Dissertation on Birds of Prey and the Sport - the Falconry Heritage ...
Dissertation on Birds of Prey and the Sport - the Falconry Heritage ...
Dissertation on Birds of Prey and the Sport - the Falconry Heritage ...
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Depressed <strong>and</strong> defeated, its compani<strong>on</strong> leaves <strong>the</strong> area. Elsewhere, it finds a wooden<br />
bridge with a falc<strong>on</strong>-sized hole in it that would make an excellent defense against <strong>the</strong><br />
eagle. It plans revenge, practicing swooping into <strong>the</strong> hole until it is able to achieve great<br />
accuracy. It returns to harass <strong>the</strong> eagle that killed its compani<strong>on</strong>. Unable to defeat <strong>the</strong><br />
eagle <strong>and</strong> finding it necessary to flee, <strong>the</strong> falc<strong>on</strong> retreats cleverly into its wooden refuge<br />
where <strong>the</strong> eagle cannot reach, but does not take fur<strong>the</strong>r revenge.<br />
Neckam praises <strong>the</strong> ties <strong>of</strong> friendship that bound <strong>the</strong> two falc<strong>on</strong>s, comparing <strong>the</strong>m<br />
to Patroclus <strong>and</strong> Achilles, <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r legendary friends. He also relates that this<br />
occurrence was witnessed by a people that he calls <strong>the</strong> Rotomagi, who learned from it<br />
ideas <strong>on</strong> how to avoid <strong>the</strong> attacks <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ~ranks.~'<br />
Neckam's stories show that <strong>the</strong> interweaving <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> lives <strong>of</strong> humans <strong>and</strong> those <strong>of</strong><br />
hunting birds in both a literal <strong>and</strong> a figurative sense is very str<strong>on</strong>g in <strong>the</strong> cultural fabric <strong>of</strong><br />
his time. Indeed, <strong>the</strong> surge in popularity <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> animals as human exemplars as<br />
well as <strong>the</strong> beginning <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> writing <strong>of</strong> fables in vernacular languages can be traced to <strong>the</strong><br />
twelfth ~entury.~' The mixing <strong>of</strong> genres found in this encyclopedist <strong>and</strong> those after him<br />
can be found also in later bestiaries: some fourteenth-century vernacular Italian bestiaries<br />
have appended to <strong>the</strong>m series <strong>of</strong> animal fables.32<br />
In her book, The Beast Within, Joyce Salisbury also traces to <strong>the</strong> twelfth century<br />
<strong>the</strong> assignati<strong>on</strong> to <strong>the</strong> animal kingdom <strong>of</strong> a social structure that mirrors that <strong>of</strong> human<br />
feudal society.33 This associati<strong>on</strong> is quite clear in Neckam's text, <strong>and</strong> is evidence <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
30 The Rotomagi lived in Rotomagus, <strong>the</strong> ancient Roman name for <strong>the</strong> modem city <strong>of</strong> Rouen. (Storia del<br />
m<strong>on</strong>do antico, (Cambridge University Press1 Garzanti, 1974) v. 9, 635.<br />
31 For <strong>the</strong> history <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> animals as human exemplars, see Joyce Salisbury, The Beast Within,<br />
particularly Chapter 4.<br />
32 Salisbury, 116; McKenzie, 387 ff.<br />
33 Marie de France is cited as a particular innovator; see Salisbury 117 ff.