The Mari Lwyd is a wassailing folk custom found in South
Wales. The tradition entails the use of an eponymous hobby horse which is made
from a horse's skull mounted on a pole and carried by an individual hidden
under a sackcloth. It represents a regional variation of a "hooded
animal" tradition that appears in various forms throughout Britain.
The custom was first recorded in 1800, with subsequent
accounts of it being produced into the early twentieth century. According to
these, the Mari Lwyd was a tradition performed at Christmas time by groups of
men. They would form into teams to accompany the horse on its travels around
the local area, and although the makeup of such groups varied, they typically
included an individual to carry the horse, a leader, and individuals dressed as
stock characters such as Punch and Judy. The team would carry the Mari Lwyd to
local houses, where they would request entry through the medium of song. The
householders would be expected to deny them entry, again through song, and the
two sides would continue their responses to one another in this manner. If the
householders eventually relented, then the team would be permitted entry and
given food and drink.
