Another kind of Show Folk, but rougher and more brutal, were the people who looked after the bears and the dogs. Bull baiting, bear baiting, sometimes horse baiting, together with badger baiting, duck hunting, cock throwing, dog fighting and cock fighting, were the chosen and common sports of the people. Baiting of every kind there was wherever there were dogs and bulls and badgers.
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Bear baiting was so popular that fellows roamed about the country leading a bear which they offered to be baited for so much an hour at the inns which they passed. The master of the ‘King’s Game’ had power to seize upon any mastiff dogs, bears, or bulls for the King’s service and to bait in any place within his dominions.
Besant/London,1912
THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT 
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