DOCSLIB.ORG

A History of the Native Woodlands of Scotland, 1500–1920

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A History of the Native Woodlands of Scotland, 1500–1920 10716 EUP Native 31/7/07 9:29 am Page i Phil's G4 Phil's G4:Users:phil:Public: PHIL'S JOBS:107 A History of the Native Woodlands of Scotland, 1500–1920 10716 EUP Native 31/7/07 9:29 am Page ii Phil's G4 Phil's G4:Users:phil:Public: PHIL'S JOBS:10 10716 EUP Native 31/7/07 9:29 am Page iii Phil's G4 Phil's G4:Users:phil:Public: PHIL'S JOBS:1 A History of the Native Woodlands of Scotland, 1500–1920 T. C. Smout, Alan R. MacDonald and Fiona Watson EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY PRESS 10716 EUP Native 1/8/07 9:45 am Page iv Phil's G4 Phil's G4:Users:phil:Public: PHIL'S JOBS:107 © T. C. Smout, Alan R. MacDonald and Fiona Watson, 2005, 2007 First published in hardback in 2005 by Edinburgh University Press Ltd 22,George Square, Edinburgh This paperback edition 2007 Typeset in Minion and Gill Sans by Pioneer Associates, Perthshire, with corrections by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Manchester, 2007 and printed and bound in Spain by GraphyCems, Spain A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 0 7486 3294 7 (paperback) The right of T. C. Smout, Alan R. MacDonald and Fiona Watson to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Published with the support of the Edinburgh University Scholarly Publishing Initiatives Fund. 10716 EUP Native 31/7/07 9:29 am Page v Phil's G4 Phil's G4:Users:phil:Public: PHIL'S JOBS:107 Contents Acknowledgements vii List of black and white maps ix List of black and white figures x List of colour plates xii List of tables xiii 1 Introduction 1 2 The extent and character of the woods before 1500 20 3 The extent and character of the woods, 1500–1920 45 4 Woodland produce 77 5 Woodland as pasture and shelter 102 6 Trading and taking wood before 1800 124 7 Managing the woods before 1770 157 8 Outsiders and the woods I: the pinewoods 192 9 Outsiders and the woods II: charcoal and tanbark 225 10 Woodland management in an industrial economy, 1830–1920 and beyond 258 11 Rothiemurchus, 1650–1900 290 12 The Navy, Holyrood and Strathcarron in the seventeenth century 319 13 The Irish and Glenorchy, 1721–40 340 14 The MacDonald woods on Skye, 1720–1920 364 15 Conclusion 388 Bibliography 404 Index 422 10716 EUP Native 31/7/07 9:29 am Page vi Phil's G4 Phil's G4:Users:phil:Public: PHIL'S JOBS:10 10716 EUP Native 31/7/07 9:29 am Page vii Phil's G4 Phil's G4:Users:phil:Public: PHIL'S JOBS:1 Acknowledgements The research was made possible by the Economic and Social Research Council, assisted by supplementary grants from the British Academy and the Russell Trust, and an illustration grant from the Carnegie Trust. To all four we express our grateful thanks, as we do also to the librarians and archivists of the great national institutions, the National Archives of Scotland (NAS), National Library of Scotland (NLS) in Edinburgh, and the British Library and the National Archives (formerly the Public Record Office: PRO) in London, which held many of the manuscripts that we consulted. We also used papers and rare books at the University of Edinburgh, the University of Guelph, Canada, the University of Glasgow Business Records Centre, the University of St Andrews, Inverness Museum, Tain and District Museum and Clan Donald Lands Trust Visitor Centre, Skye, and owe a debt to them all. To the Campbell Preston family and their housekeeper Mary MacDonald we are grateful for access to the Campbell of Lochnell archives, to John Grant of Rothiemurchus for access to the papers at the Doune (and for much kind hospitality) and to the Duke of Argyll for access to papers at Inveraray Castle. We should explain that the research was done under the auspices of the Institute for Environmental History at the University of St Andrews, equally by all three of us; Chris Smout was primarily responsible for writing most of the text, but Alan MacDonald for Chapters 12 and 14 and Fiona Watson for Chapter 13.Nevertheless it was all a joint effort of mutual criticism and encouragement. In the course of the work we were helped by a great many people, but we owe a particular debt to John Ballantyne who transcribed for us several