haymarket theatre, both as a rope-dancer and an equilibrist.[763]
III.--TRICKS PERFORMED BY HORSES AMONG THE SYBARITES.
The people of Sybaris, a city in Calabria, are proverbial on account
of their effeminacy; and it is said that they taught their horses to
dance to the music of the pipe; for which reason, their enemies the
Crotonians, at a time when they were at war with them, brought a great
number of pipers into the field, and at the commencement of the battle,
they played upon their pipes; the Sybarian horses, hearing the sound of
the music, began to dance; and their riders, unable to manage them as
they ought to have done, were thrown into confusion, and defeated with
prodigious slaughter. This circumstance is mentioned by Aristotle; and,
if not strictly true, proves, at least that the teaching of animals to
exceed the bounds of action prescribed by nature was not unknown to the
ancients.[764]
IV.--TRICKS PERFORMED BY HORSES IN THE XIII. CENTURY.
We are told that, in the thirteenth century, a horse was exhibited
by the joculators, which danced upon a rope; and oxen were rendered
so docile as to ride upon horses, holding trumpets to their mouths
as though they were sounding them.[765] Accordingly we find the
representation of several surprising tricks performed by horses, far
exceeding those displayed in the present day. A manuscript of the
fourteenth century, in the Royal Library,[766] contains the following
cruel diversion:
[Illustration: 76. A HORSE BAITED WITH DOGS.]
Another manuscript, more ancient by at least half a century, in the
same collection, represents
[Illustration: 77. A HORSE DANCING TO THE PIPE AND TABOR.]
In the often cited Bodleian MS.[767] of the fourteenth century, is
[Illustration: 78. ANOTHER HORSE.]
Here the horse is rearing up and attacking the joculator, who opposes
him with a small shield and a cudgel. These mock combats, to which the
animals were properly trained, were constantly regulated by some kind
of musical instrument. The two following performances, also delineated
from the last mentioned manuscript, are more astonishing than those
preceding them.
[Illustration: 79. HORSE AND TABOR.]
In this instance, the horse is standing upon his hinder feet, and
beating with his fore feet upon a kind of tabor or drum held by his
master. In the following is the same
[Illustration: 80. HORSE AND TABOR.]
The animal is exhibiting a similar trick with his hinder feet, and
supports himself upon his fore feet. The original drawings, represented
by these engravings, are all of them upwards of four hundred and fifty
years old; and at the time in which they were made the joculators were
in full possession of the public favour.
Here it is deemed worthy to note, that in the year 1612, at a grand
court festival, Mons. Pluvinel, riding-master to Louis XIII. of France,
with three other gentlemen, accompanied by six esquires bearing their
devices, executed a grand ballette-dance upon managed horses.[768]
Something of the same kind is done[769] at Astley's and the Circus;
but at these places the dancing is performed by the horses moving upon
their four feet according to the direction of their riders; and of
course it is by no means so surprising as that exhibited by the latter
engravings.
V.--TRICKS BY HORSES IN QUEEN ANNE'S REIGN.
Horses are animals exceedingly susceptible of instruction, and their
performances have been extended so far as to bear the appearance of
rational discernment. In the Harleian Library[770] is a show-bill,
published in the reign of queen Anne, which is thus prefaced: "To be
seen, at the Ship upon Great Tower Hill, the finest taught horse in
the world." The abilities of the animal are specified as follows:
"He fetches and carries like a spaniel dog. If you hide a glove, a
handkerchief, a door key, a pewter bason, or so small a thing as a
silver two-pence, he will seek about the room till he has found it;
and then he will bring it to his master. He will also tell the number
of spots on a card, and leap through a hoop; with a variety of other
curious performances." And we may, I trust, give full credit to the
statement of this advertisement; for a horse equally scientific is to
be seen in the present day[771] at Astley's amphitheatre; this animal
is so small, that he and his keeper frequently parade the streets in a
hackney coach.
VI.--ORIGIN OF HORSE EXHIBITIONS AT ASTLEY'S, THE CIRCUS, &c.
