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Black and White Cocksan apparently un-Googleable name… was a gambling game played in England in the 19th century. In 1838 it was described as a “well-known game of chance”,A but it seems to have died out before the 20th century.
The caption from the book reads: “A remarkable Caricatura, compounded of ſeveral ſpecies, being by ſome ſuppoſed to be a Sea-Calf, by others a Sea Lion; after having been toſſed about on his native Element for ſome Years, he was caſt aſhore on a gaming Iſland, where he was ſo captivated with Cards and Dice, that he commenced Gameſter, and fixed upon the Iſland ever ſince.” 🅮
The form of the game is still obscure to me, but based upon brief descriptions, it was a gambling game played with a spinning wheel,B probably much like the game E–O (an early form of Roulette). A table with black and white cocks (presumably roosters) painted on it was used, probably as a staking layout,C where bets as low as a penny could be placed.A Like other games of this type, it was played at racecourse meetsD and fairs.E
An earlier depiction of or reference to the game possibly appears in a satirical depiction of John Byng in the book A Political and Satirical History of the Years 1756 and 1757 (p. 36). At top left, opposite the EO table, is “Blacks & Whites”.
In an 1877 catalogue of the British MuseumG[p. 1076] this is interpreted as a reference to the (in)famous White’s gentlemen’s club and gambling house, but it seems to more straightforwardly refer to the game, especially when positioned in a pair with E–O.
References
Anonymous (). ‘Tiverton’. Western Times, : page 3.
Anonymous (). ‘Sharpers At Altcar’. Liverpool Courier and Commercial Advertiser, : page 6.
Anonymous (). ‘Old Bailey’. Morning Chronicle, : page 3. London.
Anonymous (). ‘Eastbourne Hunt Races’. Eastbourne Gazette, : page 4.
Anonymous (). ‘Camberwell Fair’. Star, : page 4. London.
E. Morris (publisher) (). A Political and Satirical History of the Years 1756 and 1757. E. Morris: London.
Stephens, Frederic (). Catalogue of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum: Division I. Political and Personal Satires volume 3 (part 2): ‘1751 to circa 1760’.