Grampian Club > Scotland, social and domestic

174 Scotland, Social and Domestic.
with falconry. The regent, Murdoch, Duke of Albany,
had a valuable falcon, which was coveted by his eldest
son, Walter Stewart, who frequently expressed a desire
to possess it. The Duke refused to part with his
favourite, which so aggravated the youth that he seized
the bird and destroyed it. Shocked by his son's cruelty,
the Duke resolved that he should not succeed him in
the regency, and negotiated for the recall of his lawful
sovereign.
James I. was fond of falconry. It was a favourite
sport with James IV. James V. procured falcons from
the eyries of Caithness.'" He sent falcons as royal gifts
to the King of France, the Dauphin, and the Duke of
Guise. When a youth at Stirling, James VI. practised
falconry. He got falcons from Craigleith, a rocky
summit of the Ochils. During his reign a pair of falcons
were valued at £2,000 Scots. So long as the Dukes of
Athole retained the depute-so vereignty of the Isle of
Man, they acknowledged fealty to the British sovereign,
by presenting a pair of falcons at every coronation.
The Grand Falconer was an hereditary officer connected
with the Scottish Court. For a succession of generations
the office was retained in the family of the Flemings of
Barrochan Tower. Peter Fleming received a hawk's
hood set in jewels from James IV, for having defeated
the King's falcon with his tiercel ; it has been preserved
in the family. There was a salaried depute-falconer.
The last who held office, Mr. Marshall, retired in Sep-
tember, 1840. Among the latest promoters of Scottish
falconry were Archibald, Lord Montgomerie, great-
grandfather of the present Earl of Eglinton ; Sir John
Maxwell, Bart., of Pollok, grandfather of Sir William
* Treasurer's Accounts, June and September, 1539.