August 18, 2006
The history of the bulldog is ancient: they may be descendants of the ancient Molossus, or an ancient British variation on it that impressed the Romans, or that may all be a load of malarkey. Certainly they were bred in England for bull baiting, in which they attempted to pin the bull by its nose, while the bull attempted to throw them high in the air (owners standing by with long poles to try to break the dog's fall). But bulldogs were also used to fight other animals. A celebrated fight with lions may have hastened the ban on baiting generally. Monkeys were also put in the ring with bulldogs: the dogs came off second best against Jacco Maccaco, the "monkey gladiator", who apparently has his own Ballad. Richard F Stratton doesn't believe that monkeys could beat bulldogs: he might also disbelieve stories of human being baiting. Once baiting was banned, breeders began to exaggerate the typical qualities of the bulldog, producing a breed which, far from fighting lions, was prone to dificulty with "breathing, drooling, stamina, defective organs, passing gas, dysplasia, and premature death". The only canonical bulldogs apart from the original are the smaller, bat-eared French variety, but in recent times a number of variants have been created including the Olde Englishe, supposed to resemble the older kind of bulldog, American, and Miniatures. Sometimes they even wear scarves...
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Amazing! I hadn't heard of bull baiting. "After a lot of controversy and debates, the opposition became so strong that, in 1835 a new law was proclaimed in which all combat between animals was made prohibited." Encouraging dogs to torment plants such as foxes and rabbits was not prohibited, however.
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Oooooh, whooza hansome gemmemman im him widdy biddy tuxie? Yoooooooza hansome gemmema, yessooo is! Awoojawoojawooja! Does de hansome gemmemman wn' im tummy rubbed? Yesssee does! Ow! De hansome gemmeman got sharp widdy teeth, yessim does!
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> A celebrated fight with lions that's a fascinating read. > the smaller, bat-eared French variety i see them a lot around paris. always thought they were some sort of bull terrier/pug crossbreed :-) nice post, plegmund!
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Beautimous post Pleggy! ))) BULL-BAITING This became popular in England during the early part of the thirteenth century. It was preceded, some two hundred years earlier, by bear-baiting. History tells us that on St Brice's day, November i3th 1209, Earl Warren, then Lord of Stamford, while looking down from his castle, observed an enraged bull being tormented by a pack of butcher's dogs which then chased the terrified creature through the town: "This sight so pleased the Earf, that he gave the castle meadow, where the bull's combat began, for a common to the butchers of the town, after the first grass was mowed, on condition that they should find a 'mad bull' on a day six weeks before Christmas for the continuance of that sport for ever. This is pretty much the human quality that disgusts me most. Fuckin' asshole. (^^^also disgusted by this quality)
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Woof woof! You deserve a treat, Pleggy!
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TUM, if that dog's name isn't Zowie, it damned well should be.
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Bulldog gas. Fatal.
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That's an appealing recipe, islander - it's just the site name that ever so slightly puts me off...
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O seeing is bull-leaving! True beauty, Plegmund, thanks!
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Lovely post, Plegs. My mom had an English bulldog named Jandy when I was just a baby. There's a picture of tiny me sharing an armchair with huge, splayed-leg Jandy, me looking disgusted, Jandy looking disinterested. I'm guessing gas had recently been passed. The drooling was also profuse, but not as much as with the Newfoundland, her next dog. When he shook his head, the room would be plastered, ceiling to floor.
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That was no Jandy, that was my quid!
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MY quid is a gentleman. He would NEVER pass gas before me.
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Matzoball on David Letterman
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That was exhilarating!
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I found 1:45 - 2:05 surpisingly erotic.
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And surprisingly surpising. Or something.
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Farewell to the British Bulldog, as the Kennel Club ban distinctive features. But is it enough?