Editing Oakham (section)

===Oakham's horseshoes===
[[File:Oakham Castle Horseshoes.jpg|thumb|left|Ceremonial horseshoes in Oakham Castle]]
Traditionally, members of [[British royal family|royalty]] and [[Peerage|peers of the realm]] who visited or passed through the town had to pay a forfeit in the form of a [[horseshoe]]. This unique custom has been enforced for over 500 years, but nowadays it only happens on special occasions (such as royal visits), when an outsize ceremonial horseshoe, specially made and decorated, is hung in the great hall of the castle. There are now over 200 of these commemorative shoes on its walls. Not all are dated and some of the earliest (which would doubtless have been ordinary horseshoes given without ceremony by exasperated noblemen) may not have survived. The earliest datable one is an outsize example commemorating a visit by King [[Edward IV of England|Edward IV]] in about 1470. Recent horseshoes commemorate visits by [[Anne, Princess Royal|Princess Anne]] (1999), [[Charles, Prince of Wales|Prince Charles]] (2003) and [[Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy|Princess Alexandra]] (2005).<ref name="Oakham Castle"/> The horseshoes hang with the ends pointing down; while this is generally held to be unlucky, in Rutland this was thought to stop the Devil from sitting in the hollow. The horseshoe motif appears in the county council's arms and on [[Ruddles Brewery|Ruddles beer]] labels.
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