Highlands and Islands
The Highlands and Islands is an area of Scotland broadly covering the Scottish Highlands, plus Orkney, Shetland and Outer Hebrides (Western Isles).
The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act of 1886 ...
of
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
and in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
, surviving longest in the
Shetland Isles
Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom.
The islands lie about to the ...
"Grice" is a Scots and northern English dialect word originally meaning "young pig" (compare the Scandinavian ''gris'', meaning "pig").
History
Accounts from the early 19th century suggest the grice was an aggressive animal with small
tusk
Tusks are elongated, continuously growing front teeth that protrude well beyond the mouth of certain mammal species. They are most commonly canine teeth, as with pigs and walruses, or, in the case of elephants, elongated incisors. Tusks share c ...
s, an arched back, and a coat of stiff, dark bristles over a wiry, woollen fleece. Highland examples were described as "a small, thin-formed animal, with bristles standing up from nose to tail...". Like other livestock in these areas, the grice was small and hardy, able to survive the harsh environmental conditions. Highland grice foraged for berries on
moorland
Moorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and montane grasslands and shrublands biomes, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils. Moorland, nowadays, generally ...
.
Most Shetland crofts would have at least one grice kept on grazing lands, but they would often roam across adjacent farmland, rooting up crops and occasionally killing and eating newborn lambs. According to geologist Samuel Hibbert, who wrote an account of the islands in 1822, although the grice was "small and scrawny", its meat made "excellent hams" when cured. Islanders also made footballs from grice bladder, and even windowpanes from their intestines, by stretching the membrane over a wooden frame until it was sufficiently thin to allow light to pass through. The animal's bristles were used as thread for sewing leather and for making ropes. However, useful as the animals no doubt were, neighbours were constantly grumbling about the behaviour of their neighbour's grice, and the courts were empowered to confiscate particularly troublesome ones, and to impose "hefty fines" on their owners.
In the 19th century, landowners discouraged the keeping of these swine (one agricultural writer commented, "it is voracious in the extreme, and excessively difficult to confine in pasture or to fatten; it is also destructive and mischievous, and therefore ought gradually to be extirpated"). This, combined with the increasing import of other breeds from the Scottish mainland, resulted in a dwindling grice population, and sometime between the middle of the 19th century and the 1930s the breed was extinct. The legacy of grice remains, however. The wild bulb
spring squill
''Scilla verna'', commonly known as spring squill, is a flowering plant native to Western Europe. It belongs to the squill genus ''Scilla''. Its star-like blue flowers are produced during the spring.
It is a small plant, usually reaching 5-15 ce ...
is known locally as "grice's onions" because it was a favourite food of the swine.
In 2006, curators at the Shetland Museum and Archives commissioned a
taxidermist
Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body via mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proce ...
to recreate a grice from the stuffed body of an immature
wild boar
The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...
. As no one alive had seen a grice, the accuracy of the model relied on descriptions in "published sources ... investigated artefact and archaeological findings". The model grice went on public display in spring 2007.
In 2020 a skull was discovered in Nesting that may be the first recorded full grice skull specimen. Some doubt has been cast over the skull's origin due to the shorter than expected length of the snout, however verification is in progress.
See also
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Scottish pork taboo The Scottish pork taboo is a purported historical taboo against the consumption of pork amongst the Scottish people
The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they eme ...
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Shetland animal breeds
The Shetland Islands of Scotland have long had their own distinct animal breeds, due to the remoteness of the archipelago. Below is a list of Shetland's domesticated animals.
Shetland Pony
The Shetland Pony is a very small, robust breed of ...
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Shetland pony
The Shetland pony is a Scottish breed of pony originating in the Shetland Isles in the north of Scotland. It may stand up to at the withers. It has a heavy coat and short legs, is strong for its size, and is used for riding, driving, and pa ...
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List of Scottish breeds
This is a list of domesticated animal breeds originating from Scotland. To be considered domesticated, a population of animals must have their behaviour, life cycle, or physiology systemically altered as a result of being under human control for m ...