Charles Swainson | |
---|---|
Born | 1840 Northamptonshire, England |
Died | 1913 (aged 71–72) |
Education | B.A, M.A |
Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford University |
Spouse | Isabel Augusta Gossip |
Charles Swainson (1840–1913) M.A. was an English cleric and naturalist. He was rector of High Hurst Wood, Sussex, from 1872 to 1874,[1] from where he published his Handbook of Weather Folk-Lore[2] which also included folklore and mythology relating to elements of nature and a short chapter on birds.
As Rector of St Luke's, Old Charlton, Kent, from 1874 to 1908,[1] he published his best-known and most influential work, Provincial Names and Folk-Lore of British Birds,[3][4] which collected the vernacular and regional names of British birds together with an array of British and European folklore related to birds. The 1885 edition (Provincial Names and Folk-Lore...) was published within the Dialect Society's blue cover papers, and the 1886 edition (The Folk-Lore and Provincial Names...), with the title slightly changed for emphasis, was published in the Folk-Lore Society's brown cloth covers.[1]
Charles Swainson has been confused with his relative William John Swainson, a zoologist and ornithologist after whom several species of birds were named (e.g. Swainson's thrush), and with Charles Anthony Swainson, a theologian.