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When you think about it, it’s quite a ghastly story- the Case of the Woman Who Gave Birth to RabbitsMary Toft Convinced Doctors She Was Giving Birth to RabbitsIn 1726, London was scammed by a poor, illiterate woman named Mary Toft. She had fooled the city’s finest doctors, scientists, and even the King.Following a prolonged miscarriage in the spring of 1726, Mary Toft – a poor woman from the Surrey town of Godalming – began giving birth to parts of animals in the following autumn. Reportedly beginning with initial deliveries of parts of cats, pigs and rabbits in September, Toft's deliveries were soon exclusively of rabbits and these continued to appear until mid November. It was not a skill anyone had been clamoring for, but it understandably had everyone fascinated. Toft delivered on that promise—17 times over, leading to a spectacle that mesmerized the nation for several months. At least until she was inevitably exposed.Today, Toft has been relegated to a footnote in the “weird” archives of history. She has become an entry in a listicle, a cocktail fact, a curiosity, proof that people in the 18th century had to have been different from us in some crucial, preposterous way. But Karen Harvey, a historian at the University of Birmingham, thinks we should take Toft more seriously, as a poor woman caught up in a power struggle between powerful men, a woman who lost authority over her body in the process—a story that says a great deal about its time and place.[1][1][1][1]Mary Toft, rabbit in hand. WELLCOME COLLECTION/CC BY 4.0Toft’s confessions can be found today in the University of Glasgow’s special collections.[2][2][2][2] The accounts indicate how much distress Toft appeared to be in, and how explicitly she articulated the pain of the whole process. Rather than a master manipulator, Toft appeared to have been exploited herself. “But all along, she says, ‘It wasn’t me, it wasn’t my idea, there are women who put me up to it”[3][3][3][3] , questioning if Mary had any control over the situation.Toft was born Mary Denyer in 1703 in Godalming, Surrey, just about 40 miles from London. Godalming was one of the poorest areas in the county.[4][4][4][4] By the time Mary Toft was about 24 years old, she already had three children with her husband Joshua Toft, whom she had married at age 17. Every morning, Mary Toft walked two hours to labor in a hop field, another grueling day in a relatively grueling life.[5][5][5][5]The ruse began on September 27, 1726. Her first “baby” was not a rabbit, but a strange creature. In the presence of her neighbor Mary Gill, she gave birth in September 1726 to what looked like a deformed creature.[6][6][6][6] She’d miscarried the month before—a common outcome for pregnant peasants in the 18th century, who were required to continue working in the fields while pregnant—and reportedly delivered several lumps of flesh, which may have been a malformed placenta.[7][7][7][7]Ann Toft, a local midwife, viewed the pieces and in shock sent them to John Howard. John Howard was a male-midwife/local surgeon located in Guildford and had thirty years of experience.[8][8][8][8] Howard refused to believe that a woman could give birth to an animal but still decided to see Mary. Ann Toft showed him the parts and he still did not believe the story, especially after doing an examination of Mary. He complained that she was difficult to work with. “[Mary is] of a very stupid and sullen Temper.”[9][9][9][9]However, after he left, Mary once again went into labor and more animal parts were birthed. So, Howard returned and this time he not only saw animal parts but saw Mary go into labor to deliver even more parts.[10][10][10][10]According to an account Howard gave on November 9th, over the next few days Howard delivered “three legs of a Cat of a Tabby Colour, and one leg of a Rabbet: the guts were as a Cat’s and in them were three pieces of the Back-Bone of an Eel … The cat’s feet supposedly were formed in her imagination from a cat she was fond of that slept on the bed at night.