Abstract
A further neglected aspect of amenity considerations shaping rural society and the economy was blood sports. This involved the ritual or at least stylised killing of birds and animals, the latent function being male bonding among the elite. Blood sports were ancient pastimes of those with access to land but were formalised by the Victorians. A side-effect was the protection of the preferred prey by severe Game Laws that came to dominate rural society. A wide range of quarry narrowed towards the fox and pheasant, whose hunting and shooting became obsessions of the rich and led to extraordinary slaughter. The importance of the activity is signalled by the fact that during periods of agricultural depression shooting rights often became more valuable than farm rents.
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Jones, E.L. (2018). Killing Grounds. In: Landed Estates and Rural Inequality in English History. Palgrave Studies in Economic History. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74869-6_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74869-6_6
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