The Digital Ark: Early Modern Collections of Curiosities in England and Scotland, 1580-1700
William III of England (4 Nov 1650 - 8 Mar 1702)
Prince of Orange, stadholder, then King of England, Scotland, and Ireland (reigned 1689-1702) with co-regent Mary (reigned 1689-94). In September 1675, while still stadholder, William issued a call to collect for him from the East "all sorts of animals, birds, herbaria, cabinets, and other curiosities" (Cook, 317). In response, the Heren XVII (board of directors of the Dutch United East India Company [VOC]) sent out instructions to the various stations, including Ceylon, the Cape of Good Hope, and Malabar, to collect birds, plants, bulbs, and seeds on behalf of William; Ceylon also was asked to send a couple of elephants, birds, and other tame animals, cinnamon and pepper trees, and other rare plants" (Cook, 317, quoting Heniger, 70-71, 44). In response, Joan Bax, Dutch sargent-major of Ceylon—who had been sending specimens from back to his uncle, VOC Director Joan Huydecoper van Maarseveen—collected “plants and animals as a gift from the VOC for William III” (307, 317). These objects ended up in the hands of Daniel Desmarets, William's court chaplain, who housed them in the menagerie and gardens of the prince at the palace of Honselaarsdijk; in England, William made Hampton Court Palace his favourite residence and garden (207). Dictionary of National Biography entry: http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29450 Other biography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_III_of_England Collector (minor)Relevant locations: Lived at or near Honselaarsdijk, Honselersdijk
Lived at or near Hampton Court Palace, Hampton
Past Location at Honselaarsdijk, Honselersdijk
Title (royalty or holy order) England, Europe
Title (royalty or holy order) Principality of Orange, Provence
Relationships: William III of England was a grand-child of Amalia of Solms-Braunfels (31 Aug 1602-8 Sep 1675)
William III of England was a grand-child of Frederick Henry (1584-1647)
Johan (Joan) Bax van Herenthals (14 Mar 1637-29 Jun 1678) was a source of object(s) for William III of England
Govert Bidloo (12 Mar 1649-30 Mar 1713) was a employed by William III of England
George Bower (-1690) was a employed by William III of England
Arthur Capel (bap. 28 Jan 1632-13 Jul 1683) was a associate or acquaintance (general) of William III of England
Daniel Desmarets (-fl. 1675) was a employed by William III of England
John Hutton (-1712) was a employed by William III of England
Mary II of England (30 Apr 1662-28 Dec 1694) was a wife of William III of England
James Reed (-fl. 1690) was a source of object(s) for William III of England
Edward Smyth (1665-1720) was a employed by William III of England
William King of England (Ambiguous) (-) was a same person as? (uncertain) William III of England
Linked print sources: as Mentions or references - Hendrik Adriaan van Reede tot Drakenstein (1636-1691) and Hortus Malabaricus: A Contribution to the History of Dutch Colonial Botany .
as Mentions or references - London in 1710, from the Travels of Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach .
as Mentions or references - Matters of Exchange: Commerce, Medicine, and Science in the Dutch Golden Age.
as Mentions or references - The Curious World of Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn.
References in Documents:
r
A
eCoronation of
Mary
Exotica, fusca, dorso albis maculis aspersis.
This elegantSnake I received from my worthy Friend
Bidloo
andPhysitian
to
his late
his late
WILLIAM
A Discourse concerning theLarge Horns
frequently found under Ground in
Concluding from them that the greatAme
rican Deer, call'd a Moose,
was formerly
common in that Island: With Remarks on
some other things Natural to that Country.
By
By
M. D. Fellow of
the King and QueensColledge of Physicians
in
and of the
in
utterly extinct, as to be lost entirely out of the
World, since it was first Created, is the Opinion of
many Naturalists; and ’tis grounded on so good a
Principle of Providence taking Care in general of all
its Animal Productions, that it deserves our Assent.
However great Vicissitudes may be observed to attend
the Works of Nature, as well as Humane Affairs;
so that some entire Species of Animals, which have
been formerly Common, nay even numerons in cer
tain Countries; have, in Process of time, been so
perfectly lost, as to become there utterly unknown;
tho’ at the same time it cannot be denyed, but the
kind has been carefully preserved in some other part
of the World.
Of this we have a remarkable Example in
land
ly has been frequent in this Kingdom, tho’ now clear
mains among us not the least Record in Writing, or
any manner of Tradition, that makes so much as men
tion of its Name; as that most Laborious Inquirer in
to the pretended Ancient, but certainly Fabulous History of this Country, Mr.
thor of
What Discoveries therefore we make of this Crea
ture, we can only have from those loose parts of it we
find dug out of the Earth by Accident, preserved there
so many Ages from Corruption, by lying deep and
close under Ground, whilst harder and of themselves
more durable Bodies, moulder away and perish, by
being exposed to the various Changes of the Air, and
repeated Injuries of the Weather.
