HISTORY OF DECOYS. 



177 



with a seacoast on one side only, and that devoid of oozc-banks, it is 

 naturally not much frequented by the aquatic species. Yet the most 

 favoured portions of the county for wildfowl are still the lowlands of 

 Holderness, and the shores of the H umber estuary. Long since, wildfowl 

 abounded in the marshes that circumscribe the estuary of the Tees, but 

 with the introduction of railways, blast furnaces, and steam vessels, they 

 have deserted that locality. 



Hornby Castle. 



Decoys in use. 



I 



Decoys not in use. 



I 



Thirkleby Park. 



Coatham. I Holme. 



Escrick (2). ' Sunk Island. 



Osgodby. I Thorne. 



Meaux. 1 Goole. 



Watton. ' Birdsall. 



Scorborough. | 



Hornby. — In the park at Hornby Castle, 5 miles NVV. of Bedale, 

 are two Decoy ponds, one disused, and the other, till lately, the only 

 example of a Decoy in use in the county. The original Decoy was 

 constructed for the seventh Duke of Leeds, in 1854. It is 7 acres in 

 extent, and has the remains of four pipes. In 1882, the present Duke 

 moved the material of the pipes from the old Decoy to their new position. 

 The original Decoy is situated south of the Castle, between the Stone 

 Pond and the present Decoy, which is now in the Blessington plantation, 

 close by. 



The new pipes were excavated under the direction of Lord Fitz- 

 hardinge's Decoyman, from Berkeley Castle. The new pool is about 60 

 yards square, and the pipes are at the corners, as is the case at Berkeley 

 Castle and other Decoys in the west of England. The old Decoy was 

 found to be too large, the fowl keeping out of reach of the pipes and of 

 the Decoyman. The new Decoy, being much smaller, is more easily 

 managed, and is precisely similar to the one shown facing page 93. 



The first pipe made at Hornby on the old Decoy was made by 

 Harrison, Capt. Healy's Decoyman at Ashby in Lincolnshire. Soon after, 



A A 