[11][11][11][11]In one particularly productive day, Toft allegedly gave birth to a nine dead baby rabbits.Nathaniel St. André, the disgraced royal rabbit doctor. PUBLIC DOMAINOver the next month, Howard witnessed Mary give birth to eight more baby rabbits—and more were on the way. In November, John Howard had Mary Toft moved to Guidford where he offered to deliver rabbits in the presence of any doubters. He preserved the bodies in alcohol and sent letters to prominent physicians all over England about the mystery.[12][12][12][12] On November 9, he wrote:I have taken or deliver’d the poor Woman of three more Rabbets, all three half grown, one of them a dunn Rabbet; the last leap’d twenty three Hours in the Uterus before it dy’d. As soon as the eleventh Rabbet was taken away, up leap’d the twelfth Rabbet, which is now leaping. If you have any curious Person that is pleased to come Post, may see another leap in her Uterus, and shall take it from her if he pleases . . . I do not know how many Rabbets may be behind.[13][13][13][13]Eventually news of the mysterious births reached Nathaniel St. Andre who was a Swiss surgeon to the Royal Household.[14][14][14][14] At the request of his wife, Queen Caroline, King George dispatched two men to investigate: Nathaniel St. André, his Swiss surgeon-anatomist, and Samuel Molyneux, the Prince of Wales’s secretary[15][15][15][15] , to discover the truth of these claims.When he arrived at Howard’s house, where Mary Toft was a now a permanent patient, he was greeted with the news that she was currently in labour with her 15th rabbit. Within minutes the court anatomist had delivered her of the trunk of a rabbit stripped of its skin. When he queried why the rabbits were born without fur, the quick-witted Howard replied that it was obviously the effect of the strong pressure of the womb toward the pubic bone. Later that evening Mary ‘gave birth’ to a rabbit skin rolled in a ball. St Andre watched as rabbit parts were delivered and then checked the organs to see that they had in fact breathed air, which led him to believe the rabbits had been bred in the Fallopian tubes.[16][16][16][16]Examination of the bunnies suggested, as one might expect, they could not have originated in Toft’s body; one’s stomach contained remnants of hay and grass.[17][17][17][17] Some appeared to be fetuses, while others were maybe three months old.St André took some samples of preserved rabbits to show to the king and it was agreed that the rabbit breeder should be taken to London for further examination.[18][18][18][18] The phenomenon was the talk of the city and a pamphlet written by St André was an instant best seller. However, the removal to a London hotel seems to have had an injurious effect on Mary’s fertility. After several anxious days for those taken in by the deceit, she was declared to be in labour again and duly gave birth to a rabbit.[19][19][19][19]The curious case of Mary ToftOn November 19, 1726, Mist’s Weekly Journal reported:From Guildford comes a strange but well-attested Piece of News. That a poor Woman who lives at Godalmin, near that Town, was about a Month past delivered by Mr. John Howard, an Eminent Surgeon and Man-Midwife, of a creature resembling a Rabbit . . . about 14 Days since she was delivered by the same Person, of a perfect Rabbit: and in a few Days after of 4 more . . . they died all in bringing into the World.[20][20][20][20]For rabbit-peddling merchants, the gossip was a terrible blow. The public was disgusted. Rabbit stew dropped from Britain’s supper tables. “The public horror was so great that the rent of rabbit-warrens sank to nothing; and nobody, till the delusion was over, presumed to eat a rabbit,” recorded James Caufield.[21][21][21][21]King George became fascinated by the letters he received from the member of his court and from the reports of St. Andre, so he sent surgeon Cyriacus Ahlers to investigate further.[22][22][22][22] And when Ahlers arrived he learned the truth about what was really going on with Mary Toft. The revelation of which ruined the careers of numerous doctors and had many people believing the medical profession was nothing more than a farce.Meanwhile, Sir Richard Manningham (1690-1759) - an eminent doctor and midwife among upper class society in London - was contacted by St André to attend upon Mary Toft.