An austringer is usually defined in dictionaries as "a keeper of goshawks". Austringers are to hawks what falconers are to falcons, but it seems a mighty pretentious word. Why not just "hawker"? I suspect it was the name that hawkers gave to themselves to boost their image, seeing that hawkers were considered inferior to falconers, you know, in the same way that ratcatchers became "rodent operatives" and our polytechnics became universities...
Anyway, all this is an excuse to let you know that I am (re)reading T H White's classic "The Goshawk". If you have read Helen MacDonald's "Falcon" (and if you haven't, you should), you will have some notion of the almost mystical relationship that binds falconer to falcon, and of the extraordinary patience and determination required to achieve that relationship.
Well, from T H White's account, it seems that training a falcon is a walk in the park compared to training a goshawk. On the way, T H White - like Helen MacDonald - has many insightful things to say about the human condition, which is why I recommend both books to all of you, not just to specialist birders, falconers, or, for that matter, the austringers among you.
3 comments:
I bought Falcon simply and purely because I love her blog so much. I really is excellent.
I've said before and I'll say it again: as a horse person I get the bond. I think horses and falcons have the same way of striking total awe in the people who love them.
Agree about Pluv's blog, agree about Pluv's book. Both are rare and wonderful. I must take your word for the bond that arises between horse and owner (although I sometimes wonder which owns which). It is a great joy for me every morning to see a score of ponies/horses in the field below my garden, and a joy to see the splendid young ladies who care for them.
God bless, Heidi.
I think that if you look into the history, you'll find that "austringer" dates back to the times when the possession of falcons was restricted by edict to the nobility. Thus, "austringer" was the term applied to commoners hawking with the effective non-falcon raptor available, the goshawk, and thus a term of mild opprobrium, and not deployed for self-aggrandizement.
Wesley R. Elsberry
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