Treacle mining
Encyclopedia
Treacle mining is the fictitious mining
of treacle
(similar to molasses
) in a raw form similar to coal. The subject purports to be serious but is an attempt to test credulity
. Thick black treacle makes the deception plausible. The topic has been a joke in British humour
for a century.
(Shropshire), Talskiddy
, Bisham
, Nuneaton
, Chobham
, Tongham
, Tadley
, Skidby
, Ditchford, Crick
, Burtle, Somerset and Dunchideock
; in several northern towns including Natland
and Baggrow
in Cumbria; in Croftamie
, Scotland; and in the fictional village of Wymsey.
In Leeds
and West Yorkshire
it is said the Treacle Mines are in Pudsey
- birds are also said to fly backwards there. The paper mills around Maidstone
, in Kent
, were known as "The Tovil
Treacle Mines", by locals, after the area where one of the mills owned by Albert E. Reed was situated. The company helped the myth with a float in Maidstone carnival with a "treacle mine" theme.
One suggested answer to the story in this area is a rumour that the paper industry was threatened during the Second World War because there was no imported timber. Fermentation of straw was tried, creating a sticky goo. There were attempts to make paper from other than rags in the 19th century and an early commercial success was achieved by Samuel Hook and his son, Charles Townsend Hook, using straw at Upper Tovil Mill in the 1850s. The road next to Upper Tovil Mill became known, and was later named, as Straw Mill Hill. To produce pulp, the straw was cooked in hot alkali. After separation of the fibre, the remaining liquid looked like black treacle. Upper Tovil Mill closed in the 1980s and the site was used for a housing estate.
Tudeley
and Frittenden
in Kent are also said to have had treacle mines. A tank wagon on the Kent and East Sussex Railway
was painted in fictional Frittenden Treacle Mines livery in 2009.
Suggestions of a treacle mine in Buxted
, were published by the "Friends of Horwich".
Tadley
treacle mines had a local hotel named after them and a Tadley Treacle Fair is held. Legend says the name derives from using treacle tins to store money because banks could not be trusted. The tins were buried around the village. Criminals mined for tins.
For longer than a century a treacle mine was reputed to be located in Polegate, East Sussex which is commemorated by a restaurant near its location.
There are two theories behind the Treacle Mines of Tadley:
There is one theory behind the treacle mine in Tongham, Surrey.
, and it is likely that bituminous seeps from coal deposits were used in traditional remedies, so this may have inspired the joke (coal tar
also has medicinal uses). The Tar Tunnel
near Blists Hill in Shropshire
has natural deposits of tar
oozing from the walls which could be said to resemble treacle.
Another explanation is that "treacle" meant 'a medicine', derived from the appearance of the Greek derivative 'theriacal' meaning medicinal (Gk theriake = a curative or antidote), so the various healing wells around Britain were called "treacle wells". Treacle later came to mean a sticky syrup after the popularity of a honey-based drug called "Venice treacle", and the continued use of the old form in the treacle wells led to the joke.
In Devon, on the eastern edge of Dartmoor
, UK, the remains of mines are known locally as "Treacle Mines" since they show a glistening black residue that looks like treacle. In fact, the mines - always on granite - produced a mineral known as Micaceous hematite which was used as pounce
to dust early ink to prevent smearing. It was later used in rust-preventing paints and was the last mineral commercially mined on Dartmoor. This definition seems local to a geographical area.
s, restaurants and hotels have borne the name. The Treacle Mine public house in Grays
, Thurrock
, Essex
(pictured above) is an example, and the adjacent Treacle Mine Roundabout
which features on the local bus timetable is named after the public house. There is a restaurant/pub named Treacle Mine in Polegate, East Sussex; the Broomsquire Hotel in Tadley
, Hampshire
, was previously the Treacle Mine Hotel; and another Treacle Mine pub is in Hereford
.
Since April 2009 the town of Wincanton
, twinned with Ankh-Morpork
, has had a Treacle Mine Road.
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
of treacle
Treacle
Treacle is any syrup made during the refining of sugar and is defined as "uncrystallized syrup produced in refining sugar". Treacle is used chiefly in cooking as a form of sweetener or condiment....
(similar to molasses
Molasses
Molasses is a viscous by-product of the processing of sugar cane, grapes or sugar beets into sugar. The word molasses comes from the Portuguese word melaço, which ultimately comes from mel, the Latin word for "honey". The quality of molasses depends on the maturity of the sugar cane or sugar beet,...