hundred woodland sale deeds dating from the sixteenth century to the 1770s, from the Register of Deeds and the Gifts and Deposits in NAS, and the archival holdings of NLS. These related to woods from all over Scotland, a source hitherto unused and to which he drew our attention. Those who helped us with various aspects of our research, large and small, are not too numerous to mention, but so numerous we fear we may have forgotten some. To all the following, and to any accidentally omitted, we express our thanks: Jane Begg, of the Woodland Trust; Robin Callander, vii 10716 EUP Native 31/7/07 9:29 am Page viii Phil's G4 Phil's G4:Users:phil:Public: PHIL'S JOBS: THE NATIVE WOODLANDS OF SCOTLAND,1500–1920 of the Birse Community Trust; Hugh Cheape, of the National Museums of Scotland; Anthony Cooke, of Dundee University; Sandy Coppins, of the Lichen Mapping Scheme; Barbara Crawford, of St Andrews University; Professor Robert Crawford, of St Andrews University; Anne Crone, of AOC Scotland; Roy Dennis, crofter and naturalist; Pat Dennison, of Edinburgh University; Professor Robert Dodgshon, of the University of Wales; Angela Douglas, of the Woodland Trust; Alex Eaton, of Ullapool Museum; David Foot, formerly of the Forestry Commission; Diana Gilbert, of Highland Birchwoods; Bill Gilmour, Ullapool; Jeanette Hall, of Scottish Natural Heritage; Kate Holl, of Scottish Natural Heritage; Jonathan Hughes, of the Woodland Trust; James Kirby, Sunart; Keith Kirby, of English Nature; Professor Fred Last, of Edinburgh University; Margaret MacDonald, of Clan Donald Visitor Centre; Professor Allan Macinnes, of Aberdeen University; Neil MacKenzie, ecological and forestry consultant; Robin Maclean, Brig O’Turk;Donald McNeill, of the Forestry Commission; Professor Alan Mather, of Aberdeen University; John Mitchell, Drymen; Ross Noble, formerly of the Highland Folk Museum, Kingussie; Peter Quelch, of the Forestry Commission; Estelle Quick, of Tain and District Museum; Oliver Rackham, of Cambridge University; Alistair Ross, of Stirling University; Richard Saville, formerly of St Andrews University; Sue Scoggins, of Scottish Natural Heritage; Jim Skelton, Garmouth; Mike Smith, of Borders Forest Trust; Richard Smithers, of the Woodland Trust; Mairi Stewart, of Stirling University; Professor David Stevenson, of St Andrews University; Jack Stevenson, of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monu- ments of Scotland; Domhnall Uilleam Stiùbhart, of Edinburgh University; Ron Summers, of the RSPB; Simon Taylor, of St Andrews University; Richard Tipping, of Stirling University; David Warren, Rothiemurchus estate; Professor Chris Whatley, of Dundee University. The illustrations are acknowledged individually, on the captions, and we are especially appreciative of the skill of the St Andrews technicians who prepared them for publication. John Davey and James Dale of Edinburgh University Press guided the book through production with much patience. Finally, we could not possibly have done without the secretarial expertise and extreme care of Margaret Richards, who saw the entire project through from typing the first research grant application ten years ago to nurturing and polishing the final version. We know of people who do write books without her help, but it cannot be easy. Chris Smout,University of St Andrews Alan MacDonald,University of Dundee Fiona Watson,University of Stirling viii 10716 EUP Native 31/7/07 9:29 am Page ix Phil's G4 Phil's G4:Users:phil:Public: PHIL'S JOBS:10 List of black and white maps 1.1 The ancient semi-natural pinewoods of Scotland. 4 2.1 The major woodland types in Scotland 6,000 years ago. 27 3.1 Woodland in Glenesk, 1590–1946. 57 3.2 Woodland in Muckairn parish, Argyll, 1750 and 1876. 62 5.1 Distribution of shielings in the Forest of Mar. 112 6.1 Destination of pine timber sold in Rannoch, 1779–81. 150 8.1 Main native pinewoods known to have been subjected to commercial exploitation, 1600–1830. 194 8.2 Outlines of Abernethy forest, showing changes in woodland cover since 1750. 215 9.1 Charcoal ironworks with outsider interests. 228 9.2 Supplementary sources of charcoal for the Lorn furnace at Bonawe, 1786–1810. 245 11.1 Rothiemurchus Forest and Glenmore. 291 12.1 Strathcarron and neighbouring glens. 