Publications of the Clan Lindsay Society - Electric Scotland

THE ROYAL FALCONKUS OF SCOTLAND. U5
the bird of paradise had reached Europe even in
pre- Reformation times, and were used for tliis purpose,
for the decoration of hawks' lioods was the occasion of
much extravagance.
The young hooded hawk was grachuilly brought to
sit quietly on the gloved hand, and was carried about
all day long to habituate it to the neighbourhood of
men, horses, and dogs. It was taught to come to the
lure. This was formed of a pair of wings fastened to
a forked stick, to which was attached a leather thong
about three feet in length, by which the contrivance
could be swung about. 'J'he wings were those of the
kind of bird which the liawk was being trained to
capture, and the hawk's food was fixed upon the
instrument. From having been accustomed to feed
upon the lure the hawk could be made to follow its
movements, so that when in the air the falconer could
cause it to lower or contract the circles of its fliirht, or
descend altogether to the hand. Sometimes when a
falcon was given as a present, the lure by which it had
been trained was included in the gift. There is no
instance in Scottish record of the falconer also being
included, but this sometimes occurred on the Continent.
Thus the Sire de Couci, one of the great peers of France,
gave to King Edward III. of England as a present
Jacques de Guny, the most famous falconer of his duy,
Jacques, of course, was a slave or bondman of De
Couci, and at the disposal of his master.
When the young falcon had been brought to
obedience it was put to the capture of live game
First it was set to take a bird, the fliglit of which was
checked by a string attached to it ;
then to one slightly