One of the weirdest Christmas traditions is the 'Poor Old Hoss of Richmond'.<br /><br />Dating back centuries, the Poor Old Hoss is a hobby horse with a real equine skull fixed on a pole as his head. <br /><br />Mummers in huntsman's costume take the Hoss through the Town of Richmond, North Yorkshire and sing as his special song and bring him back to life with a blast on a hunting horn when he 'dies'.<br /><br />The custom is believed to have pagan origins, with known records dating back to the Seventeenth Century.
