246 FAUNA OF SHROPSHIRE. 



spawn ; the Severn in particular has long been cele- 

 brated for its Lampreys. This species does not often 

 now occur as high up as Shrewsbury, though it was not 

 uncommon in former years. One was caught below the 

 Welsh Bridge a year or so ago, and a specimen in Ludlow 

 Museum was taken in the Teme at Tenbury, July 5th, 

 1878. This is undoubtedly the Lamprey referred to in an 

 Act of George III. (vide Shad), and it is the fellow that 

 is reputed to have caused the death of Henry I. Dr. Day 

 in his "British Fishes "figures one of the Severn lampreys 

 as 36 inches long. The fact that the Sea Lamprey is 

 getting rare will go to excuse the lengthy reference to it 

 herein, as in another decade or so it may become quite 

 extinct, at any rate in the waters of the Severn. More- 

 over but little appears to be known of it in this district, 

 although there is every reason to believe that it was 

 plentiful in Shropshire and Montgomeryshire before the 

 construction of navigation and other weirs prevented its 

 passage from the sea. The opinion may be hazarded that 

 it is now becoming rare because the breeding Lampreys 

 cannot reach the quieter and more favourable spawning 

 places out of the way of launches and other disturbing 

 conditions ; owing to which the spawn is rendered 

 unfertile. The Bradford Observer in an article published 

 towards the close of 1898 gives some interesting facts 

 concerning Lampreys, portions of which are here 

 quoted. Although it is essentially a marine species, the 

 great Lamprey occasionally penetrates from the usual 

 estuarine breeding grounds far into the fresh- water rivers, 

 beyond the tidal influences. In a tributary of the Severn 

 they are sometimes seen during the month of May, 

 engaged in operations of a somewhat peculiar nature. 