Riding upon two or three horses at once, with leaping, dancing, and
performing various other exertions of agility upon their backs while
they are in full speed, is, I believe, a modern species of exhibition,
introduced to public notice about forty years back by a man named
Price, who displayed his abilities at Dobney's near Islington; soon
afterwards, a competitor by the name of Sampson made his appearance;
and he again was succeeded by Astley. The latter established a
riding-school near Westminster bridge, and has been a successful
candidate for popular favour. These performances originally took place
in the open air, and the spectators were exposed to the weather which
frequently proving unfavourable interrupted the show, and sometimes
prevented it altogether; to remedy this inconvenience, Astley erected
a kind of amphitheatre, completely covered, with a ride in the middle
for the displayment of the horsemanship, and a stage in the front, with
scenes and other theatrical decorations; to his former divertisements
he then added tumbling, dancing, farcical operas, and pantomimes. The
success he met with occasioned a rival professor of horsemanship named
Hughes, who built another theatre for similar performances not far
distant, to which he gave the pompous title of the Royal Circus. Hughes
was unfortunate, and died some years back; but the Circus has passed
into other hands; and the spectacles exhibited there in the present
day[772] are far more splendid than those of any other of the minor
theatres.
VII.--DANCING DOGS.
I know no reason why the joculators should not have made the dog one
of their principal brute performers: the sagacity of this creature and
its docility could not have escaped their notice; and yet the only
trick performed by the dog, that occurs in the ancient paintings, is
simply that of sitting upon his haunches in an upright position, which
he might have been taught to do with very little trouble, as in the
following engraving from the Bodleian MS. finished in 1344, and in
others that will presently appear.
[Illustration: 81. DOG.--XIV. CENTURY.]
Neither do I recollect that dogs are included in the list of animals
formerly belonging to the juggler's exhibitions, though, no doubt, they
ought to have been; for, in Ben Jonson's play of Bartholmew Fayre,
first acted in 1614, there is mention made of "dogges that dance the
morrice," without any indication of the performance being a novelty.
Dancing dogs, in the present day, make their appearance in the public
streets of the metropolis; but their masters meet with very little
encouragement, except from the lower classes of the people, and from
children; and of course the performance is rarely worthy of notice.
At the commencement of the last century, a company of dancing dogs
was introduced at Southwark fair by a puppet-showman named Crawley.
He called this exhibition "The Ball of Little Dogs;" and states in
his bill, that they came from Lovain: he then tells us, that "they
performed by their cunning tricks wonders in the world of dancing;" and
adds, "you shall see one of them, named marquis of Gaillerdain, whose
dexterity is not to be compared;[773] he dances with madame Poncette
his mistress and the rest of their company at the sound of instruments,
all of them observing so well the cadence, that they amaze every body."
At the close of the bill, he declares that the dogs had danced before
the queen [Anne] and most of the nobility of England. But many other
"cunning tricks," and greatly superior to those practised by Crawley's
company, have been performed by dogs some few years ago, at Sadler's
Wells, and afterwards at Astley's, to the great amusement and disport
of the polite spectators. One of the dogs at Sadler's Wells acted the
part of a lady, and was carried by two other dogs; some of them were
seated at a table, and waited on by others; and the whole concluded
with the attack and storming of a fort, entirely performed by dogs.
VIII.--THE HARE AND TABOR, AND LEARNED PIG.
It is astonishing what may be effected by constant exertion and
continually tormenting even the most timid and untractable animals; for
no one would readily believe that a hare could have been sufficiently
emboldened to face a large concourse of spectators without expressing
its alarm, and beat upon a tambourine in their presence; yet such a
performance was put in practice not many years back, and exhibited at
Sadler's Wells; and, if I mistake not, in several other places in
and about the metropolis. Neither is this whimsical spectacle a
recent invention. A hare that beat the tabor is mentioned by Jonson,
in his comedy of Bartholmew Fayre, acted at the commencement of the
seventeenth century; and a representation of the feat itself, taken
from a drawing on a manuscript upwards of four hundred years old, in
the Harleian Collection,[774] is given below.
[Illustration: 82. HARE AND TABOR.]
And here I cannot help mentioning a very ridiculous show of a learned
pig, which of late days attracted much of the public notice, and at the
polite end of the town. This pig, which indeed was a large unwieldy
hog, being taught to pick up letters written upon pieces of cards, and
to arrange them at command, gave great satisfaction to all who saw
him, and filled his tormenter's pocket with money. One would not have
thought that a hog had been an animal capable of learning: the fact,
however, is another proof of what may be accomplished by assiduity;
for the showman assured a friend of mine, that he had lost three very
promising brutes in the course of training, and that the phenomenon
then exhibited had often given him reason to despair of success.
IX.--A DANCING COCK AND THE DESERTER BIRD.
The joculators did not confine themselves to the tutoring of
quadrupeds, but extended their practice to birds also; and a curious
specimen of their art appears by the following engraving, from a
drawing on the same MS. in the Harleian Collection whence No. 81 was
taken.
[Illustration: 83. A COCK DANCING ON STILTS TO THE MUSIC OF A PIPE AND
TABOR.]
