Hamlet:
Act 2 Scene 2
I am but mad North north-west. When the wind is Southerly I know a Hawk from a Handsaw.
Took this photo of Heron standing on one leg and apparently sunbathing three years ago.
So Hamlet is admitting that sometimes he may appear to be not entirely in control of his reason but at other times he is perfectly sane and well knows his enemies; that is clear enough but what is this comparison between a bird of prey and a carpenter's tool?
Falcons on Storks by Medieval Bavarian Engraver (rather stylized)
Well I do not remember this being explained to me at school but of course "handsaw" has nothing to do with woodwork. This is in fact an eccentric spelling of "hernshaw", an older Saxon name for the heron, predating the more usual name which is of Norman French origin.
When I was in my twenties I remember visiting some elderly relatives in Norfolk; Reg, at that time in his eighties, called the heron the "harnsa" as it flew by.(I do not know whether this dialect word still survives.)
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Shakespeare was in fact using a metaphor which would have made immediate sense in his own lifetime. Falconry was a favourite field sport and a cast (or pair) of Peregrines would be loosed upon a flying heron ushering in a thrilling aerial spectacle.
This would be no one-sided contest: the heron might appear slow and lumbering at first sight but it is a light and surprisingly agile bird. Falcons were at risk of serious injury in these encounters from the heron's dagger-like bill.
The object of this duel was to bring the quarry to ground at which time the Falconer on horseback would arrive before too much damage was inflicted or sustained. The heron might be kept for the table or alternatively ringed and released.
The Falconer Royal enjoyed a position of considerable favour at the King's Court. He was allowed to bring his own wine cup to Royal Feasts and in the field the King himself would hold the horse's reins while the Hawks were being worked.
Medieval Recipe for Roasted Heron
"Take a heron; lete him blode as a crane, And serue him in al poyntes as a crane, in scalding, drawing, and kuttyng the bone of the nekke awey, And lete the skyn be on, & c.; roste him and sause him as be Crane; breke awey the bone fro the kne to the fote, And lete the skyn be on . . . his sauce is to be mynced with pouder of gynger, vynegre, & Mustard".
In the Middle Ages as much as one third of the year was taken up with religious observances and at these times the eating of meat was forbidden. The Church, however, as well as encouraging the eating of fish gave dispensation allowing inter alia Cranes, Herons and Swans to be consumed. In Canon Law these fowl were not considered to be meat. Unsurprisingly, in the Middle Ages, a great deal more fish and fowl was eaten than today.
To the contemporary palate Heron might seem an odd choice but to the aristocracy at the time it was regarded a delicacy.
In August 2012 the skeleton of Richard III was unearthed under what today is a city centre car park in Leicester. As Shakespeare reminds us Richard died in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth. Isotopic analysis of his bones has revealed in astonishing detail such information as where he spent his early years and the changing pattern of his diet as his aristocratic status rose.
It appears that from the time he ascended to the throne he drank a bottle of wine and between two and three litres of alcohol every day; his favourite food was (yes you have guessed it) Heron!
The skeleton of Richard III showing clearly Scoliosis (curvature of the spine)
Many of Today's Heronries Were Listed in the Domesday Book
Despite protection, destruction of heronries does sometimes occur. In former years at times of conflict the finest oaks (often supporting heronries) would be felled to build warships; at other times nests would be shot out to safeguard fishing interests. Apart from these hazards rooks taking eggs would be the other major problem nesting herons face.
Nevertheless, even when seriously disturbed, herons show great fidelity to traditional nesting sites as records often stretching back over many centuries testify.
A Sport of Kings
Falconry has existed as an aristocratic pursuit since at least 2000 BC in the Middle East and Roman records also serve to demonstrate the popularity of this regal sport.
The Bayeux Tapestry depicts King Harold falconing with his hounds.
The Kings of Norway made gifts of Gyr Falcons to English sovereigns on a number of occasions. Edward I was gifted eight grey and two white Gyr by the King of Norway.
Edward I ("Longshanks") born in June 1239 reigned from 1272-1307
Edward through a chain of impregnable castles garrisoned and subdued Wales and even managed, temporarily at least, to quell the rebellious Scots.
In earlier years John (aka John Lackland) had been given two Gyrs by the Norwegian King; John's great passion was to fly this pair of Hawks against Herons in the Test Valley
King John (1199-1216)
After John had lost Normandy and waged expensive and unsuccessful war in Spain, all of this funded by the nobility, his vassals decided it was time to act.
On 15 June 1215 King John, confronted with a rebellion by his barons, was forced to sign the Magna Carta at Runnymede. This document imposed strict limitations on the right of the King to levy taxes and curtailed his right to make arbitrary arrests. No longer could the King delay, pervert or sell justice. This was a direct assault upon the Divine Right of Kings and although Pope Innocent III intervened for John on the grounds that his acquiescence had been obtained under duress, all English monarchs since have affirmed this charter.
Gyr Falcons
Magna Carta
This document remains the massively important foundation of the principle of habeas corpus and the Rule of Law: both essential elements of modern western democracy.
