page_title: Haxey Hood
section_title: Preparations
hierarchical_section_title: Haxey Hood / Preparations
caption_attribution_description: English: Smoking the Fool
context_page_description: The Haxey Hood is a traditional event in Haxey, North Lincolnshire, England, on 6 January, the Twelfth Day of Christmas.
  A large football scrum pushes a leather tube to one of four pubs, where it remains until the following year's game.
context_section_description: In the weeks before the event, the Fool and the Boggins tour nearby villages in order to collect money (traditionally to pay for the event, but now to raise money for local charities). Traditionally they sing a number of well-known folk songs including "John Barleycorn", "Cannons (Drink England Dry)" and "The Farmer's Boy". All wear their full festival costumes, the only exception being that the Fool's face is not marked.
  At 12 noon, work in the parish comes to a standstill and people start to make their way to Haxey village to gather and take part in the traditional ritual. At about 12:30 the officials start a tour of the ale houses involved, and drink free drinks at each pub, provided by the landlord as a token of good luck to try to bring the Hood its way. Many people follow this tour and consider it a vital part of the day. They start at the Carpenters Arms where they sing the traditional folk songs and ceremoniously paint the Fool's face. Then they move to the Kings Arms and then up towards the church, taking in the Loco and the Duke William on the way, drinking and singing as they go. Around 2:30 pm the officials leave the Duke and process up to the church.
  The Fool leads the procession and has the right to kiss any woman on the way. Once at the green in front of the Parish Church, at around 2:30, the Fool makes his traditional speech of welcome standing on an old mounting block in front of the church known as the Mowbray Stone. During this speech a fire is lit with damp straw behind him. The smoke rises up and around him and this is known as "Smoking the Fool". This is a watered-down version of the earlier custom (abandoned at the beginning of the 20th century due to its obvious danger) in which a more substantial fire was lit with damp straw beneath a tree. The Fool was then suspended over the fire and swung back and forth until he was almost suffocated before being cut down and dropped into the fire, from where he had to make his escape as best he could. The Fool finishes his speech with the traditional words that the crowd chant along with him. They are: "hoose agen hoose, toon agen toon, if a man meets a man knock 'im doon, but doan't 'ot 'im," which translates as: "house against house, town against town, if a man meets a man, knock him down but don’t hurt him."
  The Towns mentioned are the villages of Westwoodside and Haxey, and Houses are the public houses (pubs) of those villages.
  The pubs are:
  The Carpenters Arms – Newbigg, Westwoodside
  Duke William Hotel since 1730 – Church Street, Haxey
  The Loco – 31 Church Street, Haxey
  The Kings Arms – Low Street, Haxey
  After the speech, the Fool leads the crowd to the middle of a field where the game is to be played.
caption: Smoking the Fool
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