Remains we have of this Animal, it appears
to have been of the Genus Cervinum or Deer Kind, and
of that sort that carries Broad or Palmed Hornes,
bearing a greater affinity with the Buck or Fallow Deer,
than with the Stag or Red Deer, that has Hornes
round and branched, without a Palme; This I lately
observed, having an opportunity of particularly Ex
amining a compleat
perfect, not long since dug up, given to my Brother
Henry Osborn
the Meath
heda
ner and place they were found in.
I have by the Bearer sent the Head and Horns I
promised you; this is the third Head I have found
by casual trenching in my Orchard; they were all dug up
within the Compass of an Acre of Land, and lay about
four or five Foot under Ground, in a sort of Boggy Soil.
The first Pitch was of Earth, the next two or three of
Turff, and then followed a sort of white Marle, where
they were found: They must have lain there several Ages,
to be so deep enterred. (Thus far Osborn
I took their Dimensions carefully as follows; from
the extreme tip of the right Horn, to the extreme tip
of the left, as exprest in the annext Table, Figure the
first. by the prick’t Line A. B. was ten Foot ten Inches,
from the tip of the right Horn, to the Root where it
was fastned to the Head, Exprest by the Line C. D. five
Foot two Inches from the Tip of the highest Branch
(measuring one of the Horns transverse, or directly
across the Palme) to the tip of the lowest Branch, ex
prest by the Line G. F. Three Foot Seven Inches and
a Half. The length of one of the Palms within the
Branches, exprest by the Line G. H. Two Foot Six
Inches: The breadth of the same Palm, still within
the Branches, exprest by the Line I. K. One Foot Ten
Inches and a half: The Branches that shot forth round
the edge of each Palm, were Nine in Number, besides
the Brow Antlers, of which the right Antler, exprest
by the Line D. L. was a Foot and Two Inches in length,
the other was much shorter: The Beam of each Horn at
some distance from the Head, where ’tis mark’d M.
was about Two Inches and Six tenths of an Inch, in
Diameter, or about Eight Inches in Circumference;
at the Root where it was fastned to the Head, about
Eleven Inches in Circumference. The length of the
Head, from the back of the Skull to the tip of the
Nose, or rather the extremity of the upper Jaw-bone,
exprest in the Figure by the Line N. O. Two Foot,
the Line P.Q. was a Foot.
The Two Holes near the Roots of the Horns, that
look like Eyes were not so, (for these were placed on
each side the Head in Two ample Cavities, that could
not be well exprest in the Figure) but were large
open Passages, near an Inch in Diameter in the
Forehead Bone, to give way to great Blood-vessels,
that here issue forth from the Head, and pass between
the Surface of the Horn, and the smooth Hairy Skin
that Covers them whilst they are growing, (which is
commonly call’d the Velvet) to supply the Horns
with sufficient Nourishment, while they are soft, and
till they arrive at their full Magnitude, so as to become
perfectly hard and solid. These Vessels, by reason of
their largeness and great turgency of the Humor in
them; whilst the Horn is sprouting and pliant, make
deep and conspicuous furrows all along the outside of
it where they pass; which may plainly be seen after the
Horn is bare and come to its full growth; at
which time all these Veins and Arteries, with the out
ward Velvet Skin, drying by the Course of Nature,
shrivel up and separate from the Horn, and the Beast
affects tearing them off in great stripes against the Bows
of Trees, exposing his Horns naked, when they are
throughly hardned, without any Covering at all.
This I gather, by what Remarks I have made on the Skulls
of other Deer, and what I have observed concerning
the growth of these sort of Horns in Animals of the
like kind, tho' not in this particular sort of Crea
ture.
The Figure I had exactly taken by a skilful Hand, to
shew truly the right shape and size of these kind of
of common Stags Horns, exprest Figure the 2d. and
another of a pair of common Bucks Horns, exprest
Figure the 3d. all done according to the same Scale;
that by this means, at one and the same time, may
appear the grand disproportion between these sorts of
Heads, and also the difference and agreement in their
Shape. (See the Table.)
Such then were the vast Dimensions, according to
which the lofty Fabrick of the Head and Horns of
this stately Creature was Built; and doubtless all the
rest of the parts of its Body answered these in a due
proportion. So that should we compare the fairest
Buck with the Symetry of this mighty Beast, it must
certainly fall as much short of its Proportions as
the smallest young Fawn, compared to the largest
over-grown Buck.
And yet ’tis not to be question’d, but these spacious
Horns, as large as they were, like others of the Deer
Kind, were naturally cast every Year, and grew again
to their full Size in about the Space of Four Months:
For all Species of Deer, yet known, certainly drop
their Horns yearly, and with us ’tis about March, and
about July following they are full summ'd again. Of
which strange Appearance in Nature, the learned
dus Johannes Vossius
Book De Idololatriâ, Lib. 3. Cap. 57. has these Words:
a).
(a) That is, I shall reckon it among the most wonderful Works of
Nature, that Horns so hard and solid, and of so great a Bulk, should grow
up in so short a time.
in his &c. on the same
Occasion expresses himself thus:
miratione dignum est tantam Molem Cornuum & Ramorum
tam brevi tempore quotannis renasci & crescere(b).
