- Fowling
Fowling is a term which is perhaps better known in
the Fens of easternEngland than elsewhere. It was more than the commercial equivalent of the field sport of wildfowling, in that it includes all forms of bird catching for meat, feathers or any other part of the bird which may have been sold on the market at the relevant time. However, it was certainly not confined to the Fens. The land margins of the north produceddown feathers fromeider duck for eiderdowns and quilted jackets without necessarily killing the birds. In theWestern Isles ofScotland , seabirds were taken from their nests oncliffs . In The Fens and other similar places, a decoy was part of a landowner's well-equipped estate. See a brief [http://www.erros.co.uk/BOARSTALLHOME/Boarstall_Duck_Decoy.htm description] of a duck decoy. (Click the quotation from Lipscombe link.)However, the epitome of fowling was the
punt gun ner. He had what amounted to a long, small-bore muzzle-loadedcannon . It was mounted along the centre-line of the forward half of a specially designed boat which slightly resembled a heavy woodenkayak in form. The fowler lay in the after half with paddle blades strapped to his forearms. The skill was to stalk a raft of duck until within the rather short range required and to fire the gun from which small shot scattered. It remained to gather up the harvest and get it to market. In the winter, the punt gun might be mounted on asled and the procedure repeated on the same principles.References
Sly, R. "From Punt to Plough" (2003) ISBN 0-7509-3398-4.
*For decoys, see pp. 131-133.
*For punt gunning, see pp. 125-130.
*For netting, see pp. 135-138.
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