344 FLORA HISTORICA. 



matters, but it throws a mist before the eyes 



on^" 



May we not, therefore, recommend this plant 

 as a remedy for those whom Cupid has rendered 

 blind ! 



The Hawkweed was held in high estimation 

 by our ancestors, who lived before the art of 

 falconry was banished by the invention of gun- 

 powder ; for, in those early days the care of the 

 falcons was considered as a place of great trust, 

 and noblemen did not in those times consider it 

 a degradation to prepare the meat for their fal- 

 cons, as we learn from Peacham, who says, " It 

 can be no more disgrace to a great lord to draw a 

 fair picture than to cut his hawk's meat." The 

 Duke of St. Alban's is hereditary grand falconer 

 of England, and which post has been attached 

 to that noble title as long back as the year 1250. 



At what period the art of falconry was first 

 practised in this country is not known. Mr. Pen- 

 nant says, " I cannot trace the certainty of fal- 

 conry in our own country till the reign of King 

 Ethelbert, the Saxon monarch, in the year 760, 

 when he wrote to Germany for a brace of falcons, 

 which would fly at cranes, and bring them to the 

 ground, as there were very few such in Kent." 

 This was one of the field sports which the dames 



