Tragedy in The Highlands: the mysterious death of a pioneering female birdwatcher

ANNIE Meinertzthagen was a pioneering Scottish ornithologist who monitored the birds around her home in Swordale, near Inverness.

She had papers published in specialist journals and was the first to discover that at least some of the redshank overwintering on the banks of Cromarty Firth were of the Icelandic race.

In an era when female birdwatchers were few and far between, Annie also researched the moulting patterns of wildfowl.

A mother-of-three, her life was cruelly cut short in 1928 in a shooting incident witnessed only by one other person, her husband, Richard, also an ornithologist. She was only 39.

What happened? The husband maintained she accidentally shot herself in the head while examining the jammed mechanism of a revolver he had been using for target practice.

But there was no subsequent investigation - in effect, there was a cover-up. Why?

Richard Meinertzhagen hardly ever mentioned Annie again. He erased her memory from his life.

Following the passage of almost 100 years, it is now almost impossible to believe that the full facts might yet emerge.

But there is no time limit on the truth. Is it too late for the police and other authorities to open an inquiry?

Considering her contributions both to British ornithology and to community life in Swordale and Evanton, it is a matter of regret that the memory of Annie Meinertzhagen (1889-1928) no longer seems to be cherished. 

As the photo shows, the footpath to her grave is now almost impassable (except by tractor). Her grave is neglected. 

* Tragedy at Swordale is available (price £2) as a kindle e-book via Amazon.

  • Hi-

    Colonel Meinertzagen has an .... interesting reputation...

    S

    For advice about Birding, Identification,field guides,  binoculars, scopes, tripods,  etc - put 'Birding Tips'   into the search box

  • After the death of Annie, Colonel Meinertzhagen never remarried.

    Perhaps revealingly, he later wrote:

    "It is true that, as a boy, I always proclaimed that I would never get married.

    "That childish resolution was not bred from hatred of women but from a desire to retain personal freedom.

    "I was perhaps in agreement with the Arabs who say marriage is like a beleaguered city: those that are without would enter, and those that are within would go forth."

    What of his attitude to women?

    He also wrote: "My mother had the idea I was a woman-hater.

    "It all started with a harmless remark I made in 1891 when my mother suggested that I should accompany her to view some cows in a field.

    "For some reason I did not wish to go and, in order to excuse myself, I said: ‘The trouble with your cows is that they are all women.’

    "The last thing I wished to insinuate was that women are cows, but the remark stuck and was often produced against me as evidence of misogyny."

    No wonder, he had an 'interesting' reputation.
  • Annie had a track record of doing good dating back at least to the 1914-18 war when she collected moss to be sent out to the trenches to be used as bandage substitute.

    Why was there no official inquiry into her death? The constabulary in that part of Scotland must have been either asleep on the job, lazy or ‘persuaded’ not to pursue any investigation.

    With tongues doubtless wagging, Meinertzhagen himself booked into a health spa in a remote part of Wales until the dust had started to settle.

    People will draw their own conclusions about why he was never (at least not in a formal setting) invited to answer questions about the circumstances of the tragedy, and why he never spoke thereafter about Annie.

    The injustice of it all is distressing.
  • Hi-

    note this-

    www.fusiliermuseumlondon.org/art24873

    S

    ps- I was shown one of his specimens at Tring by a visiting ornithologist who believed it had interesting stitching and stuffing and feather wear:

    For advice about Birding, Identification,field guides,  binoculars, scopes, tripods,  etc - put 'Birding Tips'   into the search box

  • Thanks.

    The link is very interesting, though I have never heard of the Royal Society of Ornithologists. Surely some mistake?

    Also, I don't think Garfield is definitely authoritative on the trajectory of the bullet that killed Annie,

    One way and another, Meinertzhagen seems to have killed an inordinate number of individuals who crossed his path.

    I suspect that some people must have been very afraid if they found themselves in his company.

    However, he was an absolutely brilliant ornithologist - as doubtless would Annie have been if she had not died so tragically.