Easter is a religious holiday, but like other holidays, the secular side of the celebration is full of traditions handed down and 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.
Read about a bunch of old, odd, and sometimes violent Easter customs at Folklore Thursday. -via Strange Company
(Image credit: R. fiend)