More needs to be said of the bull- and bear-baiting, which probably constituted the chief amusement of the crowds from the city, and which was later closely associated with the drama and with playhouses. This sport, now surviving in the bull-fights of Spain and of certain Spanish-American countries, was in former times one of the most popular species of entertainment cultivated by the English. Even so early as 1174, William Fitz-Stephen, in his _Descriptio Nobilissimae Ciuitatis Londoniae_, under the heading _De Ludis_, records that the London citizens diverted themselves on holiday occasions with the baiting of beasts, when "strong horn-goring bulls, or immense bears, contend fiercely with dogs that are pitted against them."[177] In some towns the law required that bulls intended for the butcher-shop should first be baited for the amusement of the public before being led to the slaughter-house. Erasmus speaks of the "many herds of bears" which he saw in England "maintained for the purpose of baiting." The baiting was accomplished by tying the bulls or bears to stakes, or when possible releasing them in an amphitheatre, and pitting against them bull-dogs, bred through centuries for strength and ferocity. Occasionally other animals, as ponies and apes, were brought into the fight, and the sport was varied in miscellaneous ways. Some of the animals, by unusual courage or success, endeared themselves to the heart of the sporting public. Harry Hunks, George Stone, and Sacarson were famous bears in Shakespeare's time; and the names of many of the "game bulls" and "mastiff dogs" became household words throughout London. [Footnote 177: "Pingues tauri cornupetae, seu vrsi immanes, cum obiectis depugnant canibus."] [Illustration: THE BANKSIDE Showing the Bear- and Bull-baiting Rings. (From the _Map of London_ by Braun and Hogenbergius, representing the city in 1554-1558.)] [Illustration: THE BANKSIDE This was the second district of London used for public playhouses. Notice the amphitheatres for animal-baiting. (From William Smith's MS. of the Description of England, _c._ 1580.)]