320 13.1 Woodlands purchased by the Irish partnership in Argyll, from 1721. 344 13.2 Glenorchy and Loch Etive pinewoods. 348 14.1 Woodlands on Skye. 365 15.1 Distribution of wood ants in Scotland. 396 ix 10716 EUP Native 31/7/07 9:29 am Page x Phil's G4 Phil's G4:Users:phil:Public: PHIL'S JOBS:107 List of black and white figures 1.1 Vera’s four-stage cycle. 11 2.1 The Wood of Caledon from Ptolemy’s description. 21 2.2 The oaken roof of Darnaway Castle. 38 3.1 Strathnaver according to Pont and Blaeu. 50 3.2 Ben Alder and its environs according to Gordon and Blaeu. 54 3.3 The woods of Glencoe according to Pont. 56 3.4 Plan of the battlefield of Glenshiel. 58 4.1 A birlinn on the Macleod tomb at Rodel, Harris. 82 4.2 The pine roof of Castle Grant. 85 4.3 Plan of a cruck-framed building at Corrimony, Inverness-shire.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Appendix 11.1 Surface Water Environment Baseline Conditions Transport Scotland
    Appendix 11.1 Surface Water Environment Baseline Conditions Transport Scotland August 2018 A9 Dualling Northern Section (Dalraddy to Inverness) A9 Dualling Dalraddy to Slochd Stage 3 Environmental Statement Table of contents Chapter Pages 1. Introduction 1 1.2 Aims and Objectives 1 2. Baseline Conditions 1 2.1 Rainfall 1 2.2 Designated Sites 2 2.3 Surface Water Catchment and Channel Descriptions 4 2.4 Surface Water Flow Patterns 39 2.5 Standing Water 41 2.6 Surface Water Quality 42 2.7 Water Supplies, Abstractions and Discharges 52 2.8 SEPA Registered Abstractions and Discharges 55 Tables Table 2.1: Relevant International and National Designations within 5km of the Proposed Scheme 3 Table 2.2: Description of watercourses within the Proposed Scheme Study Area 5 Table 2.3: Estimated Watercourse Flow Values 40 Table 2.4: Standing Water Descriptions 41 Table 2.5: Current Water Framework Directive Status of Surface Waters, 2016 44 Table 2.6: Surface Water Quality Sensitivity Summary 47 Table 2.7: Private Surface Water Supplies Located Within 1km of the Proposed Scheme and 5km Downstream 53 Table 2.8: CAR Licensed Activities within 1km of the Proposed Scheme, including Surface Water Abstractions up to 5km Downstream 55 Table 2.9: Abstractions within 1km of the Proposed Scheme or within 5km Downstream 57 Table 2.10: Discharges within 1km of the Proposed Scheme 58 A9P11-AMJ-EWE-Z_ZZZ_ZZ-RP-EN-0002 i A9 Dualling Northern Section (Dalraddy to Inverness) A9 Dualling Dalraddy to Slochd Stage 3 Environmental Statement 1. Introduction 1.1.1 This report is a technical appendix to the A9 Dualling Dalraddy to Slochd – DMRB Stage 3 Environmental Statement, Chapter 11: Road Drainage and the Water Environment.
    [Show full text]
  • Scots Pine Forest
    Teacher information 1: The Scots Pine Forest What are native Caledonian pine forests? Native Caledonian pine forest contain Scots pine and a range of other trees, including junipers, birches, willows, and rowan and, in some areas, aspens. Many of the oldest trees in Scotland are found in native pinewoods. As the largest and longest lived tree in the Caledonian forest the Scots pine is a keystone species in the ecosystem, forming the backbone of which many other species depend. Scots pine trees over 200 years old are known as 'grannies', but they are young compared to one veteran pine in a remote part of Glen Loyne that was found to be over 550 years old. Native Caledonian pinewoods are more than just trees. They are home to a wide range of species that are found in similar habitat in Scandinavia and other parts of northern Europe and Russia. Despite this wide distribution, the Scots pine forests in Scotland are unique and distinct from those elsewhere because of the absence of any other native conifers. Native pinewoods have also provided a wide range of products that were used in everyday life in rural Scotland. Timber was used to build houses; berries, fungi and animals living in the pinewood provided food; and fir-candles were cut from the heart of old trees to provide early lighting. More recently, native pinewoods provided timber during the First and Second World Wars when imports to Britain were interrupted. How much native Caledonian pinewood is there in Britain? After the last Ice Age, Scotland’s ‘rainforest’ covered thousands of square kilometres in the Scottish Highlands.
