J. WATSON : EXTINXT ANIMALS OF THE LAKE DISTRICT. 43 



is the most valuable discovery of all. It is the only instance of the 

 Beaver's remains being found in the North of England, and one of 

 the three cases of its occurring in the country at all. And as 

 remains, documentary evidence is almost as rare. In the loth 

 century the Beaver is mentioned as being found in Wales, but the 

 time of its plenty must be reckoned at and prior to the time of the 

 Roman invasion, for then it was that the country was comparatively 

 opened up. Before these rude onslaughts the Beaver would surely 

 retire, for of all timid and secluded creatures this is the most so. 

 The last historical mention of the Beaver brings us to within a few 

 years of the close of the 12th century, though it probably lingered 

 on in Scotland to the 14th. 



From the latter part of the 17th century to the earliest times of 

 which history takes cognizance, the Wild Boar has played an im- 

 portant part in British field-sports. A royal beast of chase, it was 

 preserved as the quarry of kings. ]\Ionarchs reserved it as their own 

 by special right, and the nobles of the land have hunted it through 

 every period of our history. ' Reserving all eyries of Hawks . . . 

 Wild Boars and their kind' — this is the characteristic claim of the 

 king in granting tracts of land or forest, and the above reservation is 

 from such a grant in Cumberland. In the Lake District the Wild 

 Boar abounded, and we have evidence of its former tenancy of every 

 description. It was found in Inglewood Forest, in the woods about 

 Naworth, by the shores of Grasmere, and, from the names, probably 

 in Grisdale and on Wild Boar Fell. Frequently the remains and 

 tusks of the Wild Boar have been dug up in the local peat mosses, 

 and especially about the margins of the tarns. Although twenty 

 places claim the notoriety, it is now generally agreed, and that, 

 too, upon the best evidence, that the last Wild Boar was killed 

 in Westmoreland. A very few miles from Kendal there exists 

 to-day a wide tract of uncultivated land, abounding in morass and 

 swamp. Wild -fowl. Black-game, and Pine Martens are its only 

 tenants; dwarf birch, scrub oak, and stunted blackened logs covering 

 much of its surface. Everywhere is treacherous bog and yellow, 

 peaty water. Beech and oak flourish upon its upland confines, and 

 the whole scene is one which might well constitute a Wild Boar's 

 paradise. The spot is wild and desolate enough to-day, but two 

 centuries ago must have been more so. It is here, by Gilpin Bridge, 

 over Gilpin Beck, that one of the Gilpins of Kentmere Hall killed 

 the last Wild Boar. The date of the occurrence carries us back to 

 the reign of Charles II, and there is no reason to doubt its accuracy. 

 No 07ie claims to have killed the last Wild Boar at any time subse- 

 quent to this. 



Feb. 1887. 



