DECOYS!

017a101IS as is the subject of which Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey treats, and treats extremely well, the curiosity of it can hardly be said to be exhausted in his book, though he has collected with extraordinary diligence a mass of hitherto unpublished facts, many of which are very interesting, not only on account of the great mystery by which the art of working a Decoy has always been surrounded, but also because the mind of the reader is throughout carried back to days, not, indeed, so long gone by, but to days when the physical condition of a large part of England was very unlike that of the present time; and therefore the subject has an aspect which cannot be unpin-sing to the antiquary, while it is also a matter of concern to a good many naturalists, and may even excite the attention of that vague personage "the general reader." Moreover, this is essentially a practical book, and if anybody nowadays wishes to start a Decoy, he could not obtain better hints as to how ho should set about it than from Sir Ralph's pages.

That most people have a very indistinct notion of what a Decoy is like, and a still less distinct notion of the way in which it is worked, will probably be admitted by all. And yet the word, both as a verb and a substantive, is in everybody's mouth, and all understand its meaning in a figurative sense. All know that it is originally associated in some way with Ducks, and with some mode of enticing them into the surrender of their liberty, if not of their life; but whether by imitating the alluring address of the worthy Mrs. Bond celebrated in nursery-rhyme, by the equally simple process, not less charming to the childish mind, of putting salt upon their tails, or by some other method, it would probably puzzle most of our acquaintance to say. Indeed, the word is so closely connected with Ducks, that we have known it applied to pools of water—Duck-ponds, in fact—which, from the nature of the case, could not possibly have been Decoys in the technical seine now in use. As to the mode of working a Decoy, so few writers have ever understood it that the number of those who have described it without falling into some absurd mistake might almost be reckoned on one's fingers, and though we believe ourselves perfect in the theory, it is so long since we witnessed the practice, that we are diffident of our ability, even with Sir Ralph's book before us, to give an account of it that might not be misleading.

But first of all as to the word "Decoy." Its origin seems to be a puzzle, if we look to those whom we are rightly accustomed to regard as authorities on etymology. We naturally turn to Professor Skeet ; but in his "Dictionary "—we say it with trembling—we find little to approve. Philology is doubtless an excellent thing in its way, and none can have a higher opinion than our humble selves of its strictest methods ; but even these

• Tho Book of Duck-Decoys; their Constructioa, Management, and History. By Err Ralph PayncGs]Iwe7, Bart. London Vett Worst. 1E66.

methods, like those of every science, need to be tempered by common knowledge or (if our readers like the phrase better) by common sense. We would submit, in all humility, that neither in his original article nor in the longer one devoted to the word in his " Appendix," has this eminent scholar fully apprehended the subject. The word, in its technical meaning, seems to have been first introduced to English literature by Spelman (Posthumous Works, edited by Gibson in 1733, Part II., p. 153), and by him, who died in 1641, was declared to be of foreign origin. Willughby, as edited by Ray in 1673, also points to it as an introduction from the Dutch. These statements are hard to override ; and therefore the evidence seems much more strongly in favour of Sir Ralph's assertion (p. 3) that it is a direct abbreviation of Eende.eoy—simply a Duck-cage—which might be speedily corrupted into " Decoy," than of its having the hybrid origin suggested by the learned Professor of Anglo- Saxon at Cambridge. But if Sir Ralph is here right, the title of his book makes against him, and neither he nor any one else can with propriety speak of " Duck-Decoys." To our own ears, accustomed as we have been, almost from infancy, to hear of Decoys, the unnecessary prefix has a barbarous sound ; and should Sir Ralph's work attain a second edition, we trust he will dispense with what, in polite terms, we will only call a pleonasm.

Our author does not attempt to enter upon the history of his art, and herein he saves himself an infinity of trouble, for the taking of which the "general reader" of the present day would possibly not thank him. Though doubtless introduced into England from the Low Countries, as was its name, the art— perhaps we had better call it artifice—seems to have had its origin, like so many others, in Italy. The writer on country matters commonly known as Petrus Crescentiensis (a native of Bologna, who flourished in the thirteenth century) describes (lib. x, cap. 17) a way of taking Ducks which, so far as it is capable of being understood—and Aldrovandus, in 1603, pointed out that the passage (first printed in 1471) was corrupt—shows that the principle of the Decoy was practised in his time; while early in the sixteenth century, it was sufficiently well known for Andrea Alciati, a Milanese, to moralise upon it in a very in- different epigram, of which at least two versions are extant,* with the title of " Dolus in suns," referring to the treachery of the allsetatrices, or Decoy-Ducks, as they would now be called. It must be admitted, however, that neither of these authors alludes to the Decoy-Dog, whose assistance is and has long been indispensable; but there is evidence of sunning men having availed themselves of a dog's services in the capture of Ducks; though on a less artful system, almost or quite as early ; and, indeed, the marvellous attraction (we pur- posely stop short at that word) which the movements of a dog have for Ducks must have been observed from very remote times. The present writer has seen it over and over again, and under )very diverse circumstances, but does not attempt to explain it.

