40 THE COMMON HERON. 



Treasurer of Scotland, says that the Heron and the Bittern 

 were the highest quarry at which Falcons were flown, and 

 when struck by the Hawk, the former was " either released 

 to furnish fresh sport, or kept to be used in perfecting the 

 training of other Falcons. It was for this purpose ' to 

 mak tranis to the halkis ' that ' quyk ' or live Herons 

 were frequently brought to the king," 1 as shown by the 

 following entries in the Accounts : 



1496. "Item, the last day of Julij, giffin to the man that brocht twa 

 quyk herounis to the King to mak tranys to halkis, . ix s." 2 



1497. "Item, that samyn day (the last day of May) gevin be the 

 Kingis command to ane man of the Lard of Dawikkis, that brocht 

 quyk herounis to the King, ...... xviij s. " 3 



The kings and nobility of Scotland, like their compeers 

 in England, 4 appear to have followed the sport of Heron 

 hawking with great ardour, and as an instance of this it 

 may be mentioned that Archibald Douglas, 7th Earl of 

 Angus, on seeing a Heron rise from a marsh at the 

 beginning of the battle of Ancrum Moor, 5 is said to 

 have exclaimed, " Oh ! that I had my white Goshawk 

 here, that we might all yoke at once." 6 Ladies often 

 went out with the falconers to the Heron hawking and 

 took an active part in the sport. 7 It must indeed have 



1 Accounts of the Lord High, Treasurer of Scotland, 1473-1498, Preface, p. cclii. 



2 Ibid. p. 287. 3 iud. p. 338. 



4 Not only were Herons protected by Parliament in England, but penalties were 

 incurred by taking their eggs. The fine was 8d. for every egg. See 3 and 4 Ed. vi. 

 c. 7, and 25 Henry vin. c. 2. The Ornithology of Shakespeare : Harting, pp. 222, 

 223. 



5 This moor, which lies If miles north-west of the village of Ancrum, was the 

 scene of one of the last great conflicts in the international war between Scotland 

 and England. In 1554 an English army 5000 strong, under Sir Ralph Evers and 

 Sir Bryan Latoun, overran and wasted the Scottish Border northward to Melrose. 

 Returning with their booty, they were overtaken at Ancrum Moor and utterly 

 routed by a Scottish force under the Earl of Angus and Scott of Buccleuch. 

 Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland, vol. i. p. 49. 



6 Dryburgh Abbey : its Monks and its Lords, second edition, 1860, p. 24. 



7 Strutt's Sports and Pastimes. 



