174 LLOYDS NATURAL HISTORY. 



Of its existence within the historic period in England, there 

 appears to be neither documentary nor oral evidence ; and we 

 are therefore compelled to rely on the circumstantial evidence 

 of place-names. Among these, may be mentioned Beverage 

 in Worcestershire, Bevercater in Nottinghamshire, Beverley in 

 Yorkshire, Beverstone in Gloucestershire, and Beversbrook in 

 Wiltshire. Moreover, about a mile to the north of Worcester 

 a small brook enters the Severn known as Barbourne, or Beaver- 

 bourne, while near by is an island known as Beaver Island, and 

 higher up the river a second island called Beverege, or Beaver- 

 age, likewise giving the name to an adjoining hamlet, which 

 is the one alluded to above. 



Turning to Wales, we find Beavers' skins mentioned in the 

 year 940 among the laws of Howel Dha ; while Giraldus in 

 1 1 88 makes reference to the fact that Beavers were then living 

 in one of the rivers of Cardiganshire. It may be added that 

 the name of Llyn-yr-Afange, which is said to be applied to 

 more than one piece of water in the Principality, means the 

 Beavers' lake. 



With regard to Scotland, the historic evidence is unfortu- 

 nately somewhat doubtful. Giraldus states, indeed, from hearsay, 

 that Beavers were still occasionally seen in his time in Loch 

 Ness, and Boethius made a similar statement in 1527; but 

 Alston considered that by this date the Beaver had ceased to 

 exist in Scotland. That it will flourish there, is demonstrated 

 by the colony introduced by the Marquis of Bute into the island 

 from which he takes his title. 



If the foregoing evidence is scant and somewhat unsatis- 

 factory, the semi-fossilised remains of the Beaver found in 

 many parts of England, and also in the south of Scotland, afford 

 conclusive testimony as to its former abundance. In various 

 superficial deposits, such as the fens of Cambridgeshire and 

 Lincolnshire, the turbaries of the Lea valley at Walthamstow 



