Bull baiting, the long-practiced sport in which bully-type dogs were sent to attempt to bait and eventually bring down a tethered bull, evokes images of gruesome exhibitions staged for public amusement. As bull baiting grew in popularity, it led to the development of the Bulldog, which remains one of the most popular breeds. When bull baiting was banned, the resulting popularity of dog fighting led to the development of the pit bull terrier. In his book, British Dogs (Collins, 1955), canine authority A. Croxton Smith writes, “That this brutal pastime gave pleasure to the spectators is obvious, but it is not certain that that was the primary object.” If we delve beneath its shocking premise, bull baiting reveals quite a bit about our changing perceptions of dogs.
Bull bBiting Beginnings
In The Book of the Dog (Nicholson and Watson, 1948) author Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald states, “The remarkable thing is that bull baiting did not begin as a sport at all. It was once illegal to slaughter a bull unless it had first been baited with dogs.” Historians agree that bull baiting evolved from the belief that prolonged exertion rendered tough meat tender and palatable.
In 1655, English naturalist and physician Thomas Muffett explained, in the posthumously published book Health’s Improvement, that “violent heat and motion might attenuate [the bulls’] blood, resolve their hardness, and make the flesh soften in digestion.” Bull baiting was codified into law in a Cambridge ordinance in 1376 forbidding the sale of meat from bulls that were not “baited,” meaning they were fed with grass in a stall. This interpretation actually would have made some sense if the law was meant to guarantee quality meat for sale.
Smith theorized that the term “bull baiting,” which originally referred to the practice of keeping bulls stabled and feeding them grass and hay, was later misinterpreted and an alternate definition became generally accepted. Bull baiting’s popularity may have also derived from practical necessity. Tainted meat was a perpetual hazard. Therefore, it’s understandable that potential consumers preferred to observe the town butcher slaughter an animal, which included baiting the bull, to ensure the meat’s quality.
From Practical Use to Sport
Centuries later, it’s impossible to separate fact from legend, but there is no question that many people enjoyed watching bull baiting. In her book, 1700: Scenes from London Life (Sceptre, 2001), Maureen Waller writes, “[Sixteenth century] Londoners had a taste for cruel and ferocious sport, which reflected their own lives: nasty, brutish and short.” By 1500, bull baiting had progressed from a local food-safety ordinance to Britain’s national pastime.
At first, any sturdy farm dog was considered suitable. This included ancestors of modern sheepdogs, mastiffs and bulldogs. The ancestors of the mastiff-type dogs, called alauntes, were said to be good for baiting bulls. The alaunt descended from the molosser dogs of ancient Greece and Rome. In later centuries, they became classified as canes rustici, or bandogges. Larger specimens were used for guarding, boar hunting and bear baiting. Smaller dogs were used to drive and hold livestock. “Selection by man soon separated very widely the sheepdog or shepherd’s mastiff and the mastiff that was specially bred for the bullring,” writes James Watson in The Dog Book (Doubleday, Page and Company, 1906).
It’s generally believed that bull baiting and bullfighting derived from medieval par force hunting techniques. Alauntes were trained to catch and hold wild boar by the ear. “From this mastiff group, the dog for the bull was developed and became the Bulldog of England. There is no question that there was a similar dog in Spain as an assistant in bull fights, attacking and holding the bull by the ear, and this was the original method of attack in England,” Watson writes.
How or why this southern-European boar-hunting technique developed into bull baiting remains a mystery. Even more puzzling were later revisions. “Only very large dogs could hold a bull by the ear, and those alauntes look more like our Danes,” Watson writes. “It is generally understood that the dog had to pull the bull backward once around the ring in order to win … When the latter mode of attack by the nose hold came into vogue is not susceptible to proof, but a description written in 1694 shows it was the custom at that period.”
