Making, dedicating, and bringing a Welsh midwinter wassail tradition to life in the U.S.
Every year in a growing number of communities across Wales and beyond, the Mari Lwyd tradition continues, is being revived, or is introduced as her ghostly visage graces her snappy blessings upon shores old and new. In 2022, her blessings of hope and cheer found their way to the chilly, hilly, wooded lands of Maryland in the U.S.
This is the story of how I learned about and built my own Mari Lwyd.
Photo: The Mari Lwyd of Severn blessing the Crystal Fox metaphysical shop in Laurel, Maryland.
In case you don't already know what a Mari Lwyd is, she is a uniquely Welsh Midwinter wassailing custom that is... (the following information gleaned from sources #8-10)
Held around the Winter Solstice to New Year’s period
Centered on the horse, an animal of ancient & mythological significance in Britain, as illustrated by:
Rhiannon (Welsh goddess strongly associated w/horses in the Mabinogi)
Epona (ancient Gaulish, Brittonic, & Gallo-Roman horse goddess)
Eponalia was 18 December and, like feast days for a number of Gods in Rome, fell during the celebration period of Saturnalia
Chalk-cut horses in hills (Bronze & Iron Age, up to 3000 years old)
Taboo against eating horse meat (still an unspoken cultural practice today)
Other horse customs, e.g. Padstow Obby Oss & Kentish Hooden Horse
A tradition of song, music, poetry, blessings, misrule, & community
Not to celebrate the Christian nativity but for New Year cleansing & blessings
Possibly Pagan in origin
St. Augustine: “If you should ever hear of anyone following the unclean custom of dressing as a horse or a stag, punish him severely,” 4th Century CE.
Rev. William Roberts: “A mixture of old Pagan and Popish ceremonies… I wish of this folly [the Mari Lwyd], and all similar follies, that they find no place anywhere apart from the museum of the historian and the antiquary,” 1852.
The Mari Lwyd itself is:
A horse skull affixed to a stick
Decorated with “stars and ribbons” (“sêr a rubanau”), bells, & flowers
Carrier hides under a sheet
Traditionally accompanied by an entourage of at least 6 people
The “Ostler Smert” (Sharp/Smartly-Dressed Groom), Punch & Judy, Sergeant, Corporal, & Merryman.
The Mari Lwyd entourage engages with heads of household/business in a poetry “battle” called Pwnco. This is a contest of poetic skill.
The Mari Lwyd entourage stands outside and requests entry via poetic song
Those inside pretend to try to turn the entourage away via a contest of (improvised or learned) poetic song incorporating benign threats or insults
Allows for variation and incorporating local or topical references
Different traditional verses exist in different regions; improvisation is also done
Showcases traditional Welsh love of language and poetry; incorporates humor
Here is an example of household’s poetic song battle (Pwnco) “threat” to the Mari Lwyd entourage: “Mae Jenkins yn ‘ffeiriad Yn dyfod, ar ‘fenaid, A gwna fe i chi fyned O f’annedd!” “Jenkins the priest Is coming, I swear, And he’ll make you leave my dwelling!”
If you are interested in learning more about this fascinating and beautiful custom, I highly recommend starting off with Dr. Gwilym Morus-Baird's YouTube video on the subject, featuring about 45 minutes of in-depth coverage of the topic. Or, if that's too long for now, a shorter introduction can be had from Trac's 14-minute video on the subject. Jimmy "the Welsh Viking" also has a both amusing and educational video on the Mari Lwyd.
If you prefer reading over videos, a good free couple of places to start include the web blogs HEX and Kris Hughes's (not to be confused with Kristoffer Hughes -- different people) Agora post. Trac's booklet commissioned with Welsh historian Rhiannon Ifans (and which I referenced extensively to write this blog post and to choose appropriate lyrics for the Mari Lwyd song we sing here in Severn) is also available for purchase here. Bonus points -- it's bilingual in both Welsh and English, so it's great for Welsh language learning practice as well as for Welsh native speakers who prefer their first language! Mhara Starling, author of Welsh Witchcraft, also has a convenient essay-style summary of information on the Mari Lwyd available for patrons at her Patreon page.
