Have Yourself a Very Welsh Christmas – Past Celebrations of Christmas in Wales

In Wales on Christmas morning, it was traditional for men to go to church very early to sing in harmony and welcome in the dawn with a service that would go on for 3 hours. They would then go home and begin the day of feasting and drinking. This tradition called Plygain is being revived in some parts of Wales and can now be enjoyed by both women and men. Families would wait up together for Plygain and whilst waiting would make taffy – a special kind of toffee. This is called Noson Gyflaith.

Many Welsh traditions actually pre-date Christmas itself. A well known one of these is Mari Lwyd, which is Welsh for Grey Mare. In December or on New Year’s Day, a horse’s skull is decorated with bells and ribbons plus false ears. A sheet is used to represent the body of the mare. People then take the Mari Lwyd around the neighbourhood calling on local households. The residents are challenged to a battle of wits using Welsh verse. After the battle, which is called pwnco in Welsh, the visitors are then invited in to refresh themselves with drinks. This led to the tradition being associated with drunkenness, which led to the tradition dying out in some areas during more austere periods. Mari Lwyd is still celebrated though in some parts of Wales, in particular in Llangynwyd on each New Year’s Day.

A very popular New Year’s custom in Wales was to give a gift, called a Calennig. Much like modern day trick or treating, children would go from door to door with symbols of good luck such as skewered apples plus evergreen twigs and a cup of water from the local well. They use the twigs to splash people with the water and are given the calennig as a present. This would often be small coins. This tradition has mostly died out but in some places children still call door to door to be given gifts of money.