New Year celebrations for the end of 2020 are set to be a rather muted affair - with none of the drinking, fun and debauchery which has been enjoyed by many down the years. We have delved into our archives to bring you this feature by Martin Wade first published in 2016 on the customs which have been a feature of welcoming the new year in Gwent for hundreds, if not thousands of years.
CARRYING a horse's skull around might seem a strange way to greet the New Year, but a revived South Wales tradition, popular in Gwent, does just that.
The Mari Lwyd is a celebration centred around a horse’s skull carried on a stick and decorated with rosettes and coloured ribbons. Meaning 'grey mare' in Welsh, it sees a party of revellers going from door to door singing ribald songs.