HAWK 285 



from all their winds, they are wont to trace my course, we 

 rejoiced three days above the dead, and called the hawks of 

 heaven, they came from all their winds to feast on the foes of 

 Annir," King James the Fifth was passionately fond of hawking, 

 and Stewart of Appin held certain lands in Duror and Glencoe in 

 consideration of his having built Castle Stalker, or Caisteal an 

 Stalcaire, the falconer's castle, for that king's accommodation and 

 use; one of the terms of holding, or tenure, of the M'Neills of 

 Barra, off Sir Donald Macdonald of Sleat, was "a hawk if 

 required." The old Egyptian name for a hawk is " Bai," and 

 signified the soul, this the Egyptians used as a symbol. In Petrie's 

 Egyptian Tales, 1895, in the tale of Anpu and Bata, the idea of the 

 soul of the dead being thought to fly away in the shape of a hawk 

 is exemplified, as in that tale they are said to "fly away as to meet 

 the sun," or " the hawk has soared." As has been shown, there 

 are many different kinds, and also many different spellings ; the 

 foregoing, it is believed, are only a few of both. A hawk's age is 

 estimated at 162 years; the first year it is called a "soarage," the 

 second an "interview," the third a "white" hawk, the fourth, a 

 hawk of the first coat. A saying exists, that the eagle, the vulture, 

 and the merloun are for an emperor ; the goshawk for a yeoman, 

 and the sparrowhawk for a priest. An Irish king, going a-hawking, 

 is thus described: "A chu le na chois, a sheabhac air a bhois, a's 

 a chapuU breagh dubh d' a iomchar," his dog at foot, his hawk on 

 fist, and his handsome black mare (or horse) bearing him. The 

 sparrowhawk or merlin was usually carried of old by ladies of rank, 

 while a falcon was carried, in time of peace, by a knight or baron. 



The various hawks, or other birds, connected of yore with 

 particular ranks, were as follows : — 



1. For an emperor, an eagle, vulture, or merloun. 



2. For a king, gyr falcon and tiercel. 



3. For a prince, a falcon. 



4. For a duke, a falcon of rock. 



5. For an earl, a falcon, peregrine. 



6. For a baron, bustard. 



7. For a knight, sucre and sucret. 



8. For an esquire, lanere and lanerd. 



9. For a lady, merlyon. 



10. For a young gentleman, hobby. 



11. For a priest, sparrowhawk. 



12. For a clerk, musket. 



13. For a yeoman, goshawk. 



14. For a poor man, goshawk's tercel. 



15. For a knave or servant, kesterel or kestrel. 



A couple of hawks is called a brood or flight, a cast or caste, 

 while an old term for a hawk's nest is "lairie" ; the keeping-place 

 is termed a "mew." The term " pot-hawk " (put) was found in an 

 official Government document. The saying "to know a hawk 

 from a handsaw " should be " from a hernshaw." The back part of 

 a hawk is known technically as the " brael." Hawks, though so 



