about noon, was prepared by aniseed water for commencing the mock-hunting of the hare. In about half-an-hour, after the cat had been trailed at the tail of a horse over the grounds in zig-zag directions, the hounds were directed to the spot where the cat had been trailed from. Here the hounds gave tongue in glorious concert. The people from the various eminences who had placed themselves to behold the sight, with shouts of rapture, gave applause; the horsemen dashing after the hounds through foul passages and over fences, were emulous for taking the lead of their fellows. . . . As the cat had been trailed to the Mayor's door, through some of the principal streets, consequently the dogs and horsemen followed. After the hunt was over, the Mayor gave a handsome treat to his friends; in this manner the day ended."[1]
This description is by an eye-witness of this old municipal custom, which began to fall into disuse about the year 1767, although traces of it lingered within recent years in an annual holiday or fair held on the Danes' Hills and the Fosse Road, on Easter Monday.
The first mention of the Easter hunting on the Danes' Hills in the Town Records occurs in the year 1668, but it was then an ancient custom, and is so described. There are records, however, of a similar hunt having taken place elsewhere more than a century earlier. Thus, in the Chamberlains' accounts for the year 1574 there is an item of 12d. "given to the hare-finders at Whetston Court",[2] and from this and other notices it appears that the hunting was originally, as might be expected, that of a real hare.
We may here in a few words dismiss Throsby's conjecture that this custom originated out of a claim by the town
