In Praise of Hawking - A Selection of Scarce Articles on Falconry First Published in the Late 1800s

James Edmund Harting

Description

This collection of scarce articles on falconry have been gleaned from sporting publications of the late 1800s. Both Harting and Freeman were well known falconers who wrote various books on the sport. They also contributed many learned articles to the sporting press of the time and were often requested for chapters on falconry for insertion in other authors books. This book carries selected items from the above, most of which will have been unread by the many devotees of this fast-growing pastime. The book consists of 160 pages with superb black and white illustrations by famous wildlife artists Archibald Thorburn and George E. Lodge. Contents Include: Hawks and Hawking. Origins and History. The Boke of St. Albans. Hawking as Taught by the Boke of St. Albans. Taking Passage Hawks in Holland. How to Train a Passage Hawk. In Praise of Hawking. Rabbit Hawking. Partridge Hawking. Falcons and Falconry. Deer Hawking in India. etc. This book will appeal greatly to all with a serious interest in falcons and falconry. Many of the earliest sporting books, particularly those dating back to the 1800s are now extremely scarce and very expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Sujets

• Sports
• Recreation
• Hunting

Informations

• Publié par: Read Books Ltd.
• Date de parution: 10 janvier 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781447483175
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

IN PRAISE OF HAWKING
A SELECTION OF SCARCE ARTICLES ON FALCONRY
By
JAMES EDMUND HARTING
With Contributions By
THOMAS L. P. LILFORD & H. WARD

First published in the late 1800s



Copyright © 2021 Read Country Book
This edition is published by Read Country Book, an imprint of Read & Co.
This book is copyright and may not be reproduced or copied in any way without the express permission of the publisher in writing.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Read & Co. is part of Read Books Ltd. For more information visit www.readandcobooks.co.uk


Contents
FALCONRY
HAWKS AND HAWKING
By James Ed mund Harting
THE BOKE O F ST. ALBANS
By James Ed mund Harting
HAWKING AS TAUGHT BY THE BOOK O F ST. ALBANS
By James Ed mund Harting
TAKING PASSAGE HAWK S IN HOLLAND
By James Ed mund Harting
HOW TO TRAIN A PASSAGE HAWK
By James Ed mund Harting
IN PRAIS E OF HAWKING
By James Ed mund Harting
RA BBIT HAWKING
By James Ed mund Harting
PARTR IDGE HAWKING
By James Ed mund Harting
FALCONS AND FALCONRY
By Thomas Littleton P owys Lilford
DEER HAWK ING IN INDIA
By Colonel H. Ward, C.I.E.




Illustrations
James Edmund Harting w ith His Bird
The Fa lconer’s Hut
Butcher-bird. “On th e Look-Out.”
“When the Hawk Comes.”
FIG. 1.— Rufter Hood.
FIG. 2.—Jess for Peregrine. FIG. 3.—Jesses, Swivel , and Leash.
FIG. 4;—Falcon o n Turf Block
FIG. 5.—The Hood Proper (Showing Mode of Fastening).
FIG. 6.—The Hood Proper (Showing Openin g for Beak).
The Sparrow Hawk
The Kestrel
A Merlin
The Pere grine Falcon
A Y oung Goshawk
A H ooded Falcon
Falcon er and Hawks
The Author with a C ast of Hawks
Ra bbit Hawking
Partr idge Hawking
Trained Goshawk on the Fist
Hobby, with Lea sh and Block


FALCONRY
‘Falconry’ refers to the hunting of wild quarry in its natural state and habitat by means of a trained bird of prey. There are two traditional terms used to describe a person involved in falconry: a ‘falconer’ flies a falcon, and an ‘austringer’ (a term of German origin) flies a hawk or an eagle. Falconry has a long and distinguished history, and it has been suggested that it began in Mesopotamia, with the earliest accounts dating to approximately 2000 BC. It was probably introduced to Europe around 400 AD however, when the Huns and the Alans invaded from the East. Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (a member of the Swabian dynasty in the High Middle Ages who possessed huge amounts of territory across Europe) is generally acknowledged as the most significant wellspring of traditional falconry knowledge. He is believed to have obtained firsthand knowledge of Arabic falconry during wars in the region in 1228 and 1229, in which he participated in his role as Holy Roman Emperor. Frederick is best known for his falconry treatise, De Arte Venandi Cum Avibus (The Art of Hunting with Birds); the first comprehensive book on falconry, as well as a substantial contribution to ornithology and zoology. Historically, falconry has always been a popular sport of the upper classes and nobility, largely due to the prerequisites of time, money and space. However, within some societies, such as the Bedouin, falconry was not practiced for recreation, but for purely practical reasons of supplementing a very limited diet. In the UK, falconry reached its zenith in the seventeenth century, but faded reasonably rapidly due to the introduction of firearms for hunting in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It did witness a revival in the late nineteenth and earlier twentieth centuries however, when several falconry books were published. Interestingly, in early English falconry literature, the word ‘falcon’ referred to a female falcon only, while the word ‘hawk’ referred to a female hawk. A male hawk or falcon was referred to as a ‘tercel’, as it was roughly one third less than the female in size. Whilst falconry is now practiced in many countries world wide, it is less common in areas such as Australasia. In Australia, although falconry is not specifically illegal, it is illegal to keep any type of bird of prey in captivity without the appropriate permits, and in New Zealand, falconry was legalised for one species only, the Swap/Australasian harrier, in 2011. There are currently only four practicing falconers in New Zealand. However, in countries such as the UK and US today, falconry is experiencing a boom. Its popularity, through lure flying displays at country houses and game fairs, has probably never been higher in the past 300 years. It has also been the subject of a popular book Falcon Fever, written by Tim Gallagher in 2008. Falconry is also used for practical purposes in the modern day, the birds are taught to control other pest birds and animals in urban areas, landfills, commercial buildings, and eve n airports.


