92 
father of mine host) to England, and had served as assistant 
falconer under him to Colonel AVilson, afterwards Lord Berners. 
There he learnt to spealc English, and although he liad not quite 
forgotten it now, he was unable for want of iDractice to speak it 
very fluently. Previously to 1845, he had acted as servant and 
factotum to Mr. Bobert Hamond, a ISTorfolk gentleman, whose love 
of Ashing, hawking, and wildfowl shooting had induced him to 
take up his residence permanently at Valkenswaard, Avhere he lived 
for about twenty years, and died in 1845 — a martyr to rheumatism, 
contracted, it is said, in the Dutch fens while in pursuit of wild- 
fowl. During the last year or two of his life he Avas quite unable 
to get about, and used to solace himself with his books and jaapers, 
which were sent to him regularly from England. He used to lend 
Mohr numbers of the ‘Penny Magazine’ to read, and in one 
number Mohr found a description of a clock and Iioav to make it, 
Avith illustrations. This interested him so much that he set about 
translating the article into Dutch, and studied it carefidly, until 
he almost kneAv it by heart. Then, folloAving the descrqation, he 
commenced to make a clock for himself, in Avhich, after a feAv 
attempts, he Avas at length perfectly successful. He then took to 
clockmaking as a trade, became the A'illage clockmaker, and iioav 
most of the clocks in the neiglibourhood bear his name. He Avas 
a great flsherman at one time, and made his OAvn reels and tackle. 
He shoAved me some of the reels, and very Avell made they Avere.’ 
From Adrian Mollen I heard a curious anecdote which has never 
found its Avay into print, and Avhich as being Avithin the experience 
of a falconer in Norfolk, may be appropriately related here. Ee- 
ferring to his skill in taming and training hawks, I inquired if he 
had ever made anything of an oavI. He replied, “No; but I Avill 
tell you Avhat happened to me in Norfolk. AVhen coming homo 
heron-haAvking in the evenings, avo used to pass a covert, near 
Didlington, in Avhich a pair of long-eared oaaAs had taken up their 
quarters. One of these oavIs avo frequently saAv as ho sat upon a 
bough on the edge of the covert, and sometimes AA^e passed pretty 
close to him. At first he Avas rather shy, but as Ave never molested 
him, he seemed gradually to get accustomed to our presence. One 
evening one of the assistant falconons, by Avay of a joke, throw 
him a piece of the haAvk’s meat, and on our retiring to a little 
distance, he glided off his porch and took it, in vicAv of us all. 
