Three Hares

A floor tile at Chester Cathedral bears the image of three hares arranged in a circular manner. The tile was found during excavations in the nave in 1996.

Essentially the motif consists of three hares, or rabbits, chasing each other the same way around a circle. There is a threefold rotational symmetry with each of the three ears being shared by two hares. The ears form a triangle that appears at the centre of the circle, where, instead of there being six ears visible, there are only three, even though individually the hares all show two. The historical puzzle here is just how this symbol came to be used in Chester.

Apart from a concentration in Devon the symbol is relatively rare, there are instances of church bosses to be found in Corfe Mullen (St Hubert - apparently dating from the reign of Edward IV (1461-83)), Cotehele (1480's), Selby Abbey (roof of nave), St. David’s cathedral (medieval boss in the lady chapel) and Llawhaden. In Long Melford church the design can be seen in a medieval stained glass window believed to date from the mid- to the late-15th century. Scarborough has the design set into a plaster ceiling. Outside of the UK there are examples to be found in France, Germany and Switzerland, Southern Russia, Iran, Nepal and China. Many of the continental examples can be dated to the 13th Century. The earliest known example is the Chinese one which dates to around AD600. The Nepalese examples have been dated to around AD1200 and the Afghanistan instance to AD1100. The earliest European examples date to around AD1200 with the English ones at around AD1300. The tile in Chester has been dated to about 1400.

Tinner's Rabbits
In the county of Devon and other parts of the south west England the motif is sometimes known as the Tinner’s Rabbits. This refers to the trade of tin mining that was once an important industry in the area. There are 28 churches on Dartmoor and in Devon where this symbol is found, but it is quite rare elsewhere in England. Curiously, there is a local connection between Chester and Devon: the first written record of lead mining at Minera dates back to 1296, when Edward I hired miners from the site to work in his new mines in Devon. The mines at Minera appear to have later become dormant until they flourished when exploited under the Owen Jones charity.

There is some doubt as to when the three hares symbol became associated with the Devon miners. In her book "The Outline of Dartmoor’s Story", Sylvia Sayer (6 March 1904 – 4 January 2000) wrote(p.24):


 * "The Fifteenth century was a particularly prosperous time for Dartmoor tinners, and by way of a thank-offering they enlarged and rebuilt some of the moorland churches. Widecombe church is a fine example, and there you can see the tinners’ emblem carved on a roof-boss – three rabbits sharing ears…"

Buddhist Origins ?
According to one therory the "Three Hares" motif seems to have spread from the Far East westwards between 600 AD and 1500 AD. The earliest known examples comes from the Sui Dynasty of China where it was found in sacred caves at Mogao used for temples from the 6th to 7th century. During the Sui (581–618) and Tang (618–907) dynasties, three-hares images were painted on the center of the ceilings of at least seventeen caves. Typically, the circle of hares is surrounded by large lotus petals and forms the focal point of a painted canopy covering the entire ceiling.

It is possible that the symbol migrated along the "Silk Road" with traders, or it may have been derived independently in Europe. The association of rabbits, hares, and the moon can be found in numerous cultures the world over — ranging from Japan to Mexico, from Indonesia to the British Isles. Whereas in Western folklore we refer to the "Man in the Moon," the "Hare (or Rabbit) in the Moon" is a more familiar symbol in other societies. In China, for example, the Hare in the Moon is depicted with a mortar and pestle in which he mixes the elixir of immortality; he is the messenger of a female moon deity and the guardian of all wild animals. In Chinese folklore, female hares conceive through the touch of the full moon's light (without the need of impregnation by the male), or by crossing water by moonlight, or licking moonlight from a male hare's fur. Figures of hares or white rabbits are commonly found at Chinese Moon Festivals, where they represent longevity, fertility, and the feminine power of yin.

There is also at least one site in present-day Tibet with puzzling images of hares sharing ears. Images of four hares sharing four ears can be found in the ruins of the ancient kingdom of Guge, which thrived from the mid-tenth century until its defeat in 1630. Other Buddhist images of three and four hares occur in Ladakh, within the present Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Other examples have been found in Iranian art.

Neolithic ?


The related triple spiral symbol, or three spiral volute, appears in many early cultures, the first in Malta (4400–3600 BCE) and in the astronomical calendar at the megalithic tomb of Newgrange in Ireland built around 3200 BCE, as well as on Mycenaean vessels. The triskeles proper, composed of three human legs, is younger than the triple spiral, found in decorations on Greek pottery especially as a design shown on hoplite shields, and later also minted on Greek and Anatolian coinage. The Manx triskelion (an "backwards" example of which can be seen on Bishop Lloyd's House in Chester}, which dates back with certainty to the late 13th century, is of uncertain origin and it has been suggested that its origin lies in Sicily.

Medieval Mistranslation
The Hebrew word for the rock hyrax, a small, furry mammal who may resemble a guinea pig but whose closest relatives are the elephant and manatees, is shafan. It is mentioned in the Bible, once in relation to kashrut laws (it isn’t kosher according to Leviticus) and also in an allegory in the Book of Proverbs: “The conies are not mighty, yet make they their homes in rocks.” (30:26). This may be one reason why the symbol was adopted by the tin miners, but "coney" is a mistranslation of the original "shafan sela" ( שפן סלע) - and the rock hyrax has very small ears. Luther also mistranslated shafan in Psalm 104,18 "the rocks a shelter for the shafan sela" as "rabbit".

Despite the hare being non-kosher the symbol of the three hares (or rabbits) turns up in wooden synagogues in the Ashknaz region of Germany dating from the 17th and 18th century. An old german riddle also reads "Three hares sharing three ears, Yet every one of them has two." In Germany, the symbol is also found on churches: Paderborn has adopted it as its logo and Three Hares like the one at Paderborn can also be seen in the abbey churches at Haina, Hardehausen and Münster Cathedral.

Arrival in Britain
The earliest example in Britain of the three hares appears to be in a 14th Century tile located just below the altar step at St Mary's Long Crendon. This is remarkably similar to that found at Chester including the surrounding trefoil vegetation.

Related Pages
Owen Jones: a lead-based charity;

The Grosvenor Mine Scam;

Leadworks;

Milwr Tunnel;

Sources and Links

 * The Mystery of the Three Hares Motif;
 * Three Hares at Wikipedia;
 * Rabbits and hares in art;
 * The Three Hares: A Brief History;
 * The symbol at Dartmoor;
 * Three Hares project;
 * Flintshire Lead Mining;
 * Minera Lead Mines;
 * The Three Hares at Dunhuang: the caves in China;