    [Show full text]
  • From Sail to Steam: London's Role in a Shipbuilding Revolution Transcript
    From Sail to Steam: London's Role in a Shipbuilding Revolution Transcript Date: Monday, 24 October 2016 - 1:00PM Location: Museum of London 24 October 2016 From Sail to Steam: London’s Role in a Shipbuilding Revolution Elliott Wragg Introduction The almost deserted River Thames of today, plied by pleasure boats and river buses is a far cry from its recent past when London was the greatest port in the world. Today only the remaining docks, largely used as mooring for domestic vessels or for dinghy sailing, give any hint as to this illustrious mercantile heritage. This story, however, is fairly well known. What is less well known is London’s role as a shipbuilder While we instinctively think of Portsmouth, Plymouth and the Clyde as the homes of the Royal Navy, London played at least an equal part as any of these right up until the latter half of the 19th century, and for one brief period was undoubtedly the world’s leading shipbuilder with technological capability and capacity beyond all its rivals. Little physical evidence of these vast enterprises is visible behind the river wall but when the tide goes out the Thames foreshore gives us glimpses of just how much nautical activity took place along its banks. From the remains of abandoned small craft at Brentford and Isleworth to unique hulked vessels at Tripcockness, from long abandoned slipways at Millwall and Deptford to ship-breaking assemblages at Charlton, Rotherhithe and Bermondsey, these tantalising remains are all that are left to remind us of London’s central role in Britain’s maritime story.
    [Show full text]
  • Policy Briefing
    Policy Briefing Forestry policy and carbon sequestration in Scotland Synopsis LINK believes that carbon sequestration should not be a primary driver of forestry policy, management of the National Forest Estate, and grant spend in Scotland. Whilst we accept that trees do sequester carbon, and through this process can make a small contribution to combating climate change, primary focus should continue to be on ensuring delivery of multiple public benefits such as enhanced biodiversity, improved access and health opportunities, landscape and historical environment enhancement and rural economic development. LINK does not therefore support any shift in resources away from existing policy priorities towards support for ‘sequestration forestry’ per se. LINK calls for a substantial increase in Government spending on ‘climate change adaptation forestry’ as an urgent response to the threat climate change poses to Scotland’s landscapes and biodiversity. ‘Adaptation forestry’ may include initiatives such as the restoration and expansion of native and mixed woodland planting, forest habitat network development and facilitating a move towards low impact silvicultural systems. These objectives are consistent with the current Scottish Forestry Strategy and will also have important secondary carbon sequestration benefits. The limitations of carbon as a driver for forestry policy The science behind carbon sequestration is still developing but evidence to date suggests that even if amount of new planting in Scotland each year was doubled or quadrupled, the contribution of new woodlands to offsetting an estimated 20Mt of carbon emitted each year in Scotland will only ever be minimal1. This is a key reason why sequestration should not be a primary driver of forestry policy.
    [Show full text]
  • Wester Ross Ros An
    Scottish Natural Heritage Explore for a day Wester Ross Ros an lar Wester Ross has a landscape of incredible beauty and diversity Historically people have settled along the seaboard, sustaining fashioned by a fascinating geological history. Mountains of strange, themselves by combining cultivation and rearing livestock with spectacular shapes rise up from a coastline of diverse seascapes. harvesting produce from the sea. Crofting townships, with their Wave battered cliffs and crevices are tempered by sandy beaches small patch-work of in-bye (cultivated) fields running down to the or salt marsh estuaries; fjords reach inland several kilometres. sea can be found along the coast. The ever changing light on the Softening this rugged landscape are large inland fresh water lochs. landscape throughout the year makes it a place to visit all year The area boasts the accolade of two National Scenic Area (NSA) round. designations, the Assynt – Coigach NSA and Wester Ross NSA, and three National Nature Reserves; Knockan Crag, Corrieshalloch Symbol Key Gorge and Beinn Eighe. The North West Highland Geopark encompasses part of north Wester Ross. Parking Information Centre Gaelic dictionary Paths Disabled Access Gaelic Pronunciation English beinn bayn mountain gleann glyown glen Toilets Wildlife watching inbhir een-er mouth of a river achadh ach-ugh field mòr more big beag bake small Refreshments Picnic Area madainn mhath mat-in va good morning feasgar math fess-kur ma good afternoon mar sin leat mar shin laht goodbye Admission free unless otherwise stated. 1 11 Ullapool 4 Ullapul (meaning wool farm or Ulli’s farm) This picturesque village was founded in 1788 as a herring processing station by the British Fisheries Association.
