Yorkshire residents shocked by this disturbing pagan tradition
  • 4 months ago
One of the weirdest Christmas traditions is the 'Poor Old Hoss of Richmond'.

Dating back centuries, the Poor Old Hoss is a hobby horse with a real equine skull fixed on a pole as his head.

Mummers in huntsman's costume take the Hoss through the Town of Richmond, North Yorkshire and sing as his special song and bring him back to life with a blast on a hunting horn when he 'dies'.

The custom is believed to have pagan origins, with known records dating back to the Seventeenth Century.
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