) in a raw form similar to coal. The subject purports to be serious but is an attempt to test credulity
Credulity
Credulity is a state of willingness to believe in one or many people or things in the absence of reasonable proof or knowledge.Credulity is not simply belief in something that may be false. The subject of the belief may even be correct, but a credulous person will believe it without good...
. Thick black treacle makes the deception plausible. The topic has been a joke in British humour
British humour
British humour is a somewhat general term applied to certain comedic motifs that are often prevalent in comedic acts originating in the United Kingdom and its current or former colonies...
for a century.
Locations often suggested
Several treacle mines have been claimed in Britain, notably in WemWem
Wem is a small market town in Shropshire, England. It is the administrative centre for the northern area committee of Shropshire Council, which has its headquarters at Edinburgh House in the centre of Wem. Wem railway station is on the Shrewsbury to Crewe railway line...
(Shropshire), Talskiddy
Talskiddy
Talskiddy is a small village about two miles north of St Columb Major in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Originally a manorial settlement belonging to the Earldom of Cornwall, the village prospered in the 19th Century as a centre of the wool-combing industry...
, Bisham
Bisham
Bisham is a village and civil parish in the Windsor and Maidenhead district of Berkshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,149. The village is on the River Thames, north of which is Marlow in Buckinghamshire...
, Nuneaton
Nuneaton
Nuneaton is the largest town in the Borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth and in the English county of Warwickshire.Nuneaton is most famous for its associations with the 19th century author George Eliot, who was born on a farm on the Arbury Estate just outside Nuneaton in 1819 and lived in the town for...
, Chobham
Chobham, Surrey
Chobham is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, about 15 minutes drive from the London railway line stations at Woking to the south and Sunningdale to the north...
, Tongham
Tongham
Tongham is a small Surrey village located close to the north-east Hampshire and Surrey border. The village lies in a triangle between the A31 and the A331. Neighbouring villages include Ash and Badshot Lea....
, Tadley
Tadley
Tadley is a town and civil parish in the English county of Hampshire.During the 1950s and 1960s, the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment , now known as AWE, became the area's largest employer, and a large number of houses were built during this period to accommodate AWRE workers...
, Skidby
Skidby
Skidby is a small village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately north west of Hull city centre and south of Beverley. It lies just to the west of the A164 road which makes it very accessible....
, Ditchford, Crick
Crick, Northamptonshire
Crick is a village in the Daventry district of the county of Northamptonshire in England. It is close to the border with Warwickshire, west of Rugby and north-west of Northampton. The villages of Crick and West Haddon were by-passed by the A428 main road from Rugby to Northampton when the...
, Burtle, Somerset and Dunchideock
Dunchideock
Dunchideock is a small civil parish on the north eastern slopes of the Haldon Hills in Teignbridge, Devon, England. It covers an area of 392 hectares and lies about south-west of Exeter and north-east of Bovey Tracey...
; in several northern towns including Natland
Natland
Natland is village and civil parish about two miles south of Kendal in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, close to the village of Oxenholme. At the time of the 2001 census the population was 747....
and Baggrow
Baggrow
Baggrow is a small village in the parish of Allhallows situated north of the Lake District in the English county of Cumbria. In many parts of the village views of England's 4th highest peak Skiddaw, standing 931 metres above sea level, can be seen to the South East, some 9½ miles...
in Cumbria; in Croftamie
Croftamie
Croftamie is a small village near Drymen in Scotland.The village was traditionally part of Dunbartonshire, but a minor change in boundaries means that it is now under Stirling Council....
, Scotland; and in the fictional village of Wymsey.
In Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
and West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
it is said the Treacle Mines are in Pudsey
Pudsey
Pudsey is a market town in West Yorkshire, England. Once an independent town, it was incorporated into the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds in 1974, and is located midway between Bradford and Leeds city centres. It has a population of 32,391....
- birds are also said to fly backwards there. The paper mills around Maidstone
Maidstone
Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...
, in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, were known as "The Tovil
Tovil
Tovil is a civil parish in the Borough of Maidstone, in Kent in the South East of England.It is a mixture of residential and industrial zoning, with an increase in commercial usage towards the centre of Maidstone, and more arable use on the outskirts....
