164 DICTIONARY OF NAMES OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



enactment from those of wild fowl (viz. n Hen. VII, c. 17) 

 which states that " None shall take out of the nest any 

 Eggs of Falcon, Goshawk, Lanner or Swan, in pain of a 

 Year and a day's imprisonment, and to incur a fine at the 

 King's pleasure, to be divided between the King and the 

 Owner of the Ground." This latter enactment was super- 

 seded by an act (i Jac. I, c. 27) which reduced the punish- 

 ment to three months, or a payment of 20s. for each egg 

 to the churchwardens for the use of the poor, while under 

 our later Game Laws the offence was punishable only by a 

 fine not exceeding 5s. for each egg. 



The ancient custom of " Swan-upping," or taking up 

 Swans for the purpose of marking them, appears to date 

 from 1483 at least, when the privilege of keeping Swans 

 was granted from the Crown, Swan marks (cygni notce) 

 being created to denote ownership. These marks were 

 notches or nicks on the bill, three for a royal bird, two for 

 a nobleman's bird, etc., and a curious relic of the custom 

 is to be found to-day in the number of country inns bearing 

 the name or sign of the " Swan with two necks " (i.e. nicks), 

 etc. These marks of owners were entered in the book or 

 loll of the Master of the Game of Swans and referred to in 

 case of dispute, and from time to time were held " Swan- 

 herds' Courts " at which orders were made for the preserva- 

 tion and ordering of Swans. At the present day the custom 

 of marking still survives on the Thames between London 

 Bridge and Henley : the privileged owners being the King, 

 the Vintners' Company and the Dyers' Company, and the 

 practice of marking the birds as soon as the young are 

 sufficiently grown is annually observed, generally about the 

 end of July, by the swanherds of the respective owners, the 

 time occupied being about four days. At the present day 

 the largest " game " of Swans in England is the great 

 swannery of the Fleet on the Dorsetshire coast, the property 

 of Lord Ilchester. For an account of an ancient " Swan- 

 pit " (for fattening these birds for the table) surviving at 

 Norwich see Stevenson and Southwell's " Birds of Norfolk." 

 For an account of the folk-lore and superstitions relating to 

 the Swan see under WHOOPER SWAN. 



Formerly, the most extravagant age was attributed to 

 the Swan. Even our sober ornithologists Willughby and 

 Ray remarked that " It is a very long-lived fowl, so that 

 it is thought to attain the age of three hundred years." In 

 Wynkyn de Worde's "Demands Joyous," an English version 

 of an old French riddle-book, as cited by Mr. Harting 



