Sport of kings flies in for Tartanfest
Contributed by the Tartanfest Committee

Dr. Robert Gordon of Winged Ambassadors, headquartered in Atlanta, GA, will demonstrate the ancient and noble sport of falconry during the upcoming Tartanfest 2008 at the SC State Museum. Gordon wears the Gordon tartan.

Falcons are as much a part of Scottish history as kilts and bagpipes, castles, and kings. In fact, kings and falcons were joined at the wrist hundreds of years ago when royals first hunted with such birds of prey.

In falconry today as in the past, sportsmen wear specially- tooled leather sleeves to protect their lower arms and to provide a perch for the bird. The sharp- eyed falcon is trained to fly from the gloved fist when it detects prey.

During Tartanfest 2008 at 1 pm, Dr. Robert Gordon will talk about the ancient and noble sport of hunting prey aided by raptors. His teaching aids for the static demonstration and informal lecture will include a peregrine falcon and a small screech owl.

Gordon and his colleagues at Winged Ambassadors, based in Atlanta, often share their enthusiasm for falconry at Scottish games and festivals, as well as schools and parks. Their appearances accomplish multiple objectives.

Burt Sorin (r), winner of the 2007 World Amateur Championship in Scottish Games athletics, with two of his colleagues.

"We look forward to giving people opportunities to relate to these majestic creatures, especially in the context of Scottish history and heritage," Gordon said. The origins of falconry can be traced back several thousand years; Crusaders brought the hunting practice back to the British Isles and integrated it into the Gaelic culture.

Some of history's most influential figures have had a passion for falconry, but only kings could hunt with falcons. Others down the "pecking order" were relegated to hunt with smaller, less tenacious birds.

"We also have an environmental message," the falconer said. "These birds are environmental indicators of our success on this planet." Gordon explained that scientists, decades earlier, made the connection between the birds' population declines and the use of DDT as a synthetic pesticide.

Billy DuBose will discuss the history of the bagpipes, and give a demonstration, as one of many other demonstrations of music, dancing, games, Scottish fashions and more at the annual Tar tan Fest celebration of Scottish heritage Saturday, April 5 at the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia. The event is free with regular Museum admission or membership.

"Until we began to see a decline in the birds who were eating rodents crawling around in the soil and eating the plants that had been dusted with DDT, we didn't realize what we were doing to our planet," Gordon said.

Gordon's enthusiasm for falconry takes flight when he talks about the creatures and the sport. He has been enamored with falconry since he was a young boy. "I was fortunate to have a neighbor who brought two falcons home from England. He would let me come over when he was working with them and I became fascinated."

When Gordon graduated from the University of Alabama, got out of the military, and finished graduate school, he renewed his interest in the hobby. "I looked up a falconer in the community and did my apprenticeship with him. I've been working with falcons since then."

Gordon's presentation will be held in the auditorium at the museum, free with museum admission. For more information go to www.southcarolinastatemuseum. org.