Tradition of the Mari Lwyd - BBC Cymru
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 14. 02. 2011
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Watch the BBC first on iPlayer đ bbc.in/iPlayer-Home www.bbc.co.uk/cymru Traditional black and white film of men in the village of Llangynwyd carrying out the tradition of the Mari Lwyd, BBC Wales program, Lolfa, 1966.
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So basically you rap battle a demonic horse thing so that it doesnât bust into your house
YES! I've always thought it was the original rap battle, too! :-D
Also it raids your pantry and steals you alcoholic drinks
Yes, "you rap battle a demonic horse thing [In Welsh] so that it doesnât bust into your house"!
Im im America and I do this
and drink all your beer.
Who is here from Sam Oânella?
I is!
Me me me
yup
I am
me
I used to live there in the 1960s. Just remember as a child seeing them going from house to house.
See Mari Lwyd tradition on Wikipedia about it.
0:11-0:15
It's supposed to be a Christmastime tradition yet I can see that those trees still have leaves and those men are not dressed for winter. Perhaps this was filmed in an unusually warm year. I'm not sure what the typical weather in Wales in December is like. Perhaps this was staged for the sake of demonstration months earlier.
We have a similar tradition in Romania but instead of a skull we use a manufactured goat or bear head. And the singers get money and Christmas snacks instead of alcohol
I'm so glad. I understand it happens in Hungary too.
Marianne
Thatâs adorable
too modern
how is it called?
â@@soylacomadreja5791 'Capra de Anul Nou', or New Year's goat :)
The costume has a special mechanism that allows it to go 'clak-clak-clak' when you tug on a string, and the goat is normally accompanied by village lads playing the drums, or 'tobe' (plural)/ 'tobÄ' (singular), though that tends to be near mountainous regions. In Dobrogea, which is by the Black Sea, we use these shakers made by attaching bells to wooden sticks. Oddly enough, we also have someone knock on people's door asking them if they'll let the goat in, as part of the performance.
Imagine rap battling a horse skull to save your beer
Better than tv.
đ
Translation- His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy. There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti.
Ooh, you're making it up!
Marianne
@@rogerdavies8586 nah.
I hate that you got me to believe it for the first sentence because the reference hadn't clicked yet xD
đ€Łđ€Łđ€Łđ€Ł
Diolch yn fawr. I showed this to my Japanese wife to explain Welsh New year tradition and she was very impressed.
Japanese people have a somewhat similar tradition that's based in one of Japan's prefectures.
I don't remember too much about it but I'm pretty sure it's called Namahage. People dress up as Oni aka Demons (which is a funny name for me since I'm Polish and "Oni" means "them" in my language, and is pronounced the same way). These demons then playfully cause commotion untill they are let in and then drink with the father of the household, the father then promises his kids will be better behaved next year, or something along those lines.
Funnily enough here in Poland my dad told me we used to have a kind of similar creature to Crampus called Dziadek Mroz (literally Grandpa [of the] Cold) though idk how popular this was around the entire country and it seems to have been more so due to Poland's Soviet time than anything. Santa Claus was and still is much more popular.
However after seeing Mari Lwyd I think it's the most impressive and fun tradition of this kind out of the ones I've seen. The whole horse skull thing makes it metal and I'm just a sucker for imagery like this.
someone should show this to their welsh elders so that this can get subtitles
you don't need welsh elders lol, just ask a fluent welsh speaker, we're everywhere
@@AJ-xv6bj Would you be willing to translate?
@@K1ddkanuck guess hes not fluent xd
@@K1ddkanuck at the end he says that this is a tradition they do at xmas. They go around houses and farms with a horseâs head decorated with stars and ribbons and that he first heard of it from an uncle who lived in Llwyn Brain as a boy and remembered the Mari Llwyd coming around, and that was 100 years ago. Itâs an old ritual which maybe in the future people would be doing in a different way. Then he says, Iâm going in to the company.
@@cardu2012 personally.. if it wasn't for those two men singing, i would probably beat the hell out of that thing with the nearest object close to hand.
This really makes me appreciate the history film allows us to capture
I love it.... Being Welsh is a honour bestowed on the few....
few!? there is alot of welsh people around the globe
I don't know not that many you muppet
â@@richarddutchholland4780 quite alot actually, you pig faced fool
@@myth0s307 there are at least three probably
Moral of the story is if you ever find yourself rap battling a horse skeleton itâs perfectly normal
I honestly thought Mari Lwyd was an internet hoax until I saw this video.