Treacle Mines", by locals, after the area where one of the mills owned by Albert E. Reed was situated. The company helped the myth with a float in Maidstone carnival with a "treacle mine" theme.
One suggested answer to the story in this area is a rumour that the paper industry was threatened during the Second World War because there was no imported timber. Fermentation of straw was tried, creating a sticky goo. There were attempts to make paper from other than rags in the 19th century and an early commercial success was achieved by Samuel Hook and his son, Charles Townsend Hook, using straw at Upper Tovil Mill in the 1850s. The road next to Upper Tovil Mill became known, and was later named, as Straw Mill Hill. To produce pulp, the straw was cooked in hot alkali. After separation of the fibre, the remaining liquid looked like black treacle. Upper Tovil Mill closed in the 1980s and the site was used for a housing estate.
Tudeley
Tudeley
thumb|Chagall windowTudeley is a small village near Tonbridge Kent in South East England.It is the location of All Saints' church, the only church in the world that has all its windows in stained glass designed by Marc Chagall.The East window...
and Frittenden
Frittenden
Frittenden is a village and civil parish in the Tunbridge Wells District of Kent, England. The parish is located on the flood plain of one of the tributaries of the River Medway, 15 miles to the east of Tunbridge Wells: the village is three miles south of Headcorn. It is in a very rural...
in Kent are also said to have had treacle mines. A tank wagon on the Kent and East Sussex Railway
Kent and East Sussex Railway
The Kent & East Sussex Railway refers to both an historical private railway company in Kent and Sussex in England, as well as a heritage railway currently running on part of the route of the historical company.-Historical Company:-Background:...
was painted in fictional Frittenden Treacle Mines livery in 2009.
Suggestions of a treacle mine in Buxted
Buxted
Buxted is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex in England. The parish is situated on the Weald, north of Uckfield; the settlements of Five Ash Down, Heron's Ghyll and High Hurstwood are included within its boundaries...
, were published by the "Friends of Horwich".
Tadley
Tadley
Tadley is a town and civil parish in the English county of Hampshire.During the 1950s and 1960s, the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment , now known as AWE, became the area's largest employer, and a large number of houses were built during this period to accommodate AWRE workers...
treacle mines had a local hotel named after them and a Tadley Treacle Fair is held. Legend says the name derives from using treacle tins to store money because banks could not be trusted. The tins were buried around the village. Criminals mined for tins.
For longer than a century a treacle mine was reputed to be located in Polegate, East Sussex which is commemorated by a restaurant near its location.
Explanations offered
- That Cromwell's army buried barrels of molasses that later leaked and seeped to the surface.
- That prehistoric sugar cane beds became fossilised in a similar way to peat and coal.
There are two theories behind the Treacle Mines of Tadley:
- In the early 20th century, a gardener unearthed a treacle tin (or possibly golden syrup) containing money.
- More likely, the "treacle" refers to the heavy clay soil of the area, hence Tadley Treacle Mines.
There is one theory behind the treacle mine in Tongham, Surrey.
- A train of treacle was derailed during WWI and rather than move it, local people buried it. The treacle rose to the surface many years later.
Origins
"Treacle" originally meant any thick syrupy salveSalve
A salve is a medical ointment used to soothe the head or other body surface. A popular eye medicine known as "Phrygian powder" was one of Laodicea's sources of wealth...
, and it is likely that bituminous seeps from coal deposits were used in traditional remedies, so this may have inspired the joke (coal tar
Coal tar
Coal tar is a brown or black liquid of extremely high viscosity, which smells of naphthalene and aromatic hydrocarbons. Coal tar is among the by-products when coal iscarbonized to make coke or gasified to make coal gas...
also has medicinal uses). The Tar Tunnel
Tar Tunnel
The Tar Tunnel is located on the north bank of the River Severn in the Ironbridge Gorge at Coalport, England, and now forms part of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust....
near Blists Hill in Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
has natural deposits of tar
Tar
Tar is modified pitch produced primarily from the wood and roots of pine by destructive distillation under pyrolysis. Production and trade in tar was a major contributor in the economies of Northern Europe and Colonial America. Its main use was in preserving wooden vessels against rot. The largest...
oozing from the walls which could be said to resemble treacle.
