344 FALCONRY 



hawks, with Ballantyne to assist him, continued at Barochan ; 

 but for the last two years of his professional life he was in the 

 service of the Earl of Morton at Dalmahoy. It was during the 

 time of Peter Ballantyne's apprenticeship to him that he visited 

 London in a fancy dress of the period of James I., on the occasion 

 of the coronation of George IV., in order to present to the king 

 a cast of falcons on behalf of the Duke of Athol, who held the 

 Isle of Man on that ancient feudal tenure. Very quaint indeed 

 was Ballantyne's description of his master's appearance in this 

 'get up/' and the old picture at Barochan, which has been 

 engraved (though impressions are scarce), fully justifies the 

 language applied to it by Anderson himself. 



After Anderson's retirement in 1832, Ballantyne entered 

 the service of Lord Carmarthen under John Pells, senior, at 

 Huntly Lodge, Aberdeenshire. Both passage hawks and 

 eyesses were kept, and great sport was obtained both at herons 

 and at game. The finest flight was that at the woodcock, which 

 could then be obtained in perfection among the young plan- 

 tations on Deeside. From Pells Ballantyne learned the Dutch 

 method of training hawks, of making hoods, and of using the 

 swivel and jesses in lieu of the old heavy varvels, and by com- 

 bining both systems was able to become the successful falconer 

 that, so far as game hawking is concerned, he undoubtedly 

 was. 



After leaving Lord Carmarthen's service Ballantyne entered 

 that of Sir James Boswell. where he had charge of greyhounds 

 as well as hawks. At Sir James's death he was employed by 

 Mr. Ewen of Ewenfield, Ayr, and it was in that gentleman's 

 service that he was most successful, and showed the great sport 

 that is recorded in a previous chapter on game hawking. On 

 Mr. Ewen's death he became falconer to Mr. Oswald of 

 Auchincruive, in whose service he died in 1884, a falconer to 

 the last, at the age of eighty-six. 



Though he failed a little for the last year or two of his life, 

 so lately as 1880 he was able to show good sport, and probably 

 never flew a better hawk than the falcon ' Pearl,' which was then 



