Essays & articles Archives - Ann Lingard https://annlingard.co.uk/category/essays-articles/ writer, author, essayist, UK Tue, 14 Jul 2026 15:10:25 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.3 The King of the Foorins: the Last of the Great Auks https://annlingard.co.uk/2026/07/13/the-king-of-the-foorins-the-last-of-the-great-auks/ Mon, 13 Jul 2026 09:41:10 +0000 https://annlingard.co.uk/?p=1781 In Patrick O’Brian’s novel The Surgeon’s Mate, set in the early 19th century, Dr Stephen Maturin – naval physician, secret agent and ever-curious naturalist – has, throughout his life, wanted to see a garefowl or great auk or garefowl. A sailor tells him about killing these ‘penguins’ in the Grand Banks, Newfoundland, where they breed [...]

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