Alexander says "Historians tell us that the Padstow Obby Oss definitely pre-dates Christianity." What historians and what is their rationale? Whilst the event seems old, there is no actual evidence of the Obby Oss in Padstow before about 1830. There are references to Cornish Hobby Horses going back to the early 16th Century in the old Cornish drama Bewnans Meriasek (The Life of Meriase) written in 1502, but nothing earlier so far as I know.

I am posting this not to knock the event - I have been to Padstow many times and it is a fantastic day, but merely to refute the tendency and belief that just because something looks very old, then it is very old. It is possible that the event is less than 200 years old, unless anyone can prove otherwise.

Oss oss

Gwilym