It was the rudest and the most obvious manner of acquiring human support before the agricultural arts had in any degree advanced. It is an employment, however, requiring both art and contrivance, as well as a certain fearlessness of character, combined with the power of considerable physical endurance. Without these, success could not be very great; but, at best, the occupation is usually accompanied with rude and turbulent habits; and, when combined with these, it const.i.tutes what is termed the savage state of man. As culture advances, and as the soil proportionably becomes devoted to the plough or to the sustenance of the tamer or more domesticated animals, the range of the huntsman is proportionably limited; so that when a country has attained to a high state of cultivation, hunting becomes little else than an amus.e.m.e.nt of the opulent. In the case of fur-bearing animals, however, it is somewhat different; for these continue to supply the wants of civilization with one of its most valuable materials of commerce.
1010. THE THEMES WHICH FORM THE MINSTRELSY OF THE EARLIEST AGES, either relate to the spoils of the chase or the dangers of the battle-field.
Even the sacred writings introduce us to Nimrod, the first mighty hunter before the Lord, and tell us that Ishmael, in the solitudes of Arabia, became a skilful bow-man; and that David, when yet young, was not afraid to join in combat with the lion or the bear. The Greek mythology teems with hunting exploits. Hercules overthrows the Nemaean lion, the Erymanthean boar, and the hydra of Lerna; Diana descends to the earth, and pursues the stag; whilst Aesculapius, Nestor, Theseus, Ulysses, and Achilles are all followers of the chase. Aristotle, sage as he was, advises young men to apply themselves early to it; and Plato finds in it something divine. Horace exalts it as a preparative exercise for the path of glory, and several of the heroes of Homer are its ardent votaries. The Romans followed the hunting customs of the Greeks, and the ancient Britons were hunters before Julius Caesar invaded their sh.o.r.es.
1011. ALTHOUGH THE ANCIENT BRITONS FOLLOWED HUNTING, however, they did not confine themselves solely to its pursuit. They bred cattle and tilled the ground, and, to some extent, indicated the rudimentary state of a pastoral and agricultural life; but, in every social change, the sports of the field maintained their place. After the expulsion of the Danes, and during the brief restoration of the Saxon monarchy, these were still followed: even Edward the Confessor, who would join in no other secular amus.e.m.e.nts, took the greatest delight, says William of Malmesbury, "to follow a pack of swift hounds in pursuit of game, and to cheer them with his voice."
1012. NOR WAS EDWARD the only English sovereign who delighted in the pleasures of the chase. William the Norman, and his two sons who succeeded him, were pa.s.sionately fond of the sport, and greatly circ.u.mscribed the liberties of their subjects in reference to the killing of game. The privilege of hunting in the royal forests was confined to the king and his favourites; and in order that these umbrageous retreats might be made more extensive, whole villages were depopulated, places of worship levelled with the ground, and every means adopted that might give a sufficient amplitude of s.p.a.ce, in accordance with the royal pleasure, for the beasts of the chase. King John was likewise especially attached to the sports of the field; whilst Edward III. was so enamoured of the exercise, that even during his absence at the wars in France, he took with him sixty couples of stag-hounds and as many hare-hounds, and every day amused himself either with hunting or hawking. Great in wisdom as the Scotch Solomon, James I., conceited himself to be, he was much addicted to the amus.e.m.e.nts of hunting, hawking, and shooting. Yea, it is oven a.s.serted that his precious time was divided between hunting, the bottle, and his standish: to the first he gave his fair weather, to the second his dull, and to the third his cloudy. From his days down to the present, the sports of the field have continued to hold their high reputation, not only for the promotion of health, but for helping to form that manliness of character which enters so largely into the composition of the sons of the British soil. That it largely helps to do this there can be no doubt. The late duke of Grafton, when hunting, was, on one occasion, thrown into a ditch. A young curate, engaged in the same chase, cried out, "Lie still, my lord!" leapt over him, and pursued his sport. Such an apparent want of feeling might be expected to have been resented by the duke; but not so.
On his being helped up by his attendant, he said, "That man shall have the first good living that falls to my disposal: had he stopped to have given me his sympathy, I never would have given him anything." Such was the manly sentiment of the duke, who delighted in the exemplification of a spirit similarly ardent as his own in the sport, and above the baseness of an a.s.sumed sorrow.