Why would it be a hoax?
@@franciscocassuli6103 Look at his profile pic
Edit: I really can't remember why I said this. Maybe greg changed the picture? I dunno.
@@franciscocassuli6103 Because it's bizarre?
I like the way they're sober for the camera. Cwrw later!
This but when you fail, it raids your internal organs instead of your pantry.
I wish this happened here because it looks so fun and cool, I'd spend all winter writing good bars
Welsh is beautiful when sung like this
Iâm a Welsh speaker, and I canât work out a word they are saying.
@@brianleslie19 Maybe they're speaking a particular Welsh dialect common years ago! Show this to your parents or grandparents. Maybe they can help you!
There used to be several dialects. In the south east it was called Y Wenhwyseg or Gwenhwyseg (Gwentian).
I remember watching this in primary school when I was younger... couldnât sleep that night.
Worried about having to rap battle a skull to keep your beer huh?
Oh as a child, I *n e v e r* would have slept again; I had a hard enough of a time after learning about the Angel of Death in Moses....
I remember it from my childhood in the village in the early 1960s
Sounds so much like Breton !
they both evolved from brythonic, welsh is the closest to brythonic
Came across a mission in Assassinâs Creed Valhalla that does Mari Lwyd, so I had to look into it.
Hello SCP foundation?
Yeah itâs happening again
This is an original Welsh tradition. Not an SCP.
@@secondcoolestyoutubechanne2123 r/wooosh
@@player8837 I know it's a joke.
@@secondcoolestyoutubechanne2123 then why did you explain the joke, to the person who made it? Your comment is redundant
Did you try rapping to it?
Rap battling a horse skull to keep your booze. Must be Christmas
The subtitles my God
When this happens but you don't know Welsh and your just there for a friend so you think you're gonna die
@iggy23 Yes, the Celtic new year was at 'Halloween' so it is possible that the custom was moved to the time of the Roman new year. However the custom is now practised around Christmas and up to the current date of the new year.
No evidence at all that the Celtic new year was at Halloween.
And the tradition took place at Christmas and occasionally the New Year and is no older than the late 18th century.
That's the most badass and awesome and interesting thing i have seen in a long time.
I have to learn this song for Saturday. :/ I don't know Welsh! We've got it phonetically written to sing to our mari lwyd. But not in Wales. Here in Victoria, Australia, since our winter is on the way... !
How'd it go?! :)
Weirdly, after Sam OâNella posted his video on this topic my music teacher talked about it.
maybe your music teacher watches Sam O'nella
Wow, that really enlighted me, especially the subtitles, at the end where the guy said his parents were his only drug when he was on methanol and other such things. I always wondered about Morris dancing and how the skulls of dead horses related. Maybe it was the bells, the bells? My mum may have grown up on Anglesey and my great-grandparents are buried there, but still I have literally zero clue about Welsh culture, thank you for sharing..
If this doesn't show up at my door next year, I'm going to be incredibly disappointed.
Round about three minutes, I'm sure he sings "Thames Ditton in Surrey".
My mother was a welsh speaker and it sounded like that to me too.
And at 1:46 it sounds like "Bing Crosby"
It's "yn Surrey" which means in Surrey
sonnyboythethird heâs saying they sing better than bing crosby or any yankee đ€Ł.
Bendigedig! Fidio da o'r hen draddodiad Mari Llwyd. Gobeithio bydda hi yn barhau am amser hyr eto!
Is there any chance you could translate what they're saying
â@Firstname137 I found this translation online
CĂąn y Fari Lwyd
(Oddi allan)
Wel dyma ni'n dwad
Gyfeillion diniwad
I ofyn am gennad i ganu.
Os na chawn ni gennad,
Cewch glywed ar ganiad
Beth fydd ein dymuniad - nos heno.
Agorwch y dryse,
Mae'r rhew wrth ein sodle,
Mae'r rhew wrth ein sodle - nos heno.
Os oes gennych atebion,
Wel, dewch a nhw'n union
I ateb prydyddion y gwylie.
(Ateb oddi mewn)
O, cerwch ar gered,
Mae'ch ffordd yn agored,
Mae'r ffordd yn agored - nos heno.
(Oddi allan)
Nid ewn ni ar gered
Heb dorri ein syched,
Heb dorri ein syched - nos heno.
(Oddi mewn)
Mae ffynnon yn tarddu
Ym mhistyll y Beili,
Trwy ffafwr cewch lymed i brofi.
