Blooding is the practice of smearing an animal's blood on the face of the person who killed the animal while
hunting
Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...
. An article on blooding in the
British royal family
The British royal family comprises Charles III and other members of his family. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is considere ...
says "Spreading blood on a person’s face is an ancient ritual performed to celebrate a hunter’s first successful kill."
The ritual of blooding continues today, among hunters—especially upon children.
In his memoir ''
Spare'',
Prince Harry
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. As the younger son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales, he is fifth in the line of succession to ...
described how he was forcibly blooded at age 15
[ by his guide Sandy Masson who cut open the stag Harry had shot, pushed Harry's head inside the carcass, and held it there while Harry struggled to free himself.]The Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...
years earlier. Painter André Durand has created "First Blood", a painting imaginatively depicting a 14-year-old Prince William wearing ermine robes and his face blooded, with a dead stag.
Tom Quinn, author of ''Gilded Youth'', a book examining the ways in which members of the royal family raise their children, writes that few expect The Princess of Wales (the wife of Prince William) will allow her children, Prince George and Prince Louis to be initiated with the blooding ritual which, in the royal family's tradition, sees young princes smeared with the blood of their first kills.
Controversy
In 1914, humanitarian and animal rights campaigner Henry Stephens Salt
Henry Shakespear Stephens Salt (; 20 September 1851 – 19 April 1939) was a British writer and social reformer. He campaigned for social reform in the fields of prisons, schools, economic institutions, and the treatment of animals. He was a n ...
wrote an essay "The Blooding of Children" declaring that there are no more “loathsome” traditions connected with "sport" than blooding.
Killing for Sport: Essays by Various Writers
' (1914), edited by Salt.
In the news
The blooding of a 13-year-old American boy was in the news in September 2024.
Risks
Scott Durham, a scientist studying deer, has said: "... it’s theoretically possible that one of a few neurological viral disease
A viral disease (or viral infection) occurs when an organism's body is invaded by pathogenic viruses, and infectious virus particles (virions) attach to and enter susceptible cells.
Examples include the common cold, gastroenteritis, COVID-19, ...
s could be contracted if an infected deer’s blood came in contact" with a human's skin.[
]
See also
* Blood ritual
A blood ritual is any ritual that involves the intentional release of blood.
Description
Some blood rituals involve two or more parties cutting themselves or each other followed by the consumption of blood. The participants may regard the rel ...
* Hubert of Liège
Hubert of Liège (Latinisation of names, Latinized: ''Hubertus'') ( 656 – 30 May 727 A.D.) was a Christian saint who became the first bishop of Liège in 708 A.D. He is a patron saint of hunters, mathematicians, opticians and metalworkers. Kn ...
* Fox_hunting
Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, normally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of hounds" ...
* Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder and first emperor of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China. He proclaimed the ...
was blooded in 1226 at age 11Hulegu Khan
Hulegu Khan, also known as Hülegü or Hulagu; ; ; ; ( 8 February 1265), was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of Western Asia. As a son of Tolui and the Keraite princess Sorghaghtani Beki, he was a grandson of Genghis Khan and brother of Ar ...
was blooded in 1226 at age 9[
* Ghazan Khan was blooded in 1280 at age 8][
* ]Prince William, Duke of Gloucester
Prince William, Duke of Gloucester (William Henry; 24 July 1689 – 30 July 1700), was the son of Princess Anne (later Queen of England, Ireland and Scotland from 1702) and her husband, Prince George of Denmark. He was their only child t ...
was blooded in 1696 at age 7
* Henry Somerset, 10th Duke of Beaufort was blooded about 1910 at age 10[
]
References
External links
The Blooding of Children
a 1914 essay by Henry S. Salt
Henry Shakespear Stephens Salt (; 20 September 1851 – 19 April 1939) was a British writer and social reformer. He campaigned for social reform in the fields of prisons, schools, economic institutions, and the treatment of animals. He was a n ...
The Stalking Directory.co.uk
A UK deer hunters website that mentions blooding
*
{{Hunting topics
Rituals
Hunting