The tradition is said to have started when Lady de Mowbray was out riding between Westwoodside and Haxey – between Gainsborough, Scunthorpe and Doncaster – when her silk riding hood was blown away by the wind.
She is said to have been so amused to see local farm workers chasing it, she rewarded them with land – on condition that the chase be re-enacted every year.
According to the story, the worker who caught the hood was too shy to approach her and handed it to a fellow worker to return.
It is said that Lady de Mowbray thanked the man who returned the hood and said he had acted like a lord. The worker who caught it was labelled a fool.
The game begins with the ceremonial fool delivering a speech while a bonfire is lit behind him, covering him in smoke.
Traditionally the game – which can run for hours and attracts hundreds of spectators and participants – involves pushing the 3ft (1m) hood to one of the four pubs in the two villages.
The fool’s speech ends with the chant: “Hoose agen hoose, toon agen toon, if a man meets a man knock ‘im doon, but doan’t ‘ot ‘im.”