the air, that warble forth their curious ditties, with which nature hath furnished them to the shame of art. As first the Lark, when she means to rejoice; to cheer herself and those that hear her; she then quits the earth, and sings as she ascends higher into the air, and having ended her heavenly employment, grows then mute, and sad, to think she must descend to the dull earth, which she would not touch, but for necessity. How do the Blackbird and Thrassel with their melodious voices bid welcome to the cheerful Spring, and in their fixed months warble forth such ditties as no art or instrument can reach to! Nay, the smaller birds also do the like in their particular seasons, as namely the Leverock, the Titlark, the little Linnet, and the honest Robin, that loves mankind both alive and dead. But the Nightingale, another of my airy creatures, breathes such sweet loud music out of her little instrumental throat, that it might make mankind to think miracles are not ceased. He that at midnight, when the very labourer sleeps securely, should hear, as I have very often, the clear airs, the sweet descants, the natural rising and falling, the doubling and redoubling of her voice, might well be lifted above earth, and say, Lord, what music hast thou provided for the Saints in Heaven, when thou affordest bad men such music on Earth! And this makes me the less to wonder at the many Aviaries in Italy, or at the great charge of Varro for his Aviarie, the ruins of which are yet to be seen in Rome, and is still so famous there, that it is reckoned for one of those notables which men of foreign nations either record, or lay up in their memories when they return from travel. This for the birds of pleasure, of which very much more might be said. My next shall be of birds of political use; I think 'tis not to be doubted that Swallows have been taught to carry letters between two armies. But 'tis certain that when the Turks besieged Malta or Rhodes, I now remember not which it was, Pigeons are then related to carry and recarry letters: And Mr. G. Sandys,' in his Travels, relates it to be done betwixt Aleppo and Babylon.* But if that be disbelieved, it is not to be doubted that the Dove was sent out of the ark by Noah, to give him notice of land, when to him all appeared to be sea; and the Dove proved a faithful and comfortable messenger. And for the sacrifices of the law, a pair of Turtle-doves, or young Pigeons, were as well accepted as costly Bulls and Rams. And when God would feed the Prophet Elijah, 1 Kings, xvii. after a kind of miraculous manner, he did it by Ravens, who brought him meat morning and evening. Lastly, the Holy Ghost, when he descended visibly upon our Saviour, did it by assuming the shape of a Dove. And, to con (1) Mr. George Sandys, a very pious, learned, and accomplished gentleman, was the youngest son of Dr. Edwin Sandys, Abp. of York. He published his Travels to the Holy Land, Egypt, and elsewhere, in folio, 1615; and made an excellent Paraphrase on the Psalms, Canticles, and Ecclesiastes, in verse; and also trauslated Ovid's Metamorphoses. He was one of the best versifiers of that age, and died in 1642. (2) "A thing usual it is betweene Tripoly and Aleppo, as betweene Aleppo and Babylon, to make tame Doves the speedy transporters of their Letters; which they wrap about their legs like jesses, trained thereunto at such time as they have young ones, by bearing them from them in open cages. A fowle of a notable memory. Nor is it a moderne invention. For we reade that Thaurosthones, by a pigeon stained with purple, gave notice of his victory at the Olimpian games the selfe same day to his father in Egina. By which meanes also the Consul Hircus held intelligence with Decimus Brutus besieged in Mutina. The like perhaps is meant by the Poet, when he saith -Tanquam e diversis partibus Orbis Anxia præcipiti venisset Epistola prima.' Juv. Sat. &c. As if from parts removed farre, from some A wofull Letter swiftly winged should come. When the Christians besieged Acre, Saladine sent out one of these winged scouts to confirm the courages of the besieged, with promise of a speedy reliefe: when I know not by what chance or policy, intercepted, and furnished with a contrary message, occasioned a sodaine surrender." Sandys' Travels, fol. Lond. 1615. p. 209. (3) Waltou here mistakes the sense of two passages in Scripture, viz. Matt. iii. 16. and Luke iii. 22. in which the baptism of our Lord is related. The mean clude this part of my discourse, pray remember these wonders were done by birds of the air, the element in which they, and I, take so much pleasure. There is also a little contemptible winged creature, an inhabitant of my aërial element, namely, the laborious Bee, of whose Prudence, Policy, and regular Government of their own commonwealth, I might say much, as also of their several kinds, and how useful their honey and wax is both for meat and medicines to mankind;' but I will leave them to