THE LEGEND OF THE EASINGTON HARE

Once the men of Castle Eden were fond of coursing.  They bred and trained their own greyhounds and had rare sport.  The carpenter would match his dog against the blacksmiths, and the thatcher would challenge the shepherd, and on the first fine holiday they held their coursing matches around the village.

One year however, they began to be troubled by a strange hare that threatened to spoil their sport.  No sooner had they let slip their greyhounds than this strange animal came loping through the hedge and over the furrows.  It was not sandy like the other hares, but darker and greyer, coloured almost like a mole, and it ran across the path of the hounds as if to say, Course after me, I am not so fleet as my brothers, and you will soon catch me.  It never failed to turn the hounds from their proper game but no sooner had they turned to give chase than it led them a merry dance, and drew them after it into the depths of Castle Eden Dene.  It was in vain for the men to whistle their dogs back.  They would not leave the hare, and long after it had eluded them they kept coursing through the dene, barking madly and running backwards and forwards.

Sometimes they ran their heads against the boles of the trees and killed themselves, and sometimes they strayed so far they were lost.  Instead of enjoying a days sport the men spent many weary hours tramping through the thick undergrowth in the dene, searching for their missing greyhounds.

They soon grew to recognise the mischievous hare, and to wish that they could catch it and put an end to the pranks, for it brought them nothing but inconvenience and loss.  It always outstripped the swiftest of their greyhounds, and no trap or snare was cunning enough laid to catch it.  Day after day it ruined their coursing matches, until it seemed that soon the men would have to give them up altogether.

At last they held a meeting to discuss what they could do, when they tried to shoot it every bullet missed, when they set traps they were closed but no hare in them.  When they coursed it they only lost another greyhound.  What could they do?  They were at a loss, but at last one proposed that they should seek the advice of an old man who lived near Castle Eden, and was skilful in healing sick horses and cows and may help them as he was learned in the ways of animals.  So they went to visit the old man.  He listened very carefully to their story and said, This hare has powers that no other hare possesses, and it will not be caught by ordinary means.  Tomorrow you must take with you not a greyhound, but a bloodhound.  If it is a black bloodhound, all the better, and if it has been fed on human milk I think you will be sure of catching your hare.

The men thanked the old horse doctor and obeyed his instructions.  The next day they took with them a coal-black bloodhound, and as soon as the hare appeared they loosed it.  Immediately the hare made for the dene, and the bloodhound followed it.  But so slow did the bloodhound seem, that one of the men cried out, It is no good, it is like setting a magpie to keep up with a swallow.

Most of the men were of his mind, and when both the hare and hound had disappeared into the dene they tied their horses to the branches and prepared for another weary search.  But just when they had given up hope they saw the hare running up the bank at the other side of the ravine, with its nose to the ground and its big ears flapping as it ran.  For once the hare had been hunted out of its refuge in the woods and forced out into the open country.  The men remounted their horses and crossed the dene, just in time to see both hare and hound running in a bee-line for the village of Easington.

They gave chase, and though the many gates and hedges prevented them from catching up, they drew close enough to see that the hare was limping and the bloodhound was gaining upon it.  On they went past straggling hedges of tall thorn trees, and haystacks standing like new cut loaves on a green cloth, and over pasture and pleated ploughland, until they came to Easington Village.

Then the hare ran straight across the village green, on the opposite side of the green stood a little stone cottage, with curved brown tiles and a cracked and dirty door.  There was a little space cut away in the bottom of the door, like an opening left for hens to wander in and out, and through this ran the hare.  It was almost too late, for just as it bolted through the opening the bloodhound caught up to it, and seized it by one of its hind legs.  However the hare shook its leg free and disappeared into the cottage.

The huntsmen tried the door, but it was locked.  Then they knocked but no one came to let them in.  So at last the burst open the door, and rushed into the room.  But they could see no hare, instead the saw, sitting before the fire, an old woman.  She was hastily bandaging her heel, and trying in vain to stop the blood from flowing, and to hide a wound.  None of the men spoke to her, perceiving that the old woman knew her witchcraft had been found out at last, they turned and left the room and never again was their sport spoiled by the mischievous hare.

Copied from Folk Tales of the North Country by Frederick Grice.

First published in 1944 by Thomas Nelson & Sons Ltd.

A PROJECT BASED ON THE LEGEND OF THE HARE 2005

The Harewitch Project  by Glendene School

Students at Glendene School in Easington, County Durham, have turned the local legend of The Easington Hare into an animated film - with the help of three local artists and Creative Partnerships. All 144 pupils at the special school, aged from 2 to 19, worked on the animation with Animha Productions - doing everything from making figures to singing on the soundtrack.

Easington village was once the home of Nicholas Breakespeare, who later became Adrian IV, the only English Pope. The village also has its own folklore - `The Easington Hare'. This strange creature was persistently hunted throughout the Easington countryside - but remained elusive.

The men of Easington had their sport habitually spoilt by the hare, which drew their dogs away. One day, a hound managed to bite the hare's leg, before it escaped into a hole in the door of a nearby house.

Determined to capture the pest, the men entered the building. To their astonishment they found only an old woman bandaging her wounded leg. Only one conclusion could be drawn - the old woman was the hare, the hare was a witch!

The students at Glendene saw the potential for an update and 'The Hare Witch Project' was born.

Margaret Pattinson, a teacher at Glendene, wrote a narrative song for the children to sing on the soundtrack and works to take teaching at the school beyond the conventional:

'When I came to teach at Glendene I discovered two things - it was where Billy Elliot had been filmed and it had the story of The Easington Hare. Little did I know at the time how important these would be...We want to change perceptions and challenge stereotypes...Our aim is for all the children to have a hands-on approach to learning, whatever their abilities.'

The film was completed in February 2004, received its premiere at the ANIMEX International Film Animation Festival at Teesside University and went on to win an award from The Royal Television Society in 'The Young Videomakers Showcase'. 'Harewitch' will receive a special screening at the School in April 2004.

Dave Brunskill, Animha's project director, has built a fertile partnership with the staff and students at Glendene: 'Kids have a natural interest in animation...It's a language they are familiar with, and that means their motivation is high.'

Dave has big plans for the Harewitch film - made possible through his international connections in the world of animation. An international version will be released for inclusion in the current ASIFA (Association Internationale du Film d'Animation) Children's Workshop project, then screened at Hiroshima 2004 and at major international animation festivals around the world.