In the present day, this may probably be considered as a mere effort
of the illuminator's fancy, and admit of a doubt whether such a trick
was ever displayed in reality: but many are yet living who were
witnesses to an exhibition far more surprising, shown at Breslaw's, a
celebrated juggler, who performed at London[775] somewhat more than
twenty-years ago:[776] it was first shown in the vicinity of Pall
Mall, in 1789, at five shillings each person; the price was afterwards
reduced to half-a-crown; and finally to one shilling. A number of
little birds, to the amount, I believe, of twelve or fourteen, being
taken from different cages, were placed upon a table in the presence
of the spectators; and there they formed themselves into ranks like a
company of soldiers: small cones of paper bearing some resemblance to
grenadiers' caps were put upon their heads, and diminutive imitations
of muskets made with wood, secured under their left wings. Thus
equipped, they marched to and fro several times; when a single bird
was brought forward, supposed to be a deserter, and set between six
of the musketeers, three in a row, who conducted him from the top to
the bottom of the table, on the middle of which a small brass cannon
charged with a little gunpowder had been previously placed, and the
deserter was situated in the front part of the cannon; his guards then
divided, three retiring on one side, and three on the other, and he
was left standing by himself. Another bird was immediately produced;
and, a lighted match being put into one of his claws, he hopped boldly
on the other to the tail of the cannon, and, applying the match to the
priming, discharged the piece without the least appearance of fear or
agitation. The moment the explosion took place, the deserter fell
down, and lay, apparently motionless, like a dead bird; but, at the
command of his tutor he rose again; and the cages being brought, the
feathered soldiers were stripped of their ornaments, and returned into
them in perfect order.
X.--IMITATIONS OF ANIMALS.
Among the performances dependent on imitation, that of assuming the
forms of different animals, and counterfeiting their gestures, do not
seem to have originated with the jugglers; for this absurd practice,
if I mistake not, existed long before these comical artists made
their appearance, at least in large companies, and in a professional
way. There was a sport common among the ancients, which usually
took place on the kalends of January, and probably formed a part of
the Saturnalia, or feasts of Saturn. It consisted in mummings and
disguisements; for the actors took upon themselves the resemblance of
wild beasts, or domestic cattle, and wandered about from one place to
another; and he, I presume, stood highest in the estimation of his
fellows who best supported the character of the brute he imitated.
This whimsical amusement was exceedingly popular, and continued to
be practised long after the establishment of Christianity; it was,
however, much opposed by the clergy, and particularly by Paulinus
bishop of Nola, in the ninth century, who in one of his sermons tells
us, that those concerned in it were wont to clothe themselves with
skins of cattle, and put upon them the heads of beasts.[777] What
effect his preaching may have had at the time, I know not: the custom,
however, was not totally suppressed, but may be readily traced from
vestiges remaining of it, to the modern times. Dr. Johnson, in his
Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland, says a gentleman informed
him, that, at new year's eve, in the hall or castle of the laird, where
at festivals there is supposed to be a very numerous company, one man
dresses himself in a cow-hide, on which other men beat with sticks; he
runs with all this noise round the house, which all the company quits
in a counterfeited fright; the door is then shut, and no re-admission
obtained after their pretended terror, but by the repetition of a
verse of poetry, which those acquainted with the custom are provided
with.[778] The ancient court ludi, described in a former chapter,[779]
are certainly off-shoots from the Saturnalian disfigurements; and from
the same stock we may pertinently derive the succeeding masquings and
disguisements of the person frequently practised at certain seasons of
the year; and hence also came the modern masquerades. Warton says, that
certain theatrical amusements were called mascarades very anciently in
France. These were probably the court ludi.[780]
XI.--MUMMINGS AND MASQUERADES.
In the middle ages, mummings were very common. Mumm is said to be
derived from the Danish word mumme, or momme in Dutch, and signifies to
disguise oneself with a mask: hence a mummer; which is properly defined
by Dr. Johnson to be a masker, one who performs frolics in a personated
dress. The following verse occurs in Milton's Samson Agonistes, line
1325:
Jugglers and dancers, antics, mummers, mimics.
At court, as well as in the mansions of the nobility, on occasions
of festivity, it frequently happened that the whole company appeared
in borrowed characters; and, full licence of speech being granted to
every one, the discourses were not always kept within the bounds of
decency.[781] These spectacles were exhibited with great splendour in
former times and particularly during the reign of Henry VIII.[782]
they have ceased, however, of late years to attract the notice of the
opulent; and the regular masquerades which succeeded them, are not
supported at present with that degree of mirthful spirit which, we are
told, abounded at their institution; and probably it is for this reason
they are declining so rapidly in the public estimation.
