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In theElizabethan era (1558–1603), there was a wide range of leisure activities entertaining both the nobility and the common classes. Among these leisure activities wereanimal fighting,team sports,individual sports,games, dramatics,music andthe arts.
A variety of pastimes which would now be consideredblood sports were popular.Cock fighting was a common pastime, and the bets on this game could amount to thousands of pounds, an exorbitant amount of money in those days, and many respectable gentlemen lost all their money this way.[citation needed]Henry VIII had aroyal cockpit built at one of his palaces.
Young boys on Shrove Tuesday would normally bring in their ownfighting rooster and would spend the afternoon at school placing bets on which rooster would win[citation needed]. The most famous cock-pit in London was inDrury Lane, and most towns and villages had their own pit.
There were other common animal sports:bear-baiting,bullfighting,dog fighting,[1] andcock throwing.Bowls was also extremely popular in the Elizabethan era.[citation needed]
Various types of hunting were popular with the nobility. The stag, boar, roe, buck, badgers, otters, hares, and foxes were also hunted. Greyhounds and Irish Wolfhounds were common for hunting.
For the upper class,hawking was a popular sport. Much time was spent on training a hawk or falcon, and keeping it in good condition, requiring many pieces of expensive, specialized equipment, making it too expensive for the lower classes.[2]
Queen Elizabeth I was very fond of both hunting and hawking[2]
Elizabethan stylefootball was comparable to the present-day sports ofrugby union andrugby league. Two teams rushed against each other, trying to get the "ball" in through the goalposts. "Cudgels" was also a popular sport among young men.[3] A type ofstick fighting, it was a sport effectively training for sword fighting, but using woodenwasters or simplecudgels.
Running, jumping, fencing,jousting,archery, andskittles were also practiced, with fishing as the most relaxing and harmless pastime.
Children enjoyed playingleap-frog, blind man's bluff and hide-and-seek, which are enjoyed by many children throughout Britain even today.
Elizabethans enjoyed playing cards, with a game calledtriumph (modern daywhist) being popular.Dice,backgammon anddraughts were also played. Men mostly played these games as it was deemed inappropriate for a woman to gamble; however, Queen Elizabeth the first enjoyed playing cards and was an avid gambler.[citation needed] Elizabethans bet on these games with different currencies, mainly including money.
Music was greatly enjoyed throughout this era, as seen through quite a few family evenings including musical performances. Children were taught to sing and dance at a very early age and became used to performing in public during such evenings. Keyboard instruments such asharpsichords,clavichords,dulcimers andvirginals were played. Woodwind instruments like woodsy,crumhorns,flutes and stringed instruments such aslutes andrebecs were also widely used.
Court dances included thepavane andgalliard,[4] thealmain and thevolta, whilst among popular dances were thebranle,TheBarley-Break (a setting byWilliam Byrd is inMy Ladye Nevells Booke),Nobody’s Jig (of which a version was set byRichard Farnaby) and theShake-a-Trot.
The plays were an extremely popular pastime, withWilliam Shakespeare's plays taking the lead in audience.[citation needed] Quite a few theatres were built in and around London at this time including "The Globe", "The Swan" and "The Fortune". Little scenery was used but props were used widely. The props were quite realistic, with innards of pigs being strewn across the stage when a man's body was shown to be cut open.[citation needed]