Various traditions are practiced on certain days of the year in Wales both currently and historically, including festivities originating in Welsh, Celtic, English and Christian cultures.
Other important holidays were the feasts of St Patrick (Gwyl Badric) on 17 March; St. Quiricus (Gwyl Giric) on 16 June; the Beheading of John the Baptist (called in Welsh Gwyl Ieuan y Moch – St. John of the Swine – as it was the day the pigs were turned out into the woods to forage through the winter[2]) on 29 August; St Michael (Gwyl Fihangel) on 29 September; and the Calends of Winter (Calan Gaeaf) on 1 November, All Saints' Day (yr Holl Saint).[3] A special drink called the "liquor of the Apostles" (gwirawd yr ebestyl) was brewed for and distributed on these saints' days.[4]
Calennig was a tradition where children carried a decorated apple, pierced with three sticks and decorated with a sprig of box and hazelnuts on new year's day. Children would sing a verse and were often gifted with money or food. [5] Children in Wales are still given New Year's money on this day as part of the Calennig tradition.
Shrove Tuesday, informally known as Pancake day, is the eve of the Christian period of Lent, which was historically a fast. It is traditionally celebrated with the making of pancakes,[11] because the perishables of flour, eggs and milk would be given up for the lent fast and so were consumed the day before.[12]
Mothering Sunday, or Mid-Lent Sunday, and informally as Mother's Day, is a traditional celebration on the fourth Sunday of Lent, which was a break from the Lent fast. It is celebrated with various types of cakes and buns, especially Simnel cake. Flowers are also traditionally given to mothers.[13] The name comes from The Collect for the day, Galatians 4:21–31, where Saint Paul refers to story of Hagar and Sarah, speaking of "Jerusalem … which is the mother of us all."[14]
On Good Friday (Welsh: Y Groglith), Christians mark the day of the crucifixion with church services. The traditional meal on Good Friday is fish. A former custom was making Christ’s bed. Children would gather river reeds, weave them into a Christ figure, fix it on a wooden cross, and then leave it in a quiet field or pasture to rest peacefully.[15]
On Easter Sunday, Christians celebrate their most important church festival, the resurrection of Christ, and children receive chocolate Easter eggs and engage in chocolate egg hunts. Hot cross buns are eaten and Easter greetings include "Happy Easter" in English or "Pasg Hapus" in Welsh.[16] The traditional meal on Easter Sunday is roast lamb.
Although not a traditional holiday, many schools and organisations now commemorate the 16 September as a commemoration of Owain Glyndŵr, with festivals such as Gŵyl y Fflam (Festival of the flame) to celebrate it.[17][18][19] In addition, towns with particular links to Glyndwr celebrate the day, including Corwen and Harlech.[20][21]
The beginning of winter. It has Celtic origins as one of the Celtic fire festivals, which merged with the Christian tradition and with the November 5th commemoration.[22]: 148
Whitsun, or the celebration of Pentecost, is a traditional Church festival that was observed with a statutory bank holiday in late May. The link with the formal Whitsun date (which moves with Easter) was broken and replaced by a late May bank holiday fixed to the end of the month.[citation needed]
Locally, each parish celebrated a Gŵyl Mabsant in commemoration of its native saint. This annual celebration developed from a dedication through prayer to a programme of recreational activities.[28]
Calan Mai (or Calan Haf) is a May Day celebration on 1 May, marking the first day of summer, and one of the traditional fire festivals.[29]
Gŵyl Ifan (St John's Day) on the 24 June is otherwise known as Midsummer's day.[30]
^Davidson, Alan; Jaine, Tom (2014). "simnel cake". The Oxford companion to food (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN9780199677337.
^Ferguson, John (March 1982). "The Christian Year: Fourth Sunday in Lent, Mothering Sunday". The Expository Times. 93 (6): 174–176. doi:10.1177/001452468209300607. S2CID170189479.
^Knecht, Friedrich Justus (1910). A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture. B. Herder. p. 410. Retrieved 27 December 2016. We keep a feast on the 2nd of February, forty days after Christmas, in memory of our Lord's Presentation in the Temple. This feast has several names. First, it is known as the Feast of the Presentation of our Lord Jesus. Secondly, it is called the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. But the usual and popular name for this Feast is Candlemas-day, because on this day candles are blessed before Mass, and there takes place a procession with lighted candles. Candles are blessed and lighted on this particular feast.