But anyway, on to the story of how I found out about the Mari Lwyd and finally was able to build her...
I didn't actually first hear of the Mari Lwyd when I was studying at Bangor in Gwynedd, Wales. Instead, I stumbled upon her quite by accident in October of 2017 (I left Wales and returned to the U.S. in 2016) when I was searching for the lyrics to the Welsh traditional music band Carreg Lafar's version of the Mari Lwyd song -- which I was trying to find merely for language study purposes so that I could learn more Welsh. I had no idea of the incredible information about this wonderful custom that I would discover when I typed Mari Lwyd lyrics into my search bar, so perhaps you can imagine the hours' long rabbit hole I found myself falling down that evening.
Instantly enthralled, I began what would become a years' long project that night when I took to searching for everything I could find about the Mari Lwyd over the interwebs. I found a beautiful article about her by Kristoffer Hughes (on Pagan Space, I believe, which would mean the article no longer exists), and a pang struck my heart as tears welled into me reading his article. As the words and imagery moved through me, I knew that I must build a Mari as a devotion for Rhiannon.
There was only one small problem -- I am not at all carpentry or mechanically inclined, and I didn't have the first clue how to make one.
Photo: The head of the Mari Lwyd of Severn (Maryland) resting on the back of a cushy recliner with blue glass eyes decorated with triskelions painted on her jaw and forehead in red, green, and silver. Silver bells hang from her lower jaw. Red, green, and white ribbons hang over the back of her head and a crown of craft holly, ivy, and mistletoe, bells, and silver stars that are lit up top her head.
The Right Time Comes at 9
Photo: The head of the Mari Lwyd of Severn atop the back of a cushy recliner facing the camera straight on with her stars lit up.
I'm sure to someone who is more accustomed to working on these types of crafts, it must be more or less obvious how to put a Mari together, but it was certainly not to me. There seemed to be a woeful dearth of detailed or step-by-step information on how to construct a Mari Lwyd on the internet. All I could find back then in 2017 were vague references to "horse skull affixed to a stick" (how exactly?) and some instructional videos on how to make Trac Cymru's cardboard flat pack version. But I figured I knew what the first step surely must be: procure skull of horse. So that is what I did -- she was an old and dusty beauty half-full of dead grass found on the vast grounds of an old ranch, already missing her two top front teeth. I immediately set to cleaning her in bleach, saying a prayer to Rhiannon and a small blessing for the horse whose skull this was, and penciling three triskelions on her that I would paint in later -- one on each side of the jaw, and one on the center of her forehead.
I saw my first Mari Lwyds in action via Trac Cymru's YouTube video and a video of the "Dark Gathering" at the Boscastle Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Cornwall. Energized by these glimpses of how she moved, I thought I would immediately delve into discovering the ins and outs of how to create this work of art and devotion. I emailed the only people I could think of to ask to be pointed in the right direction -- Carreg Lafar, the Boscastle Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, and Trac themselves. They graciously gave some pointers, but I was too clueless and still couldn't quite figure out how the pole actually affixed to the skull. So into the chilly, dark basement she went to hibernate while I waited... and searched every few months to see if I could find more information... and then waited some more... and a year flew by.
I thought I had found someone who might be able to help me figure out this puzzle when I realized a fellow coven member knew some woodworking skills in late 2018 and so resolved to ask for their help after the holidays in early 2019. But my Divine Queen, who is also a Divine Mother, had other plans. I at last became pregnant after almost exactly 9 years of marriage at the Winter Solstice time of 2018 after having struggled with infertility and endometriosis for years and given up. Our greatest blessing from Rhiannon took over my attention, and my health, for the next year. And then COVID hit, and, well... we all know how that went.
