THE FIRST BIRD-MAN

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 32, 9 February 1929, Page 20

THE FIRST BIRD-MAN

A SCOTTISH ABBOT

: In 'these days when the science of flying.holds a large place in the imagination, of most of us, it is 6f interest to recall that the idea of flight for human beings is by no means new, although we have had to wait- for quite recent times to see the idea perfected.: Probably the honour: of being the first airman belongs to the' Abbot of Tong-; land (writes J. W. Payne in the Edinburgh "Weekly Scotsman").

I have some interesting notes beside me. upon the ancient Priory of Tongland, which stood on tho banks of the Dee, about two miles north of the town of Kirkendbright.' The Abbot of Tongland, in the reign of James TV. —Father Da'mian by name —was one who ovidently thought in advance of his time. He 'declared that there was no valid reason why man should not be able to fly. 'Witches and'warlocks were reputed to fly by night. Why should not man in the daytime? The Abbot's critics directed his attention to the fact that if the' Almighty had intended men to fly he would h,avc provided' theni with wings. '". " ■ ■ '

Controversy on the subject came to such a. heat —news of it having meanwhile reached the ears of the King— that the ■ Abbot decided to put his theory to the test. Ho had a pair of large wings made, each wing' being a framework of wood, or willow wands, the- interstices filled with lighter materials/ including the quill feathers of fowls, etc. ■

The test was made from the walls of the Castle of Stirling, King James being present,\''attended by his courtiers,' with a large concourse of people drawn together to witness tho flight. FatherDamian, with "wonderful courage and great faith in his own theory, allowed liimself to be launched from the Castle wall into tho air, but after floundering about for a space, he gradually sank to 'earth, and was only saved from death by tho fact that as the flight had been made r-om the near neighbourhood of the Eoyal Mews, or King's Stables, the Abbot—mixed.up with his prodigious wings—fell into'a'manure heap. Luckily his only injury was a broken log. Flight-was. not for him any more. The science of flying remained as it was left by the Abbot of Tonglaiul until its revival—with the help of tho petrol motor—in the present century.