Emma Ford | Britannica

Emma Ford

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Websites : British School of Falconry at the Gleneagles Hotel (Scotland) , Sierra Club

BIOGRAPHY

Emma Ford has been flying hawks since she was eight. In 1982 she and her husband established the British School of Falconry, which is now part of the Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland.

The Fords were invited to the Arabian peninsula by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the United Arab Emirates, to discuss Arabic and European falconry methods and have since taught many students from the Middle East.

Emma is an elected member of the Scottish Hawk Board, the Scottish government advisory panel on legislation concerning falconry and birds of prey in captivity. She is the also the author of several standard works on falconry and birds of prey, including Birds of Prey; Falconry: Art and Practice; Countrywomen; Fledgling Days, Memoir of a Falconer; Falconry in Mews and Field.

Primary Contributions (1)

Mongolian falconer on horseback with golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos). While falcons are usually worn on the left hand, in certain areas of Asia eagles are carried on the falconer's right arm.

falconry

Falconry, the sport of employing falcons, true hawks, and sometimes eagles or buzzards in hunting game. Falconry is an ancient sport that has been practiced since preliterate times. Stelae depicting falconry that were created by the Hittites date to the 13th century bce, and cave paintings from…

Publications (5)

Fledgling Days (1999)

By Emma Ford

Falconry has been historically the sport of royalty and traditionally a pursuit of men. Emma Ford is neither royal nor a man, yet she is one of the most acclaimed falconers in the world today. Fledgling Days, her powerful memoir of life in the Kent countryside, where she learned from girlhood the art of falconry, is both a tale of personal discovery and a heart-warming and funny account of a country childhood.

Ford's was in many ways an idyllic childhood, living in the enclosed world of the Chilham...

Falconry: Art and Practice, Revised Edition (June 1998)

By Emma Ford

It's a sport like no other! Falconry demands an array of talents--yet the time spent taming and conditioning the hawk is well repaid by the sight of this beautiful bird soaring through the air. This stunningly full guide, by an experienced teacher and trainer, covers every aspect of falconry in voluminous detail. Construct a weather-proof shelter, feed your hawk the correct diet, and get health tips so you can quickly recognize if anything's awry. Carefully keyed diagrams show you how to field and...

Countrywomen (1994)

By Emma Ford

Tied to a BBC television series, this book focuses on six women who have infiltrated outdoor jobs in the countryside which are still widely considered to be the domain of men. They are women who work hard physically, tend to be self-contained, and have to be enormously self-sufficient.

Falconry in Mews and Field (1982)

By Emma Ford

Falconry in Mews and Field

Birds of Prey (1982)

By Emma Ford

Ford, Emma