nd all the animals
were beaten with a leafy olive-branch.{44}

As for the fires, an Irish custom to some extent supplies a parallel. On
Epiphany Eve a sieve of oats was set up, "and in it a dozen of candles
set round, and in the centre one larger, all lighted." This was said to
be in memory of the Saviour and His apostles, lights of the world.{45}
Here is an account of a similar custom practised in Co. Leitrim:--

"A piece of board is covered with cow-dung, and twelve rushlights are
stuck therein. These are sprinkled with ash at the top, to make them
light easily, and then set alight, each being named by some one
present, and as each dies so will the life of its owner. A ball is
then made of the dung, and it is placed over the door of the cowhouse
for an increase of cattle. Sometimes mud is used, and the ball placed
over the door of the dwelling-house."{46}

There remains to be considered under Epiphany usages an ancient and very
remarkable game played annually on January 6 at Haxey in Lincolnshire. It
is known traditionally as "Haxey Hood," and its centre is a struggle
between the men of two villages for the possession of a roll of sacking
or leather called the "hood." Over it preside the "boggans" or "bullocks"
of Plough Monday (see p. 352), headed by a figure known as "My Lord," who
is attended by a fool. The proceedings are opened on the village green by
a mysterious speech from the fool:--

"Now, good folks, this is Haxa' Hood. We've killed two |348| bullocks
and a half, but the other half we had to leave running about field: we
can fetch it if it's wanted. Remember it's--

'Hoose agin hoose, toon agin toon,
And if you meet a man knock him doon.'"

Then, in an open field, the hoods--there are six of them, one apparently
for each of the chief hamlets round--are thrown up and struggled for.
"The object is to carry them off the field away from the boggans. If any
of these can get hold of them, or even touch them, they have to be given
up, and carried back to My Lord. For every one carried off the field the
boggans forfeit half-a-crown, which is spent in beer, doubtless by the
men of the particular hamlet who have carried off the hood." The great
event of the day is the struggle for the last hood--made of
leather--between the men of Haxey and the men of Westwoodside--"that is
to say really between the customers of the public-houses there--each
party trying to get it to his favou