Another explanation is that "treacle" meant 'a medicine', derived from the appearance of the Greek derivative 'theriacal' meaning medicinal (Gk theriake = a curative or antidote), so the various healing wells around Britain were called "treacle wells". Treacle later came to mean a sticky syrup after the popularity of a honey-based drug called "Venice treacle", and the continued use of the old form in the treacle wells led to the joke.
In Devon, on the eastern edge of Dartmoor
Dartmoor
Dartmoor is an area of moorland in south Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers .The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The...
, UK, the remains of mines are known locally as "Treacle Mines" since they show a glistening black residue that looks like treacle. In fact, the mines - always on granite - produced a mineral known as Micaceous hematite which was used as pounce
Pounce (calligraphy)
Pounce is a fine powder that was sprinkled over wet ink to hasten drying prior to the invention of blotting paper. The powder was prepared from substances such as finely ground salt, sand, or powdered soft minerals such as talc or soapstone...
to dust early ink to prevent smearing. It was later used in rust-preventing paints and was the last mineral commercially mined on Dartmoor. This definition seems local to a geographical area.
Actual places
Several public housePublic house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
s, restaurants and hotels have borne the name. The Treacle Mine public house in Grays
Grays
Grays is the largest town in the borough and unitary authority of Thurrock in Essex and one of the Thurrock's traditional parishes...
, Thurrock
Thurrock
Thurrock is a unitary authority with borough status in the English ceremonial county of Essex. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The local authority is Thurrock Council....
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
(pictured above) is an example, and the adjacent Treacle Mine Roundabout
Treacle Mine Roundabout
Treacle Mine Roundabout is a suburban roundabout between Grays and Stifford Clays, Essex, England.It is named, as is the adjacent public house for the local legend of Treacle mines in the valley of the river Mardyke....
which features on the local bus timetable is named after the public house. There is a restaurant/pub named Treacle Mine in Polegate, East Sussex; the Broomsquire Hotel in Tadley
Tadley
Tadley is a town and civil parish in the English county of Hampshire.During the 1950s and 1960s, the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment , now known as AWE, became the area's largest employer, and a large number of houses were built during this period to accommodate AWRE workers...
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, was previously the Treacle Mine Hotel; and another Treacle Mine pub is in Hereford
Hereford
Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...
.
Since April 2009 the town of Wincanton
Wincanton
Wincanton is a small town in south Somerset, southwest England. The town lies on the A303 road, the main route between London and South West England, and has some light industry...
, twinned with Ankh-Morpork
Ankh-Morpork
Ankh-Morpork is a fictional city-state which prominently features in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of fantasy novels. As cities go, it is on the far side of corrupt and polluted, and is subject to outbreaks of comedic violence and brouhaha on a fairly regular basis...
, has had a Treacle Mine Road.
Cultural references
The Treacle Mine has been a joke played on children and the gullible since at least the nineteenth century.- In Alice's Adventures in WonderlandAlice's Adventures in WonderlandAlice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures...
(18651865 in literatureThe year 1865 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* June 9 - Charles Dickens is involved in the Staplehurst rail crash....
) by Lewis CarrollLewis CarrollCharles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
, Alice is shushed at the Mad Hatter's tea party for disbelieving a story told by the DormouseDormouseDormice are rodents of the family Gliridae. Dormice are mostly found in Europe, although some live in Africa and Asia. They are particularly known for their long periods of hibernation...
about a treacle well, inspired by the holy well at Binsey, OxfordshireBinsey, OxfordshireBinsey is a village by the River Thames about northwest of the centre of Oxford. It is the opposite side of the river from Port Meadow and about southwest of the ruins of Godstow Abbey.-History:...
.
- In Uncle and the Treacle TroubleUncle and the Treacle TroubleUncle and the Treacle Trouble is a children's novel written by J. P. Martin, the fourth of his Uncle series of six books. It was illustrated, like the others in the series, by Quentin Blake....
(19671967 in literatureThe year 1967 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Influential science fiction anthology Dangerous Visions published.*Cecil Day-Lewis is selected as the new Poet Laureate of the UK.-New books:...
), a children's book by J. P. Martin, the main character (an elephantElephantElephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
named Uncle) discovers the true meaning of a cryptic sign which reads Treac Levat; the characters soon discover that it relates to a vast hidden treacle vat.
- A treacle mine features in the novels Reaper ManReaper ManReaper Man is a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. Published in 1991, it is the 11th Discworld novel and the second to focus on Death. The title is a reference to Alex Cox's cult movie Repo Man.-Plot:...