[23][23][23][23] After observing her and seeing her give birth to what he believed was a hog's bladder, he also seemed unconvinced.[24][24][24][24] But he was persuaded to keep his doubts to himself by Howard and St. André until there was proof of any fraud. Howard and St. André were trying to save their reputations in the light of what Ahlers had concluded.The curious case of Mary ToftSatirist William Hogarth's 1726 take on Toft, cleverly titled Cunicularii WELLCOME COLLECTION/CC BY 4.0On November 29, Toft was taken by force to Lacey’s Bagnio, a bath house near modern-day Leicester Square for further observation.[25][25][25][25]There, she was examined frequently, by as many as 10 doctors at a time, all of whom were men.[26][26][26][26] The most famous image of Mary Toft is a print by the great satirist William Hogarth. In Cunicularii (a pun on the Latin words for “rabbit” (cuniculus) and “vulva” (cunnus)), Hogarth depicts Toft’s body wrenched in labor, surrounded by doctors.[27][27][27][27] It is dramatic, but not flattering. Hogarth wanted to satirize the gullibility of medical professionals of the day, many of whom sought to gain fame through such strange cases. One immediately notices how Toft was surrounded by so many men, including her husband and a doctor with his arm up her skirt. Her expression has been intepreted as one of agony, but it almost looks like she’s experiencing ecstasy. Either way, Mary Toft was in a very vulnerable position.She gave birth to no more rabbits, and also seems to have taken quite ill. But it was during this time that a porter was caught sneaking a rabbit into Toft’s room.[28][28][28][28] He explained to Douglas that Toft’s sister-in-law, Margaret Toft, had asked him to obtain the smallest rabbit he could find.[29][29][29][29] A separate investigation found that, over the past few months, Mary’s husband had bought a suspicious number of rabbits from the town’s merchants.[30][30][30][30] Evidence was mounting. On December 6, the court told Mary they would perform a painful, experimental pelvic surgery to see what made Mary so unique. (To quote, they said they were going to send in a “chimneysweep’s boy.”).[31][31][31][31]By way of explanation, Toft said that she had been startled by a rabbit while working in the field. This notion complied with a theory, quite popular at the time, called “maternal impression,” which attempted to explain birth defects and other congenital disorders.[32][32][32][32] Joseph Merrick, known as the “Elephant Man,” explained his own condition along these lines, claiming that his mother was startled by an elephant while pregnant with him.[33][33][33][33] St. André was thoroughly convinced that Toft’s case was a stunning example of this theory. Other doctors, such as the respected midwives James Douglas and Sir Richard Manningham, refuted St.André’s claims.[34][34][34][34]On December 7, she came clean. The confession surprised very few, but was unfortunately timed for St. André, who. had just published his thrilling, “true-to-life” exposé, “A Short Narrative of an Extraordinary Delivery of Rabbets,” just four days prior.[35][35][35][35] Needless to say, his career was never quite the same.St André’s advertisement of retraction. (Mary Toft and Her Extraordinary Delivery of Rabbits)Though the rabbit births weren’t real, the pain was. According to Toft's confessions, the ruse relied on an accomplice placing parts of dead animals into Toft’s vagina—painful, difficult, and dangerous.Mary had been pregnant earlier in the year but miscarried. While her cervix was still open, an accomplice inserted the body of a cat and the head of a rabbit—which her unwitting neighbor helped deliver.[36][36][36][36] As the ruse became more elaborate, Toft sewed a special pocket in her skirt where she hid bits of filleted rabbit.[37][37][37][37] When the doctors weren’t looking, she’d tuck them inside herself and feign labor. Per St. André’s early reports, Toft’s rabbits were often delivered with their sharp nails intact. Because these animal remains were likely hidden in Toft’s body for several weeks, It’s astonishing she didn’t die of a bacterial infection.