The Ornithology of Shakespeare Part 9

She was more easily trained, and capable of being flown at larger game.

Hence Shakespeare a.s.serts--

"The falcon as the tercel, for all the ducks i' the river."

_Troilus and Cressida_, Act iii. Sc. 2.

Sometimes we find the word "tercel" written "ta.s.sel," as in _Romeo and Juliet_ (Act ii. Sc. 2):--

"O, for a falconer's voice, To lure this _ta.s.sel-gentle_ back again!"

Spenser almost invariably spells the word in this way.[45] To understand the allusion to the falconer's voice, it should be observed that after a hawk had been flown, and had either struck or missed the object of her pursuit, the "lure" (which we shall presently describe) was thrown up to entice her back, and at the same time the falconer shouted to attract her attention.

[Sidenote: QUALITIES OF A GOOD FALCONER.]

Professor Schneider, in a Latin volume published at Leipsic, in 1788,[46] thus enumerates the qualities of a good falconer: "Sit mediocris staturae; sit perfecti ingenii; bonae memoriae; levis auditu; acuti visus; _h.o.m.o magnae vocis_; sit agilis et promptus; sciat natare,"

&c. &c.

Each falconer had his own particular call, but it was generally somewhat like--

"Hillo, ho, ho, boy! come, bird, come!"

_Hamlet_, Act i. Sc. 5.

[Sidenote: THE LURE AND ITS USE.]

The "lure" was of various shapes, and consisted merely of a piece of iron or wood, generally in the shape of a heart or horseshoe, to which were attached the wings of some bird, with a piece of raw meat fixed between them. A strong leathern strap, about three feet long, fastened to it with a swivel, enabled the falconer to swing it round his head, or throw it to a distance. With high-flying hawks, however, it was often found necessary to use a live pigeon, secured to a string by soft leather jesses, in order to recall them.[47]

The long-winged hawks were always brought to the lure, the short-winged ones to the hand:--

"As falcon to the lure, away she flies."

_Venus and Adonis._

The game flown at was called in hawking parlance the "quarry," and differed according to the hawk that was used. The gerfalcon and peregrine were flown at herons, ducks, pigeons, rooks, and magpies; the goshawk was used for hares and partridges; while the smaller kinds, such as the merlin and hobby, were trained to take blackbirds, larks, and snipe. The French falconers, however, do not appear to have been so particular:--

"We'll e'en to 't like French falconers, fly at anything we see."--_Hamlet_, Act ii. Sc. 2.

[Sidenote: THE QUARRY.]

The word "quarry" occurs in many of the Plays.

"This 'quarry' cries on havoc."[48]

_Hamlet_, Act v. Sc. 2.

In the language of the forest, "quarry" also meant a heap of slaughtered game. So, in _Coriola.n.u.s_ (Act iii. Sc. 1), Caius Marcius says:--

"And let me use my sword, I'd make a 'quarry'

With thousands of these quarter'd slaves."

The beauty of the following pa.s.sage, from its being clothed in technicalities, will be likely to escape the notice of those who are not conversant with hawking phraseology; but an acquaintance with the terms employed will elicit admiration at the force and beauty of the metaphor.

Oth.e.l.lo, mistrusting the constancy of Desdemona towards him, and comparing her to a hawk, exclaims:--

"If I do prove her _haggard_, Though that her _jesses_ were my dear heart-strings, I'd whistle her off, and let her down the wind, To prey at fortune."

_Oth.e.l.lo_, Act iii. Sc. 3.

By "haggard" is meant a wild-caught and unreclaimed mature hawk, as distinguished from an "eyess," or nestling; that

"There is, sir, an aiery of children, little eyases, that cry out."

_Hamlet_, Act ii. Sc. 2.

By some falconers "haggards" were also called "pa.s.sage hawks," from being always caught when in that state, at the time of their periodical pa.s.sage or migration. As will be seen hereafter, the word "haggard"

occurs frequently throughout the Plays.

[Sidenote: HAWK'S TRAPPINGS.]

The "jesses" were two narrow strips of leather, fastened one to each leg, the other ends being attached to a swivel, from which depended the "leash." When the hawk was flown, the swivel and leash were taken off, the jesses and bells remaining on the bird.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Some of the old falconers' directions on these points are very quaint.

Turbervile, in his "Book of Falconrie," 1575, speaking of the trappings of a hawk, says:--"Shee must haue jesses of leather, the which must haue knottes at the ende, and they should be halfe a foote long, or there about; at the least a shaftmeete betweene the hoose of the jesse, and the knotte at the ende, whereby you tye the hauke."

[Sidenote: THE JESSES.]

In the modern "jesse," however, there are no knots. It is fastened in this wise. The leg of the hawk is placed against the "jesse," between the slits A and B. The end A is then pa.s.sed through the slit B, and the end C in turn through the slit A. The swivel, with its dependent leash, is then attached to slit C; and the same with the other leg.

Oth.e.l.lo says:--

"I'd whistle her off, and let her down the wind, To prey at fortune."

Falconers always flew their hawk _against_ the wind. If flown _down_ the wind, she seldom returned. When, therefore, a useless bird was to be dismissed, her owner flew her "down the wind;" and thenceforth she s.h.i.+fted for herself, and was said "to prey at fortune."

The word "haggard," as before observed, is of frequent occurrence throughout the Plays of Shakespeare. In the _Taming of the Shrew_ (Act iv. Sc. 2), Hortensio speaks of Bianca as "this proud disdainful _haggard_." In _Much Ado about Nothing_ (Act iii. Sc. 1), Hero, alluding to Beatrice, says--

"I know, her spirits are as coy and wild As _haggards_ of the rock."

In _Twelfth Night_ (Act iii. Sc. 1), Viola says of the Clown:--

"This fellow's wise enough to play the fool; And to do that well craves a kind of wit: He must observe their mood on whom he jests, The quality of persons, and the time; And, _like the haggard_, check at every feather That comes before his eye."

To "check" is a term used in falconry, signifying to "fly at," although it sometimes meant to "change the bird in pursuit."[49] The word occurs again in the same play (Act ii. Sc. 4), and in _Hamlet_, Act iv. Sc. 7.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Sidenote: THE BELLS.]