FALCONRY IN THE OLDEN TIME. 
X the olden days of “merrie 
England” the royal pastime 
of hawking was the sport, 
par excellence , of the upper 
ten thousand. No knight 
renowned in chivalry armed 
for the tournament with 
greater zeal than that with 
which the English noble, 
in the reign of “gentle 
Jamie,” prepared to test his skill in falconry. 
It was a pleasant and right manly sport, and, 
according to the chroniclers of the olden time, 
was most often sought for in the woods of 
Tottenham and the marshy lowlands surrounding 
Muswell Hill. It is a sport now nigh forgotten, 
but at one time how absorbing ! With what 
enthusiasm the old writers linger on the subject : — 
“ I count my toil and traivale but a game, 
I deeme the days not long or spent amisse, 
If so I may unto my fancy frame 
This book of mine, which all of hawking is ; 
Than which there can be found no bettor blisse, 
In my conceit, to such as love the glee, 
And force the fields where bravest pleasures be.” 
Thus, in the year of grace 1611, spoke quaint 
George Tuberville, a man who could not only tell 
a hawk from a hernsaw, but who was a very adept 
in the gentle sport of falconry. His book of 
“ Falconrie, or Hawking,” published by Purfoot^of 
London, is a perfect gem, black -lettered though it 
may be ; every particular worth knowing is there 
recorded, and recorded in a style which marks the 
keen sportsman as well as the intelligent observer. 
Tuberville mentions seven kinds of falcon — the 
Gentle, the Peregrine, the Barberie, the Gerfalcon, 
the Sacer, the Laner, the Tunican ; and goes on to 
say, “ Among them all, for her noblenesse and 
hardy courage, and withal the franckness of her 
mettell, I may and do mean to place the falcon 
gentle in chief. She is called gentle from her 
courteous conditions and fashions.” The gerfalcon 
is described as a bird of great force, a gallant hawk 
to behold, strong-armed, fierce and hardy of nature, 
and difficult to be reclaimed. “ A gerfalcon will 
VOL. II.— XIII. 
look to have a gentle hand kept on her, and her 
keeper to be courteous and full of patience.” The 
points of a good falcon are also minutely described : 
— “A full black eye, with large lids ; a round head, 
somewhat full on the top ; a short thick beake, 
blew as asure ; a reasonably high necke ; barbe 
feathers under the clappe of the beake ; a good 
large breast, round, fleshy, strong, hard, and stiff- 
bonded, for she gageth'her breast most at her en- 
counter.” How happily the same bird is described 
by Virgil : — 
“ Quam facile accipiter saxo sacer ales ab alto 
Consequitur pennis sublimem in nube columbam, 
Comprekensamque tenet, pedibusque eviscerat uncis ; 
Turn cruor, et vulsse labuntur ab asthere plum®.” 
Thus rendered by Dryden : — 
“ Not with more ease the falcon from above 
Trusses in middle air the trembling dove, 
Then plumes the prey, in her strong pounces bound — 
The feathers, foul with blood, come tumbling to the 
ground.” 
The “staying” power, to use a sporting phrase, 
of a high-bred hawk is almost incredible. It is 
confidently asserted that 150 miles have been tra- 
versed on the wing within the hour, and that 100 
is a common performance. During these long flights 
much protection is afforded by the peculiar forma- 
tion of the eye, which is provided with a thin, half- 
transparent fold of skin, called the “nictitating” or 
winking membrane, which serves to clear the sur- 
face and protect the vision from the sun. Their 
length of life is also remarkable, if we may believe 
the statement that, in 1793, a venerable falcon was 
found at the Cape of Good Hope adorned with a 
golden collar inscribed with the royal name of 
“ Gentle King Jamie,” and dated 1610. Although 
this bird had reached his 184th year, he is stated 
to have been strong and vigorous. 
Many curious anecdotes are related by Tuberville 
and others as to the peculiar habits and strange 
customs of the falcon. We may select, as the most 
wonderful, if not incredible, that which is recorded 
concerning the hawks of Norvega, and which cer- 
tainly marks them as the most conscientious birds 
of prey. It is stated with much solemnity that, at 
M 