(Oddi allan)
Nid yfwn o'r ffynnon
I oeri ein calon
I fagu clefydon - y gwylie.
(Oddi mewn)
Rhowch glywad, wyr doethion,
Pa faint y'ch o ddynion
A beth yn wych union, (x3) yw'ch enwau.
(Oddi allan)
Rhyw bump o wyr hawddgar,
Rhai gorau y ddaear
Yn canu mewn gwir air (x3) am gwrw.
(Oddi mewn)
Os llymaid bach melys
A geisiwch dros wefus
Dewch atom yn hwylus (x3) i'r aelwyd.
Tu Fewn...
Y Parti:
Mae Mari Lwyd lawen
Yn dod i'ch tyân rhonden
A chanu yw ei diben, mi dybiaf.
Yr Ateb:
Rhowch glywad wyr difrad
O ble rych chi'n dwad
A beth yw'ch gofyniad gaf enwi.
Y Parti:
O ardal Y Creigiau,
Pentyrch a'r cyffiniau
Fe ganwn ein geiriau am gwrw.
Yr Ateb:
Derbyniwn yn llawen
Ymryson yr awen
I gynnal y gynnen drwy ganu.
Y Parti:
Mi ganwn am wythnos
Ac hefyd bythefnos
A mis os bydd achos baidd i chwi.
Yr Ateb:
Mi ganwn am flwyddyn
Os cawn Dduw i'n canlyn
Heb ofni un gelyn y gwyliau.
Y Parti:
Gollyngwch yn rhugil
Na fyddwch yn gynnil
O! Tapiwch y faril i'r Fari.
Yr Ateb:
O! Cenwch eich nodau
Ac felly wnawn ninnau
A'r sawl a fo orau gaiff gwrw.
Y Parti:
Fe ganwn yn awr
I Ferched y Wawr
Am ddiod ac enllyn i'n llonni.
Yr Ateb:
I'r Fari sychedig
Fe rown ein calennig
A'r cwrw yn ffisig iâw pheswch.
Y Parti:
Derbyniwn yn llawen,
Y croeso mewn casgen
Cyflawnwyd y diben mi dybiaf.
Diolch i Glwb y Dwrlyn i'r fersiwn hwn
The Mari Lwyd song
(From outside)
Well, here we come
Innocent friends
To ask may we have leave to sing.
If we donât have leave,
You can listen to the song
that tells of our leaving - tonight.
Open the doors,
Thereâs ice under our heels,
Thereâs ice under our heels - tonight.
If you have answers,
Well, bring them exactly
To answer the holidays poets.
(Answer from inside)
Oh, go walk,
Your way is open,
Your way is open - tonight.
(From outside)
We wonât walk away
Without breaking our thirst,
Without breaking our thirst - tonight.
(From inside)
The fountain originates
In the Baileyâs spring,
As a favour have a drink to taste.
(From outside)
We wonât drink from a fountain
To colden our hearts
To breed fever - [of] the holiday.
(From inside)
Listen, wise men,
What size is your party (of men)
And what exactly is great, (x3) are your names.
(From outside)
Some five pleasant men,
Some of the best on Earth
Singing true words (x3) for beer.
(From inside)
If thereâs a small sweet swig [of beer]
That you can try on your lips
Come to us in good spirits (x3) to the hearth.
Inside...
The Party (of the Mari Lwyd):
The joyful Mary Lwyd
has come to your house en mass
and singing is itâs purpose, I suppose.
The Response (from the residents):
Give a listen, patriotic men
Where do you come from
And what is your ask that I can name
The Party:
From the area of Creigiau,
Pentyrch and itâs outskirts
We sing our words for beer.
The Response:
We receive you joyfully
Contend with the muse
To maintain the luck through singing.
The Party:
We will sing for a week
And a fortnight as well
And a month if you will dare.
The Response:
We will sing for a year
If we get God to follow us
Without fearing any enemy of the holidays.
The Party:
Fluently drop
You will not be subtle
Oh! Tap [Open] the barrel for the Mary.
The Response:
Oh! Sing your notes
And so will we
And the person whoâs best will have beer.
The Party:
We will sing now
To Merched y Wawr
For drink and a snack to make us happy
The Response:
For the thirsty Mari
We give our New Yearâs gift
And the beer is medicine for her cough.
