It actually was a Sussex swearword back in the 1870s, according to A Dictionary of the Sussex Dialect by the Reverend W. D. Parish:
RABBITS, e. An ejaculation. "What the rabbits! Why, it's never you out in such weather as this, surelye!"
"What the rabbits! Why, it's never you out in such weather as this, surelye!"
Other options:
no subject
It actually was a Sussex swearword back in the 1870s, according to A Dictionary of the Sussex Dialect by the Reverend W. D. Parish: