ABSTRACT
As a pedestrian traveller, Lee developed a close relationship with the weather during his walking tour. Until winter had fully set in, Lee only described weather conditions on occasion – for example, a particularly hot day – but from 15 November 1806 he kept a daily weather log, noting the preceding day’s conditions at the beginning of each entry. While not sufficiently methodical or prolonged to contribute materially to our understanding of weather patterns in the British Isles in 1806-7, his record provides a level of daily detail that may usefully supplement such generalized records as William Wilde’s long-term report on the Irish climate.1 Wilde informs us that the mean temperature in Ireland in 1806 was 49.2˚F (9.4˚C) and 47.9˚F (8.8˚C) in 1807. Lee described the temperature as ‘cold’ or ‘freezing’ on 27 separate days during his Irish tour, 18 of which occurred between November and February. Local observations recorded in Lee’s diaries corroborate Wilde’s record that there were 208 rainy days in 1806: ‘The People in Limerick say they never knew such a wet winter as this has been for many years indeed. Although this season is generally wet yet this is incomparable.’2 On several days in December 1806, the quantity of rain forced Lee to remain indoors all day, or allowed him to venture out-of-doors for only a short time (e.g. 1 December, 16 December). Heavy rains had their advantages, however, in showing the lakes and waterfalls of Kerry at their best.3 Lee’s interest in weather and climate would endure beyond his pedestrian tour, with the British Meteorological Society being founded at Hartwell House in 1850.
