The following is the complete text regarding the Bulldog from the 1792 third edition of A General History of Quadrupeds by Thomas Bewick and Ralph Beilby. Although the engraving of the dog of that era is much more moderate than the Bulldog would soon become, the shocking element in the breed history concerns the cavalier and cruel nature with which the dog’s ferocity was demonstrated in a story that we can only hope was myth: a man amputates his dog’s feet one by one to prove that it’s still game after each assault.
Even if only a parable, all of the elements that still plague the modern bully breeds are still present in abundance in this treatment: blood sport, braggadocio, betting, and testosterone laden aggression.
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The Bull-Dog is the fiercest of all the Dog kind, and is probably the most courageous creature in the world. It is low in stature, but very strong and muscular. Its nose is short; and the under jaw projects beyond the upper, which gives it a fierce and unpleasing aspect. –Its courage in attacking the Bull is well known: Its fury in seizing, and its invincible obstinacy in maintaining, its hold, are truly astonishing. It always aims at the front; and generally fastens upon the lip, the tongue, the eye, or some part of the face; where it hangs, in spit of every effort of the Bull to disengage himself.
The uncommon ardor of these Dogs in fighting will be best illustrated by the following fact, related by an eye-witness; which at the same time corroborates, in some degree, what wonderful account of the Dogs of Epirus given by Elian, and quoted by Dr. Goldsmith in his history of the Dog:– Some years ago, at a bull-baiting in the North of England, when that barbarous custom was very common, a young man, confident of the courage of his Dog, laid some trifling wagers, that he would, at separate times, cut off all the four feet of his Dog; and that, after every amputation, it would attack the Bull. The cruel experiment was tried; and the Dog continued to seize the Bull as eagerly as if he had been perfectly whole.
Of late years, this inhuman custom of baiting the Bull has been almost entirely laid aside in the North of England; and, consequently, there are now few of this kind of Dogs to be seen.
As the Bull-Dog always makes his attack without barking, it is very dangerous to approach him alone, without the greatest precaution.
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The Bull-Dog from A General History of Quadrupeds. Third Edition. Thomas Bewick and Ralph Beilby. 1792.
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Proof that Small Penis Syndrome is not just a modern malady.
Not everything has to do with penises ya know,queens have liked the blood sports as well.
Poverty is one thing a lot of animal abuse has in common I found out.
People seem to have a natural fascination with fighting of either of man or beast,and when the people where poor off themselves they where less to feel sorry for the beast or fellow man.
Unfortunately there is still bear baiting in Pakistan,they use Bulldog,terrier,mastiff crosses such as the Gull Terr and Bully Kutta.
One interesting thing I`ve read about bull baiting dogs is that woman would breast feed the puppies if the mother dog died.
Whenever I hear someone say that television is at the root of all the “increased violence today,” this is one of many things I think about.
If anything, acceptance of this type of stuff has taken a wonderful DOWNHILL turn today. It sitll goes on but in most first world countires, it’s not openly accepted. And you can watch thugs like Michael Vick get arrested for it…on TV!
Stephen Pinker published the book “Better Angels of Our Nature”.
Dave recently posted..The Sheep and the Wolverine
To what extent was this exclusively English? I know bear baiting was popular on the Continent. Are there equivalent canine monstrosities bred for other blood sports?
Found a wide ranging answer to my own question. Lots of breeds…lots of cultures. http://sportingbullandterrier.webs.com/baitingsports.htm
Poor dogs, having to be bred and survive in such a culture of bloodsport and aggression.
The story also reminds me of stories of baiting dogs reported by Strabo. It’s really sad that people encouraged the idea of such bloody stunts.
One of the anecdotes runs that a dog had its leg slowly sawed off while it was hanging onto a lion:
“The dogs in the territory of Sopeithes are said to possess remarkable courage: Alexander received from Sopeithes a present of one hundred and fifty of them. To prove them, two were set at a lion; when these were mastered, two others were set on; when the battle became equal, Sopeithes ordered a man to seize one of the dogs by the leg, and to drag him away; or to cut off his leg, if he still held on. Alexander at first refused his consent to the dog’s leg being cut off, as he wished to save the dog. But on Sopeithes saying, ‘I will give you four in the place of it,’ Alexander consented; and he saw the dog permit his leg to be cut off by a slow incision, rather than loose his hold.”
(Strabo, 15.1.31)
The other story goes that sometimes the baiting dogs would even pop their own eyes out in their zeal for biting down hard:
“There are also dogs of great courage, which do not loose their hold till water is poured into their nostrils: some of them destroy their sight, and the eyes of others even fall out, by the eagerness of their bite. Both a lion and a bull were held fast by one of these dogs. The bull was caught by the muzzle, and died before the dog could be loosened.”
(Strabo, 15.1.37)
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