The Atlas of Early Modern Wildlife: Britain and Ireland between the Middle Ages and the Industrial Revolution

by Lee Raye

Overview

What was the state of wildlife in Britain and Ireland before modern records began? The Atlas of Early Modern Wildlife looks at the era before climate change, before the intensification of agriculture, before even the Industrial Revolution. In the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, beavers still swim in the River Ness. Isolated populations of wolves and lynxes linger in the uplands. Sea eagles are widespread around the coasts. Wildcats and pine martens remain common in the Lake District.

In this ground-breaking volume, the observations of early modern amateur naturalists, travellers and local historians are gathered together for the very first time. Drawing on more than 10,000 records from across Britain and Ireland, the book presents maps and notes on the former distribution of over 150 species, providing a new baseline against which to discuss subsequent declines and extinctions, expansions and introductions. A guide to identification describes the reliable and unreliable names of each species, including the pre-Linnaean scientific nomenclature, as well as local names in early modern English and, where used in the sources, Irish, Scots, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Cornish and Norn.

Raising a good number of questions at the same time as it answers many others, this remarkable resource will be of great value to conservationists, archaeologists, historians and anyone with an interest in the natural heritage of Britain and Ireland.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781784274085
Publisher:	Pelagic Publishing
Publication date:	07/18/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	77 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Lee Raye is an associate lecturer at the Open University and a Fellow of the Linnean Society specialising in the history of wild animals and plants in pre-industrial Britain and Ireland. Their translation of Robert Sibbald’s (1684) Wild Plants of Scotland and The Animals of Scotland was published in 2020.

Dr Lee Raye is an associate lecturer at the Open University and a Fellow of the Linnean Society. They specialise in the history of wild animals and plants in pre-industrial Britain and Ireland. Working on the transition between history and nature, Dr Raye has collected historical British records of tree frogs for The Herpetological Journal, outlined the last traces of wild lynxes for Mammal Communications, and unearthed the naturalist contributions of the Jacobite countess, Anne of Erroll for The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Their translation of Robert Sibbald’s seventeenth century work The Wild Plants of Scotland and The Animals of Scotland was published in 2020. You can follow them on Twitter @LeafyHistory.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Copyright permissions

INTRODUCTION
Scope
Early modern natural history
Key sources
Other sources
Interpreting the sources
Vernacular languages
Trend since 1772
Geographical bias of top-quality records
Identifying absence
Comparison with modern data
How to read the maps

MAMMALS
Rabbits and hares
Rodents
Carnivores
Ungulates
Seals
Cetaceans

BIRDS
Waterfowl
Game birds
Divers
Petrels and shearwaters
Herons, storks and ibises
Gannets and cormorants
Raptors
Bustards
Cranes
Waders, gulls and auks
Owls
Falcons
Perching birds

FISHES
Lampreys
Sturgeons
Carps
Pikes
Smelts
Salmonids
Perches
Sharks
Skates and rays
Eels
Herrings
White Fishes
Anglers
Mullets
Gurnards
Sandeels
Bass
Open-water Fishes
Flat Fishes

AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES
Amphibians
Reptiles

INVERTEBRATES
Molluscs
Crustaceans
Echinoderms

CONCLUSIONS
Overall analysis
Groups that have expanded their range
Groups that have reduced their range
Problems with using the Little Ice Age as a baseline

References
Index and glossary of species names