I believe that if you want to understand Shakespeare's plays, then understanding the life of William Shakespeare, the man, is essential. This podcast is designed to help you explore early modern England as Shakespeare would have lived it by interviewing the historians, performers, authors, and experts that know him best.
David Horobin is the joint Director of the of the British Archives of Falconry. He joins us today to help us get to know falconry as a sport and exactly how the bard knew so much about it when he wrote about the sport in his plays.
- What is it about Shakespeare's phrases that make historians think he watched, as opposed to read about, falconry?
- Shakespeare uses words like “hoodwinked” and “Scarfed the eye” which are falconry terms. Will you explain what that means in terms of the sport?
- Do you think Shakespeare would have practiced falonry?
- …and more!

Books David Recommends:
Simon Latham Falconry (1633 Edition)
Learn more about David and the British Archives of Falconry.
British Archies of Falconry Website
David is published in the latest edition of the British Archives of Falconry which you can see here.
If you would like to get involved and practice falconry, David recommends these places specifically and also tells you to look around for various falconry centers where you can see trained hawks fly (but that's notably different from real falconry.) Happy hunting!
Cool things on amazon related to today's topic that I thought you might want to know about.
These are affiliate products.
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and the uses of falconry terminology from Shakespeare's plays.