62 AN " UNMANN'D " HAWK. 



The Constable of France, speaking of the valour of the 

 Dauphin, says : — 



" 'Tis a hooded valour, and when it appears it will bate!' 



Henry V. Act iii. Sc. 7. 



The allusion is to the ordinary action of a hawk, which, 



' when unhooded, bates, or flutters. But a quibble may be 



here intended between " bate," the hawking technical, and 



" bate," to dwindle or abate. The word occurs again in 



Romeo and Jidiet (Act iii. Sc. 2) — 



" Hood my unmann'd blood, bating in my cheeks." 



And to those not conversant with the terms employed 

 in falconry, this line would be unintelligible. An 

 " unmanned " hawk was one not sufficiently reclaimed to 

 be familiar with her keeper, and such birds generally 

 " bated,'' that is, fluttered or beat their wings violently in 

 their efforts to escape. 



Petruchio, in The Taming of the Shrew, gives us a 

 lesson in reclaiming a hawk when speaking thus of 

 Catherine : — 



" My falcon now is sharp, and passing empty, 

 And, till she stoop, she must not be full-gorg'd, 

 For then she never looks upon her hire. 

 Another way I have to man my haggard, 

 To make her come, and know her keeper's call, 

 That is, to watch her, as we watch these kites 



