Extract 2: The 'keaw yed' Legend

Associated with the Wakes is Westhoughton's 'keaw yed' legend, a simple story of a farmer and a cow. A cow got its head stuck in a gate. A farmer came along. Faced with the cow and gate problem, he solved it by sawing off the cow's head. The  story has similar variations world wide, and indicates stupidity, but also the Howfeners ability to laugh at themselves, allowing themselves to be nicknamed 'keaw yeds'. The story had never been heard before 1870, and is said to derive from an incorrect newspaper story, rather than a real legend. One explanation of the keaw yed legend relates to the old handloom weavers, who each week used to walk to Leigh with thin lengths of cloth which they sold to merchants. Their silhouetted appearance in the distance apparently resembled cows heads, and led to the nickname.