Dr Raye eating choccy @LeafyHistory@computerfairi.es

Amateur naturalists still recorded wolves in the early modern period around Sutherland, and in the west of Ireland, but not England or Wales where they seem to have already gone extinct. 🐺​💔​

But of course, there are legends of wolves living much later than that, and in very different areas! And I have a bit of research coming out later this month which describes what happened when they went extinct in England ​

#AnimalHistory #EarlyModern #wolves #histodons #ecology #mammals

After the Norman Conquests in Britain and Ireland, Rabbits were commonly kept in artificial warrens for meat and fur. 🐇
By the period that I study (250-500 years ago) Rabbits were widespread in England. Strangely though, they still had a mainly coastal distribution around Scotland, Ireland and Wales until much later. ​
Map from my forthcoming book. ​
#Rabbits #mammals #AnimalHistory #EarlyModern #Histodons #ecology

My slow worm friends are out of hibernation!!

250-500 years ago, I have found #frogs were recorded across #earlymodern Britain, but interestingly not Ireland. This is surprising because we normally consider frogs to be native in Ireland! 💚​

Frogs also seem to have been reintroduced to Orkney and the Isle of Man in this period. Unless someone made a mistake, this happened multiple times - it is possible there have been multiple waves of frog #extinction and #reintroduction on these smaller islands! 🐸​​

The Burbot is a sinuous fish with chunky pectoral fins. It was never widespread in Britain and Ireland but I have collected records showing it was found in the east of England 250-500 years ago. It seems to have only gone extinct there around 1970!

In recent years there has been talk by the Norfolk Rivers Trust of reintroducing it, so perhaps it will be back soon!

#EarlyModern #histodons #extinction #fishing #fish #reintroduction #rewilding

Just back from the UCU picketline in Cardiff today. Here we are demonstrating the British Sign Language sign for "STRIKE", which can also mean "REVOLUTION" *hint hint* 😘

We are on strike against casual contracts, overwork, underpay and inequality. ✊

The frost is back to covering the mountain this week - I see the winter does not want to give up on Wales just yet!

But Esmé had a son, Ludovic, who was nine years old when Esmé died. He was sent to James VI and this gives James' poem a hopeful ending, despite the TREACHERY and ENVY of those evil ravenous birds! :

'Part of my taill
Is yet untolde, Lo, here one of her race
Ane worm bred of her ash...'

(Part of my tale / Is yet untold, look! here is one of her race / a worm bred of her ash...)

James VI went on to have relationships with other men and women, but that's a story for another day!

#phoenix

Then having tane ane dry and wethered strae
In deip despair, and in ane lofty rage
She sprang up heigh, outfleing every fae
Syne to Panchaeia came, to change her age
Upon Appollo's altar...

(Then having taken a dry and withered staw / In deep despair and in a lofty rage / She sprang up high, outflying every foe / Soon to Panchaea came, to change her age / Upon Apollo's alter...)

#MiddleScots #JamesVI #poetry

The poem ends a bit sadly though. One day a group of carrion birds (ravens, kestrels, kites) get jealous and chase the phoenix back to her homeland, where she burns itself. In real life, Esmé and James VI were forcibly separated and Esmé was exiled back to France, where he died. Esmé also apparently sent his embalmed heart back to James which is pretty dark!

(lovely writeup here https://thehistoricalnovel.com/2022/02/09/queer-kings-queens-was-james-i-vi-gay/)

#histodons #scottishhistory lgbthm #LGBTHistoryMonth

Here is James' description of Esmé as a phoenix. 🏳️‍🌈​

'By her port
And glistring hewes I knew that she was sum
Rare stranger fowle, which oft had usde to scum
Through divers lands, delyting in her flight
Which made us see so strange and rare a sight.'

(by her comportment / And glistening hues I knew that she was some / Rare strange fowl, which often used to skim / Through diverse lands, delighting in her flight; / Which made us see so strange and rare a sight)

#scots

For LGBT+ History Month I have been reading the poem that a broken-hearted teenager (James VI of Scotland) wrote about his first crush, Esmé Stuart, on the occasion of Esmé's death.

The poem is called 'Phoenix' and it is a metaphor. It describes a beautiful, exotic bird. The phoenix flies with smaller birds by day and returns to James every night... (read more in replies)

You can read the whole thing here (https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=l_mbhjB5zYEC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=Ane%20Tragedie%20of%20the%20Phoenix&pg=RA4-PA477#)

#lgbtplushm #literature #LGBT #Scotland

Outside of the woods the ground is still covered in ice, and most of the trees still don't have their leaves, but this bit of the mountain felt a bit green and cheerful today! 🌳❄

I've just finished giving a seminar at the Animal History Group about my project mapping the wild animals of Britain and Ireland in the 16th-18th centuries! It absolutely flew by for me but it was so nice to see some people that I knew! If anyone would like to hear more I will be giving another free presentation on this Saturday as part of the Gwent-Glamorgan Recorders Forum at 10:30AM GMT+0! 💚​ https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gwent-glamorgan-recorders-forum-2023-tickets-466313745967