1013. THAT HUNTING HAS IN MANY INSTANCES BEEN CARRIED TO AN EXCESS is well known, and the match given by the Prince Esterhazy, regent of Hungary, on the signing of the treaty of peace with France, is not the least extraordinary upon record. On that occasion, there were killed 160 deer, 100 wild boars, 300 hares, and 80 foxes: this was the achievement of one day. Enormous, however, as this slaughter may appear, it is greatly inferior to that made by the contemporary king of Naples on a hunting expedition. That sovereign had a larger extent of ground at his command, and a longer period for the exercise of his talents; consequently, his sport, if it can so be called, was proportionably greater. It was pursued during his journey to Vienna, in Austria, Bohemia, and Moravia; when he killed 5 bears, 1,820 boars, 1,950 deer, 1,145 does, 1,625 roebucks, 11,121 rabbits, 13 wolves, 17 badgers, 16,354 hares, and 354 foxes. In birds, during the same expedition, he killed 15,350 pheasants and 12,335 partridges. Such an amount of destruction can hardly be called sport; it resembles more the indiscriminate slaughter of a battle-field, where the scientific engines of civilized warfare are brought to bear upon defenceless savages.
1014. DEER AND HARES may be esteemed as the only four-footed animals now hunted in Britain for the table; and even those are not followed with the same ardour as they were wont to be. Still, there is no country in the world where the sport of hunting on horseback is carried to such an extent as in Great Britain, and where the pleasures of the chase are so well understood, and conducted on such purely scientific principles. The Fox, of all "the beasts of the field," is now considered to afford the best sport. For this, it is infinitely superior to the stag; for the real sportsman can only enjoy that chase when the deer is sought for and found like other game which are pursued with hounds. In the case of finding an outlying fallow-deer, which is unharboured, in this manner, great sport is frequently obtained; but this is now rarely to be met with in Britain. In reference to hare-hunting, it is much followed in many parts of this and the sister island; but, by the true foxhunter, it is considered as a sport only fit to be pursued by women and old men.
Although it is less dangerous and exciting than the fox-chase, however, it has great charms for those who do not care for the hard riding which the other requires.
1015. THE ART OF TAKING OR KILLING BIRDS is called "fowling," and is either practised as an amus.e.m.e.nt by persons of rank or property, or for a livelihood by persons who use nets and other apparatus. When practised as an amus.e.m.e.nt, it princ.i.p.ally consists of killing them with a light firearm called a "fowling-piece," and the sport is secured to those who pursue it by the game laws. The other means by which birds are taken, consist in imitating their voices, or leading them, by other artifices, into situations where they become entrapped by nets, birdlime, or otherwise. For taking large numbers of birds, the pipe or call is the most common means employed; and this is done during the months of September and October. We will here briefly give a description of the _modus operandi_ pursued in this sport. A thin wood is usually the spot chosen, and, under a tree at a little distance from the others, a cabin is erected, and there are only such branches left on the tree as are necessary for the placing of the birdlime, and which are covered with it. Around the cabin are placed avenues with twisted perches, also covered with birdlime. Having thus prepared all that is necessary, the birdcatcher places himself in the cabin, and, at sunrise and sunset, imitates the cry of a small bird calling the others to its a.s.sistance.
Supposing that the cry of the owl is imitated, immediately different kinds of birds will flock together at the cry of their common enemy, when, at every instant, they will be seen falling to the ground, their wings being of no use to them, from their having come in contact with the birdlime. The cries of those which are thus situated now attract others, and thus are large numbers taken in a short s.p.a.ce of time. If owls were themselves desired to be taken, it is only during the night that this can be done, by counterfeiting the squeak of the mouse. Larks, other birds, and water-fowl, are sometimes taken by nets; but to describe fully the manner in which this is done, would here occupy too much s.p.a.ce.
1016. FEATHERED GAME HAVE FROM TIME IMMEMORIAL given gratification to the palate of man. With the exception of birds of prey, and some other species, Moses permitted his people to eat them; and the Egyptians made offerings to their priests of their most delicate birds. The ancient Greeks commenced their repasts with little roasted birds; and feathered game, amongst the Romans, was served as the second course. Indeed, several of the ancient _gourmands_ of the "imperial city" were so fond of game, that they brought themselves to ruin by eating flamingoes and pheasants. "Some modern nations, the French among others," says Monsieur Soyer, "formerly ate the heron, crane, crow, stork, swan, cormorant, and bittern. The first three especially were highly esteemed; and Laillevant, cook of Charles VII., teaches us how to prepare these meagre, tough birds. Belon says, that in spite of its revolting taste when unaccustomed to it, the bittern is, however, among the delicious treats of the French. This writer also a.s.serts, that a falcon or a vulture, either roasted or boiled, is excellent eating; and that if one of these birds happened to kill itself in flying after game, the falconer instantly cooked it. Lebaut calls the heron a royal viand."
