SWAN UPPING ON THE TAKE. 89 



premises, supplies the tables of the Mayor and other 

 members of the Corporation, as well as the many private 

 owners who consign their cygnets to his care, and most 

 effective system of fattening. In thus farming, as it 

 were, the swan-rights of the Corporation and others, 

 Mr. Simpson employs his own swanherd, a man named 

 Steward acting in that capacity, who keeps a register 

 of the eggs laid, and the ownership, by their marks, of 

 the swans which have paired for the season. Rich, of 

 Surlingham, who is also engaged by certain private 

 owners to look after their swans, has a general super- 

 vision of the eggs on the broads but not on the river. 

 The keepers of other proprietors look after their own 

 birds, and for such attention the watchers are paid two 

 shillings and sixpence for each cygnet. The '^ upping " 

 commences with an early breakfast at Buckenham 

 "Horse Shoes,"'^ a time-honoured rendezvous, where Mr. 

 Simpson and his men are met by the keepers of such 

 noblemen and gentlemen as have swan-rightsf on the 

 stream, each of whom takes up and marks his own 

 cygnets, and is responsible for their safety. Two men 

 to a boat is the usual complement — one to row and the 

 other to seize and pinion the birds, and the first 

 catch is generally made at Hassingham, below Buck- 

 enham, but occasionally a pair of swans have nested as 

 far down as .Cantley, and on one occasion, recently, on 

 the banks of the Chet, at Eardley Cross. 



"" Since this was ■written the " Horse Shoes " has been con- 

 verted by the owner, Sir Tliomas Beauchamp, into cottages, and 

 the meet is now held at the "Ferry House" on the opposite side 

 of the river. 



f Besides the Mayor and Corporation, the Bishop of Norwich, 

 and the Trustees of St. Helen's Hospital, the Duke of JSTorfolk, tlio 

 Earl of Rosebery, the Marquis of Lothian, Sir Thos. Beauchamp, 

 Bart., Mr. C. E. Tuck, Mr. Pratt, of Surlingliara, and Mr. Gilbert, 

 of Cantley, have swan-rights on the Yare between Thorpe and 

 Reedham. 



