upon those high steeples and magnificent palaces which we adore and wonder at; from which height I can make her descend by a word from my mouth (which she both knows and obeys) to accept of meat from my hand, to own me for her master, to go home with me, and be willing the next day to afford me the like recreation. And more; this element of air which I profess to trade in, the worth of it is such, and it is of such necessity, that no creature whatsoever-not only those numerous creatures that feed on the face of the earth, but those various creatures that have their dwelling within the waters, every creature that hath life in its nostrils, stands in need of my element. The waters cannot preserve the fish without air, witness the not breaking of ice in an extreme frost; the reason is, for that if the inspiring and expiring organ of any animal be stopped, it suddenly yields to nature, and dies. Thus necessary is air, to the existence, both of fish and beasts, nay, even to man himself; that air, or breath of life, with which God at first inspired mankind, he, if he wants it, dies presently, becomes a sad object to all that loved and beheld him, and in an instant turns to putrefaction. Nay more, the very birds of the air, those that be not hawks, are both so many and so useful and pleasant to mankind, that I must not let them pass without some observations: they both feed and refresh him; feed him with their choice bodies, and refresh him with their heavenly voices : '-I will not undertake to mention the several kinds of fowl by which this is done and his curious palate pleased by day, and which with their very excrements afford him a soft lodging at night. These I will pass by, but not those little nimble musicians of 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 To these particulars may be added, that the kings of Persia were wont to hawk after butterflies with sparrows and stares, or starlings, trained for the purpose.-Burton " on Melancholy," 1651, p. 268, from the relations of Sir Anthony Shirley. And we are also told, that M. de Luynes (afterwards Prime Minister of France), in the nonage of Louis XIII., gained much fame by making hawks catch little birds, and by making some of those little birds again catch butterflies.-Life of Lord Herbert of Cherbury, p. 134. 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!1 And this makes me the less to wonder at the many aviaries in Italy, or at the great charge of Varro's aviary, 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. 1 This beautiful and universally admired passage on the nightingale has been frequently quoted; amongst others by Sir Walter Scott, Sir Humphry Davy, and the excellent Bishop Horne, in his "Exposition of the Psalms." (See Psalm civ.) Dr. Drake, in his “Literary Hours," says that this description of the nightingale surpasses all that poets have written on the subject; and Headley, in his "Beauties of Ancient English Poetry," has made a similar remark. The following lines by Drummond of Hawthornden were probably well known to Walton. "Sweet artless songster, thou my mind dost raise 2 An account of Varro's passion for birds, and his extensive aviaries, will be found in Hakewill's Apology, p. 388; in Varro's book. De Re Rustica, lib. iii., and various Biographical Dictionaries.-ED. 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. 46, 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 conclude 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 1 Mr. George Sandys, a very pious, learned, and accomplished gentleman, was the youngest son of Dr. Edwin Sandys, Archbishop of York. He published his "Travels to the Holy Land, Egypt," in folio, 1615 (frequently reprinted), and made an excellent Paraphrase on the Psalms, Canticles, and Ecclesiastes, in verse; and also translated Ovid's "Metamorphosis," Grotius's "Tragedy of Christ's Passion," 12mo. 1640, &c. He died in 1642.-H. 2 Walton 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 meaning of both is, that the Holy Spirit descended as a dove uses to descend upon anything, hovering and overshadowing it. Vide Whitby on Luke iii. 22; Dr. Hammond on the passage; and Bishop Taylor's "Ductor Dubitantium," p. 254.-H. [Commentators are agreed that this passage means the manner of the Holy Spirit descending "like a dove, with a fluttering gentle motion," and not in the shape of a dove. Dr. Doddridge defines it to be "a lambent flame falling from heaven with a dove-like motion."-ED.] 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 be chiefly in use amongst us in this nation, The gerfalcon and jerkin, 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, And there is of short-winged hawks, 1 Walton no doubt had in mind Butler's curious book on Bees, of which the following is the title: "The Feminine Monarchie, or the History of Bees; showing their admirable nature and properties, their generation and colonies, their government, loyaltie, art, industrie, enemies, warres, magnanimitee, &c. Written out of experiment, by Charles Butler." Lond. 1623. Small 4to.-ED. The eagle and iron, The goshawk and tarcel, 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 observations 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 entreat 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 1 This episode on Hawking is not in the first edition, and it is evident that Walton was not master of the subject. Those who wish to explore it, may consult the works of Turberville, Latham and Markham; also the 'Gentleman's Recreations;' 'Gentleman's Academy;' Blaine's 'Encyclopædia of Rural Sports;' and Salvin and Brodrick's 'Falconry.' 8vo. 1855.-ED. |