Classic Poem

But now a sport more formidable
Had raked together village rabble;
'Twas an old way of recreating,
Which learnèd butchers call bear-baiting.
A bold adventurous exercise
With ancient heroes in high prize,
For authors do affirm it came
From Isthmian and Nemæan game:
Others derive it from the Bear
That's fixed in northern hemisphere,
And round about the pole does make
A circle, like a bear at stake.

We read, in Nero's time, the Heathen
When they destroyed the Christian brethren,
They sewed them in the skins of bears,
And then set dogs about their ears;
From whence, no doubt, th' invention came
Of this lewd anti-christian game.


So lawyers lest the bear defendant
And plaintiff dog should make an end on't,
Do stave and tail with writs of error,
Reverse of judgment and demurrer,
To let them breathe a while, and then
Cry whoop, and set them on again.