[1] The game is played on 6 January, the Twelfth Day of Christmas (unless the 6th falls on a Sunday, in which case the event is held on the Saturday).

Haxey, Upperthorpe and Westwoodside lie in an area of North Lincolnshire known as the Isle of Axholme.

Traditionally they sing a number of well-known folk songs including "John Barleycorn", "Cannons (Drink England Dry)" and "The Farmer's Boy".

At 12 noon, work in the parish comes to a standstill and people start to make their way to Haxey village to gather and take part in the traditional ritual.

They start at the Carpenters Arms where they sing the traditional folk songs and ceremoniously paint the Fool's face.

Then they move to the Kings Arms and then up towards the church, taking in the Loco and the Duke William on the way, drinking and singing as they go.

This is a watered-down version of the earlier custom (abandoned at the beginning of the 20th century due to its obvious danger) in which a more substantial fire was lit with damp straw beneath a tree.

In earlier days, Westwoodside was divided into Park, Newbigg, Nethergate, Upperthorpe (or Overthorpe) and Commonside.

The Lord and chief Boggin are dressed in hunting pink (red) coats and top hats decorated with flowers and badges.

The staff is supposed to represent the sword and the blood from when the game was played with a bullock's head after it had been slaughtered.

He wears a feathered hat decorated with flowers and rags, and his face is smeared with soot and red ochre.

The rugby type scrum (or Sway to give it its official title) then converges on the Hood and the game starts in earnest.

The Sway makes very slow progress, as it snakes around, stopping quite often when it collapses, in order to pull bodies out, that became crushed into the mud.

The landlord then takes charge of the Hood for the year, and is supposed to give everyone a free drink.

The Hood hangs in the winning pub until New Year's Eve when it is collected by the Boggins in time for the next game.

Brief resistance outside Haxey was quickly overcome and the Hood rolled past The Loco and the Duke William, last year's winner.

The exhausted sway then drove the Hood on to The Kings Arms for a glorious victory in just under three hours, with the pub already packed to the rafters with cheering patrons.