Mari Lwyd

Tredegar House has recently been taken over by the National Trust and we were there today today with other dancers from Philippa Waite's groups as part of the 'housewarming'. We performed dances such as Sellenger's Round and Petit Riens. As we were new to dancing it felt a privilege to be included.

The weather was most peculiar today. Alternating drenching showers and bright sunshine. We managed to miss the worst of the rain and shelter in the marquee that covered the dance floor.

On before us in the afternoon were Cwmni Gwerin Pont-y-P?l a group of folk dancers from Pontypool. They had with them a Mari Lwyd or Grey Mare. I'd seen photos of the Mari Lwyd before, but never one in the flesh, as it were.

Wikipedia has it that 'The Mari Lwyd (Grey Mare or "Gray Mary" in English), also Y Fari Lwyd, is a Welsh midwinter tradition, possibly to celebrate New Year, although it formerly took place over a period stretching from Christmas to late January.

It is a form of visiting wassail, a luck-bringing ritual in which a the participants accompany a person disguised as a horse from house to house (including pubs) and sing at each door in the hope of gaining admittance and being rewarded with food and drink.'

I would like to know more of the history of this tradition. I imagine that something so peculiar has very deep roots, but there seems to be no clear agreement as to when and why the tradition began. There is the distinct possibility that layers of meaning have been added over the years. Peeling them back could be revealing.

'The origin of the Mari Lwyd is obscure but horse cults are known throughout Welsh history and further back into the Celtic past. Rhiannon is the Welsh Horse Goddess and before her was Epona, a Celtic Goddess who was also worshipped by the Romans.' - Mike Williams, Prehistoric Shamanism

More photos from today are on Flickr.