Are rabbits indiginous to the UK?

[Venger]

To poach Time Team (it was quick ..ok!)

Another important goddess was Eostre, goddess of the spring, dawn, new life and beginnings. She gave her name to the Christian spring festival of Easter, which was originally held on the same day as the festival of Eostre – 21 March, the spring equinox. The modern Easter symbolism of Easter eggs and the Easter bunny arise from pagan custom. The eggs symbolise fertility and rebirth. The rabbit (more properly the hare, which ancient folklore associates with laying eggs) was Eostre's sacred animal.

Although I'm not sure that there any evidence for this, unless you trust Bede (or wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eostre)

Nothing to do with Rabbits, but Easter yes

 

[Shambling Shaman]

This is really interesting - My other half says a lot of the current Christian rituals and important dates are infact just stolen from the pagan calender. In the early days the church wanted to stop the spread of paganisim, so they stole all their best holidays and used them for their own..

Pagans are indiginous to the uk,
still not shore on the rabit

 

[Tadpole]

Pagans are indiginous to the uk,

Pagans were imported in to England by the Romans, they are not indigenous to the isles the term comes from paganus meaning villager, rustic, civilian," from pagus "rural district," it came to mean anyone who lived outside of a city or town
The current term was later used to mean likely “civilian, incompetent soldier and later to mean anyone who adheres to the old gods after the Christianisation of Roman towns and cities"

 

[pierre girard]

I like rabbits

Yes, best in pie.

 

[pierre girard]

But the hare that turns white in the winter was there before I assume? That is the only one we have.

Sounds like our "snowshoe hare."

http://www.mnh.si.edu/mna/image_info.cfm?species_id=135

Our rabbits are of the cotton tail variety:

http://www.rivernen.ca/animalcr.htm

Like Toddy, I was told as a child not to hunt hares - or at least never to let anyone know I was hunting hares - as "Only poor people eat rabbit (hare)." We had our dignity, I guess.

 

[Shambling Shaman]

Pagans were imported in to England by the Romans, they are not indigenous to the isles the term comes from paganus meaning villager, rustic, civilian," from pagus "rural district," it came to mean anyone who lived outside of a city or town
The current term was later used to mean likely “civilian, incompetent soldier and later to mean anyone who adheres to the old gods after the Christianisation of Roman towns and cities"

So the Druids were not hear before the Romans? or any type of Celt? , Will agree with how the word arrived - so when the romans arrived the Pagans who were hear (the pepole who were living out side any city like systems that the romans liked) got that name. I belive that Heathen comes from harth dweler? Still thinking about the Rabbits

 

[Toddy]

*Blue* when talking about the colour of animal fur is frequently used to mean dark grey.
My moggie is described on the Vet and insurance forms as a, " Short haired British Blue." and she's grey and white.

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Wolfie]

Here is the book reference I spoke of earlier -

"The rabbit existed in Britain before the last Ice Age but then died out. There may have been attempts to reintroduce it during the Roman period but, so far as the evidence goes, the rabbit was but unknown to the Anglo-Saxons and did not become successfully re-established until after the Norman conquest"

Tom Williamson
The archaeology of rabbit warrens
ISBN 0-7478-0616-0

 

[torjusg]

*Blue* when talking about the colour of animal fur is frequently used to mean dark grey.
My moggie is described on the Vet and insurance forms as a, " Short haired British Blue." and she's grey and white.

Cheers,
Toddy

How disappointing, I thought they really were blue.

 

[Ketchup]

Viewed from the Continent, I can understand the Roman/Norman discussion in the UK. But I learned here in Belgium rabbits "were introduced around the year 1000 AD". So: no rabbits in the past on this side of the Channel either. At least in our part of Europe.

What makes it difficult is the continuous mixing up of names for hare and coney almost everywhere in Europe. Collins dictionary told me your word "rabbit" originated from the Walloon word "robette" . This name being taken from the Flemish "Robbe" ,short for "Robert". So, long long time ago, there must have existed a story about "Robert the rabbit" (who was a hare).

Oh: and the word Spain (Hispania) comes from a fenician word meaning "land of the klipdassies" (Procavia spp. - Fenicians had never seen rabbits either).

 

[Silverback]

How disappointing, I thought they really were blue.

Don't despair just yet I found this

Mountain or blue hares are slightly smaller than brown hares and have shorter ears. They live mainly on rocks in the Scottish mountains, although there is one population living in the Peak District. They choose a terrain with enough cover to avoid their enemies, such as eagles or buzzards. During winter their coat turns white, camouflaging them against the snow. They are called blue hares because their fur has a bluish appearance in the spring and autumn when the white hairs of the winter coat are mixed with the brown hairs of the summer coats. The ear tips always remain black