FALCONET IN NORFOLK. 15 



proceeded to Iceland for the Duke of Leeds, to procure 

 the larger falcons, and succeeded in taking and bringing 

 over fifteen birds (falcons and tiercels), of which eight 

 were presented by the Duke to the Loo club, and the 

 remaining seven were retained by his Grace under the 

 management of Pel. Of late years he has resided 

 chiefly in Norfolk, only occasionally going abroad on 

 professional visits, and is still falconer to the Duke of 

 St. Albans (Hereditary Grand Falconer of England), 

 and keeps his hawks at Lakenheath. No locality in 

 England is perhaps better suited for hawking than 

 the wide open country in the neighbourhood of Bran- 

 don, where, selecting a somewhat rising ground, the 

 flight of both falcon and quarry may be watched as 

 far as the eye can reach. Through the kindness of my 

 friend Mr. Newcome, I have more than once enjoyed 

 the now rare opportunity of witnessing a flight at 

 rooks or pigeons, admiring the graceful circlings and 

 fierce stoops of the peregrines, and the skill and mastery 

 of the professional trainer. Wm. Barr, junr., a Scotch 

 falconer, visited Norwich in 1851, and gave a public 

 exhibition of his art on Hellesdon brakes and other 

 places close to the city. The crowds, however, attracted 

 by the 'novelty of the exhibition, interfered materially 

 with the sport itself, as the pigeons thrown up took 

 refuge in the carriages or amongst the crowd, whilst 

 overhead the falcon, " waiting on," was frightened and 

 confused by the noisy throng, and even if a successful 

 stoop was made, it needed all the agility and strength 

 of the falconer to keep back the populace whilst trans- 

 ferring the falcon from the quarry to his wrist. 

 At the present time, the only hawking establishment 

 existing in this part of the country is that of the 

 Maharajah Duleep Singh, a most enthusiastic sports- 

 man, who recently purchased the Elveden estate, for 

 many years the property of the late Mr. Newton. 



