Henry VI. Part I. Act iii. Sc. 3.
And elsewhere—
“Why, he stalks up and down like a peacock,—a stride and a stand.”—Troilus and Cressida, Act iii. Sc. 3.[95]
Ælian says peacocks were brought into Greece from some barbarous country, and were held in such estimation that a pair was valued at Athens at 1,000 drachmæ, or £32 5s. 10d. Peacocks’ crests in ancient times were among the ornaments of the Kings of England.
Ernald de Aclent paid a fine to King John in 150 palfreys, with sackbuts, lorains, gilt spurs, and peacocks’ crests, such as would be for his credit.
Whether our birds are descended from those introduced into Europe in the time of Alexander, or have been subsequently imported, is doubtful. They vary but little under domestication, except in sometimes being white or piebald.[96]
ITS INTRODUCTION.
A curious fact with respect to the peacock may here be noticed, namely, the occasional appearance in England of the “japanned” or “black-shouldered” kind. This form has been regarded by Mr. Sclater as a distinct species, under the name of Pavo nigripennis, and he believes it will hereafter be found wild in some country, but not in India, where it is certainly unknown.[97] These japanned birds differ conspicuously from the common peacock, and can be propagated perfectly true. Nevertheless, Mr. Darwin gives it as his opinion that “the evidence seems to preponderate strongly in favour of the black-shouldered breed being a variation, induced either by the climate of England, or by some unknown cause, such as reversion to a primordial and extinct condition of the species.”[98]
Formerly the peacock was in much request for the table, but now-a-days the species appears to be preserved for ornament rather than use. According to the “Northumberland
Household Book,” the price of a peacock for the table in 1512 was twelvepence; but we must recollect that this was a much larger sum in those days than it is now considered to be.