I have been living in Wales for two years. It
is not a long
time, so I should not be ashamed that I don’t know all the traditions
and
history of this country, but still I should know at least something
about the most important holidays. So we decided that this week’s blog
post will be about
celebrations…
And because the celebration of Christmas has already started
and it is probably one of the most popular celebrations the
main topic of this blog is about traditional Christmas customs.
Before Christmas the main traditions were that homes were
decorated with fresh mistletoe (to protect the house from evil) and holly (as a
symbol of eternal life).
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| Mistletoe |
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| Holly |
Y NADOLIG (Christmas):
The first of the traditions is called Plygain and this tradition still thrives in parts of mid Wales. Plygain is a very early church service
usually between 3am and 6am, or started before the cockerel crowed, when men
gathered in rural churches to sing. Their singing was mainly unaccompanied,
three or four part harmony carols in a service that went on for three hours.
After the service, a Christmas Day full of feasting and drinking would begin.
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| Nadolig Llawen - Merry Christmas |
GWYL SAN STEFAN (St. Stephens Day; Boxing Day – December 26th):
The day after Christmas was celebrated in a very unique way
and the traditional “holly-beating” or “holming” was included. Young men and
boys would beat the unprotected arms of young females with holly branches until
they bled, in some areas it was the legs that were beaten. Another version of
this tradition is that the person who got out of the bed last was beaten
with sprigs of holly. These customs vanished before the end of the 19th
century, luckily!
NOS GALAN (New Years Eve):
The New Years Eve’s customs in Wales were mostly about
avoiding bad luck. So for example all existing debts had to be paid that day,
never lend anything to anyone on New Years Day or you would have bad luck. You
would have bad luck also if your first visitor in your house is a red haired
man, or if the first visitor is woman and man of the household (householder)
opens the door.
The most popular New Year’s custom was the Calennig (small
gift). On January 1st from dawn until noon, groups of young boys
would visit all the houses in the village carrying evergreen twigs and a cup of
cold water drawn from the local well. The boys would then use the twigs to
splash people with water. In return, they would receive the Calennig, usually
in the form of copper coins.
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| Calennig |
How about your country? What special traditions do you have for Christmas time? Why not start a class conversation?
Sources: http://www.historic-uk.com, http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales
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