But not to worry! I didn't know it at the time, of course, but the right time would come, and that auspicious number 9 would pop up yet again (as it tends to do). The right time to make her would be as the pandemic was beginning to lighten in severity and the world began to stir again after a long period of stillness -- which, looking back on it, is a bit appropo, I suppose. In 2022, 9 years after I made my dedication to Rhiannon in 2013, was when I would finally be able to make her.
Breathing New Life into Old Bones
Photo: My hand painting a swirling triskelion on the right side of the Mari Lwyd's jaw with red paint using a tiny brush intended for painting gaming minis.
It was in September of 2022 when I found what I had been looking for (well, almost). I found David Pitt's YouTube video on how he gets "the snap" from the Mari Lwyds he builds. (And, it turns out, he's the same person who designed the flat pack Mari Lwyd for Trac! It's a small Mari Lwyd world after all, mi dybiaf!) Finally! I could see a close-up of how the pole was affixed to the skull -- and what a lot of epoxy glue that was! I would've never thought of that! I saw how the jaw was affixed too, and the mechanism of the pole that allowed for an easy thumb push to hinge the jaw closed into a nice, crisp snap!
At last, I had an actionable idea of how to get started on this project! I only had one skull, had never worked with epoxy or bones or done anything like this before, and epoxy glue is permanent -- no pressure! Naturally, I put off the hard part (for me, at least) until the end, and so I started with the easy, artsy stuff. Listening to Welsh music, I took her jaw bone out to the back deck in the cool autumn afternoon sun and began painting the three triskelions in red, green, and silver (because I thought white probably wouldn't show up well on the bone) -- simultaneously invoking Cymru, the home of her tradition, and the winter holidays.
Photo: The completed painted triskelion in red, green, and silver on the right side of the Mari Lwyd's jaw.
Then began the hard part: affixing the pole to the skull. I got some assistance sawing a plastic mop head off of the socket where it screwed onto the mop handle, leaving only the socket tube where the wooden mop handle screwed in. This would be what would actually affix to the skull so that I could attach or remove the mop handle as needed, rather than leaving the skull permanently attached to the stick.
As I flipped the skull upside down in my open garage (boy did I get some interesting leering from the neighbors out on their strolls while I was working on this project!), I quickly realized that this would be a delicate operation -- the bone at the base of her skull where the screw tube from the mop would need to sit was small and rounded. It would need a lot of epoxy to firmly affix the screw tube to the skull without fear of the weight of the skull itself pulling the epoxy loose. Meaning, not only did I need enough to go around the bottom of the tube and the bone where it was immediately affixed, but I needed enough to glob it up around the outsides of the tube and spread it around to the surrounding bone so that it would be well reinforced and securely mounted. I looked at David Pitt's video again, pausing where he showed the back of his own Mari -- that was a lot of epoxy built up around the tube where the pole went. I needed more epoxy, and it was a bit expensive. That was when my crafty husband made the suggestion of an alternative, and cheaper, solution -- automotive body repair filler putty, which came in large canisters.
First, I attached the mop handle tube to the underside of the skull with an initial layer of epoxy glue (the fumes are horrendous; definitely do it outside or in a very well-ventilated area). You will need a popsicle stick or something of the sort to continuously push the glue (and later the putty, if you're also using that on later layers) up and around where it needs to be, so it doesn't run down and off the sides of the bone while it's waiting to set. Definitely wear disposable gloves for this -- you do not want epoxy to accidentally get on your fingers. Don't make the mistake I made and set the tube up straight on the bone surrounded by half-way set epoxy, thinking it will stay there, and leave it on what appears to be a level surface to finish setting -- it will ever so slowly slide down and set crooked! You have to sit there the whole time and physically hold it straight until it completely sets! Thankfully, even though the mop handle tube mount for this Mari did ultimately set onto the skull crooked, it was still straight enough that it didn't make the pole interfere with the jaw opening and closing! Yikes! Crisis luckily averted.