And if these judicious Persons were moved thus with
Admiration by considering only the yearly Falling and
sudden Growth of these smaller Horns of Bucks and
Stags, with which alone they were acquainted, what
would they have thought, had they known of these
vast and stupendious Productions of Nature in the same
Kind.
As there seems to me no small Affinity or Agreement
in the Sprouting forth, and Branching of Deers Horns,
with the way of Growth in Vegetables; so I conceive
likewise the constant yearly dropping of them, to pro
ceed much from the same Cause, that Trees annually
cast their ripe Fruit, or let fall their withering Leaves
in Autumn: that is, because the nourishing Juice, say it
is Sap or Blood, is stopt and flows no longer; either
on the account ’tis now deficient, being all spent, or that
the cavous Passages which conveigh it, dry up and cools;
so as the Part having no longer any Communication
with, must of necessity by degrees sever from the Whole;
but with this Difference, that Horns by reason of their
hard Material and strong Composition, stick fast to the
Head by their Root, Seven or Eight Months after all
their Nourishment perfectly retires; whereas Leaves and
Fruit, consisting of a much more tender Substance and
a finer Texture of Parts, drop sooner from their native
(b) That is, Truly it deserves our greatest Wonder that so large a
Body of Horns and Branches should sprout up in so short a time, and be
renewed every Year.
Nourishment is stopt; this Analogy that Nature ob
serves in casting the Horns of Beasts and dropping the
Fruit of Trees, will appear much more evident to any
one that will observe the end of a Stalk, from which
a ripe Orange or any such large Fruit has been lately se
ver’d, and the Butt end of a cast Horn where it fasten'd
to the
shall find so great a Congruity in the shape of both,
that ’twill be apparent Nature works according to the
same Mechanism in one as in t’other.
Discoursing one Day with Excellency the Lord
CapellLord Justices of
perienc’d and accurate Observer of the Works of Nature,
I chanced to mention these Large Horns: He was very
earnest to see them, and so mightily surpris’d at the
sight of their extraordinary Bulk, that my Brother
thought fit to make a Present of them to his Lordship,
which he obligingly accepted; resolving to send them
over, as he said, to William
found some Years since by one Van DelureClare
sort of Marle, and were presented by him to the late
Ormond
valued them so highly for their prodigious largeness,
that he thought them not an unfit Present for the King,
and sent them for Charles the Second
who ordered them to be set up in the Horn-Gallery at
the rest of the large Heads both of Stags and Bucks
that adorn that Place, but this so vastly exceeds the lar
gest of them, that the rest appear to lose much of their
am lately informed, these with the other Heads are
since removed to the Guard-Room out of the Horn-
Gallery.
Folliot
ging for Marle near the Ballymackward
he lives, not far from Fermanagh
Ground, a Pair of these sort of
still in his Possession.
dug up near Barnevall
most compleat of the Two was fixt over the Chimney
in the
and lasting Curiosity to future Ages.
was found near Clanricard, seated on the Shannon
of Gallway
mired by all that view it.
Beams of
these Kind of Horns, may be now seen fastened against one
side of the Common Hall of his Grace Michael Lord
Archbishop of Ardmagh
are both imperfect and want their Palmes, yet by the
vast thickness and length of the Beams, I judge when
entire they much exceeded the Size of those I have gi
ven the Dimensions of above. The Primate told me,
they were found somewhere in the Province of EssexGrace.
To these I should add many more Instances of the
like, as Mountjoy
his House at Meath
ledge within less than Twenty Years, above Twenty,
I might safely say, Thirty Pair of these sort of Horns
have been dug up in several places of this Country, all
found by Accident; and we may well suppose vast
Numbers still remain undiscovered, but to mention any
more of them particularly would be tedious, and to lit
tle purpose, since these may suffice plainly to shew,
this Creature was formerly Common with us in
and an Indigenous Animal, not peculiar to any Territory
or Province, but universally met with in all parts of
the Kingdom.
For if we draw a Line through the several Places of
this Island where these Heads have been found, viz.
the ClareDublinFarmanagh
have mentioned, we shall make a Triangle whose
shortest Side will be in length above an Hundred English
Miles, which is near as large a Figure of this Sort, as
we can well describe in the Map of
And besides, we may reasonably, I think, gather;
That they were not only common in this Country, but
by what Osborn
ther, That they were a Gregarious Animal, as the Na
turalists call them, or such a sort of Creature as affect
naturally keeping together in Herds; as we see the Fallow Deer with us, and as 'tis reported of the Elches in
Rain Deer in the Northern Countries
of
should happen; that Three of their Heads should be all
found within the narrow Compass of one Acre of Ground.