    [Show full text]
  • Nennius' Historia Brittonum
    Nennius’ ‘Historia Brittonum’ Translated by Rev. W. Gunn & J. A. Giles For convenience, this text has been assembled and composed into this PDF document by Camelot On-line. Please visit us on-line at: http://www.heroofcamelot.com/ The Historia Brittonum Table of Contents Acknowledgements....................................................................................................................................4 Preface........................................................................................................................................................5 I. THE PROLOGUE..................................................................................................................................6 1.............................................................................................................................................................6 2.............................................................................................................................................................7 II. THE APOLOGY OF NENNIUS...........................................................................................................7 3.............................................................................................................................................................7 III. THE HISTORY ...................................................................................................................................8 4,5..........................................................................................................................................................8
    [Show full text]
  • Things to Do Around Loch Ness (In No Particular Order!)
    Our Top 20 things to do around Loch Ness (in no particular order!) Ness Islands Walk – A walk around the river Ness, and through the smaller islands, connected by a series of bridges. Start the walk from the City Centre, taking in buildings such as the Cathedral and Eden Court on the way, or start on the Dores side of Inverness at the war memorial. The walk can be as long or as short as you want. FREE Inverness Museum and Art Gallery- learn about Scottish geology. Nature and culture, then walk up to and around the castle to enjoy views of the City. FREE Jacobite Cruises - Drive round to the other side of the loch, and get on a Jacobite boat at the Clansman Harbour for a relaxing sail down to Urquhart Castle and back. £13 - £30 Dolphin spotting at Chanonry Point – Between Fortrose and Rosemarkie on the Black Isle, Channonry Point is one of the best spots in the UK to view bottlenose dolphins. They can be seen year-round, but most sightings are in the summer months, and they are best seen at an incoming tide. Chanonry Point is situated East of Fortrose off the A832 FREE Change House Walk - A gentle walk along the shore at the Change House, then follow the marked trail across the road and complete the loop through the woods. FREE Falls of Foyers – A few miles beyond the Change House, you will find one of the must-see sights of south Loch Ness. Starting at the top, with parking beside the shop and café, you can choose to just walk to the first viewpoint for a look, or complete the whole 4.5km loop.
    [Show full text]
  • Review of Burleson
    BOOK REVIEWS Stephen Fisher (ed.). Recreation and the Sea. common thread in Waltons case studies of Exeter: Universi ty of Exeter Press, 1997. ix + 181 Brighton, Nice, and San Sebastian, and Cusack pp., figures, maps, tables, photographs. £13.99, and Ryan both recognise its role in the develop- paper; ISBN 0-85989-540-8. Distributed in No rth ment of yachting. On a more practical level, America by Northwestern University Press, improvements in transpo rtation — from steam- Evanston, IL. boats to trains to automobiles — encouraged mass tourism and permitted the emergence of seaside This is a collection of six essays originally pre- resort towns and even resort "clusters." [Walton, sented at a 1993 conference organised by the 46] With the onset of mass tourism, advertising Centre for Maritime Historical Studies at the assumed a key role, as Morgan makes clear for University of Exeter. John Travis writes on Torquay. As for image, Walton and Morgan both English sea-bathing between 1730 and 1900; argue convincingly that, at least until 1939, local John Walton looks at the spread of sea-bathing communities had a large say in how they wished from England where it began to other European to be portrayed to potential visitors. centres during the period 1750 to 1939; Paul There is little with which to quibble in this Thornton provides a regional study of coastal fine collection. Travis offers no explanation for tourism in Cornwall since 1900; Nigel Morgan the nineteenth-century transition in bathing examines the emergence of modern resort activi- circles from a medicinal focus to an emphasis on ties in inter-war Torquay; and Janet Cusack and the physical activity of swimming, though he Roger Ryan write on aspects of English yachting admits that this was "a fundamental ch ange in the history, the former focusing on the Thames and bathing ritual." [16] Citing Perrys work on Corn- south Devon, the latter on the northwest.
