me tell
you about the origin of trap shooting,
which began in England. Reporting
on sporting events in England began
in the 1710s and 1720s, this at a time
when the population of England
began to double between 1700 and 1800, and a new leisure class of titled,
gentry and upper-middling groups emerged.
Wagering needed winners and losers, so wagering
and
gambling has long been ingrained in British society. Clearly hunting was a rural
sport. But in pigeon shooting it attracted rural and city spectators, the
landowning aristocracy and gentry, farmers, townfolks, and countrymen, even
though the pigeon enclosure grounds could be a few miles outside a town. But it
was innkeepers and tavernkeepers who contributed probably the most at its
inception as they gained financial benefit form hosting pigeon shooting and
they existed in taverns
and inns up and down England for over a millennium, the best were
located
on turnpikes near large towns and cities, a turnpike being a road kept up in good shape by levying a toll on the
user such as coaches and stages. In these
establishments, wagering was generally associated with some form of sport
such as horse racing,
cockfighting, cricket, and pigeon shooting
where the latter had an enclosure,
along with their other functions of providing refreshments, food, lodging,
meetings, and trade activities.
potential for revenue that could be generated, inns’ and taverns’ keepers began promoting many
contests. The two played a highly
significant commercial role, often
helping arrange, advertise,
and host pigeon-shooting
matches. London was the key center for pigeon shooting and contests,
tied to the inn-and tavern subculture, and aristocratic gambling patronage, and
especially the high stakes “wagers” between
wealthy individuals on sporting contests that generated media coverage, wider
spectator interest, a larger betting market, and growing numbers of events,
increasingly on a commercial basis. Wagering encouraged the development of pigeon
shooting rules and
regulations in which to create “fair play”
in gambling terms and to avoid subsequent disputes.
wagering provided a strong
form of identification with the shooters
and the sport. The wagering of the
wealthy also gave real impetus to the
emerging sport of pigeon shooting. It was a sport that
required matching and eventually
handicapping, which were attempts to equalize
competition and create an uncertain outcome that encouraged wagering. In pigeon
shooting, matching shooters was part of the
ritual surrounding contests, encouraging status, honor, prestige, dignity, and
hopefully gives you the listener of my
podcast some idea of the origin of
pigeon shooting, of how it all
started, along with its earliest
development in England. And, in doing so, I believe you will marvel at
how well they shot with the old, clumsy, untrustworthy, smoothbore, muzzleloading
flintlocks using
black powder, for
when
the
shooter fired, there was an appreciable moment of time between the instant of
pulling the trigger and the
instant when the shot left the muzzle, and if the priming
was damp or blown away by the wind, the gun could not be fired at all,
and with black powder,
which they used, shooting with a double barrel on a windless day, the smoke would
hang
in front of the muzzle and blind the shooter on
many occasion preventing him from firing
his second barrel. If
that wasn’t enough, they had to hold the butt end of
the gun below the elbow until the pigeon was on the
wing. It seems a miracle that pigeon shooters
could manage
all these
inferior weapons so effectively.
me attempt to tell
you about the origin of trap shooting,
which began in England. Furthermore, I
must be forthright and tell you that
the exact time when pigeon shooting and matches came into vogue
that I have found no authentic
records verifying such, as
newspapers did
not begin reporting
on sporting events in England until
in the 1710s and 1720s, this at a time
when the population of England
began to double between 1700 and 1800, and a new leisure class of titled,
gentry and upper-middling groups emerged.
Wagering needed winners and losers, so wagering
and
gambling has long been ingrained in British society. Clearly hunting was a rural
sport. But in pigeon shooting it attracted rural and city spectators, the
landowning aristocracy and gentry, farmers, townfolks, and countrymen, even
though the pigeon enclosure grounds could be a few miles outside a town. But it
was innkeepers and tavernkeepers who contributed probably the most at its
inception as they gained financial benefit form hosting pigeon shooting and
they existed in taverns
and inns up and down England for over a millennium, the best were
located
on turnpikes near large towns and cities, a turnpike being a road kept up in good shape by levying a toll on the
user such as coaches and stages. In these
establishments, wagering was generally associated with some form of sport
such as horse racing,
cockfighting, cricket, and pigeon shooting
where the latter had an enclosure,
along with their other functions of providing refreshments, food, lodging,
meetings, and trade activities.
potential for revenue that could be generated, inns’ and taverns’ keepers began promoting many
contests. The two played a highly
significant commercial role, often
helping arrange, advertise,
and host pigeon-shooting
matches. London was the key center for pigeon shooting and contests,
tied to the inn-and tavern subculture, and aristocratic gambling patronage, and
especially the high stakes “wagers” between
wealthy individuals on sporting contests that generated media coverage, wider
spectator interest, a larger betting market, and growing numbers of events,
increasingly on a commercial basis. Wagering encouraged the development of pigeon
shooting rules and
regulations in which to create “fair play”
in gambling terms and to avoid subsequent disputes.