The mummeries practised by the lower classes of the people usually
took place at the Christmas holidays; and such persons as could not
procure masks rubbed their faces over with soot, or painted them; hence
Sebastian Brant, in his Ship of Fools,[783] alluding to this custom,
says,
The one hath a visor ugley set on his face,
Another hath on a vile counterfaite vesture,
Or painteth his visage with fume in such case,
That what he is, himself is scantily sure.
It appears that many abuses were committed under the sanction of these
disguisements; and for this reason an ordinance was established, by
which a man was liable to punishment who appeared in the streets of
London with "a painted visage."[784] In the third year of the reign of
Henry VIII. it was ordained that no persons should appear abroad like
mummers, covering their faces with vizors, and in disguised apparel,
under pain of imprisonment for three months. The same act enforced the
penalty of 20_s._ against such as kept vizors in their houses for the
purpose of mumming.[785]
Bourne, in his Vulgar Antiquities,[786] speaks of a kind of mumming
practised in the North about Christmas time, which consisted in
"changing of clothes between the men and the women, who, when dressed
in each other's habits, go," says he, "from one neighbour's house to
another, and partake of their Christmas cheer, and make merry with them
in disguise, by dancing and singing and such like merriments."
XII.--MUMMING TO ROYAL PERSONAGES.
Persons capable of well-supporting assumed characters were frequently
introduced at public entertainments, and also in the pageants exhibited
on occasions of solemnity; sometimes they were the bearers of presents,
and sometimes the speakers of panegyrical orations. Froissart tells us,
that, after the coronation of Isabel of Bavaria, the queen of Charles
VI. of France, she had several rich donations brought to her by mummers
in different disguisements; one resembling a bear, another an unicorn,
others like a company of Moors, and others as Turks or Saracens.[787]
When queen Elizabeth was entertained at Kenilworth castle, various
spectacles were contrived for her amusement, and some of them produced
without any previous notice, to take her as it were by surprise. It
happened about nine o'clock one evening, as her majesty returned from
hunting, and was riding by torch-light, there came suddenly out of the
wood, by the road-side, a man habited like a savage, covered with ivy,
holding in one of his hands an oaken plant torn up by the roots, who
placed himself before her, and, after holding some discourse with a
counterfeit echo, repeated a poetical oration in her praise, which was
well received. This man was Thomas Gascoyne the poet; and the verses
he spoke on the occasion were his own composition. The circumstance
took place on the 10th of July, 1575.[788]
The savage men, or wodehouses, as they are sometimes called, frequently
made their appearance in the public shows; they were sometimes clothed
entirely with skins, and sometimes they were decorated with oaken
leaves, or covered, as above, with ivy.
XIII.--PARTIAL IMITATIONS OF ANIMALS.
The jugglers and the minstrels, observing how lightly these ridiculous
disguisements were relished by the people in general, turned their
talents towards the imitating of different animals, and rendered their
exhibitions more pleasing by the addition of their new acquirements.
Below are specimens of their performances, from the Bodleian MS. before
cited.[789]
[Illustration: 84. XIV. CENTURY.]
This presents to us the resemblance of a stag. The following, from the
same MS., pictures a goat walking erectly on his hinder feet.
[Illustration: 85. XIV. CENTURY.]
Neither of these fictitious animals have any fore legs; but to the
first the deficiency is supplied by a staff, upon which the actor
might recline at pleasure; his face is seen through an aperture on
the breast; and, I doubt not, a person was chosen to play this part
with a face susceptible of much grimace, which he had an opportunity
of setting forth to great advantage, with a certainty of commanding
the plaudits of his beholders. It was also possible to heighten the
whimsical appearance of this disguise by a motion communicated to the
head; a trick the man might easily enough perform, by putting one
of his arms into the hollow of his neck; and probably the neck was
made pliable for that purpose. In the subjoined delineation, from the
same MS., we find a boy, with a mask resembling the head of a dog,
presenting a scroll of parchment to his master.
[Illustration: 86. XIV. CENTURY.]
In the original there are two more boys, who are following, disguised
in a similar manner, and each of them holding a like scroll of
parchment. The wit of this performance, I protest, I cannot discover.
XIV.--THE HORSE IN THE MORRIS-DANCE.