That these and several others, and indeed I think I
may say, all that I have been particularly informed of,
though dug up in far distant Places of
be constantly found buried in a Sort of Marle, seems to
me to intimate, as if Marle was only a Soil that had
been formerly the Outward Surface of the Earth, but
in process of Time, being covered by degrees with ma
ny Layers of Adventitious Earth, has by lying under
Ground a certain Number of Ages, acquired a peculiar
Texture, Consistence, Richness, or Maturity that gives it
the Name of Marle. For of necessity we must allow
the Place where these Heads are now found, was cer
tainly once the external Superfice of the Ground;
otherwise ’tis hardly possible to suppose how they
should come there.
And that they should be so deep buried as we at pre
sent find them, appears to have happen’d, by their ac
cidentally falling where it was soft low Ground; so that
the Horns by their own considerable Gravity might
easily make a Bed where they setled in the yielding
Earth; and in a very long Course of Time, the higher
Lands being by degrees dissolved by repeated Rains, and
washt and brought down by Floods, covered those Pla
ces that were scituated lower with many Layers of
Earth: For all high Grounds and Hills, unless they
consist of Rock, by this means naturally lose a little
every Year of their Height; and sometimes sensibly
become lower even in one Age; of which we may see
several satisfactory Instances related by PlottNatural History of Staffordshire
as for all such Heads that might chance to fall on high
or hard Grounds, where they could not possibly be co
vered or defended, these must of necessity rot, perish,
and be destroyed by the Weather: And for this Reason
it is, that never any of these Horns are discovered in
such sort of Ground, but always in a light Soil, and
in some low Part of the Country.
By what means this Kind of Animal, formerly so
common and numerous in this Country, should now
become utterly lost and extinct, deserves our Conside
ration: and seeing it is so many Ages past, that we
have no manner of Account left to help us in our En
quiry, the most we can do in this Matter is to make
some probable Conjectures about it; I know some
have been apt to imagine this like all other Animals
might have beeen destroyed from off the Face of this
Country by that Flood recorded in the Holy Scripture
to have happened in the the time of
confess is a ready and short way to solve this Difficul
ty, but does not at all satisfy me: For (besides that
that there want not Arguments, and some of them not
easily answer’d, against the Deluge being Universal)
if we consider what a fragil, slight and porous Sub
stance these and the Horns of all Deer are, we can't
well suppose they could by any means be preserv’d en
tire and uncorrupt from the Flood, now above Four
Thousand Years since; and I have by me some of the
Teeth, and one of the lower Jaw-bones of this Crea
ture so perfect, solid, ponderous and fresh, that no one
that sees them can possibly suspect they could have been
in nature so many Ages past: And therefore it seems
more likely to me, this kind of Animal might become
extinct here from a certain ill Constitution of Air in
might occasion an Epidemick Distemper, if we may so
call it, or Pestilential Murren, peculiarly to affect this
sort of Creature, so as to destroy at once great Num
bers of 'em, if not quite ruine the Species.
And this is not so groundless an Assertion as at first
it may appear, if we consider this Island may very well
be thought neither a Country nor Climate so truly
proper and natural to this Animal, as to be perfectly
agreeable to its temper; since for ought I can yet learn
it neither is, nor ever has been an Inhabitant of any of the
adjacent Kingdoms round about us. And besides, the
Three Heads above mentioned, found so close to one
another in the Meath
as if these Animals dyed together in Numbers, as they
had lived together in Herds.
To this purpose I have met with a remarkable Pas
sage in Description of Lapland
speaking of the Cervus Rangifer, an Animal that agrees
in Kind with ours, though it be a quite different Sort
of Deer, he says that whole Herds of them are often
destroy’d by a Raging Distemper common among them;
these are his Words:
noxium qui si ingruant Gregem totum solent pervagare &
ad necem dare; qua de re Johannes Bureus ita habet in
Schedis suis, solet interdum Rangiferos morbus quidam
velut Pestis invadere sic ut moriantur omnes Lappoq;
compellatur novos sibi comparare Rangiferos(c). By
(c) That is, this Kind of Creature is likewise subject to its Diseases
which if they seize a Flock, goes through them all; concerning which
ter the manner of a Plague, affects the Rain Deer, so as they all dye, and
the Laplander is forced to supply himself with new Rain Deer.
which we may see what we conjecture in our Case, is
not meer Supposition, but certainly happens elsewhere
to Animals of the like Kind.
But since we have an Instance of so destructive a
Mortality among Beasts as quite to extinguish a whole
Species at once, we may think some might have esca
ped the Common Calamity; but these being so few in
Number, I imagine as the Country became peopled,
and thickly inhabited; they were soon destroy'd, and
kill'd like other Venison as well for the sake of Food as
Mastery and Diversion. And indeed none of these Ani
mals by reason of their Stupendious Bulk and Wide
Spreading Horns could possibly lye sheltered long in any
Place, but must be soon discovered, and being so con
spicuous and heavy were the more easily pursued and
taken by their numerous Hunters, in a Country all en
vironed by the Sea: For had they been on the wide
Continent they might have fared better, and secured
themselves and their Race till this time, as well as others
of the same Kind have done elsewhere. Of which
more hereafter.
