Mycologist Profiles

The period from around the middle of the 18th century until the end of the Victorian era was the heyday of the naturalist-clergyman. Guaranteed a stable, if modest, income, and with more leisure time than most, clergymen were well-positioned to take advantage of the fact that their literacy put them into an elite stratum of society and that their knowledge of Latin gave them access to all the latest science of their time. Many of them studied birds, butterflies, beetles and fossils and made collections which would be of great value to the professional scientists who came later, but John Lightfoot's major passions were for botany (which in those days invariably included the "cryptogamic vegetables"; ferns, algae, mosses, lichens and fungi) and conchology (the study of sea-shells). Born at Newent in Gloucestershire, his early life appears to have been uneventful and typical of the genteel classes of the time. He graduated at Oxford in 1760, but did not attain his Masters until years later, however it was not primarily as an academic that he would excel, but as a meticulous organiser, researcher and recorder of information which was usually provided by his contemporaries. He was also extremely well-connected from his Oxford days, and his appointment as chaplain to Margaret Bentinck, Duchess of Portland enhanced his social circle still further. No doubt it was his enthusiasm for categorization that led to the Duchess making him curator of her renowned "Cabinet of Curiosities" including the famous ancient vase which would later bear her family's titular name. By the end of the 1760's Lightfoot was close friends with Joseph Banks, probably the most celebrated botanist of his day, and may well have introduced him to Daniel Solander, who had studied in his native Sweden under Carl von Linne (Linnaeus), and was by this time in England spreading the word about the Linnaean system of classification. I wonder how Lightfoot must have been feeling when his two best mates sailed off with James Cook on a voyage that would lead to Botany Bay, Solander Point and botanical immortality!

Among his other friends Lightfoot could boast William Hudson, James Dickson, James Edward Smith, Gilbert White, John Sibthorpe and the great Halifax mycologist James Bolton, whose first book was bankrolled by none other than the Duchess of Portland. We might speculate that our Johnny had something to do with that. All of these men resolutely accepted the Linnaean system and together with Banks and Solander, led by Smith, they were among the co-founders of the Linnaean Society in 1788. It was another of his friends, however, who would take John Lightfoot on a trip that would lead to the publication of his his best-known work "Flora Scotica" in 1777, and later to his greatest achievement, inclusion in this Hall of Fame. Thomas Pennant was born into Welsh landed gentry and wasn't short of a bob or two. Commendably, rather than squandering his wealth and considerable leisure time, he turned himself into a zoologist and antiquarian of note, with the publication of many works that would lead to his election into the Royal Society as a fellow in 1767. Dissatisfied by a previous trip to Scotland in 1769, he resolved to undertake another expedition in 1772 and invited Lightfoot to come along as botanist to nullify his own shortcomings in that field. This time, with our hero's help, the entire enterprise was much more competently organised, with the Rev. John Stuart of Killin engaged as a translator and expert in matters Gaelic and a great swathe of pamphlets sent out in advance advertising the trip and seeking offers of hospitality and access to extant collections and papers.

The expedition entered Scotland around Annandale and proceeded north to the borders of Sutherland via Langholm, Edinburgh, and Blair Atholl before sailing to many of the Inner Hebrides (at which point Banks and Solander briefly joined in the fun) then returning to mainland Argyll and traversing the country to "the Mearns" (Kincardineshire) via Glen Lyon before finally returning to England via Belmont (near Meigle, Perthshire), Edinburgh and Kelso. In all the trip took five months; when Flora Scotica was published five years later it contained references to many hundreds of species of plants and "cryptogamia" and although Lightfoot had already been a student of botany for sixteen years at the time of the trip it would beggar belief that he could have amassed such a comprehensive list single-handedly. Lightfoot was quick to acknowledge this, citing the assistance of Dr. Hope, professor of Botany at Edinburgh, the Rev. Dr. Burgess of Kirkmichael, Dumfriesshire and Dr. Parsons, Oxford, (who had previously studied botany at Edinburgh) for reference to their copious notes and observations and access to their well-stocked herbaria. Notwithstanding this, there is no doubt that all of the early records of these contributors would have been lost were it not for John Lightfoot, and the list of 73 species of fungi included in volume 2 of his book was by far the greatest contribution to Scottish mycology until Hopkirk published his Flora Glottiana some 36 years later.

Lightfoot's 73 species were divided into ten genera of which one, Tremella, was ascribed to the algae. While his classification might be a bit wonky by today's understanding, most of the species he recorded can be traced to modern taxa. Among these we have the first British record for Chanterelle (Belmont Castle, Meigle, Perthshire (NO2843) September 1772) as well as three separate records for "Esculent Morels". Who would have imagined that the first British record for the Summer Truffle (Tuber aestivum) would come, not from the chalky downs of the Home Counties but from the lonely wilderness of Glen Lyon, in the grounds of Meggernie Castle at NN5546 (these were found by a Mr. Menzies, which gives a lovely link into one of Scotland's most famous ghost legends)!

After his Scottish adventure, Lightfoot made subsequent botanical trips in 1773 and 1774 to Wales and South-West England respectively, and in 1786 he published "An Account of Some Minute British Shells, Either not Duly Observed or Totally Unnoticed by Authors". In spite of the catchy title of this tome it is for his magnificent compilation work in Flora Scotica that Lightfoot will be remembered. The surviving part of his personal herbarium is preserved today at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.