After the initial layer of epoxy had fully set overnight, I then began layering on the auto body filler putty the next day, which was available in larger quantities for less money than epoxy glue. And it's a good thing I had larger quantities! I needed to put some of the putty into the brain cavity of the skull to help counter-balance it against the weight of the jaw and the rest of the skull protruding out in the front. Easy enough, I thought, so I poured some into a plastic bag, snipped off the corner, and began piping it into the brain cavity like cake icing, expecting it to set.
I looked on in angst as I watched the putty slowly ooze out of the brain cavity, like sludge that wasn't hardening and setting fast enough, into every tiny, imperceptible nook and cranny of the labyrinthine inner workings of the skull! I hurried to make some more after letting what was already in the cavity set, tilting the head up in hopes that it would stop the flow of the putty out from the brain cavity and into the rest of its head, and then finished filling it. Yikes again! The things I have to learn the hard way...
I then used the rest of the putty to put another three layers (all separately setting overnight before starting the next layer). These layers covered over the bone where the mop handle was affixed (there was more surface area to affix it to, now that the brain cavity was full of putty), and up around the base and sides of the mop handle tube until it looked like a volcano with thick, sloping, strongly reinforced sides made of putty attaching it to the bone, which itself was now also reinforced with putty. Whew!
All in all, it took 5 distinct sessions of adding epoxy and putty, letting each layer set over night before beginning the next one, before this portion of the build was finished. And with all that putty in her brain cavity (and other unintended areas of the skull that it had seeped into...), she was now quite hefty! Good thing the mop handle tube was very, very secure!
Photo: The underside of the Mari Lwyd of Severn, showing how the mop handle screw-in tube is affixed to the skull with LOTS of putty and an underlayer of epoxy glue. Don't make my mistake -- hold your tube for the pole upright and straight the ENTIRE time until the epoxy is fully set, or your tube will be mounted crooked like mine! You can also see the two craft wires that hold her greenery crown and the sheet to her head wrapped around the hold in her skull just above the jaw hinge.
After that, the rest felt easy. I wrapped some sand paper around a narrow wooden dowel rod and gently sanded away a small groove in the protrusion of bone on each side of the skull where the jaw would be affixed, just to securely channel the ties that would hinge the jaw to the skull, so they wouldn't slide off (per David Pitt's suggestion). Then several rounds of thin hemp craft string were wound around between the protrusion of the jaw and the protrusion of the skull with its newly sanded guiding channels, and the jaw was hinged onto the skull easy-peasy. One of the same small dowels I used to sand the channels into the bone was measured and cut to fit like a bar across the back of the jaw bone and glued there with yet more epoxy, and one more spare piece of wood we had lying around was used to press against this small bar across the jaw to move her jaw closed with a snap! very much like in David Pitt's YouTube video. At last, I glued in some blue glass eyes used for horse taxidermy, and the hard part was done.
Photo: A close-up of the bar across the jaw that is pushed to snap the jaw shut, and showing how the putty goes up and around the mop handle tube from the bone of the skull. The mop handle tube is quite long and goes a good distance down under all that putty, mounted right up against the bone underneath with the initial layer of epoxy glue. You can also see where the craft wire that holds the battery pack in place for her light-up stars is attached to the skull and the string that is wrapped around where the jaw hinges on the left side of the photo.
The final bit was affixing the decor and her sheet. I got a white flat top sheet for a twin-sized bed and cut two small holes in the top where the hem is folded over, so that it created an already-sewn channel to feed wire through. I got the suggestion to use wire to affix the sheet to the skull from Julie Brett, author of Australian Druidry (a Pagan Portals book), who also graciously shared her advice with me from her own experience building Mari Lwyds. Using two pieces of craft wire wrapped in brown paper, I twisted it around the holes near the jaw at the top of the skull -- one wire in a U shape around the back of the head, and one like a tiara over the top. The U-shaped one around the back of the head had the sheet fed onto it, and that was quickly done!
