Bottle-kicking
Encyclopedia
Bottle-kicking is an old Leicestershire
custom that takes place in the village of Hallaton
each Easter Monday
. Records of bottle-kicking date to the late 18th century, but the custom is thought to originate much earlier, from before the Christian
era.
Other explanations of the custom's origin include the idea that the tradition harks back to England
's pagan past, when hares were sacrificed to the goddess Ēostre
.
Bottle-kicking has been an annual tradition for over 200 years. The tradition has been cancelled only once in that time, in 2001 because of concerns over foot-and-mouth disease
. Legend has it that the rector of Hallaton, opposed to the tradition because of its pagan origins, tried to ban the event in 1790. However, he relented the next day, after the words "No pie, no parson" appeared scrawled on the wall of the vicarage overnight.
and Hallaton. Locals carry a large hare pie and the three "bottles", which are actually small kegs or barrels. Two of the bottles are filled with beer; the third, called "the dummy", is made of solid wood and painted red and white.
The pie is blessed by the Hallaton vicar
before being cut apart and thrown to the crowd for the "scramble". The rest is placed in a sack to be carried up the nearby Hare Pie Hill.
The bottles are then taken to the Buttercross (a conical structure with a sphere on top, used for keeping butter and cheese cool when the village was a market town) on the village
green to be dressed with ribbons. Here, the penny loaves are distributed to the crowd.
The order of events in 2009 was as follows:
9.30am: Parade through Medbourne, traditionally held to ‘wake’ the villagers.
10am: Tug-of-war match between Ashley and Medbourne in the field behind The George pub in Ashley.
11am: Church service in Hallaton at 11am.
1.45pm: Hare Pie parade from the Fox Inn, Hallaton, to the church gates.
About 2.50pm: Parade departs to the bottle kicking field, with the pie handed out to the crowd.
3.15pm: ‘Kick-off’
The contest is a rough one, with teams fighting to move the bottles over such obstacles as ditches, hedges, and barbed wire. Broken bones are not unheard-of, and emergency services are generally on standby.
After the game, participants and spectators return to the village. Those players who put in an especially good effort (for example, carrying a barrel across the goal stream or holding on to a barrel for quite some time) are helped up onto the top of the ten-foot-tall Buttercross, and the opened bottle is passed up for them to drink from before being passed around the crowd.
The festive day normally draws to a close with participants and spectators retiring to pub for drink and banter.
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
custom that takes place in the village of Hallaton
Hallaton
Hallaton is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 523....
each Easter Monday
Easter Monday
Easter Monday is the day after Easter Sunday and is celebrated as a holiday in some largely Christian cultures, especially Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox cultures...
. Records of bottle-kicking date to the late 18th century, but the custom is thought to originate much earlier, from before the Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
era.
Origin and history
Local lore claims that the custom began when two ladies of Hallaton were saved from a raging bull by a startled hare, distracting the bull from its charge. They showed their gratitude to God for sending the hare by donating money to the church on the understanding that every Easter Monday, the vicar would provide a hare pie, twelve penny loaves, and 2 barrels of beer for the poor of the village.The Hallaton villagers would fight each other for the food and drink, and on one occasion, the residents of the neighbouring village of Medbourne joined the fray and stole the beer. The Hallatonians cooperated to retrieve the spoils, thus beginning the village rivalry that continues to this day.Other explanations of the custom's origin include the idea that the tradition harks back to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
's pagan past, when hares were sacrificed to the goddess Ēostre
Eostre
Old English Ēostre and Old High German Ôstarâ are the names of a Germanic goddess whose Anglo-Saxon month, Ēostur-monath , has given its name to the festival of Easter...
.
Bottle-kicking has been an annual tradition for over 200 years. The tradition has been cancelled only once in that time, in 2001 because of concerns over foot-and-mouth disease
Foot-and-mouth disease
Foot-and-mouth disease or hoof-and-mouth disease is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids...
. Legend has it that the rector of Hallaton, opposed to the tradition because of its pagan origins, tried to ban the event in 1790. However, he relented the next day, after the words "No pie, no parson" appeared scrawled on the wall of the vicarage overnight.
Procession and hare pie scramble
The event starts with a parade through the villages of MedbourneMedbourne
Medbourne is a village in Leicestershire.Each year it competes with nearby Hallaton during the Bottle-kicking event on Easter Monday. It is believed that Medbourne, which lay on the Gartree Road was a large market settlement at the time of Roman Britain....
and Hallaton. Locals carry a large hare pie and the three "bottles", which are actually small kegs or barrels. Two of the bottles are filled with beer; the third, called "the dummy", is made of solid wood and painted red and white.
The pie is blessed by the Hallaton vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
before being cut apart and thrown to the crowd for the "scramble". The rest is placed in a sack to be carried up the nearby Hare Pie Hill.
The bottles are then taken to the Buttercross (a conical structure with a sphere on top, used for keeping butter and cheese cool when the village was a market town) on the village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
green to be dressed with ribbons. Here, the penny loaves are distributed to the crowd.
The order of events in 2009 was as follows:
9.30am: Parade through Medbourne, traditionally held to ‘wake’ the villagers.
10am: Tug-of-war match between Ashley and Medbourne in the field behind The George pub in Ashley.
11am: Church service in Hallaton at 11am.
1.45pm: Hare Pie parade from the Fox Inn, Hallaton, to the church gates.
About 2.50pm: Parade departs to the bottle kicking field, with the pie handed out to the crowd.
3.15pm: ‘Kick-off’
Game
There are virtually no rules to the bottle-kicking, except that there is no eye-gouging, no strangling, and no use of weapons. In the early afternoon, the hare pie is spread on the ground at a dip at the top of Hare Pie Bank, which is possibly the site of an ancient temple. Each bottle is then tossed in the air three times, signaling the start of the competition. Each team tries to move the bottles, on a best-of-three basis, across two streams one mile (1.6 km) apart, by any means possible.The contest is a rough one, with teams fighting to move the bottles over such obstacles as ditches, hedges, and barbed wire. Broken bones are not unheard-of, and emergency services are generally on standby.
After the game, participants and spectators return to the village. Those players who put in an especially good effort (for example, carrying a barrel across the goal stream or holding on to a barrel for quite some time) are helped up onto the top of the ten-foot-tall Buttercross, and the opened bottle is passed up for them to drink from before being passed around the crowd.
The festive day normally draws to a close with participants and spectators retiring to pub for drink and banter.
See also
- CranoeCranoeCranoe is a small village and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. The parish had a population of 35 in 2001.-The Village:...
- Haxey HoodHaxey HoodThe Haxey Hood is a traditional event in at the village of Haxey in North Lincolnshire, England, on the afternoon of 6 January, the Twelfth Day of Christmas ....
a similar sport from Lincolnshire. - Ba gameBa gameBa game is a version of medieval football played in Scotland, perhaps most notably in Orkney and the Scottish Borders, around Christmas and New Year....
a game played in towns in Scotland.
External links
- Ancient tradition saved by village BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
news story, (14 April 2003) - Bottle kicking and hare pie scrambling
- An eye witness account