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Wales

Folklore of Wales

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1 to 7 of 7 entries in January

1 January

Folklore from the old calendars

New Year apple-trees at Monmouth No longer kept MonmouthshireOn New Year's Day little boys near Monmouth carried round a little tree made of deal, its branches tipped with apples that were gilded, covered in silver tissue, or floured and stuck with black and white oats.
Summer till New Year, winter till May Lore and belief WalesThe Welsh held that if summery weather lasted until New Year's Day, wintry weather would last until May Day.
Thumb-holed cakes after New Year’s Day Lore and belief WalesWhen the first batch of bread was baked after New Year's Day, Welsh women made a small round cake for each person in the house, named it and pressed a hole in it with the thumb.

6 January

Folklore from the old calendars

Aderyn bee y llwyd on Old Christmas Day No longer kept WalesOn Old Christmas Day a party in Wales went from house to house with the Aderyn bee y llwyd, the bird with the grey beak, made from the skull of a horse with false eyes and ears, ribbons and coloured paper.
Turning shirts on the night of Epiphany Lore and belief WalesWelsh girls who wanted to see their future husbands washed linen after the household had gone to bed, set it before the fire to dry and watched to see who came at midnight to turn it.

23 January

Folklore from the old calendars

St Dwynwen’s love-spells No longer kept Anglesey, GlamorganSt Dwynwen's Day was once kept in Wales with festivities, love-spells and the giving of love-tokens, for Dwynwen was the patron saint of lovers.

26 January, not tied to the day

Folklore from the old calendars

The Seventh Son Lore and belief Cornwall, Ireland, WalesA seventh son, and still more the seventh son of a seventh son, was believed to have the gift of healing.

From the shop: Folklore

A Dictionary of English FolkloreJacqueline Simpson, Steve Roud
Briggs’s Dictionary of FairiesKatharine Briggs
The Lore of ScotlandJennifer Westwood, Sophia Kingshill

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