Or had those Barbarous Times been capable of taking
Care for the Preservation of this stately Creature, our
Country would not have entirely lost so singular and
beautiful an Ornament: But this could not be expected
from those savage Ages of the World, which certainly
would not have spared the rest of the Deer Kind, Stags
and Hinds, Bucks and Does, which we still have; but
that these being of much smaller Size, could shelter
and conceal themselves easier under the Covert of
Woods and Mountains, so as to escape utter Destruction.
And here I cannot but observe, that the Red Deer
in these our Days, is much more rare with us in
land
ry of Man: And tho’ I take it to be a Creature, na
turally more peculiar to this Country then to
yet unless there be some care taken to preserve it, I be
lieve in process of time this Kind may be lost also,
like the other sort we were now speaking of.
It remains we should say something concerning the
Proper Name of this Animal, and what Species of
Creature it was to which these stately Horns formerly
belonged. And I must here needs own, that I have
not met to this Day with any Person, that has spent
the least serious thought concerning this matter. So
destitute have we been in this Place of that inquisitive
Genius, that in these later Ages has so much every
where prevailed, in setting the Minds of Men upon a
diligent search after, and making curious and useful
Remarks, on all things that are truly the admirable
Workmanship of Nature.
I know they are vulgarly call'd by ignorant Peo
ple, nay, and some of the learned Vulgus in this Coun
try, Elches Hornes; and that they are so, is an Opini
on generally received, and satisfies such as talk of
them Superficially, without further Enquiry; and be
cause this is an Error that has so Universally prevailed,
I shall take the more pains particularly to Confute it,
and I hope clear this point so from all manner of doubt,
that for the future there shall be no further questions
made of it again; the mistake, I am satisfied, has on
ly proceeded from hence, that we are in these parts
as great Strangers to that sort of Animal call'd the Alche Elche, or Elende, as we are to this of our own
Beast with big Horns; but unless we shall give the
same Name to Two Animals vastly different, which is
Preposterous and breeds Confusion, we must not al
low these Horns should any longer pass under the Name
of Elches Horns.
I have seen a Pair of genuine Elches Horns brought
out of Figure and Size, from these we have now described:
they were abundantly smaller, quite of another shape
and make, not Palmed or broad at the end farthest from
the Head as Ours; but on the contrary, broader to
wards the Head, and growing still narrower towards
the Tips end, the smaller Branches not issuing forth
from both Edges of the Horns as in Ours, but growing
along the upper Edge only, whilst the other Verge of
the Horn was wholly plain without any Branches at all.
And accordingly the faithful
ter of his Book
right Description of them, where he expresses the Fi
gure of the Elche and its Horns apart; and speaking of
the Size of them, he says,
ter Duodecem appendunt, longitudine fere duorum pe
dum(d). Whereas the Horns we find here in
are near thrice that Length, and above double that
Weight; though dry'd and much lighter from their be
ing so long kept: But I confess, I say, this only by esti
mate, not having an opportunity to weigh exactly a sin
gle Horn by itself, though I'm sure I can't be much out.
(d)That is, each Horn weighs about Twelve Pounds, and was in length
almost Two Foot.
Moreover the Elche, as described by
nabenus
a midling Horse: these
ted by Habet hoc Animal crassitiem &
proceritatem mediocris & pinguis Equi(e). And agree
able to this is the Relation given in the Memoirs of the
Parisian Anatomists, who dissected one of them: And I
remember Duncombe
ces of
he had seen there above a Hundred Elches together in
a Herd, and none of them above Five Foot high; and
if so, we cannot imagine a Creature of that small Size,
could possibly support so large and heavy a Head, with
so wide and spreading a Pair of Horns as these we are
speaking of; considering that exact Symetry, and due
Proportion of Parts, Nature observes in the Formation
of all the larger and perfecter sort of Animals.
We must then look out, and try if we can discover
among the various Species of Quadrupeds, some other,
whose Size and Description will better agree with this
our Irish Animal than that of the Elche does: And after
all our Inquiry, we certainly shan't discover any one
that in all respects exactly answers it, save only that
Lofty Horned Beast in the Moose.
This Animal I find described by John Josselyn
among his The
Moose Deer, common in these Parts, is a very goodly
Creature, some of them Twelve Foot high (in height, says
another Author more particularly, From the Toe of the
Fore foot to the Pitch of the Shoulder, Twelve Foot; in
(e) That is, this Animal is about the Height and Thickness of a mid
ling Horse.its full growth much bigger than an Ox) with exceeding
fair Horns with broad Palms, some of them Two Fathom
or Twelve foot from the Tip of one Horn to the other.
That is, Fourteen Inches wider than Ours was.
Another thus describes the Manner of the Indians
Hunting this Creature: They commonly hunt the Moose,
. Thus far what these Authors say of the
which is a kind of Deer, in the Winter, and run him down
sometimes in half, otherwhile a whole Day, when the
Ground is cover'd with Snow, which usually lyes here Four
Foot deep; the Beast, very heavy, sinks every Step as he
runs, breaking down Trees as big as a Man's Thigh with
his Horns, at length they get up with't, and
darting their Lances, wound it so, that the Creature
walks heavily on, till tired and spent with loss of Blood,
it sinks and falls like a ruin'd Building, making the Earth
shake under itMoose.
