EXTINCT BRITISH QUADRUPEDS. 277 
wood, “ dreadful for its dark intricate windings, and for its dens 
of bears.’”” That these animals existed in Britain during the 
eighth century is to be inferred from a reference made to them in 
the “ Penitentiale” of Archbishop Egbert, which was drawn up 
about A.D. 750, and even in the time of Edward the Confessor, 
nearly three centuries later, it would seem that they were still to 
be found here (although doubtless in greatly diminished numbers), 
for we learn from Domesday that the town of Norwich furnished 
annually one Bear to the king, and six dogs for the baiting of it. 
I have been unable to find any evidence of Bears in any part 
of the British Islands at a later date than this, although it has 
been frequently stated, on the authority of Pennant, and is 
generally believed, that the last British Bear was killed in Scot- 
land in 1057 by a member of the Gordon family, who, in reward 
for his valour, was directed by the king to carry three bears’ 
heads on his banner. 
This, however, is altogether a fallacy. Pennant quoted from 
a translation* of a Latin manuscript history of the Gordon 
family, a copy of which is preserved in the Advocates’ Library at 
Edinburgh, and reference to the original Latin shows that the 
animal slain by the Gordon in question was not a Bear, but a 
Boar (immanem aprum). ‘here being a difference of ‘only one 
letter in the name, it is easy to understand how the mistake arose. 
It is not so easy to realise the fact that the Beaver was once 
a native of the British Islands, so utterly unsuited to its habits 
does the country appear at the present day. That it once existed 
here, however, is indisputable, for, in the first place, we may see 
in various museums the skulls and other portions of the skeletons 
of Beavers which have been exhumed in different parts of 
England and Scotland; and in the next place, we have fortunately 
preserved to us the testimony of those who lived contem- 
poraneously with them, and who had opportunities of observing 
them in their natural haunts. 
A glance at the map (above referred to) will show where 
remains of the Beaver have been found, and it will be observed 
that the localities are pretty widely scattered. 
Just as the Beaver is still trapped in the New World for the 
sake of its fur, so, for the same reason, used it to be hunted in 
** Published in Edinburgh in two vols, 1726. 
