Mad as a March Hare

March and spring are in the air and in spite of winter’s best efforts, good old Mother Earth is tilting on her axis and bringing warmth and rejuvenation back to the northern hemisphere. As an aficionado of winter’s frozen wonders I always feel a little sorry to see the snow melt away and the greening of the grass, but I’m in the marked minority. Most people have been pent up in their homes and heavy woolen overcoats long enough, and they’re just bursting to get outside and do something.

Each year, when the first blush of real warmth washes over the Midwest, the garden centers fill with the eager. For the anxious amateur gardener its flats of pansies and good intentions that will surely be dashed by the bitter fact that the last frost date in our particular zone comes in mid April. Ah, how the hopes and dreams of youth so often flounder on the frozen rocks of reality.

Young men will cruise the city streets, windows down and tunes turned up to perform as their mating call. The heart will beat ardently. Sweaters and long underwear will be mothballed, replaced by shorts and tees. All will seem verdant and sweet, and then the late frost will nip the buds.

In 1546 John Heywood published a collection of proverbs, one of which illustrates the mesmerizing powers of March:

Thanne þey begyn to swere and to stare, And be as braynles as a Marshe hare.

For those of you who don't read much old English, that roughly translates to:

Then they begin to swerve and stare, And be as brainless as a March hare.

The phrase “mad as a March hare” has been popularly used since the mid 16^th century, but reached new popularity with the publication Lewis Carroll’s 1865 novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland which featured the character of the March Hare.

Unlike the wise fool of Carroll’s story, the madness of the hares isn’t so much a display of an altered world view as an outward sign of getting hot and bothered with the spirit of the season. The “madness” of hares during March is linked to a folk interpretation of mating season leaping, rearing, “boxing”, and general cavorting. Still, when you really think of it, it’s a very apt term for the madness that infects all of us during this time of year.