FALCONRY

FALCONRY, a kind of sport or amusement, respecting the antiquity of which different opinions have been entertained by the learned. It is denied by Blondus, Laurentius Valla, and others, that the ancient Greeks knew any thing about falconry; but the learned Professor Beckmann, on the most unequivocal authority, maintains that they did. He admits that they might be ignorant of the art of hawking, or of chasing

Falconry. chasing game with birds trained for that purpose; but he contends that they employed some species of the most rapacious of the winged tribe in hunting and fowling. In the days of Ctesias, the Indians hunted hares and foxes by means of rapacious birds; and Aristotle says expressly, "In Thrace, the men go out to catch birds with hawks. They beat the reeds and bushes which grow in marshy places, in order to raise the small birds, which the hawks pursue and drive to the ground, where the fowlers kill them with poles."

Respecting Thrace, which is situated above Amphipolis, a wonderful circumstance is related, which to many may appear almost incredible. We are informed that boys went into the fields, and pursued birds by the assistance of hawks. When they found a convenient place for their purpose, they called their hawks by their particular names, which came immediately on hearing their voices, and pursued the birds into the bushes, where the boys killed them with sticks, and thus made them their prey. When the hawks themselves laid hold of any birds, they threw them to the fowlers, and received, for their fidelity, a share of the game. If we add the spaniel, now employed to find out the game, the hood placed upon the head of the hawk, and the thong for holding it, we may clearly perceive in these ancient accounts the practice of modern times. Falconers still give a portion of the game to the hawk, as was the usual practice of the boys at Thrace.

According to the testimony of Phile, Pliny, Aelian, and others, the birds were sometimes driven into nets by the hawks employed in these sports. From India and Thrace, therefore, it seems manifest, that the Greeks obtained their first information as to the method of fowling with birds of prey; but they themselves do not appear to have adopted the practice at a very early period. In Italy, however, it must have been extremely well understood, since it is mentioned by Martial and Apuleius as a thing everywhere known. After being once known, it was never totally forgotten; but it shared the fate of other inventions in this respect, that it was originally admired, and afterwards much neglected, by which means it received no material improvements for a considerable time; yet it was at length brought to the utmost perfection. We find mention made of this sport in the Roman laws, and in many authors of the fourth and subsequent century. In the time of Constantine the Great, Julius Firmicus Maternus assures us, according to the superstitious notions of that period, that such as are born under certain signs, will become great sportsmen, and keep hounds and falcons. Sidonius, who flourished about the end of the fifth century, praises Herdicius, the brother of his wife, because he was the first in his territories who practised hunting and fowling with dogs and hawks.

Falconry appears to have been carried to the greatest perfection, and to have been much esteemed at the chief courts of Europe, so early as the 12th century, for which reason some have ascribed the invention to the emperor Frederic I. whereas he appears to have been only the first who introduced the practice into Italy, according to the testimony of Rodericus and Colennecio; and Frederic II. wrote a book entitled, De arte venandi cum avibus, to which the practice has been much indebted. Falconry has had a number of admirers among the fair sex, perhaps in a superior degree to

any other sport or amusement whatever of a similar nature; but their attachment was destroyed by the invention of gunpowder, which was accompanied both with alarm and danger. We conclude our remarks on the history of falconry with an observation of Demetrius, who flourished in the 13th century, and who expressly wrote at large upon this subject. He desires sportsmen to say their prayers (Τὰς Σὺν εὐχαριστίας) before they go out to the field, which appears wholly incompatible with the practice of modern times, and seems as impious as to crave assistance of God when preparing for a piratical expedition.