pigeon-match

Then they had a conversation befitting the day and their time of life: about the next pigeon-match at Battersea, with relative bets upon Ross and Osbaldiston; about Mademoiselle Ariane of the French

Vanity Fair 2006

'I say, Morringer, do you remember the last pigeon-match you and I shot in, at Hurlingham?'

Australian Writers Desmond Byrne

It is violent at a house dinner, fervent in a cigar shop, full of devotion at a cricket or a pigeon-match, or in the gathering of a steeple-chase.

Tancred Or, The New Crusade Benjamin Disraeli 1842

Then they had a conversation befitting the day and their time of life: about the next pigeon-match at Battersea, with relative bets upon Ross and

Vanity Fair William Makepeace Thackeray 1837

ON returning to the pupils 'room Lawless commenced (to my great delight, as I thereby enjoyed a complete immunity from his somewhat troublesome attentions) a full, true, and particular account of the pigeon-match, in which his friend Clayton had, with unrivalled skill, slain a sufficient number of victims to furnish forth pies for the supply of the whole mess during the ensuing fortnight.

Frank Fairlegh Scenes From The Life Of A Private Pupil Frank E. Smedley 1835

The contest being a pigeon-match, I humbly proposed, as an amendment, that the prize should be a tumbler -- which I lost by a minority of three.

Sketches — Complete Robert Seymour 1818

And through much boasting of the high stakes he had had on this and that pigeon-match then, and not a few bitter complaints of the harsh hospitality of the House he "had come to" now, it never seemed to occur to him to connect the two, or to warn the lad who hung upon his lips that one cannot eat his cake with the rash appetites of youth, and yet hope to have it for the support and nourishment of his old age.

Daddy Darwin's Dovecot: A Country Tale 1881

And through much boasting of the high stakes he had had on this and that pigeon-match then, and not a few bitter complaints of the harsh hospitality of the House he "had come to" now, it never seemed to occur to him to connect the two, or to warn the lad who hung upon his lips that one cannot eat his cake with the rash appetites of youth, and yet hope to have it for the support and nourishment of his old age.

Jackanapes, Daddy Darwin's Dovecot and Other Stories Juliana Horatia Gatty Ewing 1863

That I may not keep the reader in suspense I will at once inform him that I was indebted for this agreeable surprise to the kindness and skill of Lawless, who, having returned from his pigeon-match half-an-hour sooner than was necessary, had devoted it to the construction of what he called a "booby trap," which ingenious piece of mechanism was arranged in the following manner: The victim's room-door was placed ajar, and upon the top thereof a Greek Lexicon, or any other equally ponderous volume, was carefully balanced, and upon this was set in its turn a jug of water.

Frank Fairlegh Scenes From The Life Of A Private Pupil Frank E. Smedley 1835

"Our next meeting," resumed Saggers, "is on Thursday next when the pigeon-match takes place for a silver-cup -- the 'Crack Shots' against the

Sketches — Complete Robert Seymour 1818