The Party:
We accept joyfully,
The welcome in a barrel
Accomplished the purpose, I believe
@@Firstname137 "Awesome! Good video of the old Mari Lwyd tradition. Hopefully it'll continue for a long time."
@fscarp Why show your ignorance on here ? This is an ancient tradition and is practised at Christmas, not Halloween. The Fari Lwyd (Horse) aspect probably dates back well over 2000 years to pre-Christian times and reflects the role of the equine in Celtic religion (e.g Rhianon & Epona, the 'horse gods'.
As a kid in the 80s and 90s in the Rhondda we used to say "please help the Mari Lwyd' at Halloween too.
The earliest documented evidence is from the 1800's not Celtic, not pre-Christian.
Also found in Yorkshire and Notts.
â@@YorkyOne
And Kent and the Cotswolds.
Diolch yn fawr. Gracias for sharing this tradition
Diolch n fawr- grew up around there- and worked in TheOldhouse pub - as well as the corner house. Weâd go cross country running up around the Celtic cross in the small square between the pubs from school down the road from Bottom Llan- or sneak off into the fields with a girlfriend if it was warm enough! Well tidy.
So blessed to be able to speak Welsh đđ
Teach me pls
I wish there were subtitles
And here you are, the origins of trick'or'treating
and tik tok đ
auto-generated subtitles are awesome đđ
"I can cover your very Louise and Jordan cross" and such about Kentuckyđ
"Mohini in our very odd union, Sanka nude, window kill a sermon, hamster on a dalek" I almost died laughing!! Someone tell Mohini to reform the union while Sanka puts some clothes on and saves that damned hamster!
"Another Key West I shined on the english" lol đđđ
I'm guessing this was a pre christian ceremony that was originally practiced around Winter Solstice. But, over time it was metamorphosed into something else.
The Christians dont approve.
Yeah, it's essentially wassailing with a horse skull costume
@@johndoe-gp1fx I wouldn't say the Christians don't approve if they're still practicing it.
No, it's a mast horse also found in Yorkshire, Notts and Derbyshire mining areas. Only starts to be documented in the 1800's.
@@YorkyOne
That is found in those areas mid 19th century.
Super. The vocal harmonies at the beginning are astonishing- if I didn't know better I'd have said it sounded like some African harmonies.
"Hampster on a dalek"
- auto-generated subtitles
seriously tho, @BBC , add some actual subtitles in english, please. understanding the words is part of preserving the tradition!
wow thank god for the English captions
Turn on the captions it's even funnier that wayđ
Just found this, it's fascinating, if you can understand it. The subtitles and transcript are quite useless, as they are not even attempting to translate the original Welsh into English at all. I find it quite insulting that a company the size of the BBC can't be arsed to provide appropriate bi-lingual subtitles and transcript. Either put them right, or take them down!
It's great to see this ancient pre-Christian tradition returning to parts of Wales.
Dyma fy hoff ddraddodiad Cymraeg †ĐаОлŃŃŃĐ°Ń ĐČаллОĐčŃĐșĐ°Ń ŃŃĐ°ĐŽĐžŃĐžŃ â€ My favourite Welsh tradition â€
Pretty pretty please, could you translate this song for us?
I heard of the Mari in a book for the first time some years back but didn't know exactly how it went.I like this,and I'm liking the sound of Welsh even if I only recognise a word here and there.Would hate to see the language and the tradition of the Mari(Y Fari Lwyd in Welsh,I think?)die out
Oh lord! I used to live near to where this was filmed!
Now, enable closed captions and watch the video again
I speak Welsh and didn't understand a word fatwas said lol wish I knew someone e who could translate the older diolect
The youtube auto generated subtitles đ
I come from Llangynwyd xx
BRUH. We're locals.
I'd like to know more about it. Just heard about it though my dear grandfather may have known about it, he didn't tell us. Would you be willing to tell me more? ML Evans
đŽó §ó ąó ·ó Źó łó żđŽó §ó ąó ·ó Źó łó żđŽó §ó ąó ·ó Źó łó ż cymru am byth
Interesting tradition.
Enjoy the rest of the day đđđđđđđđ
the horse after a certain blue haired individual with a mic starts rapping back in beeps
why I'm listening to this like some entertainment song
Lyrics?
I can't share this to FB for some reason.
That's the stuff.
EPIC RAP BATTLES OF HISTORY
MARI LWYD VS YOU!!!!!!!
BEGIN
WHO WON! WHO'S NEXT?
