The name of the team – THE WILD HUNT – is taken from a legend that has ancient origins, as has the dancing. It is deeply rooted in myth and race memory across much of Northern and Central Europe. The spectral WILD HUNT roams the fields and woodlands in the dead of night, preceded by a pack of coal-black hounds and accompanied by the wild calls of hunting horns. At times the hunt takes to the air, riding on chill night winds.
The leaders of THE HUNT were Gods, such as Cernunnos (the horned Celtic Lord of Animals). He lives on in place names beginning with Cerne, such as Cerne Abbas in Dorset (the home of the Chalk Giant). He is also still celebrated in the Abbotts Bromley Horn Dance – some of the spans (antlers) used in the dance have been found to be over 900 years old.