# Help me parse this 18th-century missive (about Independence Day celebrations)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-parse-this-18th-century-missive-about-independence-day-celebrations/1031299>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 30, 2026, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-parse-this-18th-century-missive-about-independence-day-celebrations/1031299 "2026-06-30T14:33:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-parse-this-18th-century-missive-about-independence-day-celebrations/1031299/21 "2026-06-30T22:05:59Z")

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> [@Dorjan](#):
>
> More popular colonial American games:
> 
> Tag, Hoop & Stick, Quoits (precursor to horseshoes), Lawn bowling.

Don’t forget the ever-popular “ripping the head off of a live goose”.

> **[Goose pulling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goose_pulling)**
>
> Goose pulling (also called gander pulling, goose riding, pulling the goose or goose neck tearing) was a blood sport practiced in parts of the Netherlands, Belgium, England, and North America from the 17th to the 19th centuries. It originated in the 12th century in Spain and was spread around Europe by the Spanish Third. The sport involved fastening a live goose with a well-greased head to a rope or pole that was stretched across a road. A man riding on horseback at a full gallop would attempt It...

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**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\
**Post date:** [July 1, 2026, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-parse-this-18th-century-missive-about-independence-day-celebrations/1031299/22 "2026-07-01T16:21:08Z")

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> [@hogarth](#):
>
> Don’t forget the ever-popular “ripping the head off of a live goose”.

I’m reminded of Ozzie biting the head off a bat. (I think the bat was already dead in that case, though?)

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**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\
**Post date:** [July 1, 2026, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-parse-this-18th-century-missive-about-independence-day-celebrations/1031299/23 "2026-07-01T16:26:15Z")

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I don’t think it was ever as popular as dog fighting or cock fighting. There was also the “cock shy”, where you throw sticks at a chicken until it dies.

> **[Cock throwing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cock_throwing)**
>
> Cock throwing, also known as cock-shying or throwing at cocks, was a blood sport widely practised in England until the late 18th century. A rooster was tied to a post, and people took turns throwing weighted sticks called "coksteles" at the bird until it died. Cock throwing was traditionally associated with Shrove Tuesday. In 1737, a contributor to The Gentleman's Magazine argued that cock throwing arose from anti-French sentiment in England, as the cock played an emblematic role in the culture o...

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