The Monstrefact Redux: The Hooden Horse of Kent

dead horse. I speak of the hooden horse or holden a tradition from Kent in southeast England that dates back to at least the eighteen hundreds, but with likely roots to much older pre Christian traditions. I first read about this practice in the nineteen eighty seven Enchanted World volume The Book of Christmas, which features a beautiful illus by visual artist Matt Mahurn that depicts a ghostly humanoid horse

stamping and prancing down a misty street. The book describes the Christmas Eve tradition in which a man in a sheet or horse blanket brandishes a wooden horsehead or an actual horse skull, and proceeds down the street. Children might cower inside their homes at the hoden's approach, but the braver kids might run out and try to mount the horse. Adults would come out and watch, or perhaps throw sweets or money before the creature or into its mouth for

good luck. Jeff and fran Dole explore the tradition in depth in their excellent two thousand and nine book Folklore of Kent. They mentioned that the name Hooden might be a reference to the hooded or disguised aspect of the creature, but with possible connections to wooden horses, twelfth century Germanic chieftains, or even the Germanic god Woden. In this respect, many crimes have pointed out a likely connection to much older

traditions of animal sacrifice involving the horse. Many of the accounts the authors share in this book involve a wooden puppet head for the horse, articulated to snap it onlookers and gobble up their offerings, well except for the beer,

of course, speaking of offerings of beer. The practice of the hooden horse is reminiscent of various wahsail traditions and even of Christmas caroling, though the procession seems to have involved no songs or set words, just as the hoden horse's origins are lost to the fog of history, the practice might well have vanished into the fog of modernity if it were not for the work of Percy Mayleem

in the late nineteenth century. He investigated, photographed, and chronicled the surviving hooden horse traditions, and together with surviving hooden horse heads of wood, the work has helped to inform the practice's twenty eight century revival. And so this Christmas Eve, listen for the sound of prancing hoofs in the street

and the snapping of wooden jaws. The hoodeners might be coming with their strange horse, their grooms, their drivers, their wagoneers and jockeys, their musicians and mollies, all in attendance. Bring forth your sweets, your coins, your beer, for the hooden Horse has come to you. Merry Christmas. Tune in for additional episodes of The Monster Fact each week. As always, you can email us at contact It's Stuff to Blow Your Mind dot com.