Did space allow, it would be well to expatiate on the ancient practice—the existence of which is now known to few people— of driving wild Ducks into nets set for their capture. This was done late in summer, before the young birds could fly, and while the old birds were moulting; for, strange as it may seem to those who only know ornithology from books, there is a period every year (immediately after the breeding season) when old wild Ducks, by the dropping-out of their quill-feathers, wholly lose the power of flight. In England, the destruction thus caused was very properly stopped by an Act of Parliament (10 Geo. II., cap. 33); and it may be remarked that this driving of helpless creatures to death was simply a matter of brute force, and very different from the artistic method in use in Decoys. There the summit of skill is reached by the fowler's availing himself of the fowl's fatuity, and making it entrap itself. Though we are convinced that it is impossible in most cases for man to comprehend what passes in the mind of an animal, Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey puts this matter so amusingly that we must here quote him (pp. 29.31) :—

" Let ns glance through the peep-hole of the screen that flanks the month of a pipe, on the sheltered side of the pond. See, the fowl are sleeping ! Some idly jerking their bodies round and round in irre- gular twists, with an occasional stroke of one foot as they float on the water. Some are sitting just beneath us on the banks near the en- trance of the pipe with their heads tucked in, giving a wriggle of the bill now and then, as though to divide the feathers of the back, and so pillow their heads more cosily. Their eyes just show. Are they shut or

• Smblemata. No.'. (Paris, 1601). Charlatan's Onomasticon, p.100 (Landiai,1668)

open ? or half -open P 'Tin hard to say. Never was there a more peace. fnl, innocent scene ; for =rely, consider the Decks, this is pure, un- alloyed happiness ; no guns banging off, no foxes, no human destroyers. No, nothing, absolutely nothing, to disturb their repose so well earned, after a toilsome night spent far away in search of food. No cares of any kind, no need even of their usual sentries. Yet perchance, they cannot help sadly reflecting on the fate of those poor Docks in die. taut places, who are for ever pursued by men with dogs and gang ; who, alas ! can never enjoy real peace of mind, whether eating or sleeping, who but what, in Fortune's name, was that? Up goes every head in an instant. The birds fastest asleep of all are on the alert as soon as any. I saw nothing—did you ? Did you ? Did you hear anything ? is what, judging from their looks, fancy shapes into words for them as they stand or swim with stretched necks and glistening eyes peering towards the pipe and its screens. Some eves swim inquiringly a few feet in the direction of the supposed but doubtful, 'something moving.' Save a few suspicious old Mallards, who stand motionless and erect on the bank, all begin to settle to rest and to sleep as before. Perhaps it was only a leaf settling down after all, or a harmless, though restless

and so troublesome rabbit, or else There ! there it is again —a fox ! a fox !—no, a Dog ! Not a moment is to be lost, or we shall not see him plainly, or know what he is about. The birds, poor silly creatures for this once—not at any other time, rest assured—rush, yes. scramble through the water up the pipe right under the fatal netting. They mast see what it means ; a Dog whisking into view, and then frisking out of sight again the next moment in such an extra- ordinary manner, must be examined at once. Such a chance may never occur again in a lifetime. Besides, it is such impudence on his part, and if all go together, the disturber may be frightened farther away. So think the Docks, especially as they see the tame ' Decoys,' swimming up the pipes also towards the Dog, for they know that the appearance of the Dog means food thrown to them by the Decoyman ; thus they swim up in expectation of a meal. The wild Docks pursue the Dog with indignant rushes when he is in view; when be is out of sight they hesitate, and half turn round to go back. But he constantly reappears, and is going farther and further up alongside the pipe ; so are the Ducks in its ditch, both tame and wild. But the wild Ducks have found oat be is a very harmless kind of Dog after all, certainly not a fox, so they decide to bother their heads no more about him. Bat—all of a moment, and as soon as their attention to and interest in the Dog ceases, they realise that instead of clear sky above them, there is a netting that appears all round like a cage to their perplexed vision. No time is to be lost, not a second. They see the open water some dozen yards or more behind them, from which they were allured by their curiosity, as well as by their indignation at that foolish little animal hopping about. A trap ! a trap ! is the cry; they instantly face about to return ; a few seconds only, and they

are safe. No such luck—for what is this Between them and the entrance to the pond stands an awful form, and one that stops the way. Death is to them preferable to passing within a few feet of a visible, a mortal danger, and one that every bird and beast shrinks from by instinct—a human being ! Yet there is one fortunate chance left, that is to Hy up the pipe ; for, after all, it is but a covered ditch, and to their eyes appears open at its far end. They, poor things ! cannot see -round the deceiving bend to where the pipe ends in the tunnel net, for aperture or escape there is none. So within a few minutes of their sitting and swimming in safety outside the pipe, the unfortunate ducks are laid out in a row- dead—the result of a variety of passions, taken a cruel but useful advantage of by their enemy—man!"

