Don't get too comfortable just because Saint Nick has already come and gone: between Christmas and New Year's Mari Lwyd might be at your door. For lucky Welsh households Mari Lwyd is a traditional holiday visitor who combines caroling with ghostly Halloween vibes. Represented by a horse skull mounted on a pole and covered by a shroud and ribbons, the macabre head visits homes, announcing itself by singing songs and rhymes asking to be let in. After its first verse is finished residents must retort in song with their reasons for barring entry. The back and forth continues until one side runs out of rhymes or reasons. 

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Mari Lwyd is accompanied by a few helpers, backup musicians and comedic characters, who aid in her lyric battle and "whip" the horse onward. Her eyes are remade from the bottom of glass bottles, and her jaw is often wired to let her sing freely. Though usually left white, the skull may be painted for more… visual impact. 

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Circa 1904 Llangynwyd, Glamorgan

If the ghost horse wins the rhyme-off the party comes inside, where (like with wassailing) the group is offered drinks and they continue to sing and make merry. One key addition is the presence of the towering horse skull, which is often used to chase or bite at the children of the house. 

The Welsh tradition officially dates to the early 1800s, though its roots may trace back to older pre-Christian customs around the worship of horses. Mari Lwyd may represent the Virgin Mary, or simply a mischievous gray horse, but either way, her prevalence has dipped and bucked over the last century.

Circa 1900

Circa 2009

Like other dark holiday guests, the practice fell from favor in the early 20th century after some pushback from Christian leaders, but she is seeing a bit of a revival now. Visual artists have reinterpreted the character in many ways, while folk musicians and cultural groups have begun reintroducing the spooky seasonal horse IRL, and teaching the older legacies it represents.

So if you're wondering what to do with your pre-NYE energy and that left over horse head... just grab a sheet and start working on your flow.

Mari 2 - Ieuan Edwards

Via Usk Chirps

Via Usk Chirps

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