246 LEPORID^— LEPUS 



The reason for this prohibition amongst the ancient 

 Hebrews, as laid down in Leviticus xi. 6 — "And the hare, 

 because he cheweth the cud but divideth not the hoof, he is 

 unclean to you" — was certainly not founded on fact. Hares 

 have, however, a curious habit, as pointed out by Drane 

 {op. cit., 1 06), of grinding their incisor teeth when sitting in 

 their forms, as well as of passing their food twice through their 

 body, which may have led to the belief that they chew the 

 cud. The habit of grinding the teeth is mentioned also by 

 Woodruffe-Peacocke {op. cit. supra, 10), who finds that it is 

 used by British Brown Hares as a means of passing along an 

 alarm. 



In Britain, as known to Julius Caesar {De Bella Gallico, v., 

 12), hares, although plentiful, were accounted unclean beasts 

 and unfit for food, a prejudice still in force in the Isle of Man, 

 where, according to Kermode {Zoologist, 1893, 63), "the 

 natives would not think of eating a hare." 



The animal plays, however, an honourable, though mythical 

 part, in some legends ; for Queen Boadicea is said to have 

 released one from her cloak at the conclusion of her famous 

 oration, and the story goes that by its fortunate course her 

 soldiers were inspired to victory. (Xiphilinus's Epitome of 

 Dion Cassius's Historia Roinana, bk. Ixii.) 



The history of early British sport is very meagre, but in 

 later times there were tabulated in Wales elaborate rules 

 governing the chase ; and these may be found amongst the 

 laws of Howel the Good (see The Ancient Laws of Cambria, 

 1823, bk. i., 367), who is said to have reigned as paramount 

 King of Wales from a.d. 940 to 948. In those days the 

 pursuits of the hare, fox, and roebuck were accounted the 

 "three clamorous hunts." Hare's flesh was also reckoned next 

 after that of the stag in the list of the "best flesh of the 

 chase" {op. cit., 368), and before that of the wild boar 

 and bear ; but, strange to say, the skin or fur is not in- 

 cluded in the interesting list of values found in the same work 

 (bk. iii., 232). 



Under the Anglo-Norman kings the British Hare was 

 highly esteemed by sportsmen, and it is often alluded to in 

 literature of the period. It appears to have given the name 



