SQUIRRELS, BEAVERS, DORMICE, AND RATS 233 



as the European beaver is concerned, its numerous remains, 

 together with traditions and place-names, show that it once 

 inhabited the greater part of Northern and Central Asia and 

 all Europe, with the exception, perhaps, of Greece, Southern 

 Italy, and Southern Spain. 



In the British Islands the beaver existed well into the 

 Historical period. It was finally extinguished (in Scotland) 

 -during the sixteenth century, if the Chronicles of Hector Boece 

 (written in 1526) may be believed.^ In the Gaelic of Scotland 

 the beaver was called Dobhar-chu^ or Water Dog, also sometimes 

 by another term (Dovrdn-loslithan), Broad-tailed Otter. In Wales 

 the beaver certainly existed down to the end of the twelfth century, 

 and possibly did not finally die out for another three hundred 

 years. The river in which these animals were most frequent, and 

 in which they seem to have remained longest, was the consider- 

 able stream called the Teivi, or Tivy, which enters the Irish Sea 

 in Cardigan Bay. In Welsh the beaver is generally known by 

 the name Afangc (pronounced Avank), but it is true that this 

 word is also applied, especially in modern times, to the otter. 

 Its etymology is said to be derived from afan or afon {a streani), 

 and ci {a dog). Ordinarily the otter is called Dyfr-gi (meaning 

 Water "Dog). It is also stated that Llostlydan, or Broad-tail, is 

 the more exact appellation of the beaver in the Cymric tongue ; 

 this, at least, is the statement of Owen, the author of a Welsh 

 dictionary ; but this term bears so strong a resemblance to the 

 Gaelic Losleathan (pronounced Loslithan) as to suggest the possi- 

 bility (seeing the wide difference between the Gaelic and Cymric) 

 that the Highland name has been transferred to Wales, or vice 

 ^ersd. In England the beaver must have lingered as a living 

 animal at least as late as the ninth century, though no doubt in 

 the south of England it was earlier extinguished. The town of 

 *' Beverley," in Yorkshire, is only a slight softening of the 



^ See Extinct British Mammals, by J. E. Harting, p. 40. 



^ Pronounced Dovar-Khu ; another name is Dovran. Dovar, Dovran, 

 and the Welsh Diifr or Dyfr (English : Dover) mean water, or anything con- 

 nected with water. 