A toss up was disappointing, but uninjured dogs were expected to try again. Not surprisingly, many tossed dogs proved unwilling to go back for seconds. Circumstances became substantially more dangerous if a bull was successfully pinned. The dog had to hang on as the bull stamped, lashed, rolled and bucked to shake it off. If the bull surrendered while it was pinned, the dog’s jaws were pried apart, and at best, both combatants were relatively intact. Frequently, the frantic bull snapped his rope and charged the crowd. “A roar would go up for ‘A lane, a lane’ and men would trample each other in their frenzy to avoid the danger into which they had so glibly urged their dogs,” Vesey-Fitzgerald writes.
The element of surprise and jeopardy undoubtedly provided a lure equal to gambling and exhibitionism. Diarist John Evelyn (1620 to 1706) of Surrey, England, memorialized his visit to Paris Garden on June 16, 1670: “I was forced to accompany some friends to the Bear Garden … it being a famous day for all these butcherly sports or rather barbarous cruelties … One of the bulls tossed a dog full into a lady’s lap as she sat in one of the boxes at a considerable height from the arena … I am most heartily weary of this rude and dirty pastime, which I had not seen I think in 20 years…” (Diary of John Evelyn, Bicker and Sons, 1879).
Warning Popularity Bull Baiting
By the 17th century, most bull baiting was relocated from town centers to suburbs, officially to improve public safety and convenience. But evidence reveals that its popularity was waning. It became increasingly difficult to procure bulls for baiting, and merchants became reluctant to promote these events. Legal effort to suppress the activity didn’t begin until the 19th century. However, private patronage was essential to the sport’s accessibility as public entertainment and this funding may have dried up. In the 15th century, bull baiting was perceived as a means of keeping the lower classes content. Four centuries later, it was seen as a source of social unrest. Ironically, bull-baiting fans probably engineered its demise.
A year before the sport was prohibited, an article in the Derbyshire Courier described a bull baiting at Bonsall Wakes on Aug. 2, 1834, which, like many similar incidents, probably solidified public opinion against it: “The brutalizing spectacle of a bull bait was about being exhibited at this place on Monday last, and about thirty or forty blackguards with bulldogs, clubs, etc., were assembled to enjoy the sport, when the worthy clergyman finding remonstrance vain, actually purchased the poor animal’s release from the brutes at the price of a guinea. In the evening, the same party demolished the windows, glasses, part of the furniture, etc. at several public-houses and at one time, there were four or five fights going on at once. So much for the innocent recreations of the working classes” (Ladies Kennel Journal, 1896).
Social disapproval curtailed bull baiting to some extent, but bills to prohibit it were defeated in 1800 and 1802. “It is almost inconceivable that attempts to prohibit bull baiting were resisted in the House of Commons on the plea that it fostered pluck among the masses and encouraged manly exercise,” Croxton Smith writes.
Effects on Bulldog breeding
An 1835 bill unexpectedly passed by a narrow margin, and Bulldog breeders suddenly found themselves with an enormous supply of dogs and zero demand. Although the Bulldog had a utilitarian design, by the 19th century, breeding had evolved into an art and the concept of ideal type became an equally imperative goal. “Soon after the enforced cessation of bull baiting, the breeding of Bulldogs was in great measure stopped … for want of encouragement, the pure breed became more and more rare … the breed in London fell into the hands of publicans who held shows in their tap rooms to draw custom,” Walsh (Stonehenge) writes.
The demise of bull baiting became a major impetus for the creation of the modern dog show. Bulldog breeders began holding informal meetings and contests in the back rooms of pubs. These were the forerunners of modern dog shows, which made their debut two decades later. Although the Bulldog was perfected for an obsolete pastime, its enduring popularity far exceeded this role and the expectations of foundation breeders. Today, bull baiting is, thankfully, a forgotten relic of the past. Although the breeds were created for an abhorrent pastime, the Bulldog and other bully breeds live among the the world’s most beloved dogs. Amy Fernandez is the author of four books, including Dog Breeding as a Fine Art (Ltd. Editions Media, 2002). She is currently working on her next book, Strategic Planning Manual for Dog Breeders.
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