62 
AN “ UNMANN’D ” HAWK. 
The Constable of France, speaking of the valour of the 
Dauphin, says :— 
“ ’Tis a hooded valour, and when it appears it will bated 
Henry V. Act iii. Sc. 7. 
The allusion is to the ordinary action of a hawk, which, 
when unhooded, bates , or flutters. But a quibble may be 
here intended between “ bate,” the hawking technical, and 
“ bate,” to dwindle or abate. The word occurs again in 
Romeo and Juliet (Act iii. Sc. 2)— 
“ Hood my unmann’d blood, bating in my cheeks.” 
And to those not conversant with the terms employed 
in falconry, this line would be unintelligible. An 
“ unmanned ” hawk was one not sufficiently reclaimed to 
be familiar with her keeper, and such birds generally 
“ bated,” that is, fluttered or beat their wings violently in 
their efforts to escape. 
Petruchio, in The Taming of the Shrew , gives us a 
lesson in reclaiming a hawk when speaking thus of 
Catherine :— 
“ My falcon now is sharp, and passing empty, 
And, till she stoop , she must not be full-gorg’d, 
For then she never looks upon her hire . 
Another way I have to man my haggard } 
To make her come, and know her keeper’s call, 
That is, to watch her, as we watch these kites 
