Eerie UK Christmas Traditions - Folk Customs from the Mari Lwyd to the Straw Boys
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- čas přidán 25. 06. 2024
- In this video, Jessica the Museum Guide (that’s me!) takes you on a guided museum tour of the Hooden Horse Exhibit at the Seaside Museum in Herne Bay, and so much more. Learn all about the most bizarre Christmas folk customs from across the UK.
Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe. Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts about these festive oddities - which is your favourite? Which ones did I leave out?
Be sure to check out my other Christmas videos - they're here in this playlist:
• Christmas at London’s ...
As always, thanks for watching. If you enjoyed this virtual tour, then please consider leaving me a tip at www.paypal.me/jessicatourguide or buy me a coffee at www.buymeacoffee.com/JessicaG...
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Remember - I guide private museum, oddities, and graveyard tours in London. Get in touch at jessica@themuseumguide.com
VIDEO SUMMARY
In this video, we dig into the truly bizarre, archaic, and weird traditions that are steeped in mad history and the Wicker Man-style folklore this island is so known for. We’re focusing on the folk traditions of mumming, animal guising, and wassailing, including the enigmatic Mari Lwyd, hooden horses, Morris Dancers, Straw Boys, and so much more.
Grab a cup of Christmas cheer and learn all about these strange Christmas and pagan customs from across the UK.
0:00 - Introduction to the Tour
2:07 - Hooden Horses of East Kent
6:15 - Mari Lwyd of South Wales
8:14 - The Horse at the Fox Inn, West Sussex
9:06 - Boxing Day Horse Bloodletting (No longer practiced)
10:06 - Morris Dancing, UK-wide
11:55 - Tudor Christmas Traditions at the Museum of the Home
15:47 - Wren Day and Straw Boys, Ireland, Isle of Man, and England
18:38 - Ashen Faggot of Devon and Somerset
20:14 - Montol Festival of Cornwall
22:46 - Tom Bawcock's Eve and Stargazy Pie of Cornwall
24:37 - Clock Burning of Brighton
25:25 - Panto Dames, UK-wide
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Enjoy this video? Check out my other Christmas videos - they're here in this playlist:
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American racist 😡
The 'Poor auld hoss' visits my hometown of Richmond in North Yorkshire every Christmas eve. They sing and visit the local shops and if you pat his nose it's good luck.
That’s wonderful! I’d love to see him in person.
Be careful he'll have your hand off!
I belong to the Krewe of Krampus in New Orleans. We have a Mari Lwyd among our krewe characters as well as other similar holiday characters from various cultures that we call "The Yules". We are always looking to add new characters & this video is an excellent resource! Thank you for sharing!
Did you comment on my Krampus video a few months ago?
Happy to provide new ideas!
@@TheMuseumGuide Yet its been replaced with worshipping a magical J zombie who is not their Jewish Messiaha! As proven by the Torahs requirements for this! :) Christians are the whackiest Jewish people!
A video on strange old Christmas traditions that are no longer practiced? YES PLEASE! Love this one tho. I knew of some of these but am always glad to hear about more. Wes heil!
Yes, please.💜
I'm from the US and have northern European ancestry. One of my best travel experiences was attending the Chepstow Wassail and Mari Lwyd in January - the English and Welsh meeting on the bridge and the Welsh singing to the English in gorgeous harmonies - it was stunning and brought me to tears. And there were plenty of Morris Sides in attendance. I wish I could attend every year and I encourage anyone interested in these traditions to check it out. Thanks for your content.
Well, I definitely have to go! Thanks so much for sharing your experience.
Oh, that sounds magical!
Fellow Canadian here! My dad was English, so I knew of most of these -- but I WISH we could have them here in Canada, too! I've always preferred the more spooky Christmas/Yule/Wintertide stylings of the UK than the saccharine American festivities.
I'm American & I have a Mari Lwyd. Get a few neighbors on board & recreate the fun tradition that brings you cheer!