[38][38][38][38]Mary believed it was her ticket out of poverty. In her words, it was to “get so good a living that I should never want as long as I lived”.[39][39][39][39] Back then, freak shows featuring human oddities—like conjoined twins and legless magicians —were popular ways to rake in dough. Mary was sure they’d have room for a lady pregnant with rabbits.Rabbits were widely available at the time, and they also symbolized the carelessness of nobility. In medieval Britain, rabbits lived in warrens, built by local lords who sold their meat and fur as elite goods. These rabbits frequently escaped to munch on commoners’ grasslands and gardens. Landowners’ rabbits were seen as a pest for lower status people in rural areas. It has been speculated that the choice of rabbits had political undertones.[40][40][40][40]It’s impossible to say why Toft executed this dangerous, strange ruse. Few believe Toft to have been primarily responsible. She was a young, extremely poor woman from a small town who was taken to London, all the time escorted and watched by titled, landed, aristocratic men.[41][41][41][41] She was just playing the lead role in a performance orchestrated by other people.[42][42][42][42] In her confessions, Toft repeatedly blamed other people: her husband, her mother-in-law, even the wife of a local organ-grinder.[43][43][43][43]William Hogarth’s Credulity, Superstition, and Fanaticism, a dramatization of Toft’s trial published in 1762. WILLIAM HOGARTH/PUBLIC DOMAINWhen the hoax was revealed, the papers had a field day—ridiculing the venerated medical professionals in particular. It was the media sensation of 1726 to 1727.[44][44][44][44] It certainly helped to tarnish the reputation of doctors as a profession. It could have been seen as a way out of grinding poverty or a desire just to be noticed or important for a short while. But she seemed completely overwhelmed and scared, fearful of what would happen to her for making fools out of so many prominent people in society.But Toft did not escape opprobrium. On December 9, she was charged as a “Notorious and Vile Cheat” and incarcerated at Bridewell prison for four months.[45][45][45][45] On 7 January 1727, John Howard and Toft appeared before the judge, where Howard was fined £800 (£117 thousand today). [46][46][46][46] He returned to Surrey and continued his practice, and died in 1755. Crowds of people came to gawk into her public-facing cell at Tothill Fields Bridewell.On April 8, 1727, she was released without charge, and disappeared back into some kind of obscurity. In February 1728, Mary gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth, noted in the Godalming parish register as her "first child after her pretended Rabett-breeding."[47][47][47][47] Little is known of Toft's later life. She briefly reappeared in 1740 when she was imprisoned for receiving stolen goods.[48][48][48][48] But her place in history had been established. When she died in 1763 at the age of 60, the parish noted her as “Mary Toft, Widow, the Impostress Rabbitt.”[49][49][49][49]Footnotes[1] Rabbits, Whigs and Hunters: Women and Protest in Mary Toft’s Monstrous Births of 1726 * [1] Rabbits, Whigs and Hunters: Women and Protest in Mary Toft’s Monstrous Births of 1726 * [1] Rabbits, Whigs and Hunters: Women and Protest in Mary Toft’s Monstrous Births of 1726 * [1] Rabbits, Whigs and Hunters: Women and Protest in Mary Toft’s Monstrous Births of 1726 * [2] The curious case of Mary Toft[2] The curious case of Mary Toft[2] The curious case of Mary Toft[2] The curious case of Mary Toft[3] What Mary Toft Felt: Women’s Voices, Pain, Power and the Body[3] What Mary Toft Felt: Women’s Voices, Pain, Power and the Body[3] What Mary Toft Felt: Women’s Voices, Pain, Power and the Body[3] What Mary Toft Felt: Women’s Voices, Pain, Power and the Body[4] Parishes: Godalming[4] Parishes: Godalming[4] Parishes: Godalming[4] Parishes: Godalming[5] Mary Toft and Her Extraordinary Delivery of Rabbits[5] Mary Toft and Her Extraordinary Delivery of Rabbits[5] Mary Toft and