I do not know any one that has yet obliged the Pub
lick by giving an exact Figure of this stately Creature,
which would be acceptable to the Curious, and very
well worth the while of some of those ingenious Inqui
rers that go into those Parts for the improvement of
Natural History: for I take it next the Elephant, to be
the most remarkable Quadruped for its largeness in the
World. However, in the mean time, by the help of
the foregoing Accounts, we may easily form to our
selves a lively and just Idea of its Figure and Size;
and if we compare the several Parts of those Discripti
ons, with the Beasts whose heads are found here in
land
but these vastly large Irish Deer and the American Moose,
were certainly one and the same sort of Animal, being
all of the Deer Kind, carrying the same sort of Palmed
Horns, which are of the same Size and Largeness as well
Figure; and Bulk of their Bodies corresponding
exactly in Proportion to the wide spreading of their
Horns; So that we may securely assert, that Mooses
formerly were as frequent in this Country, as they have
them still in the Northern Parts of the New England, Virginia, Maryland, Canada or
And least we may think this Animal peculiar to the
Continent, and not to be found in Islands; I lately met
with a remarkable Passage in French Description of the
trary; which, because it likewise illustrates and con
firms what was said before, I'll set down in his own
Words. Speaking of I'l y a
. That is,
une certaine sorte de Beste frequente en ces Pais que les
sauvages noment Mose, de la grandur d'un Taureau, ayant
la Teste d'un Dain, avec les cornes larges que muent tous
les anns, le Col comme une cerf: il se trouve une grande
quantite de ces animaux en une Isle pres de la Terre Fer
me appelle des Anglois Mount ManselThere is
a certain sort of Beast common in this Country, which the
savage Indians call a Moose, as big as a Bull (he had not
seen I suppose those of the largest Size) having the
Head of a Buck, with broad Horns, which they cast every Year, and the Neck of a Deer: there are found also
great Numbers of these Animals in an Island near the Continent call'd by the English,
This may give us reasonable grounds to believe, that
as this Island of
Communication with the Main Land of
have been thus plentifully stockt with this sort of Beast;
so
Ages, long before the late Discovery of that New World,
had some sort of Intercourse with it likewise, (though
'tis not easy, I acknowledge, for us at present to explain
how) for otherwise I do not see, how we can conceive
this Country should be supply'd with this Creature, that
for ought I can yet hear, is not to be found in all our
Neighbourhood round about us, nay, perhaps in any
other Part of
as Old
World; so 'tis nearest of any Country to the most Eastern
Parts of the New-Canada, New-England, Virginia, &c.
the great Tract of Land, and the only one I yet know,
remarkable for plenty of the Moose-Deer.
And we may observe yet farther, That a sort of Alli
ance between these Countries of
dies
partake both in common. Bermudas
ble Quantities of Amber-greese; so on the Western Coast
of
and the Arran
parcels of that precious Substance, so highly valued for
its Perfume. In the Year Constantine
Apothecary of Amber
-greese found near
ces; he bought it for Twenty Pound, and sold it in
don
'twas of a close compact Substance, Blackish and shining
like Pitch; but when it was cut the inside was more
porous, and something of a Yellowish Colour, not so
Grey, close and smooth as the cleanest and best sort of
Amber; but like it, speckled with whitish Grains, and
of a most fragrant Sent; I have still a
that weighs above Six Drams
Three or Four other sorts of Amber, all found on that
Coast of
of a perfect White Substance, exactly answering the De
scrption of that sort of Amber,
ons in his
bræ Grifeæ nondum maturæ
Nor is the kind of Whale-Fish that's often taken in
ger to the Coast of
we may properly, I think, with CharletonTeeth, fixt
only in the lower Jaw; to distinguish it from that Species that gives the Whale Bone, most naturally named
by
its bearded, horny
of which kind likewise there have been Three or Four
stranded in my time; but on the Eastern Coast of this
Country that regards
This
ClusiusExotics
under the Name of
figured by
the 42d. and by
the 1st. but by both under the too general Name of the
my Knowledge, in the Space of Six Years, all on the
Western Coast of this Country; one near
the AntrimShip-harbour, in
the DonnegallAugust,
Seventy one Foot long, exceeding that described by
And then it was, I had an Opportunity of truly in
forming my self what sort of Substance
and in what Part of the Whale 'tis found: concerning
which Matter, Physicians and Naturalists have given the
World such various and false accounts; and 'tis truly
nothing else, but part of the Oyl or liquid Fat of this
particular sort of Whale; which Oyl, at first when
confused and mixt, shews it self like a Whitish Liquour,
of the Consistence and Colour of Whey; but lay'd by in
Vessels to settle; its parts by degrees separate, that
which is lighter and swims a top, becomes a clear Oyl
pellucid like Water, serviceable for all the uses of com
mon Train-Oyl, got out of the Blubber of other Whales,
and that which subsides, because 'tis heavier and of a
closer Consistence, candies together at the Bottom, and
is what is sold for
Pound; when 'tis throughly blanched and refined from
all its filth and the remaining parts of the Oyl, that
otherwise discolours it, and gives it a rancid offensive
Sent. Of this Substance several Hundred Pound
Weight may be gotten out of one Whale, but the clean
sing and curing of it is troublesom, and requires no small
Art, Time and Charge; which occasions the value of
that which is througly refined: The Fat of the whole
Body affords it, but that of the Head gives the great
est Quantity and purest
I have some reason to believe to these Instances of the
Moose Deer, Amber-greese and
rope
we may likewise add some of our more rare Spontaneous
Plants, because they are found growing only in those
Western Parts of
Country, or any of the Neighbouring Kingdoms about us.
