Country Matters by Arrowsmith: March Mouldywarp Magic

All year round, in Ciren, hares abound. They’re the brightly coloured sculptures seen on the Hare Trail round town, not those reputed to go mad in March. Brown hares used to be seen hanging head down outside game dealers, ready to be ‘jugged’. They’d be prepared in a variety of ways. Even cooked in a hay-box; a technique which could gain new popularity as it’s an off-grid method requiring neither gas nor electricity to ‘slow-cook’ after the food has been brought to boiling point, then nestled in an insulated container for a few hours.  

Wild hares ‘boxing’ in March are a rare sight nowadays.  They’re protected as an endangered species in Scotland, but not in England, where they can legally be shot as a pest. Their former habitat is shrinking due to changes in farming practices. They fall victim to foxes, to criminal ‘lamping’ for rabbits, to hare coursing, and possibly even to legendary feral panthers popularly rumoured to inhabit local woodlands. (Attempting to catch sight of a wild cat in the woods is more likely to result in spotting teddy bears picnics than huge stealthy felines.) Both Rabbit Haemorrhagic Virus and even Myxomatosis may have crossed species from rabbits to brown hares. Like rabbits, hares are immigrants having been brought to Britain by the Romans, then rapidly over-running the land. Now hares face a hostile environment.

Hares are seen as mysterious and other-worldly. Some superstitions brand them omens of evil or heralds of death – even the chosen disguise of witches and practitioners of black magic! Nonetheless they’re often associated with fertility and ‘moonlight magic.’  Oddly although a rabbit’s foot is thought to be a lucky charm, no such property is awarded to any part of a hare.

Most superstitions seem to be based on fear.  It’s been suggested the best ‘lucky rabbit’s foot’ should be the left hind foot of the rabbit, killed by a silver bullet in a graveyard by a cross-eyed man on Friday the 13th, under a full moon, on the grave of a criminal, the more evil, the luckier!

Of course, the presence of a full moon is supposed to enhance magic, so it’s no surprise owls have been thought to be protectors of the souls of the dead since the days of the Celts. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to be as willing to deliver the mail as they did in the Harry Potter stories, which might otherwise have been a good solution to the rising costs and declining delivery service of the Post Office. Pity.

Another nocturnal animal, the badger (often called brock) is sometimes thought to be a bad omen, and, surprisingly, a tuft of Brock’s hair is supposed to protect against witches. (It also helps people who shave traditionally to lather up before plying their razor!)

Perhaps the black and white appearance of magpies explains the great variation in the meanings associated with spotting them.  They seem to predict both positive and negative events depending upon the number seen, one for sorrow can be relieved by seeing two for joy. Thankfully they’re rarely seen alone.

I promised you mouldywarp magic. Back in February all that rain softened the ground, and those normally invisible moles in their little velvet jackets started to push up their mountains. I bet you didn’t know putting the severed hand of a mole in a bag suspended round your neck cures toothache. Allegedly. And scrofula. Moles aren’t blind either.  They have deep set but perfectly functional eyes. A magical annoyance to golf greenkeepers and custodians of bowling clubs. But possibly a relief to dentists and veterinary opticians…

The Hare and Hound are derived from a badge which originated around the fourteenth century or so, when badges of greyhounds were said to bring good luck to the wearer, except that this example is more clearly a representation of a hare outwitting the hound by hiding under it!  The original, of which this is a replica in lead-free pewter, is an exhibit in the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum. The photo is of one of Tania’s brooches made by Lionheart Replicas near Eastbourne.  They do a large range of very interesting historical replicas. 

To keep up to date with what´s going on in town, feel free to join our Facebook group by clicking here. To advertise with the magazine check out the Rates & Media Pack – Ciren Scene!