/ · 1894 Brewer’s · T · Tassel-Gentle
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The tiercel is the male of the goshawk. So called because it is a tierce or third less than the female. This is true of all birds of prey. The tiercel-gentle was the class of hawk appropriate to princes. (See Hawk.)
“O for a falconer’s voice
To lure this tassel-gentle back again!”
Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet, ii. 2.
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.
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