THE FOWL ENMEWED. 67 
downe course recovered it beyond expectation, to the 
admiration of the beholder at a long flight.” 
Another method of spelling the same word may be 
instanced by the following quotation from Turbervile’s 
“Book of Falconrie,” 15 75 
“ And if shee misse, to mark her how shee then gets up 
amaine, 
For best advantage, to exeaw the springing fowle 
againe.” 
In the days of falconry* a peculiar method of repairing 
a broken wing-feather was known to falconers by the 
term “imping.” The verb “to imp,” appears to be derived 
from the Anglo-Saxon “impan,” signifying to graft, or 
inoculate ; and the mode of operation is thus described in 
a scarce pamphlet by Sir John Sebright, entitled “ Obser- 
vations on Hawking” :— 
“ When any of the flight or tail-feathers of a hawk are 
accidentally broken, the speed of the bird is so injured, 
that the falconer finds it necessary to repair them by an 
expedient called ‘imping.’ 
“ This curious process consists in attaching to the part 
that remains an exact substitute for the piece lost. For 
this purpose the falconer is always provided with pinions 
(right and left) and with tail-feathers of hawks, or with 
* It will be observed that, in these pages, falconry is treated as a thing of the 
past, as indeed it is a sport now almost obsolete, and but few comparatively are 
acquainted with its technicalities. 
