Mittened Hands

“There's a town still plays this glorious game
Tho' tis but a little spot.
And year by year the contest's fought
From the field that's called Shaw Croft.”

 

This is how the anthem begins for the traditional match that is played on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday every year in the small British town of Asbourne in Derbyshire. The anthem is from 1891, but the game itself has existed for many hundreds of years.