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.
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.
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.