THE BOOK OF DUCK DECOYS. | |
| The outline of the Meaux Decoy and its pipes is still plainly to be discerned, and it could even, if desired, be again put in order for Use. It is evident the Meaux Decoy was not in existence in the days of the monks of Meaux Abbey, or it would assuredly have been alluded to in the writings of the time, which were both accurate and not few in number in regard to the district. Meaux Abbey was founded in 1150 and its noble foundations broken up on December 11, 1539, on the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. In the History of Meaux Abbey, no | |
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| mention is made of a Decoy in connection with it, nor does such occur in the History of Watton Abbey, where a Decoy also existed. In the Histories of our Abbeys, the Deer, the Fish, and the Game are all treated of, and the numerous artifices of the chase, but the subject of Decoys is not entertained. In the Northumberland Household Book, written at Leckonfield, within 3 miles of Beverley, and adjacent to Meaux, no entry or mention is made of the Decoys, which most certainly would have been the case had they then been in existence. The Book commences from 1512, and the Castle was pulled down in 1650. It gives minute particulars of the purchase of "wildfowl " for my lord's own mess. They were to be bought first-hand. | |