Rochdale, Greater Manchester 1800s

“I have twice met with those who believed in the baum-rappit, i.e. the phantom rabbit that is supposed to haunt the cloughs” Manchester City News (18 July, 1896)

Remember the Vampire Rabbit, where I said I’d not heard of a vampire rabbit in English folklore before? Well, I’ve found the second best thing… an evil phantom rabbit from Rochdale?!

The ‘Baum-Rappit’ has an entry in The English Dialect Dictionary by Joseph Wright:

“There is a passage in Rochdale leading to St. Mary’s Church called ‘The Baum.’ A man went through this passage late at night and afterwards this dialogue took place: ‘Wot dost’ think I seed last night? I seed a rappit.’ ‘That’s nought, a rappit’s common enoof.’ ‘But this were a baum-rappit.”

It seems in some cases, people use the term ‘Baum-Rappit’ to explain away when someone claims to have seen something imaginary; ‘It’s nowt but a baum-rappit!’. Which makes sense, and I would believe this is the only reason for the term being coined… if people hadn’t come forward to say they HAD seen an evil rabbit lurking on the streets of Rochdale.

Supposedly, between Cheetham Street and Yorkshire Street, there have been reports of ‘a malicious, large-eyed creature’ with long legs, resembling a hare but can grow to the size of an ox. A lot of the reports come directly from St Mary’s Church, with a lot of stories claiming that this menacing rabbit appearing on a 125 year cycle (beat that, Pennywise!). The claims of a sighting were so popular that the Baum Rabbit was mentioned in Robertson’s Guide to Rochdale in the 1870’s (which makes me think this fella showed up more often than once every 125 years…).

Quite a few tales state that this rabbit used to scare the pants off those leaving the pub closest to St. Mary’s Church, I find it very amusing whenever a pub is mentioned in folklore because it does make you think that perhaps those who spot this apparition could potentially.. just maybe.. be rather drunk. And somehow, their story of an evil ghost rabbit has stuck!

One of the drunken punters that was frightened by the Baum Rabbit was a poet, who wrote:

Confound that rabbit,
I wish some chap would grab it,
And stop its nightly habit,
Confound that rabbit!
Confound its head and eyes,
Confound its legs and thighs,
Confound it otherwise,
Confound that rabbit!
Dogs rush out and squeeze him,
Worry, toss and tease him,
That is if you can seize him,
Confound that rabbit!!

It has also been said, similarly to Jenny Greenteeth, that the Baum Rabbit was used to frighten children, maybe to get them to stay away from this area after dark, saying ‘the Baum Rabbit will get you!’. This is a very common theme for folklore in northern towns, I supposed scaring your child into submission is a lot easier than just saying that you’d rather they didn’t muck around in unsightly areas.

Have you noticed any evil looking rabbits in the Rochdale area?