Haxey Hood

Haxey Hood is a game that originated from Haxey, England, a village in North Lincolnshire.  The Haxey Hood game was traditionally played exactly twelve days after Christmas.  If the twelfth day fell on a Sunday, then Haxey Hood had to be postponed and played on a day prior to Sunday. 

Haxey Hood is a game that can be described as rugby, but it uses a ball that is slightly larger than a rugby ball. 

The Haxey Hood game started in the fourteen century to commemorate an event that happened to Lady de Mowbray.  Lady de Mowbray was the wife of the land owner in the area, John de Mowbray. 

One day, Lady de Mowbray was walking past a field in the Haxey village.  A strong wind came along and blew the lady’s hood off.  Two men who were working in a nearby farm saw what had happened and began chasing it until it was caught.  But even after one of the men caught it, he was far too shy to hand it to Lady de Mowbray.  Instead, he handed the hood to one of his friends to give to the lady.  Lady de Mowbray thanked the gentleman for returning her hood, but she scolded the man who was too shy to hand the hood directly to her. 

Lady de Mowbray was so impressed at what happened the day she lost her hood that she later donated thirteen acres of land and asked the men to reenact that day each year.  This is the story of how the Haxey Hood game came to be.