A rap-battling horse skull - it's Mari Lwyd

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Mari Lwyd in the 19th century

One of my favourite folk customs is one that I only became aware of a few years ago - the Mari Lwyd. As the name suggests, it comes from Wales - the south of the country, to be precise. The name means 'Grey Mare', and it is a wassailing custom carried out during the Christmas season, often between Christmas Eve and Twelfth Night.
The tradition features a real horse's skull which is often decorated with coloured ribbons and can feature glass bottle eyes. The carrier is covered with a long white cloth, hiding them from view and giving the impression of a ghostly figure gliding along. In some traditions, the same skull was used each year, being buried in lime to preserve it, and dug up each December.

Beginning at dusk, the Mari Lwyd would be carried through the streets, singing and dancing. The party would knock at each house in turn and a rhyming verse contest would be improvised between the Mari Lwyd party and the house's inhabitants, resembling a modern-day rap battle. If Mari won (or was let to win - this often happened as Mari Lwyd's presence in your house meant that you were in for some good luck), the party would enter the house and be treated to food and drink.

The earliest account of the tradition dates from 1798, so it does seem to be fairly recent compared to some others I have come across. Having said that, it may have its roots in pagan tradition, and some have suggested that the name means 'Holy Mary' and is a reference to Mary, mother of Jesus. It was most popular between around 1850 and 1920, but then dwindled in popularity, possibly due to disapproval of the rowdiness and hard drinking which accompanied the tradition. Nowadays, it is gaining popularity once again.


A few years ago I went along to a Mari Lwyd event arranged by the London Welsh Centre. A Mari Lwyd figure glided through the London streets, bells jangling, looking rather sinister. Instead of visiting houses, it visited pubs, and was great fun to watch.


Mari Lwyd, Lwyd Mari
A sacred thing through the night they carry.
Betrayed are the living, betrayed the dead
All are confused by a horse's head.

— Vernon Watkins, "Ballad of the Mari Lwyd", lines 398–400

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