SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



were also to have liberty to hunt and fish in the 

 warren and water, and enjoy 



reasonable disports and libertie, with their bowes and 

 with forrett in the said waren so that they and eny of 

 l hem, at eny suche tyme of ther bcyng ther, shall not 

 take or kill, nor cause to be taken or killed in the 

 said waren, above the nombre of three capill (couple) 

 coneys, 



without the consent of William Toppyng. 



Rabbits still flourish greatly in the district, 

 being nowadays chiefly caught for edible pur- 

 poses ; but the fur is made into felt and the 

 skins into glue at the neighbouring town of 

 Brandon. Many farmers still rely on rabbits to 

 pay their rent, and some, whose land is suitable 

 for rabbit rearing and perhaps unsuitable for 

 almost everything else, m.iicc them the sole object 

 of their attention. 



WILD-FOWLING 



The low-lying coastline, intersected in all 

 directions by estuaries and rivers running inland, 

 with innumerable fens, swamps, and vast stretches 

 of marshes, provides opportunities for wild-fowling 

 unrivalled by any other county. The three 

 recognized branches of wild-fowling are, punt- 

 gunning, shore-shooting, and flighting. As a 

 business, decoying stands alone. During recent 

 years several systems have come into favour 

 whereby wild fowl are made to augment the 

 shootings of most estates. Eggs are purchased 

 and hatched off under hens, the ducklings being 

 hand-fed in certain ponds. The day before 

 shooting the birds are caught, taken to a spot a 

 mile or so distant, and released at intervals. 

 Flying as they do straight home to their feeding- 

 place, they come over the guns posted in the 

 line of flight. Or they are simply 'put up' 

 with the pheasants or other game, or alone, and 

 shot whilst circling round. On some of the 

 larger estates a line of flighting ponds is estab- 

 lished. These are small ponds reserved and 

 arranged solely for the accommodation ot hand- 

 reared wild duck, half-breds and wild birds 

 which are attracted by those haunting such 

 waters. Every evening they are fed at certain 

 places which are generally as far as possible from 

 the most secluded ponds. Once a week a flight- 

 ing party shoots the fowl coming in to one of 

 the feeding- places, which are used in turn to 

 avoid breaking the ' lead in ' to the flighting 

 grounds. 



Punt-shooting is practised upon the estuaries 

 and oozes of the Stour, Orwell, Debcn, Aide, 

 and Brcydon Water ; the walls and banks are 

 also the resorts of the shore-shooter ; the beach- 

 line, especially from North Weir Point to 

 Orford Ness, is a favourite haunt of the shore- 

 shooter. Almost every species of waterfowl and 

 wader known in England occurs, but the sport 

 varies in accordance with the weather. These 

 waterways being very easy of access, many 

 Londoners come down in the winter and hire 

 fishing craft, steam and motor launches, even 

 tugboats, in which they move along the estuaries 

 and coast. Such craft, and, in less degree perhaps, 

 the periodical artillery practice and firing of 

 signal guns stationed along the coast, have been 



instrumental in driving away the vast flocks of 

 wild fowl and geese that formerly made the 

 estuaries near Harwich their winter quarters. 

 The myriads of 'oxbirds' (dunlins) and waders 

 have also been thinned. Before steamers were 

 known on these waterways, fowl and geese were 

 shot by shore-shooters while flying over the neck 

 of the land south-west of Harwich from the 

 neighbouring marshes to the sea at tide-turn. 



The Deben was never a good place for punt- 

 shooting except when hard weather drove the 

 birds to the coast, though fowl from the neigh- 

 bouring decoys feeding in the river and on the 

 marshes, especially at night, afforded a certain 

 amount of sport to the flight and shore shooter. 

 Practically the same remarks applv to the River 

 Aide, which lies a little north of the Deben. 

 Southwold marshes and the creek well up be- 

 yond Walberswick Ferry were always favourite 

 grounds for the shoulder gunner, providing more 

 especially teal, mallard, and wigeon. In this 

 district, perhaps, the ruddy sheldrake has been 

 more frequently found than in any other part of 

 England. In west Suffolk gad wall are still fairlv 

 common. North of Southwold lies Easton 

 Broad on the Benacre estate ; a small piece of 

 water separated from the sea by a narrow strip of 

 beach. For its size this water is visited by 

 perhaps larger quantities of teal and mallard 

 than is any other in England, excepting Holk- 

 ham Lake in Norfolk and Tring in Hertfordshire. 

 It is strictly preserved, and the writer has seen 

 2,000 to 5,000 wild fowl rise at a gunshot. 

 Fifty years ago any flight-shooter visiting the 

 marshes or borders of the saltings almost any- 

 where in the county at flight-time could make 

 certain of obtaining a dozen shots or more ; 

 now a walk of many miles and much study of 

 locality is necessary to obtain three. At the 

 most north-eastern extremity of Suffolk lies 

 Breydon Water, which some hundred years ago 

 was about the best place for wild fowl on the 

 east coast. But when, in the forties, Sir Morton 

 Peto built the railway line from Reedham to 

 Great Yarmouth, and the country was drained, 

 the flats gradually silted up and the birds yearly 

 diminished in numbers, until it was not worth while 

 launching a punt — except during a severe frost. 



51 



