The not-so sporting bulldog

F I had been writing this column a couple of centuries ago, then the bulldog would have been a legitimate sporting dog to write about. Bulldogs were still being bred for bull-baiting, the principles of which were quite simple. The bulldog would be entered against a staked bull and would be expected to grab the unfortunate bovine by the nose, not letting go until it had successfully pulled the bull to the ground. It did this by corkscrewing its body around the bull’s neck, unbalancing the latter until it eventually fell