The Middleton Accounts of 1526: #45

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was dated 19th August. It was described as a reward to an otter hunter. The amount was 20 pence, which was the equivalent of about £36.77 today.

In the previous year, there was also a payment to an otter hunter (Middleton Accounts of 1525 #5). However, there is a significant difference between the two entries and that is due to the date. The previous post was dated within the otter hunting season, which was from the 22nd February to Midsummer’s Day, and the hunting was stated to have taken place on the specific commandment of Sir Henry. This entry is outside of the hunting season and it is much less than his previous payment. The reason for the payment is therefore uncertain and the only theory at present is that maybe Sir Henry had a specific urgent otter pest problem at Middleton.

In Tudor times, otters were considered vermin and were widely despised. They were considered as vermin due to their diet, in particular their penchant for raiding fishponds, which competed directly with humans. This was the primary reason that they were hunted.

Not long after this entry in the accounts, the competition for the same food resources, following a series of severe crop failures, population growth and widespread food shortages, led to the Preservation of Grain Act 1532 and the subsequent broader Vermin Laws, which effectively began a state-sanctioned war on nature. In order to preserve the nation’s food supplies, these laws together legally permitted bounties at any time for the killing of certain specified target species, namely: crows; choughs; rooks; ravens; magpies; jays; buzzards; kites; ospreys; herons; cormorants; shags; kingfishers; bullfinches; green woodpeckers; starlings; sparrows; all owls; foxes; wild cats; badgers; polecats; weasels; stoats; pine martens; otters; hedgehogs; moles; water voles; mice; and rats. Some of these were mistakenly added to the list because of a lack of knowledge about nature, which meant that it was not realised that some of the species were not competing with humans for food.

Staffordshire Wildlife Mammal Society constructing an otter holt at Middleton Hall, 2004. Photograph taken by Margaret Moore.

Otter hunting was unlike hunting for sport or prestige. The hunters of them were highly specialised. This is because otters were elusive, nocturnal and rarely stayed in one place for long. The huntsmen would have to track otters through wetlands and rivers and they used specially trained water-receptive dogs or tracking hounds to find the otter’s den.

Further Reading: W. H. Stevenson, Report on the Manuscripts of Lord Middleton, Historical Manuscripts Commission, 1911. p.384.