Old Ball

Old Ball is a folk custom that existed in the Forest of Rossendale in Lancashire, north-western England during the nineteenth century. The tradition entailed the use of a hobby horse that is mounted on a pole and carried by an individual hidden under a sackcloth. It represents a regional variation of a "hooded animal" tradition that appears in various forms throughout the UK.

The Lancashire Old Ball custom differs from other animal head traditions in Britain by being associated with Easter; most of the others were instead carried out at Christmas time.^[1] Demonstrating potential links to other regional traditions is the use of the name "Ball" for hobby horses in other areas. At Ashford and Little Hucklow in Derbyshire, the Old Horse tradition was recorded as using hobby horses named "Ball", while at Alderley Edge in Cheshire, the hobby horse was called "Young Ball".^[1]