FALCONRY 



' TT "W^E that will be a falconer,' wrote Simon Latham in 



B B 1615, ' must be no sluggard, he must be up early 



I I and down late or else he shall never see how his 



"^ Hawk rejoiceth : neither must he be tempted with 



other mutabilities or wandering affection but remain and 



continue in the art he protesteth.' 



This is a view of the practical side of the art to which clings 

 an old-world savour that has faded from sports as ancient : 

 for who shall see hawk on fist without recalling the days of 

 romance and chivalry, though the fist appear from sleeve of 

 Norfolk jacket ? 



Enclosure of lands and reclamation of wastes have made 

 an end of falconry over the greater part of England. Colonel 

 Thornton, you will remember, forsook Thornville Royal and 

 Sportsman's Hall when the Yorkshire wolds were given over 

 to the plough, and sought a new home in Wiltshire, on whose 

 downs he might still fly the hawks he loved. An enthusiast 

 was Colonel Thornton : how lovingly he dwells on the doings 

 of his hawks on the moors during his Scottish tour ! Thus, for 

 instance : — 



' We rode, and the falconer attended with a cast and a 

 half of hawks, one of which I took on my fist and hunted, to 

 oblige Mr. Drighorn, with a brace of my pointers. The road, 

 as I imagined, he would find very indifferent : game abounded. 

 I had long resisted the solicitations of Mr. Drighorn to fly a 

 hawk whenever we happened to mark in a poult near us, which 

 was frequently the case. At length one came so near that I 

 could not deny him this breach of the law in a country which 

 requires none. I consented. Determined to follow up the bird, 

 a tercel was unhooded and took a very handsome place, killing 



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