Bull Baiting

The Bull-ring in Oakengates was situated at the junction of New Rd and Lincoln Rd in Wrockwardine Wood. To enable the reader to visualise the course and brutal spectacles for which the Oakengates Bull-ring was famous, the following description given by the French Advocate Mission, who lived in England, during the reign of William III, is taken from Chamber's Book of Days.- ​

"After a coming Bull-baiting had been advertised, the bull, decorated with flowers or coloured ribbons would be paraded round the streets of the town, and the dog which pulled off the favours in the subsequent baiting would be especially cheered by the spectators. The parade ended, the bull, with a rope tied round the root of his horns, would be fastened to a stake with an iron ring in it, situated in the centre of the ring. The rope was about 15 feet long, so that the Bull was confined to a space of 30 feet diameter. The owners of the dogs stood round this circle, each holding their dog by its ears, and when the sport began, one of the dogs would be let loose. Here we may let Misson describe the combat in his own words: 'The dog runs at the bull, the bull, immovable, looks down upon the dog with an eye of scorn, and only turns a horn to him, to hinder him from coming near. The dog is not daunted at this, he runs round him, and tries to get beneath his belly. The bull then puts himself into a posture of defence,- he beats the ground with his feet, which he joins together as closely as possible, his chief aim is not to gore the dog with the point of his horn (which, when too sharp, is put into a wooden kind of sheath), but to slide one of them under the dog's belly, who creeps close to the ground to hinder it, and then to throw him so high in the air that he may break his neck in the fall.

​

To avoid this danger, the dog's friends are ready beneath him, some with their backs, to give him a soft reception; and others with long poles, which they offer him slantways, to the intent that, sliding down them, it may break the force of his fall. Notwithstanding all this care, a toss generally makes him sing to a very scurvy tune, and draw his phiz into a pitiful grimace. But unless he is totally stunned by his fall, he is sure to crawl towards the bull, come on't what will. Sometimes a second frisk into the air disables him for ever, but sometimes too, he fastens upon his enemy, and when once he has seized with his eye-teeth, he sticks to him like a leech, and would sooner die than leave his hold. Then the bull bellows and bounds and kicks, all to shake off the dog. In the end, either the dog tears out the piece he has laid on, and falls, or else remains fixed to him with an obstinacy that would never end, did they not pull him off. To call him away, would be in vain; to give him a hundred blows, would be as much so; you might cut him to pieces, joint by joint, before he would let him loose. What is to be done then? While some hold the bull, others thrust staves into the dog's mouth, and open it by main force."


A Bill for the suppression of the practice was introduced into the House of Commons in 1802, but was defeated by 13 votes, and it was not till the year 1835 that it was finally put down by Act of Parliament, which forbad the keeping of any house, pit, or other place for baiting or fighting any bull, bear, dog, or other animal; but even then it is recorded that the last place to obey the injunction was Oakengates where the last bull fight took place in 1836, having been omitted the year before on account of the cholera. At this event the bull broke loose from its stake and rushed madly amongst the crowd


Bull baiting was most popular sport at Wakes in North Shropshire at all events. James Gryce of Myddle described (in 1878) a bull baiting at Loppington at which he had been present when a boy as 'the most barbarous act I ever saw. It was young bull and had very little notion of tossing the dogs, which tore his ears and the skin off his face in shreds, and his mournful cries were awful. I was up a tree, and was afraid the earth would open and swallow us all up!'.



It was a sight, says another informant, to see the Colliers ranged on either side to make a lane for the ball to pass along, on his way to the spot where he was to be fastened and baited, each man holding a dog eager for the fray by the collar, to let him have a glimpse of Taurus. It was a question which looked the most ferocious, the bull, the dogs or the men. Only one dog was allowed to be loosed on the ball at a time, hence arose the proverbial saying 'one dog one bull' i.e. 'fair play', now applied in the Collieries to any kind of fight or fray.