Page:A Handbook for Travellers in Spain - Vol 1.djvu/82

[66] stripped of its chivalrous character, and degenerated into the vulgar butchery of low mercenary bull-fighters, just as did our rings and tournaments of chivalry into those of ruffian pugilists.

The Spanish bulls have been immemorially famous. Hercules, that renowned cattle-fancier, was lured into Spain by the lowing of the herds of Geryon, the ancestor (se dice) of the Duque de Osuna. The best bulls in Andalucia are bred by Cabrera at Utrera, in the identical pastures where Geryon’s herds were pastured and “lifted” by the demigod, whence, according to Strabo (iii. 169), they were obliged, after fifty days’ feeding, to be driven off from fear of bursting from fat. Some of the finest Castilian bulls, such as appear at Madrid, are bred on the Jarama, near Aranjuez.

Bull-fights are extremely expensive, costing from 300l. to 400l. a time; accordingly, except in the chief capitals and Andalucia, they are only got up now and then, on great church festivals and upon royal and public rejoicings. As Andalucia is the head-quarters of the ring, and Seville the capital, the alma mater of the tauromachists of the Peninsula, the necessity of sending to a distance for artists and animals increases the expense. The prices of admittance, compared to the wages of labour in Spain, are high.

Bull-baiting in any shape is irresistible to the Spaniards, his hostility to the bull grows with his growth, and the very children play at toro, just as ours do at leap-frog. Few grown-up Spaniards, when on a journey, can pass a bull (or hardly even a cow) without bullying and insulting him, by waving their cloaks in the defiance of el capeo.

The profits of the bull-fight are usually destined for the support of hospitals, and, certainly, the fever and the frays subsequent to the show provide patients as well as funds. The Plaza is usually under the superintendence of a society of noblemen and gentlemen, called Maestranzas, instituted in 1562, by Philip II., in the hope of improving the breed of Spanish horses and men-at-arms. The king is always the Hermano mayor, or elder brother. These tauromachian brotherhoods were confined to four cities, viz. Ronda, Seville, Granada, and Valencia, to which Zaragoza was added by Ferdinand VII., the only reward it ever obtained for its heroic defence against the invaders. The members, or maestrantes, of each city are distinguished by the colour of their uniforms: as they must all be of gentle blood, Hidalgos, and are entitled to wear a gaudy costume, the person-decoration honour is much sought for.

The day appointed for the bull-feast is announced by placards of all colours. We omit to notice their contents, as the traveller will see them on every wall.

The first thing is to secure a good place beforehand, by sending for a Boletin de Sombra, a “ticket in the shade.” The prices of the seats vary according to position; the best places are on the northern side, in the shade. The transit of the sun over the Plaza, the zodiacal progress into Taurus, is certainly not the worst calculated astronomical observation in Spain: the line of shadow defined on the arena is marked by a gradation of prices. The sun of torrid, tawny Spain, on which it once never set, is not to be trifled with, and the summer season is selected because pastures are plentiful, which keep