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Although we know the Kirkwall Ba' is the last of the mass Yuletide football games once common throughout Orkney, little else is actually known about the early history of the game and its origins. We don't know, for example, how old the game actually is, only that it is at least 300 years old. Prior to this, the game is shrouded in folklore that tries to explain its development and significance. Every Christmas Eve and Hogmanay, householders and shopkeepers along Kirkwall's winding central streets can be seen barricading doors and windows in preparation for the following days' ba' games. The Kirkwall Ba' is a mass-football game played out in the streets of the town every Christmas Day and New Year's Day. The game pits two rival "factions" against each other in a battle to secure a goal and win the game. The men and boys of Kirkwall are designated either 'Uppies' or 'Doonies', or 'Up the Gates' and 'Doon the Gates'. This is thought to be a corruption of the Old Norse gata, meaning road. The ba' itself is a handmade, cork-filled, leather ball. Each game is played with a new ba', each one handmade by one of a few Orcadian ba' makers. A finished Men's ba' weighs about 3 lbs with a circumference of approximately 28 inches. The game begins on Kirkwall's Broad Street, in the shadow of St Magnus Cathedral. The Uppie goal is to touch the ba' against a wall in the south end of the town, while the Doonies have the unenviable task of getting the ba' into the water of Kirkwall Bay, to the north.