The
Learned John Beckmann (History Of Inventions, Discoveries, And Origins:
Sub Voce) Derives Falconry From India, Where, “As Early As The Time Of
Ctesias, Hares And Foxes Were Hunted By Means Of Rapacious Birds.” I
Believe, However, That No Trace Of This Sport Is Found In The Writings
Of The Hindus.
Beckmann agrees with Giraldus, against other literati,
that the ancient Greeks knew the art of hawking, and proves from
Aristotle, that in Thrace men trained falcons.
But Aristotle alludes to
the use of the bird, as an owl is employed in Italy: the falcon is
described as frightening, not catching the birds. Ślian corroborates
Aristotle’s testimony. Pliny, however, distinctly asserts that the hawks
strike their prey down. “In Italy it was very common,” says the learned
Beckmann, “for Martial and Apuleius speak of it as a thing everywhere
known. Hence the science spread over Europe, and reached perfection at
the principal courts in the twelfth century.” The Emperor Frederic II.
wrote “De Arte Venandi cum Avibus,” and the royal author was followed by a
host of imitators in the vulgar tongue. Though I am not aware that the
Hindus ever cultivated the art, Ślian, it must be confessed, describes
their style of training falcons exactly similar to that in use among
the modern Persians, Sindians, and Arabs. The Emperor Frederic owes the
“capella,” or hood to the Badawi, and talks of the “most expert falconers” sent
to him with various kinds of birds by some of the kings of Arabia.
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