INTRODUCTION. 23 
but so soon as the Saxons obtained a foothold on the soil, 
hunting with well-trained hounds, and the pursuit of fowls, 
‘along the atmosphere,” by means of reclaimed, falcons, 
became at once a science, a systematized royal recreation, 
and in the end, as it has continued to this day, wherever 
the Saxon and Norman strains of blood are extant, a popu- 
lar passion. 
During the reigns of the Saxon monarchs, to such an 
extent was this sport carried by the nobles, that “ the 
sportsmen in the train of the great were so onerous on 
lands, as to make the exemption of their visit a valuable 
privilege; hence a king liberates some lands from those 
who carry with them hawks or falcons, horses or dogs.’’ * 
At the same time, so general had the taste become, that 
statutes were framed, and even the church interposed its 
censures, to prevent its abuse or misapplication. ‘“ Hunt- 
ing { was forbidden by Canute on a Sunday. Every man 
was allowed to hunt in the woods, and in the fields that 
were his own, but not to interfere with the king’s hunting.” 
The increase and prevalence of this recreation may be 
judged of, by the fact, that the “Saxon Boniface t pro- 
hibited his monks from hunting in the woods with dogs, 
and from having hawks and falcons.” Even that weak, 
impassive, priest-ridden, half-monk king, Edward the Con- 
fessor, had “one earthly enjoyment in which he chiefly 
delighted, which was hunting with fleet hounds, whose 
opening in the woods he used with pleasure to encourage , 
and again, with the pouncing of birds, whose nature it is 
* History of the Anglo Saxons.—Sharon Turner, 3, 38, 
+ Ibid. 3, 37. t Ibid. 3, 38, 
