26 THE PIGEON-FANCIER. 



of Pigeons are things to be slaughtered at Hur- 

 lingham ; and as for flowers, they are just pretty 

 enough to decorate a groaning banquet-table or 

 a stuffy ballroom ; and thus they realise for us 

 the truth of the curse that a land which practi- 

 cally becomes to men a land without birds and 

 without flowers becomes also a land without 

 prayers, without angels, without songs — a dull, 

 dead waste of business, of selfishness, mammon- 

 worship, and lust. 



Pigeons are the most honourable birds ; the 

 Fancy boasts an ancient and illustrious descent. 

 They are the favourites of Holy Scripture. Izaac 

 Walton, bubbling over with enthusiasm, traces 

 the origin of his pet pastime to the joyous days of 

 the world's grey dawn — " Seth, the son of Adam, 

 taught it to his sons, and that by them it was 

 derived to posterity." I know of no historic 

 document extant proving our " Fancy " to be 

 as venerable as this. We are fairly beaten on 

 this count. There is but one thing in existence 

 rivalling the patriarchal age of the art of angling. 

 I refer to a certain picture by an old master 

 comprising the portraits of Adam and Eve. The 

 oldest son of Methuselah is the reputed artist. 

 It was painted from life before the angel drove 

 our primal parents out of Paradise and locked 



