21
THE SPARROW-HAWK (ACCIPITER NISUS) AND
THE GOSHAWK (ASTUR GENTILIS)
IN LITIGATION IN THE 12th & 13th CENTURIES.
By WILLIAM E. GLEGG, F.Z.S., M.B.O.U.
A SEARCH of a very mild nature, undertaken by the writer
with the object of discovering matter which might shed
light on the status of certain birds, especially those at times
described as vermin, in the County of Essex in bygone days,
brought to notice the references which give rise to this article.
Although the references hardly fall within the category
of what was sought, and do not permit of much deduction, yet
they do create ideas of the position of these two species in the
County over 700 years ago and of the hold that falconry had on
the people of Essex, and perhaps, of its growth, and they illus-
trate what may be called a custom or fashion of the County,
although not peculiarly so.
Feet of Fines for Essex1 is the title of a volume published by
the Essex Archaeological Society, and it is to this book that I
am indebted for the data on which these remarks are based.
Those who wish to go more deeply into the meaning of this title
are referred to the introduction of the volume.
A fine may be described as a document recording the amic-
able settlement of a dispute made with the consent of the judges
in a Court. When a fine dealt with a conveyance "some service
or rent was mostly reserved by the grantor, either a payment
in money, or some nominal rent, such as a soar sparrow-hawk,
a pair of gilt spurs, a pair of gloves, a pound of Cummin, a rose,
a gillyflower, etc."
To convey to the reader the nature of the references to the
birds of prey in question, an example of a fine (Henry III., 1218-
1219) is given here:—
14. Mich. Roger Fitz Philip dem. The Lord William, Bishop of
London ten. 1 virgate of land with appurts. in Reine. Assize of mort d'a.
To hold to dem. of the Bishop by the free service of iis. 6d. yearly for
all service; except 7 acres of the said land, which are called Pamplingwrth,
which dem. granted to ten. and the Church of St. Paul, London, quit from
him and his heirs. Dem. gave to ten. one soar sparrowhawk.
The volume, Feet of Fines for Essex, covers a period of go
years, from 1182 to 1272, during which we find the sparrow-
1 Feet of Fines for Essex, vol. i., 1893-1910. A copy is in the Club's library.