The prancing and curveting of horses was counterfeited in the
hobby-horse, the usual concomitant of the morris-dance. I have already
spoken on this subject;[790] and shall only add in this place an
anecdote of prince Henry, the eldest son of James I.--"Some of his
highness's young gentlemen, together with himself," says my author,
"imitating in sport the curveting and high-going of horses, one that
stood by said that they were like a company of horses; which his
highness noting, answered, 'Is it not better to resemble a horse, which
is a generous and courageous beast, than a dull slow-going ass as you
are?'" The prince, we are told, was exceedingly young at the time he
made this reply.[791]
XV.--COUNTERFEIT VOICES OF ANIMALS.
I have not been able to ascertain how far the ancient jugglers exerted
their abilities in counterfeiting the articulation of animals; but we
may reasonably suppose they would not have neglected so essential a
requisite to make their imitations perfect.
In the reign of queen Anne, a man whose name was Clench, a native of
Barnet, made his appearance at London. He performed at the corner of
Bartholomew-lane, behind the Royal Exchange. His price for admittance
was one shilling each person. I have his advertisement before me;[792]
which states that he "imitated the horses, the huntsmen, and a pack
of hounds, a sham doctor, an old woman, a drunken man, the bells, the
flute, the double curtell, and the organ with three voices, by his
own natural voice, to the greatest perfection." He then professes
himself to "be the only man that could ever attain to so great an
art." He had, however, a rival, who is noted in one of the papers of
the Spectator, and called the whistling man. His excellency consisted
in counterfeiting the notes of all kinds of singing birds.[793] The
same performance was exhibited in great perfection by the bird-tutor
associated with Breslaw the juggler, mentioned a few pages back.[794]
This man assumed the name of Rosignol,[795] and, after he had quitted
Breslaw, appeared on the stage at Covent-garden theatre, where, in
addition to his imitation of the birds, he executed a concerto on a
fiddle without strings; that is, he made the notes in a wonderful
manner with his voice, and represented the bowing by drawing a small
truncheon backwards and forwards over a stringless violin. His
performance was received with great applause; and the success he met
with produced many competitors, but none of them equalled him: it was,
however, discovered, that the sounds were produced by an instrument
contrived for the purpose, concealed in the mouth; and then the trick
lost all its reputation. Six years ago,[796] I heard a poor rustic,
a native of St. Alban's, imitate, with great exactness, the whole
assemblage of animals belonging to a farm-yard; but especially he
excelled in counterfeiting the grunting of swine, the squeaking of
pigs, and the quarrelling of two dogs.
XVI.--ANIMALS TRAINED FOR BAITING.
Training of bulls, bears, horses, and other animals, for the purpose of
baiting them with dogs, was certainly practised by the jugglers; and
this vicious pastime has the sanction of high antiquity. Fitz-Stephen,
who lived in the reign of Henry II., tells us that, in the forenoon
of every holiday, during the winter season, the young Londoners were
amused with boars opposed to each other in battle, or with bulls and
full-grown bears baited by dogs.[797] This author makes no mention of
horses; and I believe the baiting of these noble and useful animals
was never a general practice: it was, however, no doubt, partially
performed; and the manner in which it was carried into execution
appears by the engraving No. 76.[798] Asses also were treated with the
same inhumanity; but probably the poor beasts did not afford sufficient
sport in the tormenting, and therefore were seldom brought forward as
the objects of this barbarous diversion.
XVII.--PARIS GARDEN.
There were several places in the vicinity of the metropolis set
apart for the baiting of beasts, and especially the district of
Saint Savour's parish in Southwark, called Paris Garden; which place
contained two bear-gardens, said to have been the first that were
made near London; and in them, according to Stow, were scaffolds for
the spectators to stand upon:[799] and this indulgence, we are told,
they paid for in the following manner: "Those who go to Paris Garden,
the Bell Savage, or Theatre, to behold bear-baiting, enterludes, or
fence-play, must not account of any pleasant spectacle, unless first
they pay one pennie at the gate, another at the entrie of the scaffold,
and a third for quiet standing."[800] One Sunday afternoon in the year
1582, the scaffolds being overcharged with spectators, fell down during
the performance; and a great number of persons were killed or maimed by
the accident.[801]
XVIII.--BULL AND BEAR-BAITING PATRONIZED BY ROYALTY.
