George Montagu (1753–1815): travels in Scotland and his Scottish bird specimens

Abstract

George Montagu (1753–1815) is remembered particularly for his Ornithological dictionary (1802), Testacea Britannica (1803) and his Supplement to the Ornithological dictionary (1813), the works which helped establish his reputation as an astute and competent naturalist. His studies were mainly carried out in southern England, particularly in Wiltshire and Devon, but he travelled widely in Britain and Ireland during his military career. Montagu himself recorded that he had been at Dumbarton, Inverness, Loch Lomond and Mull, but his activities in Scotland in the early 1770s and early 1780s are otherwise not well recorded, there being no dates attached to his observations or specimens. An examination of the 15th Regiment of Foot’s muster rolls has shed some light upon his movements and helps clarify certain aspects of his life, including his elopement. Montagu’s Scottish bird specimens, whether he shot them himself or acquired them from other sources, are of special significance as they are amongst the oldest held in the Natural History Museum at Tring.