Her Extraordinary Delivery of Rabbits[5] Mary Toft and Her Extraordinary Delivery of Rabbits[6] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[6] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[6] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[6] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[7] Mary Toft tricked English doctors into thinking that she gave birth to rabbits[7] Mary Toft tricked English doctors into thinking that she gave birth to rabbits[7] Mary Toft tricked English doctors into thinking that she gave birth to rabbits[7] Mary Toft tricked English doctors into thinking that she gave birth to rabbits[8] Mary Toft Convinced Doctors She Was Giving Birth to Rabbits[8] Mary Toft Convinced Doctors She Was Giving Birth to Rabbits[8] Mary Toft Convinced Doctors She Was Giving Birth to Rabbits[8] Mary Toft Convinced Doctors She Was Giving Birth to Rabbits[9] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[9] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[9] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[9] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[10] Mary Toft and Her Extraordinary Delivery of Rabbits[10] Mary Toft and Her Extraordinary Delivery of Rabbits[10] Mary Toft and Her Extraordinary Delivery of Rabbits[10] Mary Toft and Her Extraordinary Delivery of Rabbits[11] From Hogarth to Rowlandson[11] From Hogarth to Rowlandson[11] From Hogarth to Rowlandson[11] From Hogarth to Rowlandson[12] The girl who gave birth to rabbits; a true medical mystery[12] The girl who gave birth to rabbits; a true medical mystery[12] The girl who gave birth to rabbits; a true medical mystery[12] The girl who gave birth to rabbits; a true medical mystery[13] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[13] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[13] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[13] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[14] [Nathaniel St. André and his fateful patient Mary Toft].[14] [Nathaniel St. André and his fateful patient Mary Toft].[14] [Nathaniel St. André and his fateful patient Mary Toft].[14] [Nathaniel St. André and his fateful patient Mary Toft].[15] MOLYNEUX, Samuel (1689-1728), of Dublin and St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London.[15] MOLYNEUX, Samuel (1689-1728), of Dublin and St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London.[15] MOLYNEUX, Samuel (1689-1728), of Dublin and St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London.[15] MOLYNEUX, Samuel (1689-1728), of Dublin and St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London.[16] [Nathaniel St. André and his fateful patient Mary Toft].[16] [Nathaniel St. André and his fateful patient Mary Toft].[16] [Nathaniel St. André and his fateful patient Mary Toft].[16] [Nathaniel St. André and his fateful patient Mary Toft].[17] How Mary Toft Convinced the World She’d Birthed Rabbits[17] How Mary Toft Convinced the World She’d Birthed Rabbits[17] How Mary Toft Convinced the World She’d Birthed Rabbits[17] How Mary Toft Convinced the World She’d Birthed Rabbits[18] A Cabinet of Medical Curiosities[18] A Cabinet of Medical Curiosities[18] A Cabinet of Medical Curiosities[18] A Cabinet of Medical Curiosities[19] Nathaniel St. Andre, (Rabbit Doctor)[19] Nathaniel St. Andre, (Rabbit Doctor)[19] Nathaniel St. Andre, (Rabbit Doctor)[19] Nathaniel St. Andre, (Rabbit Doctor)[20] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[20] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[20] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[20] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[21] Portraits, Memoirs, and Characters, of Remarkable Persons, from the Revolution in 1688 to the End of the Reign of George II.[21] Portraits, Memoirs, and Characters, of Remarkable Persons, from the Revolution in 1688 to the End of the Reign of George II.[21] Portraits, Memoirs, and Characters, of Remarkable Persons, from the Revolution in 1688 to the End of the Reign of George II.[21] Portraits, Memoirs, and Characters, of Remarkable Persons, from the Revolution in 1688 to the End of the Reign of George II.