Diolch in Fawr
I need a translation of that songđ„șâ€ïžâš
In Texas they do this with a long horned cattle skull
Wales is crazy, man.
@Sun Mxngo Oh shit I forgot I made that comment. Sorry, I never meant anything rude by it.
It is fine
One of my closest friends is from Wales, but I know WAYYY more about this tradition than she does, lol, it started in wales, died there then came over to Ireland, tho im not sure if its still a thing now haha (btw if u see this, hii sweetheart đ)
Edit: as of the 14th of February, her and I are bf/gf
If more people read the classics, this would be the obvious thing in the world. Hint- Paris, Snake Island, and Castor's sister.
Can someone please reply to me with what they are saying? In either Welsh or english?
Nah.
glockroach
Well, gentle friends
Here we come
To ask may we have leave
To ask may we have leave
To ask may we have leave
To sing.
If we may not have leave,
Then listen to the song
That tells of our leaving
That tells of our leaving
That tells of our leaving
Tonight.
We have cut our shins
Crossing the stiles
To come here
To come here
To come here
Tonight.
If there are people here
Who can compose englynion
Then let us hear them now
Then let us hear them now
Then let us hear them now
Tonight.
If you've gone to bed too early
In a vengeful spirit,
Oh, get up again good-naturedly
Oh, get up again good-naturedly
Oh, get up again good-naturedly
Tonight.
The large, sweet cake
With all kinds of spices:
O cut generous slices
O cut generous slices
O cut generous slices
This Christmas-tide.
O, tap the barrel
And let it flow freely;
Don't share it meanly
Don't share it meanly
Don't share it meanly
This Christmas-tide.
glockroach www.omniglot.com/soundfiles/songs/yfarilwyd.mp3
@@iceandale7621 THANK YOU
What year was this film made? Very intriguing...
In the description it says 1966
2020.
So if you find yourself rap battling a horse skull at midnight in south wales, don't worry, it's normal. I think.
Turn on captions (English, auto generated) for some fun!
Nadolig llawen a blwyddyn newydd dda. đâđđ
So, if I catch myself rap battling a horse's skull in Old South Wales, that is normal? Mari Lwyd, if you're reading this, STAY OUT OF MY PANTRY. Or I'll get the Big Iron on my hip.
Let us In and we'll drink your beer. Diolch x
imagine eminem being the mary lwyd
Does he say "Bing Crosby" at 1:50?
Yes, he says that the young men of Barry can sing better than Bing Crosby or any other yankee that might appear on the tv that evening.
Putting the subtitles on was a massive mistake lol đ đđđit really donât help on bit
My dad and I just watched this with the auto generated subtitles and we were laughing the whole way out đ at one point it generated the word Dalek and was even funnier since we're both into Doctor Who đ
Nossa faz 9 anos
The hashtagđ€š
English Translation Please!
Beautiful.
Ffwrdd a ni. Da iawn diolch. Pleser!
@20mbarry actually, since the "new year" in ancient times was at halloween, there is good reasoning to think this was originally a "halloween" custom - just got moved to the Roman new year when the Romans invented it. Maybe. ;)
No. 19th century.
Can anyone translate? I'd love to know what he's saying at the end!
He's talking about how he used to take part in the tradition as a child
Me: *hears this*
Also me: _Im calling the scp foundation._
Why are they singing to a step ladder?
sounded like Rob Brydon was in the house
Or knowing Rob standing outside the house sounding like he was in the house đ
Its better with subtitles
Hilarious!
@DRKGmusic yes
Real translation: here we come my dear friends to ask permission to sing if we don't have permission, let us know in song how we should go away tonight.
I have no dinner or money to spend, to welcome you in this night.
I noticed that this is not actually the full translation of the one depicted in this video, but it is the translation of the traditional song used today.
Alguem veio pelo "voce sabia" ?
Welsh sounds like Elvish!
tolkien studies and spoke Welsh
Epic rap battles of history, some welsh dude VS Famine himself
Byddai'n wych pe bai rhai siaradwyr Cymraeg yn gallu trawsgrifio hyn ... Nid oes angen cyfieithu - mae bwydo testun Cymraeg i Google Translate yn hawdd. Ond mae'r iaith lafar gymaint yn anoddach!
czcams.com/users/timedtext_video?v=G_xFo6Hifzk&ar=2
I'm Welsh and only heard of this today.
Fucking weird.
The precursor to carol singing?
No.
the first rap battle in history
Dolly employee economy got me. Cc