Welsh Christmas Traditions
Like anywhere in the world, Wales has its own very particular Christmas traditions, varying from the weird to the delicious.
Seeing as 2016 has been one of the most baffling years on record, we thought the perfect way to finish the year would be to share these traditions with you – you choose whether to follow them or not!
The Calennig
A South Wales tradition, this involved the creation of a peculiar object. An apple or orange is positioned on a tripod of twigs, studded with cloves, and a sprig of bush was inserted into the top. It would either be left within the home or given as a gift, and was accepted as a token of good crops in the next year.
Plygain
Wales’ most timid Christmas tradition involves a good singalong.
Many attend very early church services known as Plygain (translated roughly as “before the cock crows”) between 3am and 6am, with the men of the congregation singing for as much as three hours. Unlike most Christmas carols, Plygain songs often included verses about Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, rather than just his birth. The entire church would be lit by candles, each brought by attendees – this was the only way they could use the church in the middle of a winter night.
Gwyl San Steffan
We’re particularly glad that this tradition has died out!
On St Stephen’s Day (the date we now know as Boxing Day) the people of Welsh towns would set about beating each other with holly branches. This was called “holming” or “holly-beating”, and young men would beat the bare arms and legs of young women with the branches until they bled.
In some cases the victim of the beating wasn’t a woman but the last person to get out of bed that day – they would usually also have to carry out commands from the entire family.
Animals were also ceremonially bled, a custom which supposedly increased the animals’ stamina. Lucky, these traditions died out even before the 19th century.
Mari Lwyd
Perhaps the most well-known of Wales’ rituals is that of Mari Lwyd. A horse skull is decorated with false ears and eyes, covered in reins and bells, coated in a white sheet and carried about on a pole. A young man would usually be underneath the sheet as well, carrying the horse to various homes and asking in rhyme form for admittance.
The owner of the house would traditionally refuse, again in verse, preferably impromptu. In order for the Mari Lwyd to enter the house it must win a contest of verse. Once they got inside the house, the horse skull would chase the ladies of the house around, while its companions would carry out various disruptive functions such as playing the fiddle, until the wassail food and drink was offered.
This would go on all day, as the group travel from house to house.
Noson Gyflaiuth
One of the most delicious of Wales’ Christmas customs is their toffee evening. Families would invite their friends over for supper on Christmas eve, which would be followed by an evening of game playing, storytelling and toffee making.
The whole group would come together to try and pull the toffee while still hot, with the successful pullers getting acclaim and failures being ridiculed. Supposedly the toffee would be pulled in the initials of your true love – so it was wise to get some practice in before the night!
Do you fancy trying any of these? I know I’ll be dusting off my horse skull just for the occasion!