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Authors: Richard Almond
Tags: Medieval Hunting
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to send me a bylle of your wellfare, and the prys . . . .â
In October 1478, Richard Cely the elder at London wrote to Richard Cely the younger at Calais:
Also youre gosehawke, the weche was delyuerd to my Lorde of Send Johnys, ys dede for defayte of good kepying, for the weche I wolde we hadde kepyt the hawke the weche Wyll Cely bravthe home and ys delyvered to the Vekery of Watforde.
A later letter to George, or perhaps Richard, Cely, Merchants of the Staple at Calais, instructed the purchase of another goshawk at the considerable price of 8 or 9 s for Lord St John âyeff ye covd bey any at Callas for viij or ixs., and he would pay for the sayd hauke hemselffe for the pleser of my Lordâ. 63 On 12 October 1479, John Roosse at Calais wrote to George Cely at Bruges âthat I scholde com to Breges to you for to helpe to conuey your haukys into Englandâ. These birds would be conveyed via Calais. He mentions that âI bowte a mewd hauke in Callys syn I cam; sche coste me x/s. and more, the wysche I have sent into Eynglandâ. Later that year, Robert Radclyff at Calais wrote to George Cely at Bruges enquiring about buying a âflecked spaniellâ and a horse on his behalf; 64 it seems likely that both these animals were also purchased for hawking.
Throughout Europe, legislation protected and preserved hawks and restricted hawking to the privileged élite. Penalties for disturbing eyries could be savage, including blinding the culprit. 65 During Norman rule in England, the right to keep a hawk was restricted to the upper classes, but the Forest Charter of 1215 stated that every free man might have an eyrie (hawkâs nest) in his own woods, from which he could lawfully take nestlings to train to hunt. A bird taken from the eyrie was termed an eyass , as opposed to a haggard , a hawk or falcon in mature plumage captured and reclaimed from the wild. 66 Stealing a hawk was regarded as a felony in England and any person who destroyed raptor eggs was liable to a yearâs imprisonment. The Church apparently approved and sometimes imposed these laws, the Bishop of Ely going to the lengths of excommunicating a thief who stole a hawk from the cloisters of Bermondsey. 67 Phillip Glasier must be referring to this incident in his classic As the Falcon her Bells when he recounts that âPeople took their hawks everywhere with them, even to church, and one bishop, hearing that his favourite falcon had been stolen from the cloisters while he was preaching his sermon, marched straight back into the pulpit and excommunicated the thief forthwith.â68
Like the quarry of hunters, birds of prey were classified by medieval writers. The basic division in the manuals is between hawks of the tower and hawks of the fist , which conveniently corresponds largely to the falcons ( Falconidae ) and the hawks ( Accipitridae ). 69 The short-winged hawks were more popular with the French whereas the long-winged hawks, generically falcons, were more favoured in England. The latter birds include the peregrine, merlin and hobby, all of which were, and still are, used by falconers to fly at live quarry. 70 Roy Modus âs division differs somewhat from the basic classification. He places the peregrine falcon, lanner, saker and hobby as hawks of the tower, whereas the goshawk, sparrow hawk, gyrfalcon and merlin are classed as hawks of the fist. 71 The hawks of the tower were unhooded and allowed to climb on thermals before stooping on the prey which had been put up by spaniels or pointers, then come in to the lure, whereas the hawks of the fist were trained to come to the fist only, not to the lure. Only short-winged hawks were trained in this manner, never falcons. 72
Strictly, the term falcon refers specifically to the female peregrine but it is sometimes used in medieval and other sources for the females of other species of the Falconidae . Usually the species is named, such as the gyrfalcon. The tiercel , tercel
In October 1478, Richard Cely the elder at London wrote to Richard Cely the younger at Calais:
Also youre gosehawke, the weche was delyuerd to my Lorde of Send Johnys, ys dede for defayte of good kepying, for the weche I wolde we hadde kepyt the hawke the weche Wyll Cely bravthe home and ys delyvered to the Vekery of Watforde.
A later letter to George, or perhaps Richard, Cely, Merchants of the Staple at Calais, instructed the purchase of another goshawk at the considerable price of 8 or 9 s for Lord St John âyeff ye covd bey any at Callas for viij or ixs., and he would pay for the sayd hauke hemselffe for the pleser of my Lordâ. 63 On 12 October 1479, John Roosse at Calais wrote to George Cely at Bruges âthat I scholde com to Breges to you for to helpe to conuey your haukys into Englandâ. These birds would be conveyed via Calais. He mentions that âI bowte a mewd hauke in Callys syn I cam; sche coste me x/s. and more, the wysche I have sent into Eynglandâ. Later that year, Robert Radclyff at Calais wrote to George Cely at Bruges enquiring about buying a âflecked spaniellâ and a horse on his behalf; 64 it seems likely that both these animals were also purchased for hawking.
Throughout Europe, legislation protected and preserved hawks and restricted hawking to the privileged élite. Penalties for disturbing eyries could be savage, including blinding the culprit. 65 During Norman rule in England, the right to keep a hawk was restricted to the upper classes, but the Forest Charter of 1215 stated that every free man might have an eyrie (hawkâs nest) in his own woods, from which he could lawfully take nestlings to train to hunt. A bird taken from the eyrie was termed an eyass , as opposed to a haggard , a hawk or falcon in mature plumage captured and reclaimed from the wild. 66 Stealing a hawk was regarded as a felony in England and any person who destroyed raptor eggs was liable to a yearâs imprisonment. The Church apparently approved and sometimes imposed these laws, the Bishop of Ely going to the lengths of excommunicating a thief who stole a hawk from the cloisters of Bermondsey. 67 Phillip Glasier must be referring to this incident in his classic As the Falcon her Bells when he recounts that âPeople took their hawks everywhere with them, even to church, and one bishop, hearing that his favourite falcon had been stolen from the cloisters while he was preaching his sermon, marched straight back into the pulpit and excommunicated the thief forthwith.â68
Like the quarry of hunters, birds of prey were classified by medieval writers. The basic division in the manuals is between hawks of the tower and hawks of the fist , which conveniently corresponds largely to the falcons ( Falconidae ) and the hawks ( Accipitridae ). 69 The short-winged hawks were more popular with the French whereas the long-winged hawks, generically falcons, were more favoured in England. The latter birds include the peregrine, merlin and hobby, all of which were, and still are, used by falconers to fly at live quarry. 70 Roy Modus âs division differs somewhat from the basic classification. He places the peregrine falcon, lanner, saker and hobby as hawks of the tower, whereas the goshawk, sparrow hawk, gyrfalcon and merlin are classed as hawks of the fist. 71 The hawks of the tower were unhooded and allowed to climb on thermals before stooping on the prey which had been put up by spaniels or pointers, then come in to the lure, whereas the hawks of the fist were trained to come to the fist only, not to the lure. Only short-winged hawks were trained in this manner, never falcons. 72
Strictly, the term falcon refers specifically to the female peregrine but it is sometimes used in medieval and other sources for the females of other species of the Falconidae . Usually the species is named, such as the gyrfalcon. The tiercel , tercel
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