Bear-baiting

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Bear-baiting in the 18th century, engraving, 1796.

Bear-baiting is a blood sport involving the baiting of bears.

1 Bear-baiting in England
2 Bear-baiting today
3 Other uses
4 In fiction
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Bear-baiting in England

Bear-baiting was popular in England until the nineteenth century. From the sixteenth century, many herds of bears were maintained for baiting. In its best-known form, there were purpose-built arenas for the entertainment, called bear-gardens, consisting of a circular high fenced area, the "pit", and raised seating for spectators. A post would be set in the ground towards the edge of the pit and the bear chained to it, either by the leg or neck. The dogs would then be set on it, being replaced as they tired or were wounded or killed. For a long time, the main bear-garden in London was the Paris Garden at Southwark.

Henry VIII was a fan and had a pit constructed at Whitehall. Elizabeth I was also fond of the entertainment; it featured regularly in her tours. In 1575, a baiting display for her had thirteen bears, and when an attempt was made to ban baiting on Sundays, she overruled Parliament.

A variation involved other animals being baited, especially bulls, but also, on one curious occasion, a pony with an ape tied to its back was baited: a spectator described that "...with the screaming of the ape, beholding the curs hanging from the ears and neck of the pony, is very laughable".^{[citation needed]}

Attempts to end the entertainment were first made in England by the Puritans, with little effect. In 1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay wrote, "The Puritan hated bearbaiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators." The deaths of a number of spectators, when a stand collapsed at the Paris Gardens on January 12, 1583 was viewed by early Puritans as a sign of God's anger, not because of the cruelty but because the bear-baiting was taking place on a Sunday. ^[1]

By the late 17th century "the conscience of cultivated people seems to have been touched",^{[citation needed]} but it was not until 1835 that baiting was prohibited by Parliament, a ruling that was soon extended across the Empire.

[edit] Bear-baiting today

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Today, bear-baiting is banned in many countries, but can still be found in parts of the Middle East and Pakistan.

[edit] Other uses

The term may also be used for the hunting practice of luring a bear with bait to an arranged killing spot. The hunter places an amount of food, such as raw meat and/or sweets, every day at a given spot until the hunter notices the food is being taken each day, accompanied by bear tracks. He then chooses a day to await the bear, killing it when it arrives to feed.

Because the practice is time consuming and disrupts a person's daily schedule, the term "bear baiting" is sometimes used in Alaska to mean "screwing off," for example if a person is late for work or misses an appointment.