1017. THE HERON WAS HUNTED BY THE HAWK, and the sport of hawking is usually placed at the head of those amus.e.m.e.nts that can only be practised in the country. This precedency it probably obtained from its being a pastime to generally followed by the n.o.bility, not in Great Britain only, but likewise on the continent. In former times, persons of high rank rarely appeared in public without their dogs and their hawks: the latter they carried with them when they journeyed from one country to another, and sometimes even took them to battle with them, and would not part with them when taken prisoners, even to obtain their own liberty. Such birds were esteemed as the ensigns of n.o.bility, and no action was reckoned more dishonourable in a man of rank than that of giving up his hawk. We have already alluded to the hunting propensities of our own Edward III., and we may also allude to his being equally addicted to hawking. According to Froissart, when this sovereign invaded France, he took with him thirty falconers on horseback, who had charge of his hawks, and every day, as his royal fancy inclined him, he either hunted, or went to the river for the purpose of hawking. In the great and powerful, the pursuit of game as a sport is allowable, but in those who have to earn their bread by the sweat of their brow, it is to be condemned. In Burton"s "Anatomy of Melancholy" we find a humorous story, told by Poggius, the Florentine, who reprobates this folly in such persons. It is this. A physician of Milan, that cured madmen, had a pit of water in his house, in which he kept his patients, some up to the knees, some to the girdle, some to the chin, _pro modo insaniae_, as they were more or less affected. One of them by chance, that was well recovered, stood in the door, and seeing a gallant pa.s.s by with a hawk on his fist, well mounted, with his spaniels after him, would needs know to what use all this preparation served. He made answer, To kill certain fowl. The patient demanded again, what his fowl might be worth which he killed in a year? He replied, Five or ten crowns; and when he urged him further, what his dogs, horse, and hawks stood him in, he told him four hundred crowns. With that the patient bade him begone, as he loved his life and welfare; "for if our master come and find thee here, he will put thee in the pit, amongst the madmen, up to the chin." Thus reproving the madness of such men as will spend themselves in those vain sports, to the neglect of their business and necessary affairs.
1018. AS THE INEVITABLE RESULT OF SOCIAL PROGRESS is, at least to limit, if not entirely to suppress, such sports as we have here been treating of, much of the romance of country life has pa.s.sed away. This is more especially the case with falconry, which had its origin about the middle of the fourth century, although, lately, some attempts have been rather successfully made to inst.i.tute a revival of the "gentle art" of hawking.
Julius Firmicus, who lived about that time, is, so far as we can find, the first Latin author who speaks of falconers, and the art of teaching one species of birds to fly after and catch others. The occupation of these functionaries has now, however, all but ceased. New and n.o.bler efforts characterize the aims of mankind in the development of their civilization, and the sports of the field have, to a large extent, been superseded by other exercises, it may be less healthful and invigorating, but certainly more elegant, intellectual, and humanizing.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
RECIPES.
CHAPTER XXIII.
ROAST BLACK-c.o.c.k.
1019. INGREDIENTS.--Black-c.o.c.k, b.u.t.ter, toast.
[Ill.u.s.tration: ROAST BLACK-c.o.c.k.]
_Mode_.--Let these birds hang for a few days, or they will be tough and tasteless, if not well kept. Pluck and draw them, and wipe the insides and outsides with a damp cloth, as washing spoils the flavour. Cut off the heads, and truss them, the same as a roast fowl, cutting off the toes, and scalding and peeling the feet. Trussing them with the head on, as shown in the engraving, is still practised by many cooks, but the former method is now considered the best. Put them down to a brisk fire, well baste them with b.u.t.ter, and serve with a piece of toast under, and a good gravy and bread sauce. After trussing, some cooks cover the breast with vine-leaves and slices of bacon, and then roast them. They should be served in the same manner and with the same accompaniments as with the plainly-roasted birds.
_Time_.--45 to 50 minutes.
_Average cost_, from 5s. to 6s. the brace; but seldom bought.
_Sufficient_,--2 or 3 for a dish.
_Seasonable_ from the middle of August to the end of December.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE BLACK-c.o.c.k.]
