50 FAUNA OF SHROPSHIRE. 



Hall, and the photograph here given shows a female 



with three kittens belonging to Mr. Watkins, of Shotton 



Hall. These last were taken alive, and the keeper who 



shot the mother tried, unsuccessfully, to tame them. 



They are all Scotch specimens. The Wild Cat is easily 



caught in traps, as it is singularly unsuspicious, and 



this is the mode always adopted now for destroying it. 



Wolf. We are all familiar with the fact that Wolves 



Canis lupus. formerly existed in Britain and that 



they are now extinct in this country. 



Hume states that they were exterminated in the reign 



of King Edgar, who died A.D. 975. This is a mistake, 



for it is now known that the last Wolf was not killed 



in England till about the year 1500, while in Scotland 



it lingered till 1743, and in Ireland 1770. The following 



translation of a Royal Commission proves its existence 



in Shropshire at the end of the I3th century: "A.D. 



1281. An. 9, Edwd. I The King to all 



Bailiffs, etc. Know ye that we have enjoined our dear 

 and faithful Peter Corbet that in all the forests, parks, 

 and other places within our Counties of Gloucester, 

 Worcester, Hereford, Salop, and Stafford, in which 

 Wolves may be found, that he take and destroy Wolves 

 with his men, dogs, and devices, in all ways in which 

 he shall deem expedient ; and we command you there- 

 fore that you be aiding and assisting the said Peter 

 Corbet in all things that relate to the capture of 

 Wolves in the aforesaid Counties," etc. The Peter 

 Corbet here mentioned lived at Caus Castle. The 

 existence of Wolves in Shropshire a century later is 

 implied by a reference to them in " The Vision of 

 Piers the Plowman," the author of which book was 



