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The Cane Corso, Guardian of the Manor-Farm
The manor-farm in Southern Italy and Sicily was an antique and fascinating entity: a small organized and autonomous village; a self-sufficient rural unit of production that was often located in a territorial position which would become a center of development; a little fortress against any aggression; and a center promoting agricultural, pastoral, and commercial innovation. Since the time of Swabo-Angevin domination until the modern era, years of experience have made the manor-farm a reference point and an inspirational model of the rural southern economy. The peasants engaged in agricultural labor often needed to overcome serious difficulties: they had to defend themselves from the Saracens who came from the sea, find a safety amidst the constant inter-city and factional fighting, stand up to the aggression of the brigands who ravaged the countryside, find a manageable way to traverse the distances to inhabited centers to purchase supplies and sell their produce, struggling with particularly uneven terrain and traveling along rough roads. They organized their existence by fortifying themselves in a defensive posture around preexisting structures such as watch-towers, castles, and walled country-houses. A rational arrangement of the buildings would spread out in a rectangle from a primary nucleus consisting of a fenced-in courtyard (curtis) delimited by the various farm-buildings. The courtyard was usually used to raise chickens and pigs and gave the space necessary for habitation and day-to-day activity. A small building (domus) was meant for the land-owner and the agricultural manager and his assistants. A series of other buildings (casalinum) had multiple functions: warehouses, barns, mills, ovens, presses, cellars, bunk-houses for seasonal workers, houses for the foreman and the farmers, and, as time passed, a sheep fold (jazzo), stables, dove-aviaries, a few olive trees, a little vineyard, a garden and a citrus-orchard. The Chapel occupied the central part of the complex and its architectural form was particularly well-thought out. Outside of the enclosed area were found the various plots intended for the cultivation of cereals and pasture for free or semi-free range cattle and horses. The manor-farms in the South are numerous and diverse, and it is very difficult to classify them even if a certain typology can be clearly defined by observing the preexistent structure at the origin of the complex. In fact one can still see tower-based manor-farms, castle-farms, and compact manor-farms where the various elements are clustered around a central quadrangle. On the Adriatic coast which runs from Polignano to Brindisi, these complexes testify to an unbroken continuity from past to present. In the vales of Itria, in keeping with the typical architecture of the area, the manor farms present original compositions consisting of harmonious groups of trulli (cone-roofed stone buildings). We do not want to stray from our subject any more than is permissible, but we feel that this information is useful because it is closely tied to the Cane Corso, who was introduced into this environment as a valid helper who effectively carried out the tasks called for by the work and customs of farm life. In the farm environment the Corso became a chained dog: by day incorruptible vigil; by night, freed from its chain, armed and combative guardian. It was a chained dog when it was used to guard the permanently stabled livestock and the farm-buildings and barns. It was normal for the farm-manors to be visited during the day by carters who came to load and unload grain and all kinds of materials; by butchers who came to buy live animals, by other merchants who took milk and other agricultural products to distribution centers and bought the cheese, dairy products, and whatever else the farm produced from its own products. A tough leather collar with a rotating ring secured the chain to a cord mounted on a pulley that ran on an aerial track that allowed the dog to enjoy the widest range of motion and to easily reach the areas it was to guard. The fabrication of the collars, carried out by expert artisans, expressed itself in such imaginative forms that some examples are true masterpieces of ornamentation, decorated with the family’s coat-of-arms. Owners took the precaution of chaining their dogs to protect the workers present in the area, the workers’ dogs, which they tied to their carts and wagons, and the occasional passers-by who traveled on the road. In the cases where there was more than one Cane Corso guarding a manor-farm, the chain also served to separate the different guarded areas to keep to dogs from getting into fights which, when a female was in heat or at feeding time, could become cruel and dangerous. Even hunters, on foot or on horseback, accompanied by their own dogs, carefully avoided getting to close to these structures. Pups and older dogs were allowed to run free with the Pomeranians (pometti and pomacchi) and especially strong and aggressive subjects were positioned at the door of the stable where the approach gave a greater possibility of surprise. The Cane Corso became a fighting dog when at night, there being a need for a closer watch, the guard-dogs were left in complete liberty to react to the arrival of dangerous animals that could harm the livestock: bears, wolves, foxes, lynxes, and weasels, or of livestock-thieves, who often protected themselves with their own dogs, and slipped into stockyards during the most critical hours of the farmers’ sleep. They employed some very unusual tricks to distract the dogs