American here but Father was British. My older brother would remind me of some of these in this video as he didn't want me to forget. Much of our celebrations when I was small were pagan so far more interesting and meaningful. Brother and I remained in the Midwest while our parents returned to Europe. Even now I would much rather make my own decorations and gifts though they were never met with much appreciation except for my granddad. My big thing this cold weather season is handmade hand warmers that I leave at bus shelters when riding the bus.
Fascinating! More UK customs, Christmas related or not, please, as well as the 'auld' operating room. Thank you!
Sure thing! Thanks for watching.
What a great video!
I live in New England these days. The only part of the US I consider habitable. But I miss home, London, so deeply my bones ache.
I was able to instill in my daughter an appreciation for Pantos. We caught Ian Mckellen's Widow Twanky one year.
But I miss home around Christmas especially. Things are much more open these days, but even in the 80s, even right in London, everything shut for about 2 weeks. This appeared to include the sun. It was dark until 11:30am, murky till 2pm, then pitch black again. We'd stumble through the dark streets to the village green, where the local pub would put on mulled wine for the period.
We always had roast goose for our Christmas dinner. Extremely not healthy, but what's the point of a fitness conscious holiday. Geese are incredibly fatty. Indeed one goose can leave you will a big pot of fat, with which one can make the most delicious and evil thing in the entire world: Chips cooked in goose fat. My arteries clog at the thought. But it's a bloody ecstatic way to go.
I adore a roast goose at Christmas, but my husband says never again because he had to clean the oven last time!
Thank you for watching- glad to provide some nostalgia and a small slice of home.
@@TheMuseumGuideIt helps if you roast it with a rotisserie setup with a deep roasting pan underneath to catch the drippings rather than it getting all over your oven. Great to do outdoors if possible! We used almond wood to help flavor the roast and keep a steady hot grill. Also made citrus, cranberry and rosemary stuffing. We filled the cavity with that and sewed it up like turkey. Definitely helps contrast the fatty meat and roasting outdoors might be more fun for your husband than cleaning an oven lol!!
Oh, we definitely used a tray but the splatter was legendary!
@@disideratum By Boxing Day it did sometimes feel like the entire house was coated in a fine layer of goose fat. And trying to clean it off everything was a Herculean Task. No wonder Channel swimmers covered themselves with it.
I roasted it in an old fashioned DEEP roasting tin, with a rack, to try to control the fat, and poured the fat out often.
I absolutely agree about having sharp flavours for contrast. I used a recipe from my great grandmother's cook book. Soaked prunes in red wine. Mixed those with chopped up green apples and sewed the mixture in the cavities.
It certainly doesn't need basting to stop from drying out. If one can get the skin crispy, I've seen people come to blows trying to get it all for themselves (I joke of course...but I have seen people make a grab for it while others are pulling a cracker).
The cats were beguiled by the smell, but it was far far too rich for them.
When ovens were large a small goose was roasted above the turkey. Then you didn't need to keep basting the turkey.
This Canadian will never get to England, so I really appreciate your videos. To the viewers of this one, I recommend "Off With His Head" by Ngaio Marsh for a fascinating (fictional) dip into guising, hobby horses, morris dancing and all that cool stuff.
Thank for the video. Yes to the videos you asked about making. New subscriber. 💖
Wow - I wish Christmas only lasted for 12 days now! If advertising is any guide, it seems to start in mid-November these days. LOL I'm amazed that none of the rarer British traditions have been placed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List - it would be nice to see that done to ensure their continuation.
I love the layers of these celebrations.... The more you peel back, the deeper they go.. The symbolism is so deeply ingrained into humanity that while it might appear odd it never seems "wrong" if you get me
Thank you for featuring the Herne Bay Seaside Museum and Bower Street Morris! I live in the area and know both. Made my day to spot my friends dancing in your video 😊
Fabulous, the mari Lwyd is celebrated here in Chepstow south wales, long may our customs continue ❤
I’d love to visit and take part!
