Hunting on Easter Monday

It had long before been customary, on Easter Monday, for the Mayor and his brethren, in their scarlet gowns, attended by their proper officers, in form, to go to a certain close, called Black-Annis’-Bower Close, parcel of, or bordering upon, Leicester Forest, to see the diversion of hunting, or rather the trailing of a cat before a pack of hounds: a custom, perhaps, originating out of a claim to the royalty of the forest. Hither, on a fair day, resorted the young and old, and those of all denominations. In the greatest harmony the spring was welcomed. The morning was spent in various amusements and athletic exercises, till a dead cat, 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 an 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 thro’ foul passages, and over fences, were emulous for taking the lead of their fellows. It was a scene, upon the whole, of joy, the governing and the governed in the habits of freedom, enjoying together an innocent and recreating amusement, serving to unite them in bonds of mutual friendship, rather than to embitter their days, with discord and disunion. As the cat had been trailed to the Mayor’s door, thro’ 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.

John Throsby (1740–1803)

from The History and Antiquities of the Ancient Town of Leicester (1791)


tag: folk custom

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