Easter eggs and rabbits

 

Easter eggs and rabbits . . . or hares?

Why does Easter fall on a different date every year? Easter is a moveable feast because it is decided by the lunisolar calendar, which aligns the moon’s phases with the sun’s position in the sky. All clear? Jolly good!😉

The date of Easter Sunday is dependent on the first full moon after the spring equinox, which this year, 2024, was on Wednesday 20^th March. The first full moon after this date is Monday 25^th March and the first Sunday after that is 31^st March. 

However, if the first full moon after the vernal equinox were to fall on a Sunday, Easter Sunday would be celebrated on the following Sunday. The Jewish holiday of Passover also follows the lunisolar calendar, but Islam follows a purely lunar calendar, so that holidays like Ramadan occur at different times and seasons of the year.

Eggs are a symbol of renewal and Easter in the Christian church celebrates the resurrection of Christ. That connection is quite clear, but why rabbits? Traditionally, it was hares that were associated with the resurrection, but over time they were displaced by rabbits.

                                                Hare on a mug

When farming was not as intensive and mechanised as it now is, ground nesting birds like lapwings were more common and numerous. When hares seemed to ‘disappear’ into their forms in the fields, people coming upon eggs laid by lapwings and the like, would think the hare had laid the eggs and so the association between hares, later rabbits, and eggs was made.

The brown hare (Lepus europaeus) is one of the largest hares, but it is not native to Britain. Like the rabbit and the edible dormouse (Glis glis) it was introduced by the Romans as a source of food. The Romans ruled Britain for more than 350 years and had a lasting influence on life on this island.

Britain’s only native hare is the Mountain hare (Lepus timidus) which is also known as the blue hare, the white hare and the snow hare, among other names. It has been in existence for at least 130,000 years. The Irish hare (Lepus timidus hibernicus) is a subspecies and is found only in Ireland. It is 30,000 years old.

The Mountain hare is greyish-brown, called blue, and can be seen in Scotland and the North of England. In winter, its coat turns white to allow it to camouflage itself in the snow. It is most noticeable in spring, when any snow may have melted but its coat colour has not reverted. Irish hares do not usually turn white in winter but retain their reddish-brown coats.

Hares are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981.

Hare coursing remains a popular ‘sport’, one for which greyhounds, lurchers and other gaze hounds are used. The Hunting Act of 2004 made it illegal to hunt hares with dogs, followed by the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 making it a criminal offence to use a dog to search for a hare. Police officers can stop and search vehicles if they suspect the act has been breached. 

Hare on the other side of a mug 

It is also illegal to trespass on land with the intention of coursing hares, attend or assist a hare coursing event, or allow your land to be used for hare coursing. Despite all the legislation and the threat of the imposition of fines and prison sentences, illegal hare coursing continues across the country.

There are superstitions attached to hares, as to most living things. The hare is considered a creature of magic and mystery, the Celts associating both it and the rabbit with the full moon, night and the supernatural. It was believed to be a messenger of misfortune. Sailors and fishermen would not mention it by name and would not set sail if they saw one for fear of bad luck, for a hare was thought to cause storms. If a farmer saw a drove of hares in March, he would be sure his farm would not prosper that year. Conversely, others believed they would have good luck if they saw a hare.

                                                Moon gazing hare

William Cowper (1731 – 1880) was an English poet and writer of many hymns for the Church of England. He suffered great depression and many nervous breakdowns, but found solace through adopting three leverets, all males, that he called Puss, Bess and Tiney. His letter to ‘The Gentleman’s Magazine’ in 1784 gives an account of his experience as a keeper of pet hares.