This was splendid, thank you for bringing us these wonderful oddities. I danced the Morris for 15 years here in Toronto, and we did a tour in England where we visited and danced with a number of English sides. Love the old customs.🖤🇨🇦
Thank you Jessica. My family came to Canada from Surrey, Liverpool and Yorkshire. I knew of mummers and Boxing Day but the other traditions are off the wall. Just goes to show when you work hard all year you have to find your fun where you can. This was a great video ❤
My father grew up in rural Ireland and he and my aunt's and uncles would go mumming
Definitely would be interested in seeing Christmas traditions that are no longer practiced today
Next year!
@@TheMuseumGuidegreat. Thank you. 🎄
I absolutely adore weird folk traditions. Whether they're genuinely ancient or were invented by hippies in the 70's, they all bring a bit of magic and mystery into the world. I've been fascinated by the idea of the Christmas Wren Hunt for years- it seems to have been a big deal in communities all over Western Europe. A lot of the costumes and rituals have been preserved or revived, but I've never ever read an account of how they actually caught the wren. Wrens are absolutely tiny, can fly, and will dart into undergrowth if startled. They'd be a very hard to hit with a stone or arrow, especially if lots of people were chasing them and you didn't want to hit your friends by mistake (although I suppose pelting eachother with stones might be part of the experience). I honestly don't know how they managed to get them. If I had to guess, I'd say that they maybe chased them into nets, or maybe baited and trapped one in a cage beforehand and ritualistically 'hunted' on the actual day, but I really don't know.
"they all bring a bit of magic and mystery into the world"
Yes, indeed. One reason they're so appealing, I think, is that they excite the wonder of the Inner Child in us - something that tends to get blunted, or even lost, as we grow into 'sophisticated' adults.
You can build nesting boxes with a door in the back. You wait until the bird is asleep at night and cover the front door. You can then get the bird in the morning by opening the back door and putting a little cage there quickly before the bird can fly out. The wren will fly into the cage because he thinks he is going to escape. But he ends up in your cage. Poor little thing might die from fright. But thats how you do it.
@@LadyLeda2 That's really interesting knowledge, but doesn't sound right for the communal Christmas wren hunts of the past. They were big events where apparently most of the village chased wrens. They still have organised 'wren hunts' in some places, such as some villages in rural Ireland, where everybody chases a guy in a feathered costume around the countryside.
Interesting! The hooded horses reminds me of the Swedish yule goat tradition. Although no longer practiced (we just have cute straw goat decorations now), it was done in a similar way where the yulegoat would go from door to door and bring mayhem, scare children and inspect if everyone had done christmas preparations properly. I have seen a head on a stick type from the 1700s where the mouth opens and closes like those horses. It really seems like the traditions are related.
Ps. The straw boys look amazing!
How sad traditions are now no longer being taught or respected in communities, Christmas is a pagan festival firstly and so these strange rituals are founded in history.
Absolutely marvellous, we’re in Kent and love to go to the Broadstairs folk festival where there are so many hooded horses lol we live next to Rochester and our May Day festival goes on for three days 😀😀😀
I’ll have to go to Broadstairs in 2024! I’ll see you there. ;)
@@TheMuseumGuide
Go to the three day one Ann mentioned too! The one in Rochester, it's called the Sweeps Festival and it's wonderful.
Australian Christmas traditions (usually a hot bloody day). Christmas eve- go out and look at the Christmas lights. Christmas morning we open most presents. Lunch and dinner are usually cold, ham, turkey and prawns, lots of salads, pavlova, pudding or fruitcake and byo drinks. Swimming is pretty standard if you can (some public pools will stay open).
Boxing day- the Sydney to Hobart yaught race must be on the telly. Eat leftovers drink more.
Our Christmas trees are usually plastic pine trees occasionally we will do a fresh gumtree branch. (Mines black but im a goth lol)
Yes we sing "im dreaming of a white Christmas" but we also sing "the Australian gingle bells"
We still honor Guy Fawlkes in the UK because, " He was the last person to enter Parliament with honest intentions!" 😅😂
But with the intention of murdering hundreds of people.
Awesome! 🎉 I knew about the mummers in NFLD but had nooo idea about anything else 😮 So cool! Thank you 🙂🥳
I’m happy to shed light on this bizarre custom!