Bull and bear-baiting is not encouraged by persons of rank and opulence
in the present day; and when practised, which rarely happens, it is
attended only by the lowest and most despicable part of the people;
which plainly indicates a general refinement of manners and prevalency
of humanity among the moderns; on the contrary, this barbarous pastime
was highly relished by the nobility in former ages, and countenanced
by persons of the most exalted rank, without exception even of the
fair sex. Erasmus, who visited England in the reign of Henry VIII.,
says, there were "many herds of bears maintained in this country for
the purpose of baiting."[802] When queen Mary visited her sister the
princess Elizabeth during her confinement at Hatfield-house, the next
morning, after mass, a grand exhibition of bear-baiting was made for
their amusement, with which, it is said, "their highnesses were right
well content."[803] Queen Elizabeth, on the 25th of May, 1559, soon
after her accession to the throne, gave a splendid dinner to the French
ambassadors, who afterwards were entertained with the baiting of bulls
and bears, and the queen herself stood with the ambassadors looking on
the pastime till six at night. The day following, the same ambassadors
went by water to Paris Garden, where they saw another baiting of
bulls and of bears;[804] and again, twenty-seven years posterior,
queen Elizabeth received the Danish ambassador at Greenwich, who was
treated with the sight of a bear and bull-baiting, "tempered," says
Holinshed, "with other merry disports;"[805] and, for the diversion of
the populace, there was a horse with an ape upon his back; which highly
pleased them, so that they expressed "their inward-conceived joy and
delight with shrill shouts and variety of gestures."[806]
XIX.--BULL AND BEAR-BAITING, HOW PERFORMED.
The manner in which these sports were exhibited towards the close of
the sixteenth century, is thus described by Hentzner,[807] who was
present at one of the performances: "There is a place built in the form
of a theatre, which serves for baiting of bulls and bears; they are
fastened behind, and then worried by great English bull-dogs; but not
without risque to the dogs, from the horns of the one and the teeth
of the other; and it sometimes happens they are killed on the spot;
fresh ones are immediately supplied in the places of those that are
wounded or tired. To this entertainment there often follows that of
whipping a blinded bear, which is performed by five or six men standing
circularly with whips, which they exercise upon him without any mercy,
as he cannot escape because of his chain; he defends himself with all
his force and skill, throwing down all that come within his reach, and
are not active enough to get out of it, and tearing the whips out of
their hands, and breaking them." Laneham, speaking of a bear-baiting
exhibited before queen Elizabeth in 1575, says, "It was a sport very
pleasant to see the bear, with his pink eyes learing after his enemies,
approach; the nimbleness and wait of the dog to take his advantage;
and the force and experience of the bear again to avoid his assaults:
if he were bitten in one place, how he would pinch in another to get
free; that if he were taken once, then by what shift with biting, with
clawing, with roaring, with tossing, and tumbling, he would work and
wind himself from them; and, when he was loose, to shake his ears twice
or thrice with the blood and the slaver hanging about his physiognomy."
The same writer tells us, that thirteen bears were provided for this
occasion, and they were baited with a great sort of ban-dogs.[808] In
the foregoing relations, we find no mention made of a ring put into
the nose of the bear when he was baited; which certainly was the more
modern practice; hence the expression by the duke of Newcastle, in the
Humorous Lovers, printed in 1617: "I fear the wedlock ring more than
the bear does the ring in his nose."
XX.--BEARS AND BEAR-WARDS.
When a bear-baiting was about to take place, the same was publicly made
known, and the bear-ward previously paraded the streets with his bear,
to excite the curiosity of the populace, and induce them to become
spectators of the sport. The animal, on these occasions, was usually
preceded by a minstrel or two, and carried a monkey or baboon upon
his back. In the Humorous Lovers, the play just now quoted, "Tom of
Lincoln" is mentioned as the name of "a famous bear;" and one of the
characters pretending to personate a bear-ward, says, "I'll set up
my bills, that the gamesters of London, Horsleydown, Southwark, and
Newmarket, may come in and bait him here before the ladies; but first,
boy, go fetch me a bagpipe; we will walk the streets in triumph, and
give the people notice of our sport."
XXI.--BAITING IN QUEEN ANNE'S TIME.
The two following advertisements,[809] which were published in the
reign of queen Anne, may serve as a specimen of the elegant manner in
which these pastimes were announced to the public:
"At the Bear Garden in Hockley in the Hole, near Clerkenwell Green,
this present Monday, there is a great match to be fought by two Dogs of
Smithfield Bars against two Dogs of Hampstead, at the Reading Bull, for
one guinea to be spent; five lets goes out of hand; which goes fairest
and farthest in wins all. The famous Bull of fireworks, which pleased
the gentry to admiration. Likewise there are two Bear-Dogs to jump
three jumps apiece at the Bear, which jumps highest for ten shillings
to be spent. Also variety of bull-baiting and bear-baiting; it being
a day of general sport by all the old gamesters; and a bull-dog to be
drawn up with fireworks. Beginning at three o'clock."
