276 General Discussion of the Crosses 



of Germany, sends a hawk and two falcons as a present to ^Ethelbald 

 of Mercia ; and between 748 and 755, ^Ethelbert of Kent begs Boni- 

 face to send him two falcons that could bring down cranes, since 

 there are very few in Kent which produce young fit for this purpose, 

 or that are trained to be at once swift and bold. 



Interea pro signo veri amoris et devotee amicitiae direximus tibi acci- 

 pitrem unum et duos valcones {var. falcones), duo scuta et duas lances 

 {var. lanceas).^ 



His itaque breviter summatimque prelibatis, unam rem preterea 

 a vobis desidero mihi exhiberi, quam vobis adquirere valde difficile esse, 

 juxta quod mihi indicatum est, nuUatenus reor ; hoc est duos falcones, 

 quorum ars et artis audatia sit : grues velle hbenter captando arripere 

 et arripiendo consternere solo. Ob hanc etenim causam de harum 

 adquisitione et transmittendarum ad nos avium vos rogamus, quia 

 videlicet perpauci hujus generis accipitres in nostris regionibus, hoc 

 est in Cantia, repperiuntur, qui tam bonos producant fcetus et ad 

 supradictam artem animo agiles ac belUcosi educantur ac doceantur.^ 



In the Confessional of Egbert, Archbishop of York (d. 766), there 

 is a passage in which he includes among birds that may not be eaten 

 such as have been bitten by a hawk {ne peak hafucfugel abite)^ 



In the poem of Beowulf (2263), there is a reference to the hawk : 

 ' There is no joy of harp, no mirth of the gleewood, no good hawk 

 swinging through the hall, no swift horse beating with his hoof the 

 courts about the hall.' ^ 



The date of the Fates of Men is conjectural, but it cannot be earlier 

 than 800. It has a passage of eight lines (8r>— 92) on the taming 

 of a hawk : ' One shall tame a wild, proud bird, a hawk in the hand, 

 until this swaUow of fight becomes gentle; he puts jesses on, and 

 so feeds in bonds the proud of pinion, enfeebles with small morsels 

 the wind-swift one, until the peregrine becomes docile to its feeder 

 in furnishings and deeds, and wonted to the young man's hand.' 

 There is a single line about the hawk in the Crafts of Men (80—81). 



The next mention is by Coenwulf of Mercia, who in 821, after 

 reciting his gifts of lands to the monastery of Abingdon, forbids any 

 proud man or king, having under him men with hawks or falcons, 

 horses or dogs, to molest the monks in any way. 



1 Boniface to ^thelbald of Mercia, 732-751 ; Jaffe, Bihl. Rer. Germ. 3. 213. 



2 ^thelbert of Kent to Boniface, 748-755 : Jaffe, Bibl. Rer. Germ. 3. 256. 

 ^ Thorpe, Anc. Laws and Inst., folio ed., p. 358. 



•* Beowulf, tr. Tinker, rev. ed., p. 105. 



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