The Art and Practice of HawkingMichell, E. B. (Edward Blair)
History
The Art and Practice of Hawking
Michell, E. B. (Edward Blair)
Falconry
The jesses are made fast to the swivel when the hawk is not intended to
fly; and swivels are of two kinds. The safest (and the most troublesome
to put on and take off) is the ring-swivel (Fig. 6), consisting of a
double ring in the shape of a figure 8, each end working freely on a
pivot which keeps the two rings close together. It is made of brass
or iron, and very good and cheap ones are to be had from Mr. Möllen,
of Valkenswaard, in North Brabant. To attach the ring-swivel to the
jesses, pass the end of one jess from right to left through one of the
rings, and, after it is through, pass both rings through the slit in
the jess, and pull tight. When the first jess is fast, pass the end
of the other jess through the same ring upon which the first jess is
fastened, but in the opposite direction, from left to right, and then
pass the two rings through the slit as before. The second jess will
pull up tight over the first, and both will be fixed firmly at the
outer end of the same ring.
To get the ring-swivel off, the extreme end of the jess which was last
put on must be pulled until that jess becomes slack enough for the two
rings to be passed through it, or, in other words, for the opening in
the leather to be pulled over the rings, and, this being done, it will
come away at once. After releasing one jess, take care to hold it tight
between the fingers of the left hand while freeing the other jess.
Otherwise, if the hawk is fidgety and jumps off, she may jerk the other
jess out of your hand, and go off bodily, leash and all, into the next
parish.
Spring-swivels (Fig. 7) are very handy contrivances for use in the
field, but not so safe for a hawk when sitting unhooded on the perch
or at the block. They are shaped like the swivel by which watches are
usually attached to a watch-chain, and must be so made as to turn
quite freely on the pivot. To attach them to the jesses, nothing more
is required than to press the side with the thumb-nail, making the
spring yield, and then hook the curved end through the slit in both
jesses, after which the spring is released, and the jesses remain
encircled by the metal. Only, if the spring is stiff or does not work
properly, there will be disasters. The unhooking process is of course
even more easily and quickly effected.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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