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Post by Sìle on Feb 3, 2009 19:50:23 GMT -1
We kept the feathers and lucky rabbit feet. Is a rabbit's foot lucky? I always thought that it was Hare's Foot, which referred to one of the native clovers of Britain, aka Trifolium Arvense. A similar charm to the lucky four leaf clover of the Irish.
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Post by redraven on Feb 3, 2009 20:49:47 GMT -1
Is a rabbit's foot lucky? I always thought that it was Hare's Foot, which referred to one of the native clovers of Britain, aka Trifolium Arvense. A similar charm to the lucky four leaf clover of the Irish. IIRC, I think it was another "imported" American custom / superstition and specifically it had to be the left hind foot for it to be "lucky". RR
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Post by arth_frown on Feb 4, 2009 16:09:46 GMT -1
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Post by Lee on Feb 4, 2009 16:35:46 GMT -1
i would be dubious about both of those sources. neither provide references where they got thier info from.
numina? rabbits possessed by underground spirits?
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Post by arth_frown on Feb 4, 2009 18:16:36 GMT -1
i would be dubious about both of those sources. neither provide references where they got thier info from. i agree, could be a huge dullop of conjecture.
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Post by arth_frown on Feb 4, 2009 18:46:06 GMT -1
just done a bit of digging around all I can find is quote from Caesar saying it was taboo for the Celts to eat hare.
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Post by dreamguardian on Feb 4, 2009 18:50:51 GMT -1
Not sure about the hare either but it would appear certain birds weren't eaten until the romans settled here.
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Post by Tegernacus on Feb 4, 2009 20:14:25 GMT -1
yeah, it's an American Hoodoo custom. Nothing to do with the Celts (Boudica and the hare doesn't count)
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Post by Tegernacus on Feb 4, 2009 20:15:16 GMT -1
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Post by Sìle on Feb 5, 2009 1:11:46 GMT -1
yeah, it's an American Hoodoo custom. Nothing to do with the Celts (Boudica and the hare doesn't count) That's what I thought. I also thought that rabbits were imported by the Romans, so wondered how it could be referred to as a celtic custom.
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Post by Lee on Feb 5, 2009 11:44:18 GMT -1
they were imported by the romans, but if i recall, they didnt get established until they were introduced again by the normans. though i might be mixing that up a bit.
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Post by Tegernacus on Feb 5, 2009 12:14:22 GMT -1
I always thought it was a Norman thing. Snails came over with the Romans, definitely. (Now I know who to blame when my plants get eaten)
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Post by Blackbird on Feb 11, 2009 11:06:46 GMT -1
Yes - they've found evidence that the Romans brought at least a couple of bunnies over here, but it was the Normans who really went for it, introducing them properly as a species here (once they'd inevitably escaped from the warrens of the rich and noble!)
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Post by littleraven on Feb 19, 2009 13:57:40 GMT -1
Yep, the surname 'Warrener' originated with someone who looked after the rabbit warrens, it's akin to people with surnames like Fletcher, Smith, Bowyer etc.
But itwas def. the Normans who properly introduced the rabbit. I recently read somewhere that Hares actually came with the Romans but I havn't had the chance to reead up on that yet.
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Post by pwca on Feb 19, 2009 18:30:53 GMT -1
The native hare would be the mountain hare whose coat turns white in winter and whose very individual colourings seem to echo the patterns of the moon. It makes round scrapes/forms in the terrain in which to hide (could be suggestive of moon craters?) They are mostly active at night. Eyes open at birth they seldom close. Night and white, that’s the otherworld for you. Had a few thoughts…the sight of a fleeing hare leaping so high (up to eight feet), only to disappear suddenly under a blanket of snow may have left an inexperienced hunter wondering literally where on ‘earth’ it had gone. Above such an expanse of snow the moon’s face would reveal the creature still somersaulting overhead. As for taking refuge under a woman’s skirts, Brigid (Ffraid, or Melangell) for example..could the blanket of snow parallel the voluminous skirts, which would in some way explain the correlation between fire and water in relation to Brigid, at Imbolc (ymolchi?..or even immolation?..any relationships there?) The washing ‘oneself’…self-consumption.. with its stress on transformation (a strong theme of folk stories e.g. witch to hare) may have implications for the act of snow turning to meltwater with the prospect of the advancing year. ..artists, always looking for signs..now I’m going to see hares every time I close my eyes. www.arkive.org/mountain-hare/lepus-timidus/image-A14253.html
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2009 0:17:50 GMT -1
Masquerade was a ground-breaking book. Arguably the defining book of the genre of armchair treasure hunts. Written and richly illustrated by illustrator and craftsman Kit Williams and published in September 1979 by Jonathan Cape, it has itself spawned a number of articles and books on the Masquerade phenomenon. Masquerade tells the story of the Moon falling in love with the Sun, and how he calls on the help of a hare called Jack to deliver a fabulous jewel to his true love as a token of his affection. Hidden within the charming story is a master riddle, which when solved directs the reader to the exact location of a real 22 carat gold hare buried somewhere in the British Isles. www.treasureclub.net/publichunts/masquerade/index.html
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Post by littleraven on Feb 20, 2009 11:22:39 GMT -1
What a great site, cheers for that! The thing about the Hare that's been interesting me recently is that if it was introduced by the Romans how that relates to Boudicca.
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Post by arth_frown on Feb 20, 2009 12:32:27 GMT -1
What a great site, cheers for that! The thing about the Hare that's been interesting me recently is that if it was introduced by the Romans how that relates to Boudicca. Good point! I can't see there being many mountain hares in Norfolk. ;D
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Post by pwca on Feb 22, 2009 10:53:02 GMT -1
Experts continue to reassess the respective classification of mountain hare (Lepus timidus) Irish hare (Lepus timidus hibernicus) and arctic hare (Lepus arcticus) and who am I to argue. A description as ‘living link with Ice Age fauna of 10,000 years ago’ would suggest a formidable pedigree. Combined with an ability to live at coastal altitudes as well as the high peaks, and with mountain hares in both Scotland and Ireland displaying a preference for a diet of grasses, there surely exists the possibility, however slight, that Boudicca could have laid her hands on one when she needed one. Who wouldn’t favour a locally sourced augury?
Makes for a curious prospect...woman faces Roman legion while little hare confronts its own personal troupe of invaders.
So I’m championing the role (whether literal or symbolic) of the native hare here, even if the period of 'tenant' relationship with Rome meant that dinner, in the form of the brown hare, was given a momentary reprieve from the pot.
Caught a very brief glimpse from a recent Welsh programme, of an old church door/gate festooned with hundreds of rabbits' feet. Weathered and in differing states of decay, some missing all skin, the bones had remained intact and looked like a mass of tiny hands.
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