4 THE WOLF IN SCOTLAND 



of necessity, be of the nature of a compilation, 

 the material for which is diffuse, scattered and 

 not accessible to everyone. The path of the 

 student of to-day, however, has been made 

 easier by the labours of those who have pre- 

 ceded him, chief among whom may be men- 

 tioned Mr. J. E. Harting, who, in his volume 

 on Extinct British Animals, has gathered 

 together in chronological order almost all that 

 is to be found in history and tradition on the 

 subject. To him I offer my grateful acknow- 

 ledgment of indebtedness, as well as to Mr. J. 

 A. Harvie-Brown for the information summar- 

 ised in his well-known series of volumes on the 

 Vertebrate Fauna of Scotland. I have also had 

 the advantage of material left by my brother, 

 the late Edward R. Alston, some of it hitherto 

 unpublished. 



In earlier days all England was ravaged by 

 wolves. By the Saxons the month of January 

 was termed 'Wolf Month,' 1 the stress of 

 winter no doubt making them bolder and more 

 dangerous. In Wales they were so numerous, 

 that in order to encourage their destruction 

 King Edgar caused part of the tribute of the 

 King of Wales to take the form of 300 wolf- 

 skins annually ; and the story of Llewellyn, 



1 Harting, Extinct British Animals. 



