A-Z Challenge 2013 - 'R'

My A-Z posts this year are based on my garden – flowers, animals, the birds and the bees, butterflies - with a bit of poetry thrown in. For some letters I am expecting to cheat somewhat – wishing they were here.

R – Rose, Rhododendron, Robin, Rabbit, Retriever

For a rose we can only begin with Burns:

My love is like a red, red rose

That’s newly sprung in June

An older verse applies to roses too as not all are as red as those.

 

Thou blushing rise, within whose virgin leaves

The wanton wind to sport himself presumes.

Over the years we have been nurturing a rhododendron bush that didn’t thrive in the soil in the front garden border. It has gone from border to tub, to ericaceous tub to back garden border where it now flowers happily.

 

Rhododendron

Three girls, engrossed, were wrenching full clusters

Of cerise and pink from the rhododendron,

Mountaining them on spread newspaper.

They brassily picked, slowed by no chagrin,

I’m pleased to be able to show a photo of one of my favourite birds which I’m sure you will have all seen on Christmas cards.

Robin

 No noise is here. Or none that hinders thought.

The redbreast warbles still, but is content

With slender notes, and more than half suppressed;

Pleased with his solitude, and flitting light

From spray to spray, where’er he rests he shakes

From many a twig the pendant drops of ice,

That tinkle in the withered leaves below.

Cute but less welcomed is this fellow about to attack the plants.

 

Rabbit

Now if today had been Friday then perhaps I’d get up early and sing along:

The song was written for Noel Gay's show 'The Little Dog Laughed' which opened on 11 October 1939, at a time when most of the major London theatres were closed.

The farmer with a gun would have needed a Retriever to fetch the rabbit. I know one that could do the job.

Cody

Incidentally Cody was 15 years old on Easter Sunday; he’s no April fool.

Poems:

• A Red, Red Rose – Robert Burns
• The Rose – Sir Richard Fanshawe
• From the Fable of the Rhododendron Stealers – Sylvia Plath http://allpoetry.com/poem/8498035-Fable_Of_The_Rhododendron_Stealers-by-Sylvia_Plath
• Robin – from The Task; William Cowper

Video:

• Youtube: Flanagan and Allan – Run Rabbit Run

Run Rabbit Run - Sepia Saturday

 The song Run Rabbit Run written for the show “The Little Dog Laughed” and originally sung by Flanagan and Allen was very popular during WWII especially after they changed the lyrics to ‘Run Adolf, Run Adolf, Run, Run, Run.

The lyrics were a dig at the German Luftwaffe whose first raid on Britain had been on flying boats at Sullom Voe in Scotland. Supposedly, only two rabbits were killed by the bombs, although they may have actually come from a butcher’s shop.

As today is Friday perhaps I should remind you of the words:

On the farm, every Friday

On the farm, it's rabbit pie day.

So, every Friday that ever comes along,

I get up early and sing this little song

Run rabbit - run rabbit - Run! Run! Run!

Run rabbit - run rabbit - Run! Run! Run!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Goes the farmer's gun.

Run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run.

Run rabbit - run rabbit - Run! Run! Run!

Don't give the farmer his fun! Fun! Fun!

He'll get by

Without his rabbit pie

So run rabbit - run rabbit - Run! Run! Run!

However these rabbits in Australia obviously didn’t run fast enough.

The Rabbiter - ex The Powerhouse Museum- Tyrell Collection

(ex flickr)

I wonder why the Australians decided to call their national rugby union team ‘The Rabbits’ in 1907.

In cricket tail-enders not likely to score runs are also called rabbits. Still on a sporting theme my golf club used to have a Rabbits section for golfers with handicaps 18 and above.

Sticking with Australia I found an idyllic scene,

Rabbits around a waterhole at the myxomatosis trial enclosure on Warbang Island 1938

 National Archives of Australia

Myxomatosis was the disease introduced by man to try and contain the numbers of rabbits. It was a highly infectious and caused by a virus that leads to swelling of the mucous membranes and the formation of tumours leading to blindness and death. I can vouch for the horrific nature of the symptoms as during the 1950s, as a holiday job, I worked on cleaning out a stretch of the River Guash for a fishing syndicate. We spent our lunch breaks putting dozens a day out of their misery.

1950s 'portrait'

Prior to myxomatosis rabbits had been part of our regular meals, especially during WWII when those caught by our dogs supplemented the meat ration.

Polychronis Lembesis (1848-1913) - Child with Rabbits

 (Oil on canvas - National Gallery of Greece)

Rabbits appear in art, many films and literature; the White Rabbit in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit stories and in a favourite of mine, Watership Down by Richard Adams. In American popular culture there’s Brer Rabbit and Bugs Bunny that have fascinated us for years. Everyone knows who it is when you hear, “What’s up Doc?”

Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, Br'er Tarrypin, and some dream women from Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings: The Folk-Lore of the Old Plantation by Joel Chandler Harris. Illustrations by Frederick S Church and James H Moser

The "Encyclopedia of Superstitions" by E. and M.A. Radford, edited and revised by Christina Hole, Barnes and Noble Books, 1996. First published in 1948 has a lot to say about rabbits, "In some parts of Lancashire and the adjacent counties, it is unwise to shoot a black rabbit. This is because they were once believed to be ancestral spirits returning in that form. In Somerset, white rabbits are said to be witches. That anyone really believes this now is improbable; nevertheless, white rabbits are not popular as children's pets, and they are usually left severely alone, and are not shot. A luck-bringing custom found all over Great Britain is to say 'Rabbits' or 'White Rabbits' once or three times on the first day of the month. It must be said early in the morning, before any other word has been uttered, otherwise the charm loses its force. In some districts it is considered necessary to say 'Hares' or 'Black Rabbits' when going to bed on the night before, as well as 'Rabbits' or White Rabbits' in the morning. If, however, the speaker becomes muddled and says 'Black Rabbits' on rising, bad luck will follow. The looked-for result of all this is variously given as general good luck during the ensuing four weeks, or the receipt of a gift within a few days."

Many people believe that carrying a rabbit’s foot in your pocket will bring you good luck. Because of the rabbit's ability to reproduce, the rabbit's foot also became a symbol of fertility. Now we find that rabbits are often used as a symbol of fertility and they have long been associated with spring and Easter as the Easter Bunny. Additionally they have become Playboy symbols.

Playboy Bunnies

 Attribution :  © Glenn Francis, http://www.PacificProDigital.com - CC-BY-SA 3.0

After that I have probably rabbited on too long. All I can suggest now is that you visit others at Sepia saturday