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AN EARLY KECOKl) OF THE GREAT BUSTARD 

 IN KENT. 



BY 



X. F.' TICEHURST, m.a., f.r.c.s.eng. 



The following early record of the Great Bustard {Of is tarda) 

 in Kent is particularly interesting, because I believe it to be 

 actually the earliest mention of this bird in England. It 

 occurs in the Account Book of the Chamberlains of the City 

 of Canterbury for the year 1480-81, and is here taken from 

 the extracts from these books printed in the ninth report 

 of the Historical Manuscripts Commission. The items for 

 this year are transcribed in full in this report as a typical 

 example of a year's accounts, but the accounts themselves 

 range back another ninety years, and as selected items only 

 from these are printed, it is quite possible that a search of 

 the originals might reveal a still earlier record. The next 

 oldest would appear to be, as Mr. J. H. Gurney informs me, 

 one, about forty years later, in the Le Strange Household 

 Accounts {cf. Stevenson, B. of Norfolk, II., p. 2.) The 

 present mention of the Bustard will be found in the record 

 of expenses incurred over a complimentary banquet given 

 by the Mayor and Corporation to one Master John Rotherham, 

 in recognition of the many benefits conferred by him on the 

 City. It is perhaps worth reproducing here in full : 



" Solut. pro Jantaculo dato Magist. Johanni Rotherham pro 

 multipha sua benevolentia Civitati Cantuar. multis modis impensa, 

 ad mandatum et preceptum Majoris, iinacum assensu et consensu 

 Aldermanorum, Camerariorum, et ahorum honestorum virorum 

 ejusdeni Civitatis, in domo Will. Hewet, viz., in pane, cervisia et 

 berisia ii.s. iiii.d. Item in carnibus bovinis et le marybonys xiii. 

 Item pro uno bustardo xvi. Item pro \\hus caponibus iiii.s. iiii.d. 

 Item pro uno agno xvi.d. Item pro iiiior perdicebus xvi.d. Item 

 pro nbus porcelhs xii.d. Iteni pro Tucets iiii.d. Item pro costa 

 carnis aprine viii.d. Item pro iibus fesanciis xvi.d. Item solut. 

 pro vino rubeo, albo, et dulci v.s. iiii.d. Item pro focalibus et 

 carbonibus xiii.d. Item pro speciebus pro tucetis et le stued mets 



ii.s. ii.d. Item sol. Coco pro labore suo et pro famulo suo xii.d 



xxiii.s. vii.d." 



It will be noticed that the value of a Bustard in these days 

 was the same as that of four Partridges, two Pheasants, or 

 a lamb, but only about two-thirds of that of a Capon, though 

 it is worth mentioning in this connection that Kentish Capons 

 were of high repute, even beyond the county's boundaries, 

 and always fetched a high price. 



It is perhaps hazardous to base any conclusion on a single 