and liberate the livestock they wanted to carry off. One of these tricks, perhaps the most common, was to rub their clothes with the secretion of a female dog in heat, which to render the Corsi harmless. Some old farmers tell stories of when the trick failed and one of the dogs reacted normally, attacking the thief and provoking the intervention of the other dogs. The consequences in such a case were very serious and could even be fatal. Related to this was the particular suitability of the Cane Corso for the planned fights that men organized with the aim of speculating and betting on the winner of a scuffle between two dogs. This reference to this reprehensible and bloody custom which occurred in the past is only intended to be a historical note, and any modern ambition to revive these detestable practices, which are the product of a barbarian and backward mentality, is to be decisively condemned. The most reactionary owners, in those days, dedicated themselves to this sort of exhibition to show the spectators the strength, the aggression, and the training of their dog, challenging the opponent for profit and with the desire to win and humiliate. Other owners, more "sporting", to use a euphemism, exhibited their dog not just to show off its physical qualities but to convince the spectators of the validity of their selection process and the results it obtained, thus meriting for their dog the title of strongest fighter and most fit for guard-duty and personal defense. The dogs were brought to fight in neutral locations to deny the contenders any territorial advantage. Lots were cast to see if the dogs would fight with or without collars, and then the dogs were put one in front of the other, held back by their owners, who, astride the animals, would incite them to the point of exasperation. When the dogs were released, a savage fight ensued, offering a horrific show. The two combatants reared up on their hind legs, chest against chest, their paws locked in a wrestler’s embrace, one on the other’s shoulders They tried to knock each other to the ground and bite one another’s neck. One dog’s bites would be parried by the other’s teeth who, in turn, was attempting the same maneuver, and then a rapid succession of bites, pushes, losses of balance, and rapid recoveries would finally lead to the victory of the stronger dog. The scene is effectively represented in one of Bartolomeo Pinelli’s engravings (Roma 1781-1835). The spectators stood back at an appropriate distance, fascinated by such vigor. The fights, however violent and ferocious, rarely ended with the death of one of the contenders. The fight lasted no longer than ten minutes, and the owners closely followed their dogs until one of the dogs seized the other by the throat in such a way that it could no longer defend itself nor shake the other dog, pushed by the impulse of a sort of nervous lockjaw. Then the owner declared that his champion had "’mpresato", a term which indicated that the winner, having seized the loser with in an iron hold, would no longer permit any movement. There was no hope for the loser. From this idiom the Cane Corso also became known as "Cane da presa" (holding dog). At that point the owner of the winning dog seized its collar with one hand, and, shouting that it release, with a rapid, sharp blow, clenched its testicles with the other. Then, taking advantage of the instant in which the dog loosened its grip, he dragged it away by force. The beaten antagonist was pulled away by its owner and went to lick its wounds in a corner, its ears down and its tail between its legs. This was the only way to end a fight before one of the two dogs was killed, and only the owners could attempt such an operation. Sometimes the owners would try to make the winner loosen his grip by pulling on a chain around the dog’s neck, cutting off its breath, but that required more time and so was more risky for the loser. It was said that these fights were not held just to amaze the spectators and make the owners proud, but that they also had the goal of showing off a finely balanced guard dog, strong and frightening, combative by nature, dominant, aggressive, resistant to pain, ready to attack on command, and a valid breeder. Genetic material worthy of all respect, then, to be transmitted and ensured to the descendents of the most famous individuals. For many, a hard life molded dogs and men into a harsh, striking, and fascinating reality. Consequently, it is true that when Cani Corsi with these characteristics ended up in the hands of scoundrels without scruples who turned them into extremely reliable, aggressive, and dangerous "body guards", things became even more distorted. These fights took place in utmost secrecy, the bets swelled to enormous size and the struggles, more often than not, were to the death. These "gentlemen" practiced an abnormal selection, creating stocks of notable ferocity. The pup was closed in a sack and rapidly kicked, rolled about, and rationally whipped. When the sack was opened and the pup escaped, it was "promoted" to training and reproduction if it reacted and attacked the workmen, otherwise it was discarded and given away. The selection practiced in modern breeding, life in contact with man, and the attention of families, luckily, have kept such traits from arising now that they are no longer socially acceptable. From a pup, the Cane Corso is good-natured and captivating, and only man’s intervention can alter its innate equilibrium and turn it towards good or evil. He can make it into an incomparably gentle friend or a dangerous death machine. |
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Last Updated 07/03/2009 |