wagering provided a strong
form of identification with the shooters
and the sport. The wagering of the
wealthy also gave real impetus to the
emerging sport of pigeon shooting. It was a sport that
required matching and eventually
handicapping, which were attempts to equalize
competition and create an uncertain outcome that encouraged wagering. In pigeon
shooting, matching shooters was part of the
ritual surrounding contests, encouraging status, honor, prestige, dignity, and
hopefully gives you the listener of my
podcast some idea of the origin of
pigeon shooting, of how it all
started, along with its earliest
development in England. And, in doing so, I believe you will marvel at
how well they shot with the old, clumsy, untrustworthy, smoothbore, muzzleloading
flintlocks using
black powder, for
when
the
shooter fired, there was an appreciable moment of time between the instant of
pulling the trigger and the
instant when the shot left the muzzle, and if the priming
was damp or blown away by the wind, the gun could not be fired at all,
and with black powder,
which they used, shooting with a double barrel on a windless day, the smoke would
hang
in front of the muzzle and blind the shooter on
many occasion preventing him from firing
his second barrel. If
that wasn’t enough, they had to hold the butt end of
the gun below the elbow until the pigeon was on the
wing. It seems a miracle that pigeon shooters
could manage
all these
inferior weapons so effectively.
me attempt to tell
you about the origin of trap shooting,
which began in England. Furthermore, I
must be forthright and tell you that
the exact time when pigeon shooting and matches came into vogue
that I have found no authentic
records verifying such, as
newspapers did
not begin reporting
on sporting events in England until
in the 1710s and 1720s, this at a time
when the population of England
began to double between 1700 and 1800, and a new leisure class of titled,
gentry and upper-middling groups emerged.
Wagering needed winners and losers, so wagering
and
gambling has long been ingrained in British society. Clearly hunting was a rural
sport. But in pigeon shooting it attracted rural and city spectators, the
landowning aristocracy and gentry, farmers, townfolks, and countrymen, even
though the pigeon enclosure grounds could be a few miles outside a town. But it
was innkeepers and tavernkeepers who contributed probably the most at its
inception as they gained financial benefit form hosting pigeon shooting and
they existed in taverns
and inns up and down England for over a millennium, the best were
located
on turnpikes near large towns and cities, a turnpike being a road kept up in good shape by levying a toll on the
user such as coaches and stages. In these
establishments, wagering was generally associated with some form of sport
such as horse racing,
cockfighting, cricket, and pigeon shooting
where the latter had an enclosure,
along with their other functions of providing refreshments, food, lodging,
meetings, and trade activities.
potential for revenue that could be generated, inns’ and taverns’ keepers began promoting many
contests. The two played a highly
significant commercial role, often
helping arrange, advertise,
and host pigeon-shooting
matches. London was the key center for pigeon shooting and contests,
tied to the inn-and tavern subculture, and aristocratic gambling patronage, and
especially the high stakes “wagers” between
wealthy individuals on sporting contests that generated media coverage, wider
spectator interest, a larger betting market, and growing numbers of events,
increasingly on a commercial basis. Wagering encouraged the development of pigeon
shooting rules and
regulations in which to create “fair play”
in gambling terms and to avoid subsequent disputes.
wagering provided a strong
form of identification with the shooters
and the sport. The wagering of the
wealthy also gave real impetus to the
emerging sport of pigeon shooting. It was a sport that
required matching and eventually
handicapping, which were attempts to equalize
competition and create an uncertain outcome that encouraged wagering. In pigeon
shooting, matching shooters was part of the
ritual surrounding contests, encouraging status, honor, prestige, dignity, and
hopefully gives you the listener of my
podcast some idea of the origin of
pigeon shooting, of how it all
started, along with its earliest
development in England. And, in doing so, I believe you will marvel at
how well they shot with the old, clumsy, untrustworthy, smoothbore, muzzleloading
flintlocks using
black powder, for
when
the
shooter fired, there was an appreciable moment of time between the instant of
pulling the trigger and the
instant when the shot left the muzzle, and if the priming
was damp or blown away by the wind, the gun could not be fired at all,
and with black powder,
which they used, shooting with a double barrel on a windless day, the smoke would
hang
in front of the muzzle and blind the shooter on
many occasion preventing him from firing
his second barrel. If
that wasn’t enough, they had to hold the butt end of
the gun below the elbow until the pigeon was on the
wing. It seems a miracle that pigeon shooters
could manage
all these
inferior weapons so effectively.
