Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology
hare was shot in its back leg, it was clear to allthat the hare had been the shape-shifted witch The eating of some animals was generally forbidden. Caesar said that the Britons wouldnot kill nor eat hare, hen, or
GOOSE
. Yet suchtaboo beasts could, upon certain occasions, besacrificed; there is evidence that the Britonqueen
BOUDICCA
sacrificed a hare to divine herpeople’s future. Often taboos were linked toimagined descent from divine beasts, as is madeclear in the story of the Irish king
CONAIRE
who,because his mother was a
BIRD
, was forbidden tohunt or eat them. Irish folk belief that such fam-ilies as the O’Flahertys and the Coneelys weredescended from
SEALS
points to such an ancient tradition, as was the idea that such families would be drowned or otherwise killed shouldthey attempt to hunt their erstwhile kin.
