A long, straight dry-stone wall stretches across a moorland landscape, with a Birch wood and a few Scots Pines in the background. The wall is constructed with large, dressed stones, but abruptly changes to smaller, coarser stones for a section in the foreground. The larger stones are covered in lichen, while the smaller stones are bare. The sky is blue with high cirrus clouds.

William Mudd: Lichens, Legacy, and a Whiff of Whisky

There I was, trudging along the escarpment of Great Ayton Moor this morning, mulling over what I might post about today, when a patched-up bit of dry-stone wall caught my eye. Naturally, my thoughts turned to how many times one can repair a wall before it ceases to be the original. Yes, I am aware this is not precisely “The Ship of Theseus”—that classic conundrum about whether an object remains the same after all its parts have been replaced—but my mind does have a habit of wandering off on tangents.

What made this particular repair stand out was the chaotic jumble of stones compared to the more orderly courses of the rest of the wall, not to mention the glaring difference in lichen coverage. Lichenologists tell us crustose lichens grow at a pace so slow it is practically geological. The wider the spread, the older the lichen, which sort of gives the relative date for the repair.

Lichens, those bizarre alliances of algae and fungi, are rather omnipresent on the moors, and I find them oddly fascinating. However, when it comes to identifying them, I am utterly clueless.

One man who would have had no such trouble was William Mudd (1829–1879). Born in Bedale, he arrived in Great Ayton as a young gardener at Cleveland Lodge, and later began attending botanical classes at the North of England Agricultural School in the village. There, Mudd collected and documented natural specimens with a kind of fervour only the Victorians could muster. Mudd’s true obsession was lichens, and he made a name for himself in the field. In fact, some consider him the “Father of British Lichenology.” High praise, indeed, for a man poking at crusty rocks.

His first publication on lichens in Cleveland appeared in 1854, and his explorations extended to places like Teesdale, where he noted how rock types influenced lichen forms. Perhaps he even connected the dots between the whin sill at High Force and the Cleveland Dyke at Ayton.

Mudd’s magnum opus, the Manual of British Lichens, was published in 1861. By 1864, his reputation earned him a post as Curator of Cambridge University Botanic Garden. Unfortunately, his work on lichens dwindled due to failing eyesight, likely brought on by an excessive love of microscopy. His transition to Cambridge life was less than smooth. Being of humble origins and limited formal education, he was not exactly welcomed with open arms. One unimpressed student described him as “an illiterate Scotchman who smoked very strong tobacco and smelt strongly of whisky.”1Great Ayton History Society. “Important Aytonians, William Mudd (1829-1879), The Father of British Lichenology.” http://greatayton.wdfiles.com/local–files/family-histories/William-Mudd.pdf A touching eulogy, no doubt.


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One response to “William Mudd: Lichens, Legacy, and a Whiff of Whisky”

  1. Robert Lillie avatar
    Robert Lillie

    Interesting when I was a lad like yourself many moons ago the local GP was Dr Mudd and Dr Waldey in Great Ayton late 50s early 60s

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