HAWKING TERMS. 5 I 



Card. I thought as much ; he'd be above the clouds. 



* * * * * 



Believe me, cousin Gloster, 

 Had not your man put up the fowl so suddenly, 

 We had had more sport.'' 



" Flying at the brook '' is synonymous with " hawking 

 by the river," and shows us that the party were in pursuit 

 of water-fowl. Chaucer speaks of 



" Ryding on, hawking by the river, 

 With grey goshawk in hand." 



" Point!' — The fluttering or hovering over the spot 

 where the "quarry" has been "put in." 



" Pitch!' — The height to which a hawk rises before 

 swooping. 



" How high a pitch his resolution soars !" 



Richard II. Act i. Sc. 1 . 



" Tower!' — A common expression in falconry, signifying 

 to rise spirally to a height. Compare the French " tour." 

 The word occurs again in Macbeth, Act ii. Sc. 4, with 

 reference to a fact which we might well be excused for 

 doubting, did we not know that it was related as an 

 unusual circumstance : — 



" On Tuesday last, 

 A falcon, tow' ring in her pride of place, 

 Was by a mousing owl hawk'd at and kill'd." 



