A correspondent told Hone of a Cheshire frolic called Old Hob, in which a man carried a dead horse’s head covered with a sheet to frighten people. It was played in the weeks between All Souls’ Day and Christmas. It is a cousin of the hooded horse heads of other counties, and a horse’s head still goes round with the soul-caking plays of north Cheshire.
Old Hob
2 November · Cheshire
No longer kept
it consists of a man carrying a dead horse's head, covered with a sheet, to frighten people. This frolic is usual between All Soul's day and Christmas.
From Hone's Every-Day Book, vol. 2, col. 1371. Read the original
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