IN PRAISE OF HAWKING
A SELECTION OF SCARCE ARTICLES ON FALCONRY




James Edmund Harting w ith His Bird


HAWKS AND HAWKING
By James Edmund Harting
An Abstract of One of the "Davis Lectures" Delivered at the Zoological Gardens, June 24th, 1880
IT has been said that the history of animals interests us in proportion as they are of service to us, or are the means of providing us with amusement. Hawks are capable of both, and on this account, therefore, may be said to deserve a greater share of attention than is generally accorded to them at the present day. We are all hunters by nature. We have an inherent passion for chasing and taking wild animals, and feel an inward satisfaction in outwitting their natural instinct which prompts them to fly from us, by our reason, which is exercised by observation of their habits. Our ancestors were hunters through necessity. They had to chase and kill wild animals in order to live. They either pursued them with hounds till they were brought to bay, and then slew them with sword or spear, or stalked them in the forest, and killed them with bow and arrow, or with a sling. The larger animals were taken in nets, pitfalls, or other devices, and succumbed to the united strength of numerous assailants.
Birds which in their own element, the air, evaded pursuit, were taken either in snares or with birdlime, the use of which appears to have been known at a very early date. By degrees, it would seem, from continued observation of their predatory habits, hunters conceived the idea of snaring birds of prey and of training them to be of use to them in the chase; in other words, they instituted the art of Falconry or Hawking.
The origin of this art it is now impossible to discover. From the earliest times of which history takes cognizance people of all nations, but more particularly those of eastern origin, have practised the sport; and we may form some idea of its antiquity from Sir A. H. Layard’s discovery of a bas-relief amongst the ruins of Khorsabad, in which a falconer is represented carrying a hawk upon his wrist. From this it is to be inferred that hawking was practised there some 1700 years B.C. In China it was known even at an earlier date than this; for in an old Japanese work, of which a French translation appeared at the beginning of the present century, [1] it is stated that falcons were amongst the presents made to princes in the time of the Hia dynasty, which commenced in the year 2205 B.C. The records of King Wen Wang, who reigned over the province of Hunan between 689 and 675 B.C. show that in his day hawking was much in vogue there. [2] In Japan it seems to have been known many centuries before the Christian era, and probably at an equally early date in India, Arabia, Persia , and Syria.
From the East it was introduced into Europe, although the precise date of such introduction is unknown; but from the allusions made to the sport by Aristotle, [3] Pliny [4] , Ælian, [5] Martial, [6] and Oppian, [7] brief and even vague though they be, we may infer that hawking was known to, if not practised by, Europeans at least three centuries before the Ch ristian era.
John of Salisbury, who died in 1182, discussing the question of the origin of Falconry in Europe, [8] arrived at the conclusion that it was introduced into Greece by Ulysses after the siege of Troy, an opinion which has been indorsed by several subsequent writers. According to von Hammer, [9] however, the Turks were the first masters of the art in Europe, and imparted it to the Persians, who in turn instructed the Greeks and Arabs. This view receives some confirmation from a recently published French translation of an Arabic MS. of the 10th century on Hunting and Hawking, which is now before me. [10] In this work it is stated that the first falconer, according to an Arabic tradition, was a King of Persia. During one of his excursions he was greatly interested in watching unobserved the actions of a wild hawk. He saw it perch upon a bough “with the air of a sovereign upon his throne,” where it watched for an opportunity to seize a passing bird. He saw it at last take one, and having made a meal of it, fly down to the river, drink, and bathe, and then return to its tree. He was struck with admiration at its majestic appearance, its wonderful patience, and its power over other birds, which it seemed to take by sovereignty of nature, and was seized with a desire to possess it. His fowlers gratified his inclination by snaring it. He caused it to be tied on a perch near him, and succeeded in taming it, learning many a lesson from observation of its good qualities. It was asserted, indeed, as a consequence, that this king, who was naturally of a violent disposition, became, through this lesson, a better administr