    [Show full text]
  • Strathcarron Project Supporting the Howard Doris Centre
    Looking towards AttadalePhoto by by PeterPeter Teago AN CARRANNACH The General Interest Magazine of Lochcarron, Shieldaig, Applecross, Kishorn, Torridon & Kinlochewe Districts NO: 367 August 2018 £1.00 “Walking to the Island” and other poems. by Alan MacGillivray "Walking to the Island” is a collection of poems which, in the author’s own words, is “A poetic evocation of boyhood summer holidays in the Wester Ross village of Lochcarron in the years during and just after the second world war.” This modest description, found on the back cover of the book, is accurate enough to whet the appetite of anyone who might casually pick it up for inspection, but fails to do justice to the scope and range of the work found within its covers. “Walking to the Island” is itself a sequence of poems and prose poetry, by turns nostalgic, celebratory, descriptive and elegiac, the totality of which is considerably more than the sum of any of its constituent parts. These are poems, which, like a good malt “uisge beatha”, which in a way they resemble, need to be savoured slowly and appreciatively. Their memories, observation, humour, wit and wisdom a complex and heady distillation of experience matured over time, and served up here in verse, which has style and variety sufficient to maintain the reader’s interest over the course of the “journey”, a journey both back in time, but also into the heart and soul of a community and culture. There is the occasional flash of anger, and overall a sense of sadness entirely in keeping with the book’s dedication to the author’s late brother James MacGillivray of affectionate memory in these parts.
    [Show full text]
  • Inverness, Ross & Skye
    Strategic Plan Inverness, Ross & Skye Forest District Strategic Plan 2009-2013 Click here to begin Strategic plan 2009-2013 Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 3 About Inverness, Ross & Skye Forest District ........................................................................................6 Section one: strategic context .....................................................................................................13 Context ............................................................................................................................................................14 Strategic priorities for Inverness, Ross & Skye Forest District .......................................................16 Forest policy context...................................................................................................................................18 Section two: how Inverness, Ross & Skye Forest District contributes to the delivery of the scottish forestry strategy ....................................................................................19 Key theme one: climate change ..............................................................................................................21 Key theme two: timber ..............................................................................................................................25 Key theme three: business development .............................................................................................30
    [Show full text]
  • Dun Telve and Dun Troddan (Glenelg)
    Property in Care (PIC) ID: PIC330 & PIC331 Designations: Scheduled Monument (SM90152) Taken into State care: 1885 (Guardianship) Last reviewed: 2004 HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT SCOTLAND STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE DUN TELVE AND DUN TRODDAN (GLENELG) We continually revise our Statements of Significance, so they may vary in length, format and level of detail. While every effort is made to keep them up to date, they should not be considered a definitive or final assessment of our properties. Historic Environment Scotland – Scottish Charity No. SC045925 Principal Office: Longmore House, Salisbury Place, Edinburgh EH9 1SH Historic Environment Scotland – Scottish Charity No. SC045925 Principal Office: Longmore House, Salisbury Place, Edinburgh EH9 1SH DUN TELVE AND DUN TRODDAN BRIEF DESCRIPTION The monument comprises two broch towers that are sited less than 500m apart in the valley of Gleann Beag in Glenelg. Dun Telve stands near the river and about one third of its wall still stands to a height of over 10m. Dun Troddan is set on a terrace in the hillside a little further up the Glen. About one third of the wall survives to a height of 7.6m and it is very like its neighbour in structural detail. Each is accessible by a short walk from the road. CHARACTER OF THE MONUMENT Historical Overview • There is a rich and fascinating antiquarian and later history associated with the discovery and interpretation of broch towers/complex roundhouses as a whole. Early antiquarian drawings exist for these monuments: Alexander Gordon, about 1720; Pennant in 1772. These monuments attracted attention from an early date because they are so well-preserved.
    [Show full text]
  • Eating Game: Proteins, International Conservation and the Rebranding of African Wildlife, 1955–1965
    BJHS 53(2): 183–205, June 2020. © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of British Society for the History of Science. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. doi:10.1017/S0007087420000023 First published online 03 April 2020 Eating game: proteins, international conservation and the rebranding of African wildlife, 1955–1965 RAF DE BONT* Abstract. Around 1960, leading figures in the international conservation circuit – such as Julian Huxley, Frank Fraser Darling and E. Barton Worthington – successfully propagated new visions about the value of undomesticated African mammals. Against traditional ideas, they presented these mammals as a highly efficient source of protein for growing African populations. In line with this vision, they challenged non-interventionist ideals of nature pres- ervation, and launched proposals for active management through game ‘ranching’ and ‘cropping’. As such, they created a new socio-technical imaginary for Africa’s future, in which the consumption of wildlife meat took up a central position. This article explores the motivations of Western conservationists for this drastic rebranding. It argues that the rationale of considering African wildlife in terms of protein played an important symbolical role at various levels. It was crucial in the reorganization of the transnational networks of conserva- tion, but also in the boosting of their scientific reputation, in the restructuring of their institu- tional ties, and in their attempts to maintain an authoritative position for Western ecologists in a rapidly decolonizing world.
    [Show full text]