The horse tradition is alive in many UK places including Richmond in Yorkshire where it's known as T'aud Hoss
Yes- he’s in this video!
My grandmother was Welsh so I have a link to Y Fari Lwyd, and I've always lived in Kent so I have a link to the Kentish hooden horse. I also used to be a Morris dancer, and I'm Pagan too. I'm learning about the old stories which run through my veins. I love these folklore traditions. I love this video too, thank you so much for it! Instant subscribe.
But none of those customs are pagan in origin.
@@Wotsitorlabart
They all have links to Paganism, whether historically or via revival. But that wasn't the point in my comment in any case. I was responding to what's in the video.
@@GeorgiaGeorgette
Fair enough.
But your idea that it is perfectly OK to attach neo-pagan ideas to historical customs that have no pagan connotations at all seems dishonest to me - you are creating a false folkloric history. And such things matter.
@@Wotsitorlabart
It is my belief that these things do have historical Pagan connections. If other people think they're only associated through revival then that's their opinion. Either way, I wrote about my own ancestry, my own spirituality, and my own passions. You can disagree with any of those but it won't change them.
@@GeorgiaGeorgette
The Mari Lwyd (and other similar Welsh hobby horses), the Hooden Horse, the Poor Old Horse, the Old Ball and others could do without spurious 'pagan' origins stories to obscure the part the rural poor of the 18th and 19th centuries had in actually creating these customs.
Creating a 'fakelore' does these people a disservice.
But your personal spirituality and passions are of course your business.
Morris dancers are somewhat associated with Christmas because they were often working men earning a crust in the winter when many manual labour jobs couldn't be carried out. See Cecil Sharp's first encounter with Morris Men in the late 19th century...
That’s a great point!
@@TheMuseumGuide
The morris dancers that Cecil Sharp saw on Boxing Day 1899 were only out at Christmas because it had been particularly cold that year and the men were laid off and needed money. Traditionally the time for the Oxfordshire sides to dance would be at Whitsuntide.
The North East sides danced in late summer to accompany the Rushbearing festivals.
However, the Welsh Border Morris did traditionally dance at Christmas and the New Year as did the Longsword dancing teams of Yorkshire.
There's a wonderful, creepy gothic novella (set in the mid-20th century) by Elizabeth Hand that involves Wren Day traditions--*Wylding Hall*. Thank you for this great video, Jessica!
Thank you. I ordered the book. It sounds fun and gothic.
It would indeed be a very merry holiday season if we all engaged in these traditions still.
Nothing says 'happy holidays' like a dead horse on a stick!
Seriously though, I love stuff like this. I think the creepiest are probably the wicker coneheads. Imagine seeing a pack of those heading for you on a dark street...
In Uk, we don't say holiday for Christmas,like in the US, we call it Christmas time, or the festive time, or yule of old..we go on holiday, usually in the Summer. So calling it a holiday sounds kind of odd to our ears..
@@redbeki
Yes, 'holiday' for us means vacation, so we just tend to say, 'Merry Christmas' in general, or whatever the specific equivalent is. I'm Pagan and my friends and I say, 'Blessed Yule' too.
@@GeorgiaGeorgette it just sounds so odd to our English ears, to say holidays for Christmas.. holiday is Summer. It's the little subtle variations of English, that are dominated, by American English, because that is the language of the Internet. Soon, all our kids,here in UK will be calling Christmas time, holiday season.. let's hope not 😊
@@redbeki
I get what you're saying, but I like the inclusivity of the phrase. It does still make me think of going on holiday though.
The Obby Oss's of Padstow on May Day is a wonderful tradition. The town of Padstow essentially closes down as the streets fill with revellers. There are two horses or oss's, the red and the blue. Padstow residents 'belong' to either the blue oss or the red oss and they compete. Each ''oss goes up and down the street accompanied by a large number of the townsfolk dressed in uniforms decorated in either blue or red playing music and singing 'The Merry Morning of May' which is very catchy when you hear it all day!
I should go! May Day weekend falls on/near my birthday every year.
Definitely, it’s good fun!
