Seasonal Splash ~ Hares in Suffolk

We visited Framlingham last Saturday, with its wonderful castle, church, teashop (cake being my 'one' weakness, you understand!) and secondhand bookshop.

As we drove out of the town on our way home, we spotted a couple of hares in a field. They were quite a long way off, but the evening sun was glinting on their fur, and it was a beautiful sight.

You can just about make out the distinctive black tips to the ears in the photo below. This seems to be a good time of year for spotting hares in Suffolk, when the light is low but intense, so I hope I will have the opportunity to take some better photographs.

So what did I buy in the bookshop?

Well, it was about to close, which may have been a good thing, but I bought a copy of A Choice of Anglo-Saxon Verse (Faber, ed. Richard Hamer) and a small copy of Cowper's Olney Hymns. William Willis, the editor of the latter volume writes, 'Cowper's hymns derive much of their beauty from their personal references and tender expressions'. These words resonate for me with Cowper's own writing about his hares, Tiney, Bess and Puss. Of course, I am not advocating the keeping of hares as pets: times have changed. But Cowper, a troubled man, cared deeply care for these fine creatures, and this is surely worthy of note.