They stoop to conquer

Once the sport of emperors, falconry has changed over the centuries — but it has also stayed much the same, says Richard Negus

- Richard Negus

Here in the British Isles it is understood that the Saxon kings avidly practised the art of falconry. By the time of the Norman Conquest, royalty, nobles and clergy used falcons and hawks for sport. While falconry was perceived as an aristocratic pastime, plebeian Brits were also using raptors to catch game and wildfowl for the pot.

When the Boke of St Albans was written in 1486 by the rather racy sounding sporting nun Juliana Berners, she prescribed a neat list of which bird of prey was suitable for each level of social strata. She opined that eagles could adorn the arm of an emperor; kings carried eagles while their sons could fly a peregrine. Looking down Dame Juliana’s list, it would appear I may just scrape into the mix with a kestrel, which as we all know is fit for a knave.

Thankfully in the intervening 533 years since the Boke of St Albans was penned, falconry has become significantly less socially exclusive. Heartened by this new egalitarianism I was delighted to accept an invitation by my good friend, gamekeeper Paul ‘Hardy’ Hardcastle. On the last day of the game season, he was to host a group of sportsmen who wanted to pit their peregrines against his grey partridges. I imagine the sporting Abbess would have been spinning in her grave at this — not one prince was to be found in the assembled ranks.

Trusted hands

Falconers, if the group Andy Hulme had assembled are anything to go by, are two things. First, very jolly. Secondly, obsessives about their birds. Andy is a great character. I first met him at Hardy’s shoot at Benningham Hall in mid-Suffolk early this season. A regular in the beating line, Andy is one of the ‘trusted hands’ of the hard-to-impress Hardy.