Mole Hills
A molehill is a conical mound of loose soil raised by moles. They are often the only sign to indicate the presence of the mole. Molehills are waste material from digging or repairing burrows, and so are usually found where the mole is establishing new burrows, or where existing ones are damaged (for example by the weight of grazing livestock). Molehills commonly occur in lines along the route of the burrow, but in some cases they may not be directly above the burrow itself but at the ends of short side-tunnels. The mole runs vary in depth from surface runs only a few inches deep, to main runs, some 12 to 18 inches deep.
Molehills are sometimes used as a source of fine soil for use in gardening. Molehills have an important benefit to soil by aerating and tilling it, adding to its fertility However, they may cause damage to gardens and areas of grass (such as golf courses), and represent a minor safety hazard.
The mole was toasted by the Jacobites as the 'little gentleman in black velvet', because he brought about the death of their enemy, King William of England (1689-1702). In February 1702 William was riding at Hampton Court when his horse stumbled on a mole hill, and threw him, breaking his collar bone. However he insisted on returning to Kensington Palace which aggravated his condition. A few days later he became feverish and then died on 8 March 1702.
Superstitions involving Molehills are:
· Sudden arrival of molehills in a garden mean that someone will leave or death
· More molehills than usual mean that bad weather is coming
Talpia europaea is the common European mole. By the era of Early Modern English, the mole was also known in English as mouldywarp, a name echoed in other Germanic languages such as German (Maulwürfe), and Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Icelandic (muldvarp, mullvad, moldvarpa), where the muld/mull/mold part of the word means soil and the varp/vad/varpa part means throw), hence "one who throws soil" or "dirt tosser".
Male moles are called "boars", females are called "sows". A group of moles is called a labour.
Moles have extremely broad and powerful front feet, which are used as shovels and are equipped with large digging claws. A tiny mole weighing only around four ounces and about six inches long can shift ten pounds of earth in only twenty minutes, as he creates his network of underground
tunnels and throws up molehills along the way. This is the equivalent of a twelve-stone miner moving four tons in twenty minutes. (Though apparently a miner at the coalface does not in fact move more than one ton per hour.)
The mole's eyes are only one millimetre in diameter and protected by fur to keep out the soil, but moles have acute hearing, and highly sensitive noses and tails. They feed on the earthworms and insects they find in their tunnels and in the earth, and they consume about half their own weight
daily, so have to keep busy. A single mole can dig about twenty yards (eighteen metres) of tunnel in a day.
Superstitions involving Moles are:
· That mole hearts were often used in charms and spells - being slightly mysterious creatures and 'of the earth', they were thought to have special properties
· The wearing of a moles front feet in the form of a necklace was said to ward of rheumatism and was also said to be a toothache cure as well
· The carrying of the feet of a mole in your pocket was said to prevent cramp in the limbs, the front feet were to aid the arms and the hindfeet were to aid the legs
· Moles' feet are also a traditional anti-rheumatism and anti-toothache remedy, and moles' blood dispels warts.
To date, the oldest reference we have for a molecatcher is found here in Norfolk. William Manning to which the churchwardens accounts, in the Yarmouth records, show that during the years between 1575 and 1589 he caught over 800 moles and was paid a penny each for them.
At one time molecatchers could also make money from selling moleskins. At the peak of the trade America was importing over four million moleskins a year from England. It took over one hundred good pelts to make both front parts of a waistcoat. The skins were also made into coats, trousers and hats.
References
1. Wikipedia @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molehill
2. Moecatchers @ http://www.britishmolecatchers.co.uk/memberspage.htm
3. Guild Of British Molecatchers @ http://www.guildofbritishmolecatchers.co.uk/about-moles.html
4. Other references being added asap
