Bearbait

Could any thing afford a stronger contrast to the grave and certainly severe study to which Elizabeth had habituated herself, than the vain and fantastic puerility of many of her recreations and habits, the unintellectual brutality of the bearbaits which she admired, or the gaudy and glittering pageants in which she delighted?

Congleton had a reputation for bearbaiting and went to some lengths to protect it, sending messengers to Knutsford and Bunbury to ensure that the bearwards got to the Congleton bearbait (see pp 639, 653).

A witness to a bearbait in 1575 intriguingly describes the animal's struggle like a kind of dance, who "if he were ta'en once, then by what shift with biting, with clawing, with roaring, with tossing, and tumbling, he would work and wind himself loose from them."

I went first this morning to the carcass of the bison we had killed for bearbait ; I found a bear had been there, and had already had his breakfast.

Even with the use of permits and other restrictions, baiting is still widely practiced, as shown by the following quote from T.V. Russell, Supervisor of Shoshone National Forest: "Enclosed is a copy of the bearbait permit we have been issuing on the Shoshone National Forest for the past two years. We have a general guideline that baits must be 2½-3 miles apart.

Horse patrols with Wyoming Game and Fish Department wardens located three illegal bearbait sites; two were located in ldaho and one barely into Wyoming.

The worst ones for straying, curiously enough, were three broken-down old “bearbaits,” which went by themselves, as is generally the case with the cast-off horses of a herd.

Listen you ol' chunk of bearbait, you get ornery with me and I'll sic Mollie on you again.