Mari Lwyd - The Welsh Sources and Meaning 

you're very welcome

Really interesting to hear that! Glad to know the traditions travel.

Information cards - terrific idea.

Would love to see it.

Personally, after learning about this tradition, I wondered if there are similar traditions in the US, especially Appalachia, where Welsh, Scotch, and Irish, (and other,) ppl settled.

@@IC4N7C That would be Welsh, Scots, Irish and English.

Interesting about the puppets. It is essentially a large puppet. Not surprising that the Punch and Judy figures we're easily incorporated (or maybe they were always there in different guises). I don't think we can avoid a life / death interpretation.

Yes it is. I'll be digging into this some more over the next few months. I think there's a lot to look into.

We have very similar traditions in the Westcountry, Old Pen Glas in Penzance (midsummer), Obby Oss on mayday in Cornwall and interestingly 'the Old Grey Mare' also in English speaking Devon. The door to door knocking is called guyzing or guise dancing also used to be midwinter too. The song 'widdecombe fair' sounds very similar indeed if you read the lyrics

This is so fascinating, I love learning about archetypical local traditions like this. There's something deeply human about it. In the very north of Germany, along the danish border, we have "Rummelpottlaufen". It takes place on new year's eve, people dress up in costumes, go from door to door and sing specific songs. Children gare giving candy, adults get a shot.

When I moved to Monmouthshire around 2010 I went to the Chepstow Mari Lwyd- and I heard the story about the grey mare couldn’t have her foal in the stable because Jesus was being born there - no room in the stable - and she has wander the earth ever since looking for somewhere nice to have her foal. I can’t remember if I heard it at Chepstow or read it later in a book! I live in mid Wales now and sorry to hear it wasn’t a tradition this far north!

You're welcome. Croeso.

byd bach! small world!

@@CelticSource ydy mae yn

Croeso

It's a pleasure :)

Yes! Amazing book in many ways. I'm a fan. Diolch yn fawr.

Croeso. You're welcome. Not read it yet but it's on the list (as well as a million other things!). should get round to it though.

You're welcome

Yes, it appears to be some instinctive aspect of many folk cultures to do something like this.

I'm glad it's of use. Are you in South America?

@@CelticSource yes. Argentina.

Very interesting, I'll check that out.

Un o gadarnleoedd y traddodiad yn sicr. Mwy o esiamplau yn y cymoedd nag yr un lle arall yng Nghymru.

Glad you found it useful.

Yes, I think the mumming traditions are all related, for sure. Were there any in particular that you had in mind? I'd be interested to know.

It's certainly shares similar cultural roots

Totally fascinating! Yes, I'd heard of similar traditions further afield, but not so much in actual Russia. It may well be an Indo-European feature as you're right, Russian is part of the Balto-Slavic branch so a cousin of the Celtic and Germanic languages. I'm wondering now if someone has traced animal pageantry and costumes in Indo-European folk culture. Someone must have done that PhD. I'm going to look. Thanks again for the links.

da gweld fod 'na dal dipyn o fynd ar yr hen Fari!

Perhaps a Dr. does not realize that the word Mary really doesn’t need spelled out for people. These are my thoughts. What chi think ?

Wrong... Maybe, the real poison came from the African Desert. A couple thousand years ago.

Mary is being spelled out because the Welsh spelling is with an i, not a y. There's no intent to offend.

Eifion?! Sut hwyl ers tro byd? Wedi gweld y Gelynen yn cael ei chyhoeddi. Difyr iawn. Blwyddyn newydd dda.

Ia, ffindia un wedi marw gynta ella! Siwr bydd digon efo diddordeb fyny ym Mlaena a Port hefyd.

@@CelticSource Wedi prynnu un, fod i ddwad dydd sadwrn! Am gynllunio yn yr wsnosa nesa be i neud - a cheisio sticio i’r drefn ddudoch chi yn y fideo!

Just wanted to say thank you so much. This was amazing. I have loved the tradition of The Mari Llwd for so long and I so appreciate your eloquent presentation.

Errr . . . yes it's the same as the hobby horses, identical even, but why cant those traditions not have also been a spiritual expression? Its also wishful thinking that all this is just a relatively late 1300s tradition when we have Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury freaking out about the same basic types of custom back in the 7th century. That is the regional boss of a religion attempting to quash a competing religious practice because it means something religious to those taking part in it: "If anyone at the Calends of January goes about as a stag or bull; that is, making himself into a wild animal and dressing in the skin of the herd animal, and putting on the heads of beasts; those who are in such wise transform themselves into the appearance of a wild animal, penance for three years because this is devilish."

@@CelticSource Ahh... the old Theodore of Tarsus argument which is regularly trotted out to 'prove' the pagan roots of these traditions. There are a couple of problems here with that point of view. The first is that after the very early eleventh century there are no church denunciations of the practice of dressing up in animal skins. And as the church was still issuing condemnations against all sorts of other popular superstitions and practices it can be assumed that dressing in animal skins wasn't one of them and was no longer practised. Secondly, the church denunciations refer to practices carried out in Italy, Spain, Greece, Africa, France and Germany. The do not refer to England. Repeat, they do not refer to England. Theodore's seventh century Penitential was copied by a cleric in France or Germany about 200 years later who made his own additions - these included the strong condemnation of the wearing of animal skins at midwinter celebrations. So we have two versions of the Penitential of Theodore, the real English one that makes no mention of animal disguises and the 'Pseudo-Theodore' which does. During the late1800's two scholars mistakenly confused the two, with the result that up to the 1980's 'Pseudo-Theodore' was taken as 'proof' of a link between the Anglo-Saxons and the mast horse traditions. The rise of the Internet has only added to the misinformation being peddled. Proof of which can be seen in your comments above. And no, the Mari Lwyd and other similar traditions did not have a 'spiritual expression'. Historically hobby horses were about entertainment and were used for the collection of money - often for the church. And as previously mentioned the entertainment value and the opportunity for it to provide much needed funds or nourishment was not lost on poor 18th and 19th century farm labourers in mid-winter.

Hobby Horses don't enter houses and chase children around.

@@larryfroot If that's what you believe then quite clearly you know nothing about the history of the hobby horse.