are one or
two hawking enthusiasts who have endeavoured to revive this old
English pastime, and on the Berkshire Downs a hawking party was seen
a few years ago. Hawking consists in the training and flying of
hawks for the purpose of catching other birds. Kings and noblemen,
barons and ladies of feudal times, used to delight in following the
sport on horseback, and to watch their favourite birds towering high
to gain the upward flights in order to swoop down upon some heron,
crane, or wild duck, and bear it to the ground. Persons of high rank
always carried their hawks with them wherever they went, and in old
paintings the hawk upon the wrist of a portrait was the sign of
noble birth. The sport was practised by our Saxon forefathers before
the Normans came, and the first trained hawk in England is said to
have been sent by St. Boniface, the "Apostle of the Germans," as a
present to Ethelbert, King of Kent, in the eighth century. The
history of the sport of the kings who loved to take part in it, and
of their adventures, would require a volume, and my space only
allows me to give you a brief account of the manner in which the
sport was conducted.

I may mention that before the reign of King John only kings and
noblemen were allowed to take part in hawking; but in the forest
Charter, which that monarch was compelled to sign, every freeman was
permitted to have his own hawks and falcons. The falconer, who took
care of the hawks, was a very important person. The chief falconer
of the King of France received four thousand florins a year, besides
a tax upon every hawk sold in the kingdom. The Welsh princes
assigned the fourth place of honour in their courts to this officer;
but this proud distinction had its responsibilities, and this high
official was only allowed to take three draughts from his horn, lest
his brain should not be as clear as it ought to be, and the precious
birds might be neglected.

Sometimes the hawking party went on foot, carrying long poles to
enable them to jump the ditches and to follow the course. Henry
VIII. nearly lost his life on one occasion through falling (his pole
having broken) into a bog, from which he was rescued by one John
Moody, who happened to see the accident. But mounted on gallant
steeds the lords and ladies were accustomed to follow their
favourite pastime, and amid the blowing of horns and laughter and
shoutings they rode along, galloping up-hill and down-hill, with
their eyes fi