I shall mention but Two or Three of many which I
have been told are peculiar to those parts, because I am
not yet well assur'd of the certainty of the others being
so: and those are the Strawberry Tree; not to be found any where of Spontaneous Growth nearer than the most Southern Parts of
France, Italy and
but as a Shrub: whereas in the Rocky Parts of
the Kerry
of the same Lough, where the People of the Country
call it the Cane Apple, it flourishes naturally to that De
gree, as to become a large tall Tree.
in his Observations
takes notice, it does so in Athos
and
thing extraordinary, for saying the
high Tree in
are frequently Four Foot and a half in Circumference,
or Eighteen Inches in Diameter, and the Trees grows
to about Nine or Ten Yards in Height; and in such
plenty that they now cut them down, as the chief Few
el to melt and refine the Ore of the Silver and Lead
Mine, lately discovered near the RossKerry
The other Plant I shall take Notice of is
sive Sedum serratum Latifolium Montanum guttato flore
Parkinsoni & RaiiLondon Pride: I suppose because of its pretty elegant
Flower; that viewed near at hand and examined close
ly, appears very beautiful, consisting of great Variety
of Parts: The whole Plant is most accurately described
by that profound Naturalist
PlantarumPlanta in Hortis
nostris frequentissima est, ubi tamen Sponte oritur nobis
Nondum constat, est autem proculdubio Montium incola(f).
Though he knew no certain place where it grew Spontaneous, not having met with it in all his Travels; nor
any Author mentioning its native Country, yet he
rightly conjectures 'tis a Mountainous Plant, for it grows
plentifully here with us in
the
reputed the highest in KillarnyRoss
great part of the Mountain, and for as much as I un
derstand, like the
alone.
Whether both the foregoing Plants are truly American, I cannot at present determine, but this I know,
that Common Savin is mentioned
by Josselyn
common on the Hills of
assured by an Apothecary of this Town, that he has ga
thered Savin growing wild as a native Shrub in one of
the Islands of County of Kerry
if so, I have reason to believe, that hereafter farther In
quiry may add to these I have given, several other Ex
amples of Things Natural and Common to that and
this Country.
But to leave these Digressions and return to our
Large Irish Deer, which well deserves we should affix
to it some Characteristick Note or Proper Name,
(f) That is, 'tis a Plant common in our Gardens; but where it grows
naturally is not as yet known to us, but certainly 'tis an Inhabitant of the
Mountains.
whereby it may stand ranged hereafter in its right Place
in the History of Animals: since Nature her self seems
by the Vast Magnitude and Stately Horns, she has gi
ven this Creature, to have singled it out as it were, and
shewed it such regard, with a design to distinguish it
remarkably from the common Herd of all other smaller
Quadrupeds. Naturalists have rais'd much Dispute,
what Beast it truly is, that has had the Name given it
by some of them, of
nabenusElche;
would have it the Bisons of
t'other, or neither, I shan't determine; nor do I the
least suspect that this our Animal was meant by it;
however, for its goodly Size and lofty Stature, and to
retain something of an Old Appellation, I think it may
very well lay claim to it, and not improperly be call'd,
nibus Palmatis, incolis Novæ Anglæ & Virginiæ, ubi
frequens, Moose dictum
William
Handkerchief of
der a Crown, (pretended to be the
same he had upon the Scaffold
that most deplorable Day 30 Jan.
48.) Don. Rev. Geo. Plaxton
Rector Bervic.William III
as a Relick; it is Purple.
A Sample of fine Cloath, blew on one Side,
and pure Scarlet on the other.Pembroke
ing the first Noble Man of Knit Stockins Anno Cloth-Hose: What was then
so rare, even with the Nobility, was
afterwards so common even
amongst the Gentry, and so extravangantly great, that here is
a
with curious wrought Tops (made to turn down 17 Inches) a Yard
and Quarter in
Compass, so that they were since used (when Trousers
were in
Fashion) to cover the Breeches upon Journies.
