 | The works of Washington Irving |  |
FALCONRY.
Whether high tow'ring or accousting low,
But I the measure of her flight doe search.
And all her prey and all her diet know.
Spenser.
There are several grand sources of
lamentation furnished to the worthy
squire, by the improvement of society,
and the grievous advancement of knowledge;
among which there is none, I believe,
that causes him more frequent
regret than the unfortunate invention of
gunpowder. To this he continually
traces the decay of some favourite custom,
and, indeed, the general downfall of
all chivalrous and romantic usages.
"English soldiers," he says, "have
never been the men they were in the
days of the cross-bow and the long-bow;
when they depended upon the strength
of the arm, and the English archer could
draw a clothyard shaft to the head.
These were the times when at the battles
of Cressy, Poictiers, and Agincourt,
the French chivalry was completely destroyed
by the bowmen of England.
The yeomanry, too, have never been
what they were, when, in times of peace,
they were constantly exercised with the
bow, and archery was a favourite holiday
pastime.