What Has The Skull Of A Dead Horse,

with bottle-bottoms for eyes and nails for teeth,

got to do with Easter? quite a lot as it happens, the festival evolved from pagan rituals, in this case, celebrating the arrival of spring. Among those customs is the appearance of skeletal horse, in East Lancashire, a long time ago, the streets were plagued by a kind of hobby-horse made from the skull of a dead horse, with bottle-bottoms for eyes and nails for teeth. The contraption was worn over the head and had a lever to snap its jaws. This ‘horse’ (which resembles the Welsh Mari Lywd) was nicknamed Old Ball, after the common name for a carthorse. Sackcloth or cow-skin hid the operator, who would snap the monster’s jaws to make women scream and terrify their children. Several people suffered defensive injuries to their hands, the photograph above of a modern Mari Lywd, the Origin of Old Ball. By R. Fiend, CC BY-SA 3.0, also many crimes were overlooked in the time of festival, such as domestic violence, at least in the North East of the 19th century. On Easter Tuesday, wives were allowed to beat their husbands. On Easter Wednesday, men could take their revenge. We should be thankful that this custom has died out! for more fascinating looks at the festival head on over to Folk Law Thursday for a spot of Easter violence!