Redquills

Eslin Redquills by Redquill Rooster

Long ago and far away, in England, there lived a family of cockfighters The Elsins or Eslins, which ever you prefer. This family owned a strain of terrific leg fighting fowl with unexcelled speed, topping, and cutting ability. By topping I mean that they were very seldom if ever topped. They always started fast and ferocious, shuffling and cutting their opponent to pieces. If they did not win quickly they usually did not win at all. The fowl came to a bright red-orange in color, with black over brown spangles on their chests. One other mark that will come out in greater detail later in this history is their large jet black eyes.

Anyway, the Eslin fowl, Redhorse, were starting to come smaller and more nervous as inbreeding went on. Obviously what was needed was a cross of a different blood. The Eslins procured a power strain of fowl called Redquills from a family named Winans, who lived in Baltimore. They crossed this strain on their Redhorses.

Incidentally, the Redquills had red eyes and usually came yellow legged. They were long winged and had lots of stamina. Their tails were jet black (the Redhorse had bronze tails). However, it should be noted that this first cross (1/2 Quill – 1/2 Redhorse) was not, repeat, NOT very good. So they crossed the Redquill blood down to a quarter or less, and came up with the Eslin Redquills.

Today, pure Eslin blood is hard to find, and also it should be known that the pure Winan blood is GONE. So, anybody who claims to have pure Redquill, and their fowl are red eyed and just red or brown-red in color, does not, repeat DOES NOT have pure Redquill. It just is not so.

I hope this will answer questions and also shed light on the grand old strain of Eslin Redquills.

Redquills

by W.T. Johnson & Frank Holcomb

James Eslin bred a red eyed, yellow- legged , blue-red, topknot cock from his friend Winan over his Brown/red hens, which carried the blood of the original fowl Mr. Eslin’s father had fotten from Lord Fairfax (Fairfax was a friend of George Washington and imported game fowl from Lord Derby). These were duckwings, pyles and white-legged light reds. These fowl had many fresh infusions of Irish blood. They carried the “Old Hickory” blood of General Andrew Jackson’s, Blackhackle from Jarvis Elise and several infusions of Hansbrough’s Meyell greys, and the blood of the Mexican cock “General Santa Anna” and blood from Thomas O’Neil. The produce were first called YellowJackets and later Redquills. The Wellslager rose comb Brown/Red from Ohlenschlager was later added, as well as a Brown/Red Tasseled “Counterfeit” cock from John Goss of Maryland.

From History of Game Strains by W.T. Johnson & Frank Holcomb