Eliot Canoe, wherein he made his E
scape from
of
by which Means it was saved: He sailed sixty Leagues
without Com
pass in three Days, and had no Sustenance for himself and two Blacks
but a
little raw Flesh; for which signal Service William
the Command of a Man of War. The Canoe
hangs up inGreenwich
HospitalFrancis Drake
surrounded the World;
a little Creek near
Indian Cock-spurs, or Gave-locks of Steel, that for the larger Cock is
four Inches long, in a Cane
Case above half a Foot round, with
dian
Indian Cards, with very odd Characters; they are very
small, and clear black
on the Out-side.Astronomical Geographical, Ar;
moricalJugling Cards,Popish Plot.
taken from one of
the Mohawks at An.
Jo. .
Cookson Lond
in
the Haft; upon the Blade is etched,
Tire
man Wilkinson Ebor.
Spanish Pen-Knife, the Blade which is near an
Inch and half broad, turns (as the former) into the Haft, which is
Iron. Don. Chr. WilkinsonArmle.
Work.William Death's Head cut in
Wood.Ivory Chair Cup both so small
that
several Dozens of them were included in a Cup made of an hollow
ed Nutmeg. Baskets curiously engraved, each made of a Cherry-stone. Don. D.
short of that in the Cabinet; and that which Will. Oliver
Emperors, Kings, Cardinals, &c. that cost 300 Pounds
was lately at
Chancery.
(Phil. Trans. N° 285
Cornelian Signets, see the
cient and small
be the old Cypher for
is S or C: But
when I had the Honour (in Company of the Learned GaleSpanheim,
basador from the PrussiaWilliam,
that x is very often used for S, not only upon some ancient Coins,
but Marbles.
with the Cross above and wounded Head and
Nails below, the whole
surrounded with Rays of Glory. But this seems rather designed to
make Wafers for the Eucharist, or perhaps for the Impression upon
certain Books.MargaretSaunca Margaretta. It was
an early Custom among the Christians to
have the Names and Pictures
of their Tutelar Saints cut upon their Signets.Gray-Friars at Ardington Nunnery
inscribed S. Communitatis:
Frm: minor Bedfordi. (Don. D.
Merc. Leod.)
her SonSigillum, as in
the former) Helisadis porisse de Tuba. This, and the former are
Oval, what follows are Circular.Gabriel,
Maria Gracia plena, Dominus
SaviourVirgo Pudica Pia, nostri miserere Maria.
These three were sold
amongst old Metal, but preserved for me by Sam. SmithTalbot upon a Wreath under a
Viscount's.
but more ancient, hath Z between two Crosses, inscribed, Gurdon de Pontfrac: Sent me by the LascelsSeal Ring found atKirkstal-Abbey
cient; it hath a
Demi-Lion upon a Tower. Don. D.
derm. Leod.
This reminds me of another Branch of the Curiosities that I be
gun to collect of late
Years, viz. Original Letters, and other
Matters of the proper
Hand Writing of Persons of all Ranks, emi
nent in their Generations. It begins with the
Kings of England, and
contains the Signs Manual of Hen. 5Hen. 6Edw.
4Rich. 3Hen. 7Henry the 8thKatharine Par
ral,Edw. the 6th's
Writing,Elizabeth
writ:ElizabethEvre, War
den of the middle
MarshesMary Queen of Yorkeshire;James the 6th
of Eng;
land Elizabeth Queen of BohemiaCharles the Ist's Commeatus for Sir John Burrough,
Garter:Charles II Edinburgh);
his Restoration: His Westminster-
AbbeyEdw. 5
then discovered at the Tower., James Duke of Yorke,
the
same when King of England; William-Henry Prince of Will. 3 Mary 2
long preserve; George, Duke of
to the Bishop of Sarum.
of Henry the Great France,
when King of Lovis 13
to CharlesGreat Britain:Condé
from the Camp before Lewis 14a mon frere le
Duc de York; the whole Letter writ by the King's own Hand; Marie Terese,
Queen of Christian 5 Fred.
Prince
Henry Amelie Princess Orange
(Grand-Father and Grand-
Mother to Will Elizabeth Queen of Bohemia
the John Chamberlayne
Esq Jean Gullieaum Electeur Palatine Anna Electrice PalatinaRobert Nelson Esq
Bishop of Meaux's noted
man. Le
Prince Seneschal de Ligne, to Andr. Fountaine
the King of Bantam's Ch. 2Hamel Cardanash, Ambassador
from the Emperor of Arabick.)
rest follow Alphabetically.
andWilliam
, and 4 ofMary
Anne
LewisXIV
the Emperors
JamesII
ditto of
William
Anne
-
I. and a Letter from hisGeorge
late Royal Highness
Prince ofFrederick
Whalesto Queen
Caroline
Orange (Grandfather to
phia, and other foreign Princes
P.
Asiae Pro
Cos.
Christianam fidem
amplectitur
Pauli praedicatione.
The woman who
was showing us round assured us that the Le vray Portrait du Cerf dans le
P.
Asiae Pro
Cos.
Christianam fidem
amplectitur
Pauli praedicatione.
The woman who
was showing us round assured us that the Le vray Portrait du Cerf dans le
On the morning of