Monarchs enjoyed the sport of hunting in Forest of Lanark

The first monarch that we hear about in connection with hunting in Lanark was William the Lion (1165-1214).

However, Lanark was not the only place where hunting took place as an earlier charter of David I (1135-1153) confirms the right of Thomas the Clerk to enjoy hunting in the woods of Pettinain.

The charter further states that anybody who was found to be illegally hunting there was to be fined forty shillings – a very hefty fine, the equivalent of a year’s wage for a commoner!

In mediaeval times the Forest of Lanark extended roughly from the site of Lanark Castle to Tullieford on the edge of the Bonnington Estate. It was the preserve of Scottish Royalty and later Edward I. The last royal forester was appointed by Edward I.

Records are unfortunately very sparse, but we do know just how important hunting was by looking at Lanark’s earliest surviving seal which shows hunting dogs and peregrine falcons on it. Incidentally, the peregrine ought to feature on Lanark’s coat of arms instead of the eagle.

Eagles were not used for hunting purposes in mediaeval Scotland. The only place in the world that you will find them being used for that purpose is in Kyrgyzstan.

The peregrine was greatly favoured by mediaeval monarchs as it was, and still is, the fastest bird of prey, with a diving speed of over 110 miles an hour. Other birds were also used in the hunt including hawks but these were used by those lower down the social scale.

There is an excellent video in the Burrell Museum and Art Gallery in Glasgow showing who was entitled to use a particular bird. There was definitely a social pecking order and fines could be levied for contraventions.

Apart from birds other animals were hunted; these included wild boar, wolves and deer. Unfortunately, we do not have any particular records about just how common these animals were in the Forest of Lanark. But one thing that we do know is that deer were here in large numbers.

Venison was a popular dish in the Middle Ages but hunting deer in a royal forest was only permitted for the king and the sheriff and those that they chose to authorise. Woe betide if anybody got caught poaching them.

By the time of Edward I, we do know that part of the Forest of Lanark was turned over to farming. This was the section that belonged to the Bishop of Glasgow and that is today the Bonnington Estate.

By 1300 the farms of Nether and Lower Bonnington had been established. Also, the oak in the forest was being used for work on Glasgow Cathedral.

The oak trees were extremely valuable as a source of decent timber and the trees were carefully managed by the head forester and his team.

However, hunting was not quite over yet at the Bonnington part of the Forest of Lanark as Pont’s map of Lanarkshire done in 1590 shows evidence of a Park Pale.

This was a low mound topped with a fence that was designed to keep the deer in Bonnington and sections of the Park Pale still survive to this day.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​