Wanting

I have been in Aberdeen all day today at a meeting of the North East Biological Records Centre (NESBREC) where I gave a talk on the biology of my namesake, Talpa, the European mole. 


Older English names for the Mole include moldwarp, want and taupe. Moldwarp is Anglo-Saxon in origin, molde meaning soil and weorpan to throw or turn up.

In past times many countryfolk supplemented their income by trapping moles for sale to furriers who turned them in breeches, waistcoats and coats. I am fond of a old epitaph on the grave of a Want catcher somewhere in the south of England.

He wanted all his life
and yet by Wanting
His wants were all supplied, 
and when he Wanted more
He wanted less
and when he Wanted least he died!


I was late home and had little opportunity for photography. So, here are some quickly gathered flowering currant flowers for the grave of the Want catcher.