Haxey, Lincolnshire, England, UK – The Fool participates in the traditional ancient custom of The Haxey Hood since the 14th Century

---

The village of Haxey have been practicing the ancient tradition of The Haxey Hood since the 14th Century. It is believed to be the oldest local tradition in England. Starting with the Fool and The Boggins visiting the village pubs, the Fool addresses the crowd before he is smoked as a fire of damp straw is set alight at the village church, then what is best described as a sort of rugby match, with unlimited participants and few rules, as a leather tube, The Hood, is slowly walked by the large unorganised rugby scrum to one of four local pubs, where it remains until the following years game

---

Size: 3673px × 2688px
Location: Haxey, Lincolnshire, England, UK
Photo credit: © Matt Limb OBE / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 14th, 6, ancient, axholme, boggins, carnival, celebration, century, christmas, colorful, culture, day, dress, drinking, england, entertainment, epiphany, event, fancy, festival, folk, folksongs, fool, hat, haxey, heritage, hood, idiot, isle, january, jester, joke, joker, lincolnshire, local, match, oldest, pubs, rugby, rules, singing, sway, tradition, traditional, twelfth, uk, village, winter