4 RECREATIONS OF A NATURALIST 



All the Stuarts were fond of hawking, but after 

 the Restoration the sport ceased to be popular. 

 The causes which led to its decline were many and 

 various. The disastrous state of the country during 

 the period of the Civil Wars naturally put an end 

 for the time being to the general indulgence in field 

 sports. The inclosure of waste lands, the drainage 

 and cultivation of marshes, the great improvement 

 in firearms, and particularly the introduction of 

 shot, all contributed to lessen the interest once so 

 universally taken in this sport. Fashion, also, had 

 no doubt much to do with the decline of hawking, 

 for so soon as the reigning sovereign ceased to take 

 an interest in the sport, the courtiers and their 

 friends followed suit. Nevertheless, it never en- 

 tirely died out, and from that time to the present it 

 has not ceased to be practised by at least a few 

 admirers of the old sport in different parts of the 

 country, while during the past twenty years indica- 

 tions have not been wanting- of its increasingr 

 popularity. 



The general public have little opportunity for 

 seeing trained hawks flown, since the "meets" are 

 not advertised as in the case of hounds, and the 

 birds, therefore, are seldom seen, save in transit, by 

 any but the owners and their friends. 



One by one the old professional falconers have 

 died out. John Anderson, John Pells, Peter 

 Ballantine, the brothers Barr, Adrian IMollen and 

 John Frost have all passed away, leaving only the 

 traditions of their craft to younger followers, who, 

 deprived of their teaching, have had to learn to 