Jessica - you're a natural! Thank you SO much for your fascinating guides.
Wow, thank you!
@@TheMuseumGuide
You're more than welcome! England specifically, and the British Isles in general, must be an absolute Gold Mine for anyone interested in, and excited by History, and its 'quirkier' side. Perhaps at sometime in the future, you could do a series on some of the better-known 'fire festivals' in the UK: from the Bonfire Night celebrations in Lewes to the 'Viking' fire festival in Up Helly Aa in Shetland (each with their own website, naturally), there are some brilliant events to choose from!
Just a thought, Honey🙂
Great idea! I’d LOVE to go to Up Helly Aa!
In Philadelphia and the immediate surrounding area of the USA, we have the Mummers Parade on New Years Day and it includes strange winter traditions like wearing shiny dresses and bizarre, slighty scary outfits. The Kingsessing Morris Men also participate in the parade each year. The mummer clubs here were also traditionally all male, though that's changing.
I’ve included them! I’d love to attend.
Loved this one so much! Thank you for sharing! Blessed Yule!
Love you ! Such informative and entertainig content.
More videos please. 👏
You got it!
Loved this ❤
this will the first year since 1971 that I won't be able to make the Feast of the Seven Fishes. It is very sad when all your family and friends are gone before you. I thought Id make one, we'll see.
Make one! And go to some festivities in your town. I’m alone too, but we still must celebrate this life, while we are here. 💖
Oliver Cromwell = Old Scrooge
I love these traditions. They are not only fun to watch but, I'm sure, to participate in.
He really was a Scrooge!
Rhinebeck, NY has a modern/revival of old Dutch Christmas tradition with its annual Sinterkaas pageant that parades down the town. (Held first weekend of December near St Nicholas day), a large white horse puppet is a big feature, along with illuminated animal puppets.
Yes to all the possible videos you mentioned.
Deal!
This is so fascinating, thank you so much!
You’re very welcome!
Love this, thank you! Putting my own hooded horse together just now. Neighbours (neigh pun intended!) are going to have quite the surprise 😅
I love British customs and folklore! Im American and my last name is Whitfield so i might have some English ancestry! The Mari Lywd from South Wales is my favorite!! Thank you for this fascinating video ❤❤❤❤. Emily from Missouri 😊😊😊
Oh wow, I can see where a lot of the equine folk imagery in the newest Zelda game comes from.
I love Zelda games! I’ll have to check it out.
Enjoyed the video. Yes, l to see the operating room. 😊
Coming soon! Thank you for watching.
I absolutely would be interested in customs no longer practiced.
I look forward to your videos and would love to see more from the medical side😁 - or anything else really!🦘🦘🦘
A "Tup" is an East Midlands (and perhaps wider afield) alternative name for a Ram 🐏 !
That makes perfect sense for Old Tup then! Thank you.
And sometimes a young man! Also, tupping is the process of introducing the ram to the ewe.
Takk! 😊
Thank you!
Love this, thanks!
Wow That was good
Thank you! Merry Christmas!
Loved this!
Thank you!
😂😂😂 hail Dagon 😂😂😂 love it .
🙃🐟
Fantastic video. Thanks for sharing. I attended the "making mischief - folk costume in Britain at Compton Verney in June. its so nice to see your video which gives more context to that exhibition. We have a wassailing evening on Jan 17th in Croxley Green, Herts. Its a small affair but very enjoyable. It includes Morris Dancers and Druids.
Druids?
What have Druids got to do with wassailing?
I like the way she talks ❤❤
Thank you from Australia 😊
You’re so welcome!
Merry Christmas!! 🙂🇨🇦🎅🎄
I live in the UK and I've never seen or heard of this 😂
I knew of the Krumpus one - Wish we had it here. Though the part of Ontario, Canada which I'm in, we don't have it here, it would be rather neat to see.. I see you are also in a Cornwall, thats is the name of my city here to.. one of many Cornwall's.. Lovely video.. I'm pagan & wiccan a bit of both.. So I shall say Have a Blessed Yule
Happy holidays! What fun traditions!
And to you!
