THE PINE MARTEN IN LAKE=LAND. 



EDWARD T. BALDWIN. 



Until lately 1 was under the impression that the Pine Marten, 

 Maries sy/ves/n's (locally known as ' Mart ' or ' Sweet-mart '), 

 was approaching- extinction in the hill districts of Cumberland, 

 Westmorland, and North Lancashire ; but from enquiry 

 recently made on the spot, I find that this is far from being- the 

 case, and that the Pine Marten in fair numbers still holds its 

 own in its former mountain fastnesses. 



What records I was able to obtain brings the instances of its 

 occurrence g-iven by the late Rev. H. A. McPherson, M.A., in 

 his valuable work on the ' Vertebrate Fauna of Lake-land ' 

 (1892), down to a much later date ; in fact, in some instances, 

 almost to the present day. As such, they are worthy of notice. 

 Two youngf ' Marts ' were trapped in the third week of May 

 igo6, close to the Bowder Stone in Borrowdale, a locality well 

 known to all tourists in the Lakes. One was g^ot by a man 

 called Jackson, employed (I believe) at the slate quarry there? 

 the other by a man whose name I forg-et. Jackson, who 

 appears to be a noted ' Mart ' catcher, is credited with having- 

 trapped no fewer than seven in a sing-le winter, but I believe this 

 ■occurred some twehe or fourteen years ago. Most of these 

 (if not all) were g;ot at the same place, and were obviously 

 attracted by the number of domestic fowls kept there ; in fact 

 the traps seem to have been set close to the fowl run. 



Another "Mart" was got, about Christmas 1905, at Watend" 

 lath. This is a hig-h upland valley, running- parallel with Borrow" 

 dale, and lyings between the Armboth and Borrowdale fells. The 

 Blencathra Foxhounds (a pack kept mainly in the interest of the 

 sheep farmers for killing- hill foxes, as disting-uished from the 

 mere sport of hunting-, and whose Master is the present Speaker 

 of the House of Commons), when hunting, in May of the preseiit 

 year, the steep rocky side of Borrowdale, opposite the tin}' 

 village of Stonethwaite, are said to have put away a 'Mart 

 which they ran for some distance, but finally lost in the rugged 

 slopes of Glaramara (2560 feet) on the opposite side of the 

 valley. 



In the spring of 1905, considerable losses of lambs occurred 

 on the sheep run occupied by a Mr. Richardson, of Seathwaite. 

 Seathwaite is the hamlet of half a dozen houses at the head of 

 Borrowdale, which has the unenviable reputation of possessing 



1906 J Illy I. 



