SHOVEL, Sir Cloudesley (c. 1650-1707), English admiral, was according to some accounts a native of Yorkshire, but the most commonly accepted statement is that he was born of poor parents about 1650 in Clay, a fishing-village of Norfolk, where he was apprenticed to a shoemaker. Having run away to sea, he became cabin-boy on board a ship commanded by Sir Christopher Mynns. He set himself to study navigation, and, owing to his able seamanship and brave and open-hearted disposition, became a general favourite and obtained quick promotion. In 1674 he served as lieutenant under Sir John Narborough in the Mediterranean, where he burned four men-of-war under the castles and walls of Tripoli, belonging to the pirates of that place. He was present as captain of the “Edgar” at the first fight at Bantry Bay, and shortly afterwards was knighted. In 1690 he convoyed William III. across St George’s Channel to Ireland; the same year he was made rear-admiral of the blue, and was present at the battle of Beachy Head on 10th July. In 1692 he was appointed rear-admiral of the red, and joined Admiral Russell, under whom he greatly distinguished himself at La Hogue, having a principal share in burning twenty of the enemy’s men-of-war. Not long after, when Admiral Russell was dismissed from the service, Shovel was put in joint command of the fleet with Admiral Killigrew and Sir Ralph Delaval. In 1702 he was sent to bring home the spoils of the French and Spanish fleets from Vigo, after their capture by Sir George Rooke, and in 1704 he served under Sir George Rooke in the Mediterranean. In January 1705 he was named rear-admiral of England, and shortly afterwards commander-in-chief of the British fleets. He co-operated in the capture of Barcelona along with the earl of Peterborough in ...

SHOVELER, formerly spelt Shovelar, and more anciently Shovelard, a word by which used to be meant the bird now almost invariably called Spoonbill (q.v.), but in the latter half of the 16th century transferred to one hitherto generally, and in these days locally, known as the Spoon-billed Duck—the Anas clypeata of Linnaeus and Spatula or Rhynchaspis clypeata of modern writers. All these names refer to the shape of the bird’s bill, which, combined with the remarkably long lamellae (not wholly incomparable with the “whalebone” of the toothless Cetaceans) that beset both maxilla and mandible, has been thought sufficient to remove the species from the Linnaean genus Anas. Except for the extraordinary formation of this feature, which carries with it a clumsy look, the male Shoveler would pass for one of the most beautiful of this generally beautiful group of birds. As it is, for bright and variegated colouring, there are few of his kindred to whom he is inferior. His golden eye, his dark green head, surmounting a throat of pure white and succeeded by a breast and flanks of rich bay, are conspicuous; while his deep brown back, white scapulars, lesser wing-coverts (often miscalled shoulders) of a glaucous blue, and glossy green speculum bordered with white present a wonderful contrast of the richest tints, heightened again by his bright orange feet. On the other hand, the female, excepting the blue wing-coverts she has in common with her mate, is habited very like the ordinary Wild-Duck, A. boscas (see vol. vii. p. 505). The Shoveler is not an abundant species, and in Great Britain its distribution is local; but its numbers have remarkably increased since the passing of the WildFowl Protection Act in 1876, so that in certain districts it has regained its old position as ...