Publications of the Clan Lindsay Society - Electric Scotland

THE ROYAL FALCON KRS OF SCOTLAND. 147
be increased through lengtliening each leather by
"imping." The success of the expedient depended
on the exactitude with ^vhich it was carried out.
Hence the need of a su})ply of all the principal feathers
of all the species from birds of all ages and both sexes.
The art of falconry was one calling for knowledge
and skill, inexhaustible patience, and unremitting
attention. The actual Hying of the birds in the field
by or in presence of his employer, although it was the
end and object of his labours, was only one, and that
not the most exacting of the falconer's duties. When
the sport was in high favour the varied activities of
the falconers' establishment must have made this one
of the busiest among the many dei)artment8 of the
household service. With the introduction of firearms,
however, and on account of other causes, hawking fell
into neglect, and to us this picturesque pursuit seems
old-world and remote. As a living interest it is so,
yet as a survival it reached even to our own day, and
there are those still alive who have seen the last of the
royal falconers of Scotland flying his hawks in the
neighbourhood of Paisley.