Crossbowman approaching game
Crossbowman approaching game by means of a stalkig horse
Slinging—VIII. Century
The art of slinging of stones was well known and practised at a very early period in Europe, but we have no authority to prove that it was carried to so high a pitch of perfection in this part of the globe, as it appears to have been among the Asiatic nations. It is altogether uncertain, whether the ancient inhabitants of Britain were acquainted with the use of the sling or not; if the negative be granted, which hardly seems reasonable, we must admit the probability of their being taught the properties of such an instrument by the Romans, who certainly used it as a military weapon. We can speak more decidedly on the part of our ancestors the Saxons, who seem to have been skilful in the management of the sling; its form is preserved in several of their paintings, and the manner in which it was used by them, as far back as the eighth century, may be seen below, from a manuscript of that age in the Cotton Library. It is there represented with one of the ends unloosened from the hand and the stone discharged. In the original the figure is throwing the stone at a bird upon the wing, which is represented at some distance from him.
The Unearthing of a Fox
The engraving is from a manuscript in the Royal Library, written about the commencement of the 14th century.
Hawking—XIV. Century
We see a party of both sexes hawking by the water side; the falconer is frightening the fowls to make their rise, and the hawk is in the act of seizing upon one of them. From a manuscript of the 14th century
Saxon Hawking—IX. Century.
This engraving represents a Saxon nobleman and his falconer, with their hawks, upon the bank of a river, waiting for the rising of the game. The delineation is from a Saxon manuscript written at the close of the ninth century, or at the commencement of the tenth; in the Cotton Library.
Ladies Hunting—XIV. Century
It is evident, however, that the ladies had hunting parties by themselves. We find them, according to this representation, in the open fields winding the horn, rousing the game, and pursuing it, without any other assistance: this delineation, which is by no means singular, is taken from a manuscript in the Royal Library, written and illuminated early in the fourteenth century.
How a crossbowman should approach animals
How a crossbowman should approach animals by means of a cart concealed with foliage.
Spearing a Boar—XIV. Century
The above is a representation of the manner of attacking the wild boar, from a manuscript written about the commencement of the fourteenth century, in the possession of Francis Douce, Esq.
Swine Hunting - IX Century
The engraving represents a Saxon chieftain, attended by his huntsman and a couple of hounds, pursuing the wild swine in a forest, taken from a manuscriptal painting of the ninth century in the Cotton Library.