356 FALCONRY 



had for several years been the backbone in the field of the 

 English Club, became secretary of the new Anglo-Dutch insti- 

 tution. In 1839 he appears on the list of the club as its solitary 

 member, but in 1840 a goodly number of members was en- 

 rolled, and at their head were the Prince of Orange, with the 

 Princes Alexander, Frederick, and Henry of the Netherlands — 

 of Englishmen, the Duke of Leeds, Rev. W. Newcome, Mr. 

 Jerningham, Lord C. Hamilton, Lord Sufifield, Mr. E. Green, 

 Mr. J. Balfour, and Mr. Knight were early members — and thus 

 the Hawking Club was established at the Loo under the 

 protection of his Majesty King William II., and under the 

 presidency of his Royal Highness Prince Alexander of the 

 Netherlands. 



With the establishment of the Loo Hawking Club there 

 came to an end the old Falconers' Club of England, which for 

 some sixty-six years had maintained the sport with no little 

 success and prestige. It had carried on the art of falconry from 

 the days when the kite and bustard were quarry readily found 

 on our wolds or warrens, till the heron was the only flight left 

 of those which were deemed most worthy of pursuit. But from 

 its ashes a worthy successor had arisen, and the Loo Club was 

 destined to carry the sport to a pitch of excellence never before 

 achieved. The establishment of the club consisted as a rule 

 of twenty-two falcons, that of the king twenty-two more with 

 their attendants, and with such a staff success became merely 

 a question of opportunity. The sport that was shown has 

 been related in the chapter on heron-hawking, to which branch 

 of falconry the club solely confined its operations. In the 

 eight seasons during which it lasted nearly 1,500 herons were 

 taken by hawks, and never has hawking been managed so 

 skilfully or on so princely a scale. Of the hawks that were 

 most successful the best were a falcon called 'Bull -Dog,' which 

 had the character of rarely needing to make more than three 

 stoops at any heron. Mr. Newcome used to speak of this 

 falcon as the best heron hawk he had ever met with. Next to 

 her came a famous cast of falcons, ' Sultan ' and ' De Ruyter,' 



