IMAGE DESCRIPTION:
Mari Lwyd is a horse's skull decorated with ribbons & bells, which lies at the heart of an ancient ritual that people of Glamorgan & Gwent in Wales still use to mark the passing of the dark days of midwinter. At this time of year, which was always a time of fire festivals, many ceremonies were performed around the world to encourage the return of the sun, when it dipped below the horizon for the longest period of time, causing many to fear it might
never return. The Mari Lwyd is part of such a ceremony. Essentially, the parading of the skull around villages, with a variety of accompanying games, was intended to remind the sun that people were still alive & awaiting its return. Although customs involving animal skulls in this way are widely known across the world, the Mari Lwyd, which is unique to Wales, is highly appropriate to a people who long ago declared the horse to be sacred. The processing of the Mari (which may still be seen at Llangynwyd, near Maesteg, every New Year's Day), carried by a group of
chosen people, involves the arrival of the horse at the door of either
a house or a pub, where they sing several verses of an ancient song. Then comes a battle of wits in which the people on one side of the door, & those on the other exchange a series of challenges, Insults & riddles, all of them in rhyme. At the end of this battle of wits & skill, which can last as long as the creativity of the 2 parties, the
Mari enters with another song & is made welcome in the house.
Towards the middle of the 19th century, the custom almost
died out, being considered too Pagan for the chapel-going
Welsh, but it was revived in the 1920s & continues to this day.