THE BLACK-c.o.c.k, HEATH-c.o.c.k, MOOR-FOWL, OR HEATH-POULT.--This bird sometimes weighs as much as four pounds, and the hen about two. It is at present confined to the more northern parts of Britain, culture and extending population having united in driving it into more desolate regions, except, perhaps, in a few of the more wild and less-frequented portions of England. It may still be found in the New Forest, in Hampshire, Dartmoor, and Sedgmoor, in Devonshire, and among the hills of Somersetshire, contiguous to the latter. It may also be found in Staffordshire, in North Wales, and again in the north of England; but nowhere so plentiful as in some parts of the Highlands of Scotland. The males are hardly distinguishable from the females until they are about half-grown, when the black feathers begin to appear, first about the sides and breast. Their food consists of the tops of birch and heath, except when the mountain berries are ripe, at which period they eagerly and even voraciously pick the bilberries and cranberries from the bushes. Large numbers of these birds are found in Norway, almost rivalling the turkey in point of size. Some of them have begun to be imported into London, where they are vended in the shops; but the flavour of their flesh is not equal to that of the Scotch bird.
HASHED WILD DUCK.
1020. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast wild duck, 1 pint of good brown gravy, 2 tablespoonfuls of bread crumbs, 1 gla.s.s of claret, salt, cayenne, and mixed spices to taste; 1 tablespoonful of lemon or Seville orange-juice.
_Mode_.--Cut the remains of the duck into neat joints, put them into a stewpan, with all the above ingredients; let them get gradually hot by the side of the fire, and occasionally stir the contents; when on the point of boiling, serve, and garnish the dish with sippets of toasted bread.
_Time_.--About 1/4 hour.
_Seasonable_ from November to February.
RAGOUT OF WILD DUCK.
1021. INGREDIENTS.--2 wild ducks, 4 shalots, 1 pint of stock No. 105, 1 gla.s.s of port wine, 1 oz. of b.u.t.ter, a little flour, the juice of 1/2 lemon, cayenne and salt to taste.
_Mode_.--Ducks that have been dressed and left from the preceding day will answer for this dish. Cut them into joints, reserve the legs, wings, and b.r.e.a.s.t.s until wanted; put the tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs into a stewpan with the shalots and stock, and let them simmer for about 1/2 hour, and strain the gravy. Put the b.u.t.ter into a stewpan; when melted, dredge in a little flour, and pour in the gravy made from the bones; give it one boil, and strain it again; add the wine, lemon-juice, and cayenne; lay in the pieces of duck, and let the whole gradually warm through, but do not allow it to boil, or the duck will be hard. The gravy should not be too thick, and should be very highly seasoned. The squeeze of a Seville orange is a great improvement to this dish.
_Time_.--About 1/2 hour to make the gravy; 1/4 hour for the duck gradually to warm through.
_Seasonable_ from November to February.
ROAST WILD DUCK.
1022. INGREDIENTS.--Wild duck, flour, b.u.t.ter.
[Ill.u.s.tration: ROAST WILD DUCK.]
_Mode_.--Carefully pluck and draw them; Cut off the heads close to the necks, leaving sufficient skin to turn over, and do not cut off the feet; some twist each leg at the knuckle, and rest the claws on each side of the breast; others truss them as shown in our Ill.u.s.tration.
Roast the birds before a quick fire, and, when they are first put down, let them remain for 5 minutes without basting (this will keep the gravy in); afterwards baste plentifully with b.u.t.ter, and a few minutes before serving dredge them lightly with flour; baste well, and send them to table nicely frothed, and full of gravy. If overdone, the birds will lose their flavour. Serve with a good gravy in the dish, or orange gravy, No. 488; and send to table with them a cut lemon. To take off the fishy taste which wild fowl sometimes have, baste them for a few minutes with hot water to which have been added an onion and a little salt; then take away the pan, and baste with b.u.t.ter.--See coloured plate, G1.
_Time_.--When liked underdressed, 20 to 25 minutes; well done, 25 to 35 minutes.
_Average cost_, 4s. to 5s. the couple.
_Sufficient_,--2 for a dish.
_Seasonable_ from November to February.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE WILD DUCK.]
THE WILD DUCK.--The male of the wild dock is called a mallard; and the young ones are called flappers. The time to try to find a brood of these is about the month of July, among the rushes of the deepest and most retired parts of some brook or stream, where, if the old bird is sprung, it may be taken as a certainty that its brood is not far off. When once found, flappers are easily killed, as they attain their full growth before their wings are fledged. Consequently, the sport is more like hunting water-rats than shooting birds. When the flappers take wing, they a.s.sume the name of wild ducks, and about the month of August repair to the corn-fields, where they remain until they are disturbed by the harvest-people. They then frequent the rivers pretty early in the evening, and give excellent sport to those who have patience to wait for them. In order to know a wild duck, it is necessary only to look at the claws, which should be black.