The Grouse Massacre

Lord Walsingham shot 1,070 grouse on 30th August, 1888 – a number that remains a world record, and, one feels, is unlikely to ever be bettered.

To achieve this astonishing figure Walsingham started shooting at 5:12 AM and kept going until just before 7:00 PM. And just for good measure he shot another 14 birds on his walk home. At this pace, he would have been shooting one grouse every 13 seconds.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly ask whether driven shoots are fundamentally unsporting; discuss the ethics of shooting at hot air balloons; and explain the connection between shooting and the establishment of the Guinness Book of World Records…  

Further Reading:

• ‘Lord Walsingham Shot 1,070 Grouse (1888)’ (Today in Conservation, 2018): https://todayinconservation.com/2018/07/august-30-lord-walsingham-shot-1070-grouse-1888/ 
• ‘Grouse shooting: 12 facts about The Glorious 12th ’ (The Telegraph, 2018): https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/grouse-shooting-12-facts-about-the-glorious-12th/ 
• ‘Grouse shooting season begins on the “Glorious Twelfth”’ (Daily Mail; 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bJw2kK5lZw 

#UK #1800s #Nature

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023.

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