364 FALCONRY 



ment of Mr. J. E. Harting, who acted as secretary and devoted 

 much trouble and time to the perfecting of the arrangements, 

 but after a brief period of life the club was broken up and the 

 establishment scattered. 



Besides clubs, there are various private establishments in 

 the United Kingdom, as well as many amateurs who keep a 

 few hawks which they manage themselves, in some cases, with 

 marked ability, and show very great sport on a small scale. 



A private mews has for very many years been kept up by 

 Lord Lilford, whose falconer was, as stated previously, Paul 

 Mollen, and subsequently Ed. Cosgrave. Falcons have been 

 successfully taken on the passage in the autumn as they 

 migrate over Northamptonshire, and indeed we believe the 

 hut placed there has rarely failed to secure one or two when 

 the attempt has been made in earnest. Although the country 

 about Lilford is not particularly well suited for the sport, Lord 

 Lilford stands high as one of our oldest and ablest falconers, 

 and the ancient sport owes no less in these modern times to 

 his munificence and energetic support than it did in the days of 

 a former generation to the support of Lord Orford or Berners. 

 It is not too much to say that the maintenance of falconry of 

 the higher class in England during the last hundred years is 

 due to the three noblemen named above, together with Mr. 

 E. C. Newcome. At the present day the sport is wider spread ; 

 fresh enthusiasts spring up from year to year, and falconry no 

 longer depends, as for so many years it did, upon the mainte- 

 nance of one single establishment which in its turn was depen- 

 dent on the liberalities of its principal patron. 



Among amateur falconers Mr. W. H. St. Quintin, of 

 Scampston Hall, Yorks, has been very prominent. He has 

 had special success both in game hawking and in the flight at 

 seagulls, and is seldom without a cast or two of tiercels of 

 superior excellence. For many years his falconer was George 

 Oxer, formerly under-falconer to the Old Hawking Club, who 

 has now returned to that establishment as head falconer, his 

 place being taken by young Charles Frost. 



