The Life and Work of A. R. Randell - A Fenland Molecatcher

Description

A study which records the molecatching techniques and skills of Arthur Randell, and also something of his life history and traditional beliefs. The first three chapters comprise a biography of the man, from his upbringing in the village of Wiggenhall St. Mary Magdalen in Norfolk, molecatching with his father, work for the Great Eastern Railway through to a position of Pest Controller on the Co-Operative Society's estate at Coldham Hall. The fourth chapter describes the mole - its physical appearance, habits, burrowing system and breeding habits. The fifth chapter discusses the role of the mole in folk medicine, and the sixth chapter lists a number of country cures. The seventh chapter describes the art of molecatching, and includes sections on training to become a molecatcher, the qualities of a good molecatcher, molecatching rounds, the location of mole runs, laying a trap (with photographs and diagrams of types of trap), poison baiting, other methods of control, the mole-skin industry and hazards of the job. The final chapter looks briefly at other enemies of the mole. Ms. transcripts of three tape-recorded interviews with Arthur Randell, made in August 1979, are included at the end of the study.

Metadata

Identifier vxnmlfp8
IRN 410113
Class Mark LAVC/SRP/2/077
Level File
Type of Record Archives - ISAD(G)
Peristent Link http://prototype1.library.leeds.ac.uk/vxnmlfp8
Collection(s) Leeds Archive of Vernacular Culture
Category Archive
Parent Record Undergraduate Dissertations
Creator(s) Lyons, Margaret
Date 1980
Size and Medium 68 unbound typed leaves; 6 b/w, 2 colour photographs.

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