As a specimen of Sir Ralph's work, this long extract must suffice. From it a reader who knows nothing of Decoys may perceive what is the secret of the art ; and if he wants to know more, we must refer hint to the work itself, with which he is sure to be pleased, for it is about as complete as could be made.

Moreover, it is beautifully illustrated, the four tinted lithographs, from the author's drawings, representing the pipe of a Decoy, with its ingenious arrangement of reed-screens, from various points, are admirable. The woodcuts, when they are confined to still life, are good ; when they go further, they are not worse than woodcuts generally are in these days. But beside all these illustrations, every type of Decoy is figured, either on stone or wood, so that its peculiar features are made evident.

One may truly say that with this book the mystery of Decoying is vanished. Still, the art remains, and the man who thinks that he can, by the aid of Sir Ralph's pen and pencil, successfully establish and work a Decoy is probably doomed to failure. Such an one ought to look hard at the portrait of " Old George Skelton " (who, by the way, was not the original " Old George," but his eldest son), given as a frontispiece, and if, in that famous anaticide, who died surrounded by his victims—" strings of wild-fowl were stretched from one poet to another all round the bed, so as to form regular curtains that shut him in from view " (p. 14)—the chief of his profession, the "Artful Dodger" of Ducks, be not recognised, there is no virtue in the twinkle of an eye. To some it may be a consolation to know that his traditional art is not extinct, and that one member of his family has within the last few months opened a new Decoy in a Midland county with remarkable success, though we are of those that, without pre- tending to prophecy, look upon the days of Deem as numbered. Thanks, indeed, to some recent legislation, the benefit of which the folly of sentimentalists has fortunately been ineffectual to undo, the quantity of home-breeding wild-fowl has marvellously increased within the last few years ; yet it cannot be expected that anything should restore its former abundance, while the balk of the wild-fowl captured undoubtedly come from Northern or Eastern countries, which are slowly being subjected to the same agricultural operations as those that have so much trans- formed our own fens, mosses, and moors. When they have been carried out as fully abroad, the Duck and Mallard, with all their numerous relations—Teal, Wigeon, Pintail, and the like—will become, as the Hare of the present day is, beyond the reach of any moderate purse the owner of which has regard to the proportionate cost of his dinner.

After enumerating and describing to the best of his informa- tion (in collecting which we know that he has bestowed infinite pains) all the Decoys, past and present, of the Three Kingdoms, Sir Ralph has a few words on foreign Decoys known to him. It seems that there are none nowadays in France, and it is remark- able that the anonymous author of the Dietionnaire de Touteales Espeee de Cheeses (forming a volume of the celebrated Eneyelo- pSdie Ifethodique, prepared before, but only published during the French Revolution) was not aware of one either, but could only give (pp. 42.43) a second-hand account of a Cartardiere, the original of which we have failed to discover, in Holland, near Helder. Yet we know, from Baffon's description (Hist. Nat. des Olseau.s, IX., pp. 128-131), that only a few years earlier the Duke of Penthihvre possessed one on the lake of Arminvilliers. It is true that in the account furnished to Buffon no mention is made of the part played by the dog ; but that we take to be only another instance of the desire, so strong in all who have to do with Decoys, to withhold a "trade secret."

We regret to find that oar author has the loose notions of geography which prevail among the so-called educated classes of this country. Setting aside such trivial errors as placing Zontkamp on the western instead of the eastern side of the Lauwers Zee, and writing "Nierhniaen" for Vierhuizen (which may be only slips of the pen), the " List of Dutch Decoys " known to him includes nineteen out of some seventy or eighty that probably exist. But of these nineteen, seven only are situated in the Kingdom of the Netherlands ; while of the remaining majority, two are in Hanover, nine in Sleswick, and one in Denmark,—the name of this last being rendered by his printer " Pomp," instead of Fano, a mistake only intelligible to one used to Danish writing or printing.

Thus we part from this work, wishing well to the author of so honest a book, and assuring him that if we have noted any shortcomings, it is with the view of helping him to produce a better edition, which it certainly ought to attain,—for we believe that in regard to antiquarianism, natural history, or sporting (and it has something in common with all), it is many years since so original or so curious a volume has appeared.