What the heck is a lek?
Males great bustards perform spectacular courtship displays, gathering at a ‘lek’ or small display ground to try to impress the females.
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Horatio, our taxidermy lion, was killed in about 1800, far away from Devizes although we are not sure exactly where. He has been a part of Devizes’ story since the early 1920s and has been used as a display aid in a shop window, paraded through town for many carnivals and even used to raise money for two Spitfires in World War II.
Horatio was once thought to be a Cape Lion, a now extinct species that lived in the grassland plains of South Africa. However, after recent expert studies were conducted to test his genetics, Horatio’s species is presently undecided. We know that Horatio was shot and stuffed sometime around 1800 when big game trophy hunting was a popular sport for British colonials in Africa. Horatio was shot not long before the Cape Lion was completely eradicated, likely due to overhunting and habitat loss. Lions are still threatened by poaching today.
Around 120 years after his death (in about 1920), Horatio found himself being displayed in shop windows in Devizes to bring in customers and increase trade. He also spent some time in a public house and then in a shooting gallery. During the 1930s he was paraded in the Devizes Hospital Carnival, an annual celebration originally intended to raise money for the local cottage hospital and still running today. During the Second World War he was even wheeled around the town on a cart to raise money to build two Spitfires!
Wiltshire Museum purchased Horatio from the Devizes auctioneer, Henry Aldridge and Son in 1996 and he is now a popular museum highlight, featuring in the Wiltshire Museum Lecture Hall.
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Horatio is one of several taxidermy animals on display which can give insight into the study of animals during the Victorian period. Horatio was once thought to be a Cape Lion, which is now an extinct subspecies of lion. Having Horatio in the collection not only provides context into the extinction of animals but also of the human methods that have led to this.
Horatio has been a part of Devizes history for around 100 years and became a firm part of local traditions such as the Devizes Carnival (although he has long since retired from the parades). He also holds a place in Devizes’ strong history of trade, selling items in shop windows before he arrived in the Museum to delight visitors who spend time in our lecture hall. Whilst his origins are certainly not within Wessex, he has earned his spot in Wessex history.
Horatio may also tell the story of the hobbies of wealthy people in Wessex in the 1800s and their links to colonial Africa although we are not sure how Horatio found himself in Devizes 120 years after his death.
Males great bustards perform spectacular courtship displays, gathering at a ‘lek’ or small display ground to try to impress the females.
The great bustard has a dignified slow walk but tends to run when disturbed, rather than fly.
The hen-bird on display at The Salisbury Museum was one of the last great bustards to be eaten in the town!