MUIRHEAD'S MYSTERIES: Giant Pike and a Weird Whale

Richard Muirhead is an old friend of the CFZ. I have been friends with him for 40 years now, since we were kids together in Hong Kong. He is undoubtedly one of the two best researchers I have ever met; he and Nigel Wright both have what Charlie Fort would have no doubt called a wild talent; a talent for going into a library, unearthing a stack of old newspapers, and coming back with some hitherto overlooked gem of arcane knowledge. Twice a week he wanders into the Macclesfield Public Library and comes out with enough material for a blog post..


For some reason the early years of the Macclesfield Courier were full of stories of somewhat unusual behaviour by aquatic creatures both inland and on the open waters within and around the British Isles. For example:

“A pike was lately caught in Windemere Lake of 30lbs weight: but a larger was once caught in the following extraordinary manner:- A calf belonging to a gentleman at Hawkshead was heard to make an uncommon noise by the side of the river,and on going up to it,there was a large pike seen hanging from its nostrils,which it is supposed the fish had seized while the calf was drinking. The calf had dragged it about fifty yards from the river,and the pike was killed with a stone. It weighed 45lb". Macclesfield Courier July 24th 1813.p.2

“A whale,nearly 30ft in length, was lately brought ashore in the neighbourhood of Irvine,in Scotland.” Macc.Courier August 7th 1813.p.2