Huntingdonshire.
Formerly there prevailed in this county a custom called cock-running, which, though not quite so cruel as cock-throwing, was not much inferior to it. A cock was procured, and its wings were cut: the runners paid so much a head, and with their hands tied behind them ran after it, and the person who caught it in his mouth, and carried it to a certain place or goal, had the right of claiming the bird as his own. In this race there was much excitement, and not a little squabbling, and the one who was lucky enough to secure the bird frequently had his face and eyes very much pecked.—Time’s Telescope, 1823, p. 40.