When  the  title  of  king  was  offered  to  Oliver  Cromwell  in  1658,  and  he
refused  the  offer,  saying,  *'  Royalty  is  but  a  feather  in  a  man's  cap  :  let  children
enjoy  their  rattle,"  he  may  have  referred  to  another  and  less  distinguishing
practice :

Naturall  Idiots  and  Fooles  haue  and  still  do  acciistome  themselves  to  weare  in  their  cappes
cocks'  feathers,  or  a  hat  with  a  necke  and  head  of  a  cocke  on  the  top,  and  a  bell  thereon. —
MiNSHBU,  16S7.
Feather,  To  show  the  white,  to  lose  heart,  to  exhibit  one's  self  as  a
coward.  The  pure-breed  game-cock  has  only  red  and  black  feathers.  A  cross-
breed bird  is  known  by  a  white  feather  in  his  tail.  The  slightest  impurity  of
strain  is  said  to  destroy  the  bird's  pluck  :  hence  cocks  who  showed  a  white
feather  were  never  trained  for  the  pit.  The  common  adage,  "  Any  cock  will
fight  on  its  own  dunghill,"  is  frequently  qualified  by  the  addition  that  it  must
be  one  without  a  white  feather  to  fight  in  the  pit.