Hopefully we never say Happy holidays here in Britain, it’s Christmas let’s wish each other a very Merry Christmas.
@@beverlybradley5485 I don’t celebrate christmas personally. There are many holidays celebrated around this time of year ( Solstice, Dwali, Chanukkah, etc.) and without knowing happy holidays seems most appropriate.
I now feel more educated about the UK culture and history around Christmas I feel so basic 😅😊😊😊 city girl OMG moment....
It’s wild, isn’t it? Thanks for watching!
I would Love to watch that surgical thing you are doing!
I’m thinking early February!
Thanks this was interesting. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
🎁🕯🌟🎄📯🎶👼
You’re very welcome!
You need to go to the Whittlesey Strawbear Festival in January
Hopefully next year!
❤
That is sooo cool !! Oh but not the bloodletting. Poor Horse. After hearing so much about Cromwell...i think he really was a Party Crasher. A grumoy Guy who might have been too much into Religion or he was stiff and boring as a Board. These Lanterns...reminds me of the Lanterns Festival (kids make their own with help of Adults) and singing i go with my lantern and my lantern (goes with) me. There above the Stars are shining and here below we shine. My lights go out ..i go home rabimmel rabammel rabumm. *bells imitations* It is around the Beginning of November. Not a typical christian Festival but Ppl still do. Cornwall..sounds like Winter Solstice.
❤✊
So glad to have found you! Love this channel and your wonderful, in-depth and fascinating style and content. I enjoy watching along with another in-depth production -Max Miller’s Tasting History ( no affiliation, just think you guys compliment each other)
Thank you! Looking forward to watching more of you. Best wishes for your continued success.
Thank you so much!
What about flaming tar barrels at NewYear?
I almost included it but wanted to stick to Christmas!
Strange is right.
My speciality!
The greater good
I just want a video on just yule
I need to find a group who do these things in my region!
Where are you located?
@@TheMuseumGuide Manchester, New Hampshire, US!
I'm about one hour north of Boston.
@@therewillbecatswithgwenhwyfar you should go to Philly for their mummers parade!
i love getting high and watching these. god bless ❤
Happy to help! 🤣
Go ahead and do the forgotten Christmas traditions
Next year for sure!
WHY would they have blood letting on the animals.... I know they've done it to humans in the case that they are sick 🤢..... I don't think I'd want to eat any strange pies
Nothing weird about this, this is what Christmas was before our legacies and traditions were tainted.
Magical and strange.
Tainted by what?
Aside from Scots Pine pine trees are not native to the island of Britain.
Has your CZcams broken ... don't worry folks ..just cut advertisements out of a magazine and glue them to your TV screen ...hey presto the complete you tube experience with no internet
The ads help compensate me for my time. Sorry they impact your experience!
@@TheMuseumGuide ha ha no it's an old joke about you tube . 😂 Love your work .
I’m dense! 🤦🏻♀️Thank you ☺️
Interesting that the very primitive looking 'mast' hobby horses - Mari Lwyd, the Hooden Horse, the Old Tup, Poor Old Horse, etc - are not recorded before about 1800.
And the same goes for the Padstow 'Obby 'Oss and the Minehead Hobby Horse seen out and about on May Day.
The supposed pre-Christian pagan origins of these customs really are just wishful thinking.
There seems to be a longer history for some of them, but yes, as I mentioned, they likely emerge due to the popularity of hobby horses amongst the upper classes in the 17th century!
@@TheMuseumGuide
Yes, fix a horses skull to a stick - a poor man's hobby horse.
Or simply get yourself a sack - tie knots in the two corners for ears and cut a couple of holes for eyes - an even poorer man's hobby horse.
FAR TOO MUCH yapping about other videos and sales pitches at the beginning. When you FINALLY get on with the main video, you blather in several directions at once INSTEAD of sticking to a STRAIGHT and clear path. A IMPOSSIBLE to follow all the rapid fire babbling . One loses interest VERY QUICKLY.
Thankfully viewing isn’t compulsory and others don’t feel the same! Thanks for engaging. ❤️
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