"At William Well's bear-garden in Tuttle-fields, Westminster, this
present Monday, there will be a green Bull baited; and twenty Dogs to
fight for a collar; and the dog that runs farthest and fairest wins the
collar; with other diversions of bull and bear-baiting. Beginning at
two of the clock."
XXII.--SWORD-PLAY.
The sword-dance, or, more properly, a combat with swords and bucklers,
regulated by music, was exhibited by the Saxon gleemen. We have spoken
on this subject in a former chapter, and resume it here, because the
jugglers of the middle ages were famous for their skill in handling the
sword.
[Illustration: 87. SWORD-PLAY--XIII. CENTURY.]
This combat, represented from a manuscript of the thirteenth century,
in the Royal Library,[810] varies, in several respects, from that
in the engraving No. 60;[811] though both, I presume, are different
modifications of the same performance, as well as that below, from a
manuscript in the Royal Library,[812] which is carried into execution
without the assistance of a minstrel.
[Illustration: 88. SWORD-PLAY.--XIII. CENTURY.]
These combats bore some resemblance to those performed by the Roman
gladiators; for which reason the jugglers were sometimes called
gladiators by the early historians; "Mimi, salii, balatrones, æmiliani,
gladiatores, palæstritæ--et tota joculatorum copia, &c."[813] It
also appears that they instituted schools for teaching the art of
defence in various parts of the kingdom, and especially in the city of
London, where the conduct of the masters and their scholars became so
outrageous, that it was necessary for the legislature to interfere;
and, in the fourteenth year of the reign of Edward I. A. D. 1286, an
edict was published by royal authority, which prohibited the keeping of
such schools, and the public exercise of swords and bucklers, "eskirmer
au bokeler."
It is said that many robberies and murders were committed by these
gladiators; hence the appellation of swash buckler, a term of reproach,
"from swashing," says Fuller, "and making a noise on the buckler, and
ruffian, which is the same as a swaggerer. West Smithfield was formerly
called Ruffian Hall, where such men usually met, casually or otherwise,
to try masteries with sword and buckler; more were frightened than
hurt, hurt than killed therewith, it being accounted unmanly to strike
beneath the knee. But since that desperate traytor Rowland Yorke first
used thrusting with rapiers, swords and bucklers are disused."[814]
Jonson, in the induction to his play called Bartholomew Fair, speaks of
"the sword and buckler age in Smithfield;" and again, in the Two Angry
Women of Abbington, a comedy by Henry Porter, printed in 1599, we have
the following observation: "Sword and buckler fight begins to grow out
of use; I am sorry for it; I shall never see good manhood again; if it
be once gone, this poking fight of rapier and dagger will come up; then
a tall man, that is, a courageous man, and a good sword and buckler
man, will be spitted like a cat or a rabbit."
Such exercises had been practised by day and by night, to the great
annoyance of the peaceable inhabitants of the city; and by the
statute of Edward I. the offenders were subjected to the punishment
of imprisonment for forty days; to which was afterwards added a mulct
of forty marks.[815] These restrictions certainly admitted of some
exceptions; for it is well known that there were seminaries at London,
wherein youth were taught the use of arms, held publicly after the
institution of this ordinance. "The art of defence and use of weapons,"
says Stow, "is taught by professed masters;"[816] but these most
probably were licensed by the city governors, and under their control.
The author of a description of the colleges and schools in and about
London, which he calls "The Third University of England," printed in
black letter in 1615, says, "In this city," meaning London, "there
be manie professors of the science of defence, and very skilful men
in teaching the best and most offensive and defensive use of verie
many weapons, as of the long-sword, back-sword, rapier and dagger,
single rapier, the case of rapiers, the sword and buckler, or targate,
the pike, the halberd, the long-staff, and others.[817] Henry VIII.
made the professors of this art a company, or corporation, by letters
patent, wherein the art is intituled The Noble Science of Defence.
The manner of the proceeding of our fencers in their schools is this;
first, they which desire to be taught at their admission are called
scholars, and, as they profit, they take degrees, and proceed to be
provosts of defence; and that must be wonne by public trial of their
proficiencie and of their skill at certain weapons, which they call
prizes, and in the presence and view of many hundreds of people; and,
at their next and last prize well and sufficiently performed, they
do proceed to be maisters of the science of defence, or maisters of
fence, as we commonly call them." The king ordained, "that none, but
such as have thus orderly proceeded by public act and trial, and have
the approbation of the principal masters of their company, may profess
or teach this art of defence publicly in any part of England." Stow
informs us, that the young Londoners, on holidays, after the evening
prayer, were permitted to exercise themselves with their wasters and
bucklers before their masters' doors. This pastime, I imagine, is
represented by a drawing in the Bodleian MS.[818] from whence the
annexed engraving is taken, where clubs or bludgeons are substituted
for swords.