(19871987 in literatureThe year 1987 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Tom Wolfe was paid $5 million for the film rights to his novel, The Bonfire of the Vanities, the most ever earned by an author, at the time.-Fiction:...
) and Night Watch (20022002 in literatureThe year 2002 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*March 16: Authorities in Saudi Arabia arrested and jailed poet Abdul Mohsen Musalam and fired a newspaper editor following the publication of Musalam's poem The Corrupt on Earth that criticized the state's Islamic...
) by Terry PratchettTerry PratchettSir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
. In the fictional DiscworldDiscworld (world)The Discworld is the fictional setting for all of Terry Pratchett's Discworld fantasy novels. It consists of a large disc resting on the backs of four huge elephants which are in turn standing on the back of an enormous turtle, named Great A'Tuin as it slowly swims...
city of Ankh-MorporkAnkh-MorporkAnkh-Morpork is a fictional city-state which prominently features in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of fantasy novels. As cities go, it is on the far side of corrupt and polluted, and is subject to outbreaks of comedic violence and brouhaha on a fairly regular basis...
there is a street named Treacle Mine Road, with the current watch house (analogous to a police station) found in the building formerly housing the entrance to a treacle mine. Extensive treacle and suet mines also feature in the background of The Fifth ElephantThe Fifth ElephantThe Fifth Elephant is the 24th Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. It introduces the clacks, a long-distance semaphore system. The novel was nominated for the Locus Award in 2000.-Plot summary:...
(19991999 in literatureThe year 1999 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*June 19 - Stephen King is hit by a Dodge van while taking a walk. He spends the next three weeks hospitalized...
).
- The Treacle PeopleThe Treacle PeopleThe Treacle People was a children's television programme shown on CITV in the United Kingdom, from 3 May 1996 to 25 July 1997. It only had two series, each with 13 episodes. The programme was short lived due to a lack of viewers. In a similar vein to other shows by the same writer, the humour...
was a children's TV show from 19951995 in televisionThe year 1995 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1995.For the American TV schedule, see: 1995-96 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:...
based around a treacle mine.
- Some of Ken DoddKen DoddKenneth Arthur Dodd OBE is a British comedian and singer songwriter, famous for his frizzy hair or “fluff dom” and buck teeth or “denchers”, his favourite cleaner, the feather duster and his greeting "How tickled I am!", as well as his send-off “Lots and Lots of Happiness!”...
's Diddy MenDiddy MenThe Diddy Men are commonly believed to be a creation of the British comedian Ken Dodd. However, they have existed in local mythology for much longer and, along with the Treacle and Jam Butty Mines of Knotty Ash, had been referred to in the earlier act of another Liverpool comedian Arthur Askey...
were said to work in a jam butty (jam sandwich) mine. This appears a similar concept.
See also
- Snipe huntSnipe huntA snipe hunt, a form of wild-goose chase that is also known as a fool's errand, is a type of practical joke that involves experienced people making fun of credulous newcomers by giving them an impossible or imaginary task...
- Cow tippingCow tippingCow tipping or cow pushing is the purported activity of sneaking up on a sleeping, upright cow and pushing it over for fun. As cattle do not sleep standing up, cow tipping is a myth.-Myth and reality:...
- Spaghetti treeSpaghetti treeThe spaghetti tree hoax is a famous 3-minute hoax report broadcast on April Fools' Day 1957 by the BBC current affairs programme Panorama. It told a tale of a family in southern Switzerland harvesting spaghetti from the fictitious spaghetti tree, broadcast at a time when this Italian dish was not...
- Drop bearDrop bearA drop bear is a fictitious Australian marsupial. Drop bears are commonly said to be unusually large, vicious, carnivorous koalas that inhabit treetops and attack their prey by dropping onto their heads from above...
- JackalopeJackalopeThe jackalope is a mythical animal of North American folklore described as a jackrabbit with antelope horns or deer antlers and sometimes a pheasant's tail . The word "jackalope" is a portmanteau of "jackrabbit" and "antalope", an archaic spelling of "antelope". It is also known as Lepus...
- Wild haggisWild HaggisWild haggis is a fictional creature said to be native to the Scottish Highlands. It is comically claimed to be the source of haggis, a traditional Scottish dish that is in fact made from the innards of sheep .According to some sources, the wild haggis's left and right legs are of different lengths...