Folklore of Wales

24 December

Folklore from the old calendars

A cake on the horns of the finest ox No longer kept WalesOn Christmas Eve in many parts of Wales the master of the house made a bowl of hot spiced beer and the mistress brought a cake, both decked with holly and ivy, and the household carried them in procession to the stall of their finest ox.
Carols after midnight in Wales Still kept WalesHone found that carol singing, unknown in Presbyterian Scotland, was kept up in Wales more fully than in England.
Never name the wolf at Christmas Lore and belief WalesWelsh farmers believed that if anyone spoke the name of a wolf between Christmas Eve and Twelfth Night, misfortune would soon visit their homesteads.
No evil spirit abroad on Christmas Eve Lore and belief WalesChristmas Eve was the one night of the year when no evil spirit could walk in Wales.
The Aberglasney thorn on Christmas Eve Lore and belief CarmarthenshireAt Aberglasney in Carmarthenshire there was once a hawthorn that flowered every Christmas Eve, its blossoms faded by the next morning.
The Christmas mummers Still kept England, PembrokeshireThe mummers, called guisers in Scotland, set out on Christmas Eve to visit the chief houses of the parish and act the play of St George.

Folklore from the old calendars

A new carol every Christmas No longer kept WalesIn Wales a new Christmas carol was usually written each year by a local poet or rhymer and sung in church after the morning or evening service.
Bloccyn gwilian, the festival block No longer kept WalesThe Welsh Christmas log was called bloccyn gwilian, the festival block, and it had to be big enough to burn right through the twelve days of Christmas.
Fifty-three Christmas carols at Rhuddlan No longer kept FlintshireDavid Jones, a Welsh village poet of Rhuddlan, sang a carol of his own composing in Rhuddlan church every Christmas Day for fifty-three years.
The Lord Mayor of Pennyless Cove No longer kept PembrokeshireAround Christmas the fishermen of Tenby dressed one of their number in evergreens and a mask, named him Lord Mayor of Pennyless Cove, and carried him through the town in a chair with flags and two fiddlers.
The Merry Lewid at Monmouth Still kept MonmouthshireAt Christmas the boys round Monmouth carried the Merry Lewid from house to house: a white horse's head and neck, striped black like a zebra, on a pole carried by a man hidden under a sheet.
Twelve salted onions for the months Lore and belief WalesSome Welsh people foretold the coming year's weather with onions.