Amy Hart

The Hart.

Through the years, and especially during my time teaching elementary school, our surname has been associated with things like Valentines Day and feelings of love, as well the organ that flutters in the throes of affection.







But, did you know that "hart" comes from the old English heorot and means "deer" (specifically, a "male red deer over 5 years old") -- or quite simply, a stag?


Pictured are two stags, a white stag and a brown stag.

Many villages in England boast a pub by the name of The White Hart. In fact, in 1393, King Richard II made it compulsory for pubs to have signs outside, and many of them took the name White Hart because it was the badge of the king.

Pictured are two images with captions. The first image is of a pub called "The White Hart." The caption reads, "The White Hart in Stow-on-the-Wold, my favorite market town in the Cotswolds." The second image is of Chris Hart standing in front of a sign with the menu for The White Hart. The caption reads, "Chris at The White Hart in 2016, our first visit to Stow-on-the-Wold - the pub has since been renamed (!!)"
We've come across upon several such pubs on trips to the Cotswolds – the first trip which, back in 2016, served as a huge inspiration for so much about The Hare and The Hart.


Legends abound about the rare white hart in English folklore, including Arthurian legend, which states that the creature has a perennial ability to evade capture, and that the pursuit of the animal represents mankind's spiritual quest.

Pictured is a medieval style art piece with a stag, or hart, and a crest in the background.

In more current mythology, think of the white stag that the Pevensie children pursued as kings and queens in C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia series, as well as Harry Potter's patronus.

And ~ do you remember the Hartford commercials that aired years ago during football games? What springs to mind? You've got it - a stag crossing a river - or more precisely, a hart at a ford!

As you know, The Hare & The Hart is English at heart with a Southern sensibility & a French twist.

We've been incredibly inspired by our time in the UK; so much so that we love evoking a bit of a (modern) village pub vibe with our name ~ and our logo with the silhouettes of the hare and hart inside the wreaths.

If you could name a pub, what would it be? I'd love to hear, so email me at amy@thehareandthehart.com!

xo,

Pictured is Amy Hart's signature.

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