I spent a few hours cutting and attaching the following to the tiara portion of wire over the top of her head: craft greenery of holly, ivy, mistletoe, a variety bunch of red, green, and white ribbons, three silver bells hanging off each side of the head, and some light-up silver stars wound all through. A small set of 3 silver bells hung in the natural gap between her front teeth and molars on the jaw, and the Mari Lwyd of Severn at last was built! But she still wasn't quite ready for her debut yet. I took her to my home altar, lit some candles and incense, prepared some salted water and a sprig of rosemary, and there I performed a ritual to bless the Mari Lwyd and dedicate her to the honor of Rhiannon and to honor and spread knowledge of Welsh culture.
Now, at last, over five years after I first learned about the Mari Lwyd and knew I needed to make one, the Mari Lwyd of Severn was finished. All that remained was to bring her to life and let her work her magic to bring honor to those purposes she was made and dedicated for.
She's Worth Shining Light On to See Her!
Photo: The Mari Lwyd of Severn with her jaw open and me with a drum at the Crystal Fox metaphysical shop in Laurel, Maryland.
Mari Lwyd of Severn made her public debut at the Crystal Fox metaphysical shop in Laurel, Maryland on a cloudy December afternoon. To the sound of jingling bells, drumming, and singing in both the Welsh and English languages (each verse was sung in Welsh first, then in English), she spread her snappy blessings at the door and inside the business, granting them good fortune for the coming year.
She made her next public appearance at the community Winter Solstice ritual at the fabulous Frederick CUUPS, where she was welcomed with gusto as she made a surprise entrance, "crashing" the ritual just as it was closing, with everyone outside in the chill gathered around the fire under the dark moonless night.
I wanted to showcase verses from more than one region's version of the Cân Y Fari Lwyd (The Mari Lwyd Song), and I also needed the lyrics to be tweaked just a tad to be appropriate to our purposes, so I adapted some verses from the Monmouthshire regional version (a portion of which you can hear being performed by the masterful traditional Welsh music band Carreg Lafar, here) as well as the Glamorganshire regional version (a portion of which you can hear being performed by the Welsh band Calan here) that I found in Rhiannon Ifan's bilingual book commissioned by Trac titled simply "Mari Lwyd". Two words of the Welsh lyrics were modified from the original, traditional lyrics to reflect that not all singers are masculine, and the English lyrics were slightly modified (as little as possible) from exact literal translation to fit the number of syllables in the tune for singing.
This is what we sang at both occasions:
Y Gofyniad y Cwmni: (The Request of the Company:)
1.
Wel dyma ni’n dŵad
Gyfeillion diniwad
I ofyn am genad (x3)
I ganu!
Well here we are coming,
All my innocent friends,
To ask for permission (x3)
To sing!
2.
Mae Mari Lwyd yma
Llawn sêr a rubanau,
Mae’n werth i rhoi goleu (x3)
I’w gwelad!
Mari Lwyd is here,
Dressed in stars and ribbons,
She’s worth shining light on (x3)
To see her!
3.
O! Tynnwch y bollta,
Agorwch y drysa,
I gwmni y washael (x3)
Rhowch groeso!
O! Draw back the door bolts,
Throw open all the doors,
To the wassail comp’ny (x3)
Give welcome!
4.
Mae Mari Lwyd lawen,
Am ddod i’ch tŷ’n rhonden,
A chanu yw wi diben (x3)
Mi dybiaf!
Merry Mari Lwyd,
Is come to your abode,
Her intent is to sing (x3)
I reckon!
