32 FIFTY YEARS AGO IN ESSEX.
pabulum, and it therefore has become rare. But for all this, let not
the sanitarian consider he has destroyed it; some day it will—follow-
ing a cyclic law—again appear and have its period of abundance and
virulence.
Many animals and birds, now almost extinct, were fifty years
ago not uncommon. The badger had not disappeared, and although
I do not remember the capture of one in my own parish, still they
were found here and there in the Hundred, and the catching of one
gave an opportunity for the barbarous sport of badger-baiting, and of
this chance the rustics generally took advantage. The county police
did not exist, and there was therefore no one whose special business
it was to prevent a meeting of this kind. Without wishing in any
way to excuse the cruelty of the proceeding, I really do not consider
that the poor beast, as a rule, suffered any very great harm ; at any rate,
he was usually quite ready to renew his own part in the sport next day.
The dogs, judging by their yells, and the way they scuttled out of
the tub or trench, were the greatest sufferers, and few, unless they
had some bull-blood in their veins, had pluck enough to draw or
even to face the terrible jaws of the badger. On some of the occa-
sions on which I witnessed this sport, the badger was placed in a long
box, and in others a trench was dug in the ground and covered by a
board. In either case it required a very determined dog to dislodge
the quarry. This was generally accomplished by his being seized
near the head, and as the badger's skin is loose and the hair very long
and thick, the process of "drawing" did not, in reality, cause much
damage to the animal.
Foxes were plentiful, as now, and were occasionally very bold in
their attacks on the poultry; but I dare say it may have been when
pressed by hunger, and the necessity of providing for a family. The
pole-cat was frequently found, the large hedges before mentioned
being favourable to its movements, protecting it, and forming good
hunting grounds. Those who indulged much in the sport of rabbiting
generally managed to disturb one or more every season; now, I
doubt if there is a single one left in the county, unless it be in the
"happy hunting grounds" of Epping Forest.
The greatest changes that have come over the district have been
among the birds. Hawks, ravens, carrion crows, magpies, owls, and
other predaceous birds abounded, and I remember it was always
thought needful to place the coops with young chickens close to the
windows, as a protection against hawks and these other birds of