[Illustration: 89. BUCKLER-PLAY.--XIV. CENTURY.]
The bear-gardens were the usual places appropriated by the masters of
defence for public trials of skill. These exhibitions were outrageous
to humanity, and only fitted for the amusement of ferocious minds;
it is therefore astonishing that they should have been frequented by
females; for, who could imagine that the slicing of the flesh from a
man's cheek, the scarifying of his arms, or laying the calves of his
legs upon his heels, were spectacles calculated to delight the fair
sex, or sufficiently attractive to command their presence. The manner
of performing a prize-combat, at the commencement of the last century,
is well described, and the practice justly reprobated, in one of the
papers belonging to the Spectator:[819] but these exhibitions were not
without their trickery, as we may find by another paper[820] in the
same volume.
XXIII.--PUBLIC SWORD-PLAY.
The following show-bill, dated July 13, 1709, contains the common mode
of challenging and answering used by the combatants; it is selected
from a great number now lying before me;[821] and, being rather
curious, I shall transcribe it without making any alteration.
"At the Bear Garden in Hockley in the Hole, near Clerkenwell Green,
a trial of skill shall be performed between Two Masters of the noble
Science of Defence on Wednesday next, at two of the clock precisely.
"I George Gray, born in the city of Norwich, who have fought in most
parts of the West Indies, namely, Jamaica and Barbadoes, and several
other parts of the world, in all twenty-five times, and upon a stage,
and never yet was worsted, and being now lately come to London, do
invite James Harris to meet and exercise at these following weapons,
namely, back-sword, sword and dagger, sword and buckler, single
falchon, and case of falchons."
"I James Harris, Master of the said noble Science of Defence, who
formerly rid in the horse-guards, and hath fought a hundred and ten
prizes, and never left a stage to any man, will not fail, God willing,
to meet this brave and bold inviter at the time and place appointed;
desiring sharp swords, and from him no favour. No person to be upon the
stage but the seconds. Vivat Regina!"
XXIV.--QUARTER-STAFF.
In another challenge the quarter-staff is added to the list of weapons
named on these occasions. Quarter-staff Dr. Johnson explains to be "A
staff of defence, so called, I believe, from the manner of using it;
one hand being placed at the middle, and the other equally between
the end and the middle."[822] The quarter-staff was formerly used by
the English, and especially in the western parts of the kingdom. I
have seen a small pamphlet with this title: "Three to One; being an
English-Spanish combat, performed by a western gentleman of Tavystock,
in Devonshire, with an English quarter-staff, against three rapiers
and poniards, at Sherries in Spain,[823] in the presence of the dukes,
condes, marquisses, and other great dons of Spain, being the council of
war;" to which is added, "the author of this booke, and actor in this
encounter, being R. Peecke." On the same page there is a rude wooden
print, representing the hero with his quarter-staff, in the action of
fighting with the three Spanyards, who are armed with long swords and
daggers. Caulfield has copied this print in his Assemblage of Noted
Persons.
XXV.--WRESTLING, &c. IN BEAR-GARDENS.
Wrestling, and such other trials of strength and activity as had
formerly been exhibited in the spectacles of the minstrels and
jugglers, were at this period transferred to the bear-gardens, where
they continued in practice till the total abolition of those polite
places of amusement.
XXVI.--EXTRAORDINARY TRIAL OF STRENGTH.
I shall conclude this chapter with the two following instances of
bodily power, recorded by our historians. The first is of Courcy, earl
of Ulster; who, in the presence of John king of England and Philip of
France, cut through a helmet of steel with one blow of his sword, and
struck the weapon so deeply into the post upon which the helmet was
placed, that no one but himself was able to draw it out again.[824] The
second is mentioned by Froissart;[825] who tells us that, one
Christmas-day, the earl of Foix, according to his usual custom, "held a
great feast; and, after dyner, he deperted out of the hall, and went up
into a galarye, of twenty-four stayres of heyght. It being exceedingly
cold, the erle complained that the fire was not large enough; when a
person named Ervalton, of Spayne, went down the stayres, and beneth
in the court he sawe a great meny of asses laden with woode, to serve
the house: than he went, and tooke one of the greatest asses, with
all the woode, and layde hym on hys backe, and went up al the stayres
into the galary; and dyd caste downe the asse, with al the woode, into
the chimney, and the asse's fete upward: whereof the erle of Foix had
greate joye; and so hadde all thy that wer ther, and had mervele of his
strength."