I also sang the following as we were leaving the Crystal Fox (but not at the Winter Solstice ritual, as it would've been too long to match the flow of the event). I modified one word of the Welsh lyrics from the original, traditional lyrics to reflect that we were singing for Winter Solstice (Hirnos) and not Christmas (Nadolig). Except for the closing verse, this was sung to the tune of Y Washael, which is also the song that these lyrics come from. You can hear the first verse of this song being sung by the men in the intro portion leading up to the main part of the Mari Lwyd song as performed by the Welsh band Calan, here (as stated above, they are performing a portion of the Glamorganshire version of the song, according to the lyrics recorded in Rhiannon Ifan's book published by Trac).
1.
O dyma enw'r feinwen
Sydd yn codi gyda'r seren.
A hon yw’r washael fawr ei chlod
Sy’n canu bod yn llawen.
O here is the maiden
Who rises with the star.
And this the praiseworthy wassail
Which sings to make us merry.
2.
Mae’n gaseg lwysgedd, wisgi,
Mae miloedd yn ei moli,
Ei phen hi’n gnotog enwog,
O foddion llawn difaeddu.
She’s a lovely, lively mare,
And many thousands praise her,
Her head is famous and knotty,
Full of unsurpassed medicines.
3.
Dymunwn i’ch lawenydd
I gynnal blwyddyn newydd
Tra paro’r gŵr i dincial cloch,
Wellwell y boch chwi beunydd.
We wish you all much joy
To live a good new year
As long as the man rings his bell,
May all keep improving for you.
4. >>>(Cân Y Fari tiwn)<<<
Wel diolch i chitha
Am groeso i ninna,
A nes Hirnos nesa, (x3)
Ffarwelwch!
>>>(Mari Lwyd Song tune)<<<
Well thank all of you here
For your welcome to us,
And until next Solstice, (x3)
Farewell!
May merry Mari Lwyd continue to bring the winter blessings of Rhiannon and of good New Year's fortune, and spread knowledge and interest in Welsh culture and language, to our communities for many winters to come!
Picture: A flyer I drew for the Mari Lwyd of Severn advertising her visit to the Crystal Fox in Laurel, Maryland.
Sources referenced in writing this post:
Carreg Lafar's Facebook Page. https://www.facebook.com/CarregLafar
Carreg Lafar's rendition of the Mari Lwyd song, based on the Monmouthshire region's version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nlqIhJnQrc
Calan's rendition of the Mari Lwyd song, based on the Glamorganshire region's version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seppSvVmOig
Jones, Cassandra Latham (2018). Dark Gathering 2018 - Part Three. Derived from: https://thedarkgathering.co.uk/2018/12/02/dark-gathering-2018-part-three/
Trac Cymru (2013). Mari Lwyd. Derived from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ptel9C3Zhg
Pitt, David "The Crowman" (2018). Mari Lwyd Getting the "Snap". Derived from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFfftKN6x2M
Julie Brett: Author - Australian Druidry - Artist. Derived from: https://juliebrett.net/australian-druidry/
Ifans, Rhiannon (2013). Mari Lwyd. Trac: Traddodiadau Cerdd Cymru/Music Traditions of Wales. Sain Ffagan: Amgueddfa Werin Cymru/St. Fagan: National History Museum. Can be purchased here: https://trac.cymru/en/about-mari-lwyd/
HEX: The Human Exception (2020). A Very Pagan Christmas. Derived from: https://www.thehumanexception.com/l/mari-lwyd/
Hughes, Kris (2019). The Agora. Pan-Celtic Hoofbeats: Horses of the Dark Time-Mari Lwyd. Derived from: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/agora/2019/01/horses-of-the-dark-time-2/
Morus-Baird, Gwilym (2020). Celtic Source YouTube Channel. Mari Lwyd -- the Welsh Sources and Meaning. Derived from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU5pk-Hc758
"Jimmy The Welsh Viking" (2020). The Welsh Viking YouTube Channel. Mari Lwyd: WELSH SKULL HORSE GHOST THING. Derived from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af5m8SxHRzk
The Crystal Fox metaphysical store in Laurel, Maryland's Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TheCrystalFox
Frederick CUUPS (in Maryland) Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/FrederickCUUPS