the victor generally left his rival dead upon the field. The ballad proceeds:—
'The cock-pit was near to the church,
As an ornament to the town;
One side was an old coal-pit,
And the other was well gorsed round.'
Gorse was a kind of heath or furze.
'Peter Hadley peep'd through the gorse,
In order to see the cocks fight;
Spittle jobb'd his eye out with a fork,
And said, 'Blast you, it sarves you right.'
This is very spirited and expressive, though the false quantities render it difficult to read.
'Some folks may think this is strange,
Who Wednesbury never knew,
But those who have ever been there,
Won't have the least doubt but it's true.
For they are all savage by nature,
And guilty of deeds that are shocking,
Jack Baker he whack'd his own feyther,
And so ended the Wednesbury cocking,' "
"It is very fine certainly," said Edric, who was half asleep.
