March Madness

Bottle kicking & Hare Pie Scramble

Hallaton, Leicestershire

Every Easter Monday my tiny little Leicestershire village plays host to the crazy scrambling, scrummage known as Bottle kicking.

The origins date back to the late 18th Century (although many believe it to have Pagan links back 1,000 years) and you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s the unruliest game of Rugby you’ve ever seen between in your life.

Behind a procession of bagpipes, the gathered rival teams display the “bottles” and an enormous locally made Hare pie and make their way to the village church for a blessing where the pie is then broken up and thrown out to the crowd.

But what is this Bottle kicking madness? Well, in essence it’s one village pitted against our neighbouring village, the object being to get a wooden cask (similar shape to a rugby ball) from the Hare Pie Bank that divides the villages, into your home stream by any means possible. Through brambles, hedges, over fences and ditches it’s a fast and furious and injuries are inevitable but it’s all part of the bravado and bragging rights. The best of three wins the day.

Fortunately, in the years I’ve lived here, we’ve almost always been on the winning side so let’s see what this Easter brings.