[22] Cyriacus Ahlers (active 1726) - Some observations concerning the woman of Godlyman in Surrey ... tending to prove her extraordinary deliveries to be a cheat and imposture / Cyriacus Ahlers[22] Cyriacus Ahlers (active 1726) - Some observations concerning the woman of Godlyman in Surrey ... tending to prove her extraordinary deliveries to be a cheat and imposture / Cyriacus Ahlers[22] Cyriacus Ahlers (active 1726) - Some observations concerning the woman of Godlyman in Surrey ... tending to prove her extraordinary deliveries to be a cheat and imposture / Cyriacus Ahlers[22] Cyriacus Ahlers (active 1726) - Some observations concerning the woman of Godlyman in Surrey ... tending to prove her extraordinary deliveries to be a cheat and imposture / Cyriacus Ahlers[23] Sir Richard Manningham - Google Search[23] Sir Richard Manningham - Google Search[23] Sir Richard Manningham - Google Search[23] Sir Richard Manningham - Google Search[24] The curious case of Mary Toft[24] The curious case of Mary Toft[24] The curious case of Mary Toft[24] The curious case of Mary Toft[25] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[25] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[25] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[25] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[26] What Mary Toft Felt: Women’s Voices, Pain, Power and the Body[26] What Mary Toft Felt: Women’s Voices, Pain, Power and the Body[26] What Mary Toft Felt: Women’s Voices, Pain, Power and the Body[26] What Mary Toft Felt: Women’s Voices, Pain, Power and the Body[27] Cunicularii or The Wise men of Godliman in Consultation[27] Cunicularii or The Wise men of Godliman in Consultation[27] Cunicularii or The Wise men of Godliman in Consultation[27] Cunicularii or The Wise men of Godliman in Consultation[28] Mary Toft tricked English doctors into thinking that she gave birth to rabbits[28] Mary Toft tricked English doctors into thinking that she gave birth to rabbits[28] Mary Toft tricked English doctors into thinking that she gave birth to rabbits[28] Mary Toft tricked English doctors into thinking that she gave birth to rabbits[29] A Cabinet of Medical Curiosities[29] A Cabinet of Medical Curiosities[29] A Cabinet of Medical Curiosities[29] A Cabinet of Medical Curiosities[30] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[30] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[30] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[30] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[31] https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1034653/pdf/medhist00169-0050.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwicjfGbu6bjAhXKXc0KHeGZBYgQFjAAegQIAxAB&usg=AOvVaw2D3qQFSr1WqMhEMvMtLrit[31] https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1034653/pdf/medhist00169-0050.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwicjfGbu6bjAhXKXc0KHeGZBYgQFjAAegQIAxAB&usg=AOvVaw2D3qQFSr1WqMhEMvMtLrit[31] https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1034653/pdf/medhist00169-0050.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwicjfGbu6bjAhXKXc0KHeGZBYgQFjAAegQIAxAB&usg=AOvVaw2D3qQFSr1WqMhEMvMtLrit[31] https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1034653/pdf/medhist00169-0050.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwicjfGbu6bjAhXKXc0KHeGZBYgQFjAAegQIAxAB&usg=AOvVaw2D3qQFSr1WqMhEMvMtLrit[32] 10 Things We Thought Were True Before the Scientific Method[32] 10 Things We Thought Were True Before the Scientific Method[32] 10 Things We Thought Were True Before the Scientific Method[32] 10 Things We Thought Were True Before the Scientific Method[33] MATERNAL IMPRESSIONS.[33] MATERNAL IMPRESSIONS.[33] MATERNAL IMPRESSIONS.[33] MATERNAL IMPRESSIONS.