BYGONE BIRDING (4) SLAUGHTER OF THE SEABIRDS ON THE YORKSHIRE COAST

Blasted from the cliffs - anything with wings was shot at

The following paragraph is extracted from The Guardian of November 18, 1858 

 “On a strip of coast eighteen miles long near Flamborough Head, 107,260 seabirds were destroyed by pleasure parties in four months.


"Of these, 2,000 were killed for their feathers to adorn women's hats, and 79,500 young birds died of starvation in nests. 


"Commander Knocker (of Bridlington Coastguard), there stationed, who reports these facts, saw two boats loaded above the gunwales with dead birds.

Kittiwake - killed both for sport and for millinery

"One party of eight guns killed 1,100 birds in a single week.”


Note: Public outrage at the slaughter of seabirds intensified such that, in 1869, it was outlawed, at least during the breeding season. This was largely through the detemination of a Bridlington clergyman. His forthright initiative is chronicled in a new e-book, Saving Britain's Seabirds : The Campaign to End Bird Murder on the UK Coastline (price £1 via Amazon/Kindle).

Shooting took place from land as well as vessel