?

I don’t know whether it’s Christmas or Easter.

We have been eating egg-shaped shortbread biscuits from a rabbit-eared tin. The tin was intended for Charlie and Jack, but we didn’t see them at Easter and the biscuits are now out of date. That’s our excuse, anyway. 

The chocolate rabbits had to be consumed, too. It was a chore, I can tell you.

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.

Easter Offering

 Easter Offering

This is the most recent pillar box offering to bring a smile to passers-by, particularly those heading to the Oaklands Schools.

It is amazing that people should create these crocheted delights anonymously. The work that goes into them is incredible.

Wedding Day 1927

My parents were married on 16^th April 1927 when they were 23 years old. (Actually, my mother's 23^rd birthday was on 14^th January. My father wouldn't be 23 until 16^th December.)

They look happy and relaxed in these photographs but my mother told me she cried all the way through the marriage ceremony! The tears had dried by the time the camera was brought out. Her mother had wanted to have church bells ringing but it was Lent so the bells remained silent until Easter Day.

When I was about eight years old I announced at a gathering of my parents' friends, 'My parents were married on 16^th April and I was born two days later.' This caused some mirth, particularly as I was the youngest of their three children. They had been married for 61 years and had set a fine example for us by the time my father died but they were quite unusual in their philosophy. In an era when marriages were considered to be binding, no matter how difficult circumstances might become, they agreed right at the beginning of their life together that should it prove impossible to maintain their relationship they would divorce. Divorced couples were often shunned by former friends but my parents continued their friendship and support for those few who could no longer live together. I think they were very conscious of the compromises and effort required to share life and, though they must have had their differences, we were never aware of conflict or disagreement. They were quiet, determined, strong-minded and much later, after I was married, I realised how much they were to each other.Eighty-three years ago the sun shone on their wedding day. Today it shines again. I think of them often, singly and together. Impossible though it is, I wish I could have known them as young adults – I think they were a lot of fun!

Easter Monday

This is the first year since we've been married that we have spent Easter on our own, just the two of us together (there's a song in there somewhere). It has felt strange but pleasant.

Today the sun has struggled out and is gaining confidence with every passing minute. It makes the fresh new leaves look ever brighter and there is a sense of burgeoning life waiting just below the surface to spring forth.

Every Spring there are trees covered in white blossom in the forest. Many times I've picked a sprig and brought it home to identify. I've always forgotten its name by the next year! This year I wondered if photographing it would help me to memorise it.

It is (I think) the Common Wild Cherry or Gean.

It is a good furniture timber and is valued as a turnery wood for items like bowls.

Foresters like to see it growing on the edges of plantations as it suckers freely and coppices when cut.

Happy Easter

My first ever Easter tree should carry the label 'could do better' and perhaps next year I will.

I decided to take a photograph of the golden Easter bunnies before they are despoiled. I can resist until I start, if that makes sense. I cannot do things in moderation – when I used to jog I would always end up racing. When swimming I had to beat my previous record number of laps. That won't be a problem in the Endless Pool, particularly if it remains empty of water!! If I pickle onions or make marmalade I produce great quantities which are then given away to the family (another thing I couldn't undertake in moderation).

Anyway, my Easter bunnies remain intact for now and I shall have to think about the bells and ribbons – they can't be wasted.

Easter trees

Today is Good Friday – always a quiet day for me and one on which I feel I should be spending some time in church, though I never do. Out walking with the dogs I found myself singing a hymn from my childhood – 'There is a green hill, far away . . . ' I never understood until I was grown up what 'without a city wall' meant. Why should a hill have a city wall? It was strange how quickly the words came back to me. I must have sung it a few times as a teacher though I cannot recall doing so, since most of my career was spent with younger children.

I had never heard of Easter trees until I saw them mentioned on a blog and then, when I did some cursory research I discovered that, like Christmas trees (thank you, Prince Albert) the custom comes from Germany. I thought it was such a pretty idea that I had to try it out, though it's rather too close to Easter – I should have started with a bare twig or two six weeks ago. I went shopping for decorations and though I really wanted fluffy chicks I ended up with painted eggs, pig (!) paper clips and a rabbit that more resembles a hare appropriately enough for the British Isles. Nonetheless they are all symbols of renewal - not quite sure about the pigs; I think they represent Easter Sunday lunch more than anything! Similarly, I'm not sure where a duck on eggs fits in; maybe it's another European custom, though I can see where the Easter poisson of France comes in as Ichthus is an early Christian symbol and is often to be seen in lapels, on car stickers, as brooches for believers.

The Easter tree has proved to be a source of fascination for the cats but I think I'll continue the custom next year.