[34] An exact diary of what was observ'd during a close attendance upon Mary Toft, the pretended rabbet-breeder of Godalming in Surrey, from Monday Nov. 28, to Wednesday Dec. 7 following. : Together with an account of her confession of the fraud. : Manningham, Richard, Sir, 1690-1759 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive[34] An exact diary of what was observ'd during a close attendance upon Mary Toft, the pretended rabbet-breeder of Godalming in Surrey, from Monday Nov. 28, to Wednesday Dec. 7 following. : Together with an account of her confession of the fraud. : Manningham, Richard, Sir, 1690-1759 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive[34] An exact diary of what was observ'd during a close attendance upon Mary Toft, the pretended rabbet-breeder of Godalming in Surrey, from Monday Nov. 28, to Wednesday Dec. 7 following. : Together with an account of her confession of the fraud. : Manningham, Richard, Sir, 1690-1759 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive[34] An exact diary of what was observ'd during a close attendance upon Mary Toft, the pretended rabbet-breeder of Godalming in Surrey, from Monday Nov. 28, to Wednesday Dec. 7 following. : Together with an account of her confession of the fraud. : Manningham, Richard, Sir, 1690-1759 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive[35] A short narrative of an extraordinary delivery of rabbets, : perform'd by Mr John Howard, Surgeon at Guilford, : Saint-André, Nathaniel : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive[35] A short narrative of an extraordinary delivery of rabbets, : perform'd by Mr John Howard, Surgeon at Guilford, : Saint-André, Nathaniel : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive[35] A short narrative of an extraordinary delivery of rabbets, : perform'd by Mr John Howard, Surgeon at Guilford, : Saint-André, Nathaniel : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive[35] A short narrative of an extraordinary delivery of rabbets, : perform'd by Mr John Howard, Surgeon at Guilford, : Saint-André, Nathaniel : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive[36] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[36] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[36] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[36] The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[37] The Woman Who Convinced England That She Gave Birth To Bunnies[37] The Woman Who Convinced England That She Gave Birth To Bunnies[37] The Woman Who Convinced England That She Gave Birth To Bunnies[37] The Woman Who Convinced England That She Gave Birth To Bunnies[38] This 18th-Century Woman Convinced Doctors She Was Giving Birth to Rabbits[38] This 18th-Century Woman Convinced Doctors She Was Giving Birth to Rabbits[38] This 18th-Century Woman Convinced Doctors She Was Giving Birth to Rabbits[38] This 18th-Century Woman Convinced Doctors She Was Giving Birth to Rabbits[39] Mary Toft's Three Confessions[39] Mary Toft's Three Confessions[39] Mary Toft's Three Confessions[39] Mary Toft's Three Confessions[40] Karen Harvey – Mary Toft’s Monstrous Births of 1726: Then and Now[40] Karen Harvey – Mary Toft’s Monstrous Births of 1726: Then and Now[40] Karen Harvey – Mary Toft’s Monstrous Births of 1726: Then and Now[40] Karen Harvey – Mary Toft’s Monstrous Births of 1726: Then and Now[41] Rabbits, Whigs, and Hunters: Cultural History and Protest in Mary Toft’s Monstrous Births of 1726 | The Center for 17th- & 18th-Century Studies[41] Rabbits, Whigs, and Hunters: Cultural History and Protest in Mary Toft’s Monstrous Births of 1726 | The Center for 17th- & 18th-Century Studies[41] Rabbits, Whigs, and Hunters: Cultural History and Protest in Mary Toft’s Monstrous Births of 1726 | The Center for 17th- & 18th-Century Studies[41] Rabbits, Whigs, and Hunters: Cultural History and Protest in Mary Toft’s Monstrous Births of 1726 | The Center for 17th- & 18th-Century Studies[42] Karen Harvey – Mary Toft’s Monstrous Births of 1726: Then and Now[42] Karen Harvey – Mary Toft’s Monstrous Births of 1726: Then and Now[42] Karen Harvey – Mary Toft’s Monstrous Births of 1726: Then and Now[42] Karen Harvey – Mary Toft’s Monstrous Births of 1726: Then and Now[43] Mary Toft's Three Confessions[43] Mary Toft's Three Confessions[43] Mary Toft's Three Confessions[43] Mary Toft's Three Confessions[44] Why Historians Are Reexamining the Case of the Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[44] Why Historians Are Reexamining the Case of the Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[44] Why