their sweet labour, without the least disturbance, believing them to be all very busy at this very time amongst the herbs and flowers that we see nature puts forth this May morning. And now to return to my Hawks, from whom I have made too long a digression; you are to note, that they are usually distinguished into two kinds; namely, the long-winged, and the short-winged Hawk: of the first kind, there be chiefly in use amongst us in this nation, The Gerfalcon and Jerkin, The Falcon and Tassel-gentel, The Bockerel and Bockeret, The Saker and Sacaret, The Merlin and Jack Merlin, The Hobby and Jack: There is the Stelletto of Spain, The Blood-red Rook from Turkey, The Waskite from Virginia: And there is of short-winged Hawks, The Eagle and Iron, The Goshawk and Tarcel, ing of both is, that the Holy Spirit descended, as a Dove uses to descend upon any thing, hovering, and overshadowing it. Vide Whitby on Luke iii. 22. Dr. Hammond on the passage, and Bp. Taylor's Ductor Dubitantium, 254. (1) See the Feminine Monarchy; or History of Bees, by Charles Butler, 4to. 1634. The Sparhawk and Musket, The French Pye of two sorts: These are reckoned Hawks of note and worth; but we have also of an inferior rank, The Stanyel, the Ringtail, The Raven, the Buzzard, The Forked Kite, the Bald Buzzard, The Hen-driver, and others that I forbear to name.1 Gentlemen, if I should enlarge my discourse to the observation of the Eires, the Brancher, the Ramish Hawk, the Haggard, and the two sorts of Lentners, and then treat of their several Ayries, their Mewings, rare order of casting, and the renovation of their feathers: their reclaiming, dieting, and then come to their rare stories of practice; I say, if I should enter into these, and many other observations that I could make, it would be much, very much pleasure to me: but lest I should break the rules of civility with you, by taking up more than the proportion of time allotted to me, I will here break off, and intreat you, Mr. Venator, to say what you are able in the commendation of Hunting, to which you are so much affected; and if time will serve, I will beg your favour for a further enlargement of some of those several heads of which I have spoken. But no more at present. Ven. Well, Sir, and I will now take my turn, and will first begin with a commendation of the Earth, as you have done most excellently of the Air; the Earth being that element upon which I drive my pleasant, wholesome, hungry trade. The Earth is a solid, settled element; an element most universally beneficial both to man and beast; to men who have their several recreations upon it, as horse-races, hunting, sweet smells, plea (1) See Turberville, Latham, and Markham, on Fulconry. sant walks the earth feeds man, and all those several beasts that both feed him, and afford him recreation. What pleasure doth man take in hunting the stately Stag, the generous Buck, the Wild Boar, the cunning Otter, the crafty Fox, and the fearful Hare! And if I may descend to a lower game, what pleasure is it sometimes with gins to betray the very vermin of the earth! as namely, the Fichat, the Fulimart,' the Ferret, the Pole-cat, the Mouldwarp, and the like creatures that live upon the face and within the bowels of the earth. How doth the earth bring forth herbs, flowers, and fruits, both for physic and the pleasure of mankind; and above all, to me at least, the fruitful vine, of which when I drink moderately, it clears my brain, chears my heart, and sharpens my wit. How could Cleopatra have feasted Mark Antony with eight Wild Boars roasted whole at one supper, and other meat suitable, if the earth had not been a bountiful mother? But to pass by the mighty Elephant, which the earth breeds and nourisheth, and descend to the least of creatures, how doth the earth afford us a doctrinal example in the little Pismire, who in the summer provides and lays up her winter provision, and teaches man to do the like! The earth feeds and carries those horses that carry us. If I would be prodigal of my time and your patience, what might not I say in commendations of the earth? That puts limits to the proud and raging sea, and by that means preserves both man and beast, that it destroys them not, as we see it daily doth (1) Dr. Skinner, in his Etymologicon Lingue Anglicana, Lond. fol. 1671, voce "Fulimart," gives us to understand, that this word is Vor quæ nusquam, nasi in libro the "Complete Angler," dicto occurrit. Upon which it may be observed, that Dame Juliana Barnes, in her Book of Hunting, ranks the Fulmarde among the beasts of chace; and that both in the Dictionary of Dr. Adam Littleton, and that of Phillips, entitled the World of Words, it occurs: the first renders it Putorius, mus Ponticus; the latter a kind of Polecat. In Junius it is Fullmer, and said to be idem quod Polecat; but in this interpretation they seem all to be mistaken, for Walton here mentions the Polecat by name, as does also Dame Juliana Barnes in her book. |