William the Conqueror granted the lordship of Riddesdale in Northumberland to Robert de Umfraville on condition that he defend that land from enemies and wolves. The Norman kings (reigning 1066–1154) employed servants as wolf hunters and many held lands granted on condition that they fulfilled this duty. Officially, this hunting season would end on 25 March thus it encompassed the cubbing season when wolves were at their most vulnerable, and their fur was of greater quality. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that the month of January was known as “Wolf monath”, as this was the first full month of wolf hunting by the nobility. The monk Galfrid, whilst writing about the miracles of St Cuthbert seven centuries earlier, observed that wolves were so numerous in Northumbria, that it was virtually impossible for even the richest flock-masters to protect their sheep, despite employing many men for the job. At the time, several criminals, rather than being put to death, would be ordered to provide a certain number of wolf tongues annually. This imposition was maintained until the Norman conquest of England. Wolves at that time were especially numerous in the districts bordering Wales, which were heavily forested. It is recorded that in AD 950 King Athelstan imposed an annual tribute of 300 wolf skins on Welsh king Hywel Dda, while William of Malmesbury states that Athelstan requested gold and silver and that it was his nephew Edgar the Peaceful who gave up that fine and instead demanded a tribute of wolf skins on King Constantine of Wales. Humphrey Head, a limestone outcrop at the mouth of the Kent estuary where, allegedly, the last English wolf was killed in the 14th century.
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