Historians Are Reexamining the Case of the Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[44] Why Historians Are Reexamining the Case of the Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits[45] This 18th-Century Woman Convinced Doctors She Was Giving Birth to Rabbits[45] This 18th-Century Woman Convinced Doctors She Was Giving Birth to Rabbits[45] This 18th-Century Woman Convinced Doctors She Was Giving Birth to Rabbits[45] This 18th-Century Woman Convinced Doctors She Was Giving Birth to Rabbits[46] Mary Toft - Wikipedia[46] Mary Toft - Wikipedia[46] Mary Toft - Wikipedia[46] Mary Toft - Wikipedia[47] http://Bondeson, Jan (1997), A Cabinet of Medical Curiosities, I. B. Tauris, pp. 122–143, ISBN 1-86064-228-4[47] http://Bondeson, Jan (1997), A Cabinet of Medical Curiosities, I. B. Tauris, pp. 122–143, ISBN 1-86064-228-4[47] http://Bondeson, Jan (1997), A Cabinet of Medical Curiosities, I. B. Tauris, pp. 122–143, ISBN 1-86064-228-4[47] http://Bondeson, Jan (1997), A Cabinet of Medical Curiosities, I. B. 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The IMDB trivia note says that:The name "Dead Rabbits" has a second meaning rooted in the Irish-American vernacular of 1857. The word "Rabbit" is a phonetic corruption of the Gaelic word ráibéad, meaning "man to be feared". "Dead" is a slang intensifier meaning "very." "Dead Ráibéad" thus means a man to be greatly feared.According to the online edition of Niall Ó Dónaill’s Irish-English dictionary Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, the Irish word ‘ráibéad’ does not mean ‘man to be feared’ but ‘big hulking person or thing’, which is…not utterly dissimilar, but not exactly the same thing, either. Other online Irish-English dictionaries that I’ve consulted did not recognise the word ‘ráibéad’ at all.I suspect that if someone were to look it up in Patrick S. Dineen’s celebrated Foclóir Gaedhilge agus Béarla, ‘ráibéad’ would be defined as a.) a large fellow, b.) an extract derived from the cheesemaking process, c.) a clod of soil, d.) injustice, e.) joy at having woken up early, f.) a breed of dog, g.) seven hammers.(Actually, Dineen is available online, and it has no entry for that word.)The Irish for ‘rabbit’, incidentally, is ‘coinín’. The Irish for ‘dead rabbit’ is ‘coinín marbh’.I am not an expert in American slang, but I’ve only ever heard ‘dead’ being used as an intensifier meaning ‘very’ in urban Irish and English slang, as in ‘dead boring’ or ‘dead good’. The IMDB note looks to me like a piece of folk etymology, not only in the way it combines English with Irish but also in that the only plausible etymology for ‘Dead Rabbit’, based on the only dictionary entry available, would be ‘very large person’, not ‘person greatly to be feared’. So no, I don’t think that ‘Dead Rabbit’ comes from Irish.According to Wikipedia, the Dead Rabbits were called that because they supposedly carried a dead rabbit on a pike, or threw one before they would start fighting. Seems a tiny bit more plausible to me.

Rabbit burrows and warrens. Speaking from personal experience, my family had 4 pet rabbits that multiplied at an enormous rate. We had a small space in our backyard with some mud to plant trees etc. The rabbits made use of this and built burrows underneath our house. 50 rabbits would stay in these burrows. We decided to explore it once and tried to see inside it with a torch and were amazed to find the level of intricacy. There were multiple branches and we couldn't see past a certain depth. It must have been a full fledged burrow with multiple entry/exit points, sleeping and breeding areas etc. It was well ventilated too. At times they would even seal the entrance of this burrow so we wouldn't know where exactly it was. They all lived in harmony in this. The best part of it was, during heavy rains we had puddles every where in our yard but not a single drop of water in their burrow. Amazing engineering! Rabbits can build burrows thousands of meters long and dig about 3-10m deep.I could find the below picture online which is a cast of the rabbit burrows.Image Source: BBC (Underground worlds caught on camera)