Run No 829

The Fox & Duck, Therfield

Monday, 30th July 2007

Hares: Somefrog & Rachel

HASHERS: 21  NEWEE: 1  APRES: 2  MUTTS: 0

SCRIBE APOLOGISES......... Due to my own unique combination of ineptitude and forgetfulness I did not file the excellent Wurdz received from Somefrog 12:053/8/07 until 12:056/8/07. My unreserved apologies. CRk.

The H5 Virgin Hares found a shallow depression of grass, called a form, in the Therfield area. There were lots of tracks, it wasn't too hilly and there were plenty of places to lose the hounds, BUT best of all ........ there was a pub called the Fox and Duck that would offer plenty of hy- or dehy-drating beverages after our physical exertions.

Quick History Lesson: The name Therfield is a variation of Tharfield and anciently Thurreweld. It was so named after the field of the god Thur and the hill upon which Therfield is seated. Well, we must thank the god Thur for providing the fantastic sunny weather on Monday evening.

So, what are Hash Virgin Hares required to do? WE looked on the Hare(inter)Net and absorbed the need to keep the hash route within 4 x 1 km grid squares and to use appropriate signs. Simple enough stuff and the hash trails were laid on Sunday evening.

Monday 1930: The pack circled up and a short brief was provided by Somefrog - "It's a bit long, there's some shiggy out there, and a few bits of ouch (New hash word for stinging nettles?). Check it out)" What an excellent start - "Never got to heaven coz they went the wrong way!" Too many hash vets had been to Therfield before, so they went flying off, confidently ... in totally the wrong direction. The only route not checked out was the one required! After a tiny bit of "petrol trail", we headed through gardens, meadows, with ponds and across pea-fields to Kelshall. Douglas was the Back Hare and had no problem keeping the hounds together because there were so many early checks. We moved around Kelshall and experienced some serious "ouch" and some horses. Then a short loop, and some hounding around in the shiggy, brought us to a check on the "Chain Walk". This provided falsies in the 2 obvious directions, but after some sniffing around, into the field, the trail was recovered and the reassuring "On-On" heard. The "Walkers" sloped off at this point.

The hounds were tiring and small mutinies arose with numbered check backs not being acknowledged and applied! A couple more short pieces of "petrol trail," but no "Petrol," and the deceptively long and gentle final hill took us "into the glorious sunset" ON INN. 70 minutes was long enough, but thoroughly enjoyed by the pack.

At the Down, there was one Newie and a number of shirkers who decided to go AWOL early. Perhaps the Down should be started more quickly after the run, thus capturing all hounds before some (have to) depart? [how much stick would Wallah have got then? Ed]

What are Hares? Hares are leporids belonging to the genus Lepus (Four other species of leporid in the genera Caprolagus and Pronolagus are also called "hares") Very young hares (Rachel?) are called leverets. They are very fast and "us" H5 European Brown Hares (Lepus europaeus) can run at speeds of up to 70 km/h (45 mph) I don't think we reached that on this hash, but watch out you FRGs! We generally live solitarily or in pairs, however sometimes, when we want to socialise, we'll operate in a group

[line(s) missing: Archive Ed.]

The Three Hares: Recent (2004) research has followed the history and migration of a symbolic image of three hares with conjoined ears. In this image, three hares are seen chasing each other in a circle with their heads near its centre While each of the animals appears to have two ears, only three ears are depicted The ears form a triangle at the centre of the circle and each is shared by two of the hares The image has been traced from Christian churches in the English county of Devon right back along the Silk Road to China, via Western and Eastern Europe and the Middle East. It is possible that even before its appearance in China it was actually first depicted in the Middle East before being re-imported centuries later. Its use has been found associated with Christian, Jewish, Islamic and Buddhist sites stretching back to about 600 CE so now you know!

ONON
Somefrog, Rachel & Douglas