[Illustration: Fig. 159.--Heron-hawking.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the
Manuscript of the "Livre du Roy Modus" (Fourteenth Century).]
Hunting formed a principal entertainment when public festivals were
celebrated, and it was frequently accompanied with great magnificence. At
the entry of Isabel of Bavaria into Paris, a sort of stag hunt was
performed, when "the streets," according to a popular story of the time,
"were full to profusion of hares, rabbits, and goslings." Again, at the
solemn entry of Louis XI. into Paris, a representation of a doe hunt took
place near the fountain St. Innocent; "after which the queen received a
present of a magnificent stag, made of confectionery, and having the royal
arms hung round its neck." At the memorable festival given at Lille, in
1453, by the Duke of Burgundy, a very curious performance took place. "At
one end of the table," says the historian Mathieu de Coucy, "a heron was
started, which was hunted as if by falconers and sportsmen; and presently
from the other end of the table a falcon was slipped, which hovered over
the heron. In a few minutes another falcon was started from the other side
of the table, which attacked the heron so fiercely that he brought him
down in the middle of the hall. After the performance was over and the
heron was killed, it was served up at the dinner-table."
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