Haxey Hood 2023: Centuries-old game in Yorkshire border village to go ahead after three-year absence - and one of its traditional host pubs is re-opening

The Hood will return to the fields of the Isle of Axholme, between Doncaster and Scunthorpe, on January 6 after a three-year hiatus. Before 2021, when Covid-19 restrictions led to its cancellation, the last time it had not taken place was in 1915.

The Hood pits the villagers of Haxey and Westwoodside against each other and they must try to return the ‘hood’ – actually a leather tube – to their home pub by carrying it between them in a large scrum known as a ‘sway’.

The game - featuring teams from local pubs - dates back to the 14th century and remains hugely popular, attracting large crowds of spectators.

The folklore surrounding the Hood is based on the story of Lady de Mowbray, a local landowner's wife, who was riding between Westwoodside and Haxey in around 1359 when her silk riding hood was blown off in a gale. Thirteen farmhands rushed to retrieve it from a nearby field, but the man who caught it was too shy to present it to her, and gave it to one of the others instead.

Lady de Mowbray told the man who handed it back that he had acted like a lord, while the man who had found it was a fool for his reticence.

She then donated 13 acres of land on condition that the chase would be re-enacted every year by the men of the village.

Traditionally, four pubs entered teams; The Loco, Duke William and The King's Arms in Haxey and The Carpenter's Arms in Westwoodside. Yet in 2019, in an ‘unprecedented’ situation, licensing issues and closures meant that only one of the inns was open for the Hood and none in Haxey. A winning milestone had to be nominated instead.

However, the Hood’s organisers have confirmed that for 2023, the Duke William will be open under new ownership. A statement from the Haxey Hood Appreciation Society read: “There have been quite a few people messaging this page asking if Haxey Hood will be taking place on the 6th January 2023; it is 100 percent going ahead!

“It is going to be an extremely busy week for the Lord, The Fool, The Chief Boggin and Boggins, preparing for Hood day.”

Mark Burley added: “Like a few people I guess, I had been wondering what’s happening at the Duke William. A massive pat on the back to the new owners; I popped in and asked the question. I can confirm that it is planning to open for Haxey Hood. Just what the local residents needed - a local chap caring about the wonderful community.”

In 2018 the Duke William’s previous owner submitted plans to demolish the pub and build homes on the site.

History of the Haxey Hood

The overseer is called the Lord of the Hood, and there are other 'referees' called boggins as well as the Fool, who leads the procession between the pubs and has the right to kiss any woman he encounters along the way. He then makes a welcome speech and a fire is lit behind him - a custom known as 'smoking the Fool'.

In centuries past, the poor Fool used to be suspended over the fire before he nearly choked, and was then dropped down and told to try and escape.

His traditional chant translates as 'house against house, town against town, if a man meets a man, knock him down but don’t hurt him.'

The game is won when the hood arrives at the front step of the victorious pub and is given to the landlord, who retains possession of it for the year.

The patch of land used to contest the Hood is so prominent that the churned-up ground can even be seen from space in Google Earth satellite images.

In 2002, a car was shunted 10ft down a road into another vehicle by the sway. Parking along the route is no longer allowed.

Despite rows in recent years over the Hood’s future if its participating pubs closed or were subject to restrictions, the game itself actually pre-dates all of them.