thank you to Surf shark VPN for
supporting this PBS video picture of
small town on the coast of 19th century
Wales a family gathers around the Hearth
a pan of butter toffee bubbling on the
Embers the house is decorated with
branches of fragrant Pine and the glow
from small candles perched on the limbs
of a Christmas tree lights the room
through a window they see torch light
coming up The Path towards the cottage
accompanied by chanting suddenly three
hard wraps at the
door it flies open and an impossibly
tall and terrifying figure looms over
the family draped in dirty white linens
its head is a horse's skull with glass
bobbles in the eye sockets ribbons tied
about the skull are streaming in the
wind behind it like the hair of some
horrific sea monster then all at once
the group begins a merry tune stomping
and clapping in time with the Grim
horse's head bobbing along the family
responds with a joyful verse of their
own and before long the whole Gaggle has
made their way into the cottage and are
clanking tankards together sounds like
we just stepped into a scene from A
Nightmare Before Christmas when in fact
it is a centuries old tradition from
whales called Mery leid one it seems of
many to blend a bit of scary into their
Merry
Christmas I'm Dr Emily zarka and this is
monstrum Mary leid though often used as
a name to describe the monster is
actually the name of the tradition
itself this Christmas time creature is
composed of an animal skull usually
equin or bow Vine attached to the top of
a pole with a sackcloth or sheet draped
down from the head to obscure the bearer
beneath the skull is often elaborately
decorated some accounts detail glass
ornaments as eyes along with ribbons
bells and other acutron one thing is
always present however and that is the
group that travels with Mary leid to
help us gain a better understanding of
this tradition it is important to first
discuss an ongoing practice in the
British Isles called wasling wasling is
a Christmas time tradition dating back
to the Middle Ages although the
specifics of the practice vary from
region to region It generally involves a
group of people traveling house to house
sharing drinks and singing with the
village folk the tradition usually
involves some form of performative
bartering like taking a drink from the
wasel bowl in exchange for some type of
gift although wasling is still practiced
in some pockets of the British Isles the
tradition has grown and evolved over
time into what many people today would
call caroling so how does a skull fit
into all of this we'll get into the
varied opinions on the origins a bit
later but for now let's talk Logistics
the Mary leid is one of the main members
of the Welsh wasling Entourage along
with our skeletal friend there is
usually someone who leads the group on
their rounds and is the most formally
dressed other characters like the famous
violent Rosy cheeked puppets Punch and
Judy are often included as well this
troop makes their way through the town
and upon arriving at a home will begin
singing a call and response verse of
sorts with the tenants within there are
many versions of the song both old and
contemporary but generally the song
consists of the wers asking for
permission to enter the home to feast
and drink the people within then respond
in song alike with excuses for why they
can't let them in this carries on until
the people inside can produce no further
excuses and are required to Grant entry
Mass Mart ensues again the specifics
vary by region and by time period but
generally once inside the band partakes
in holiday treats and share ale while
their cranial creation would place chase
after the children and adults eliciting
screams and laughter alike some
elaborate Mary leid Creations might even
feature a snapping mandible made
possible through a lever or P string
Contraption interestingly enough this is
actually one of the British Isle many
hooded animal Traditions there are the
old horse old ball and old top
traditions of northern England the
hooding of Kent and the broad of the
cotswalds although these others often
used a much less menacing hobby horse of
sorts and aren't always associated with
Christmas
so where exactly did this tradition come
from and what does the name Mary leid
actually mean there is some disagreement
on both counts aworth Pete a 20th
century Welsh poet and Scholar wrote
that he believed the Mary leid to be a
pagan tradition that predates
Christianity much like many of the other
Traditions practiced around the holidays
however there is no historical evidence
that really supports this assumption
nevertheless he and others latched on to
the supposed ancient origins of the
custom Peete believe the practice was
rooted in fear the winter holidays Mark
A Time Of Darkness cold and death a
skeletal horse skull does certainly
evoke demise although Pete originally
thought that Mary must be a reference to
the Virgin Mary he later backtracked and
claimed that the word is most likely a
version of the word m as in female horse
other Welsh Scholars of the 20th century
seem to agree with him for the most part
Ellen etlinger a British art collector
and folklorist believed Mary leid to
have connections to the pagan holiday sa
evoking death some folklorists suggest
that it may at one point have symbolized
fertility and over time simply became
associated with good luck there are many
eoin divinities in the Celtic Isles like
ranan in Wales Epona and gal and Maha in
Ireland but there is very little
evidence to support these theories given
the lack of references to these
practices in any documents from the late
Medieval Era there is however plenty of
documentation from the 16th and 17th
centuries for hobby horses throughout
the region costume folklore characters
meant to evoke real horses they were
often used by jesters and other merry
makers during the Middle Ages we see
references to them as early as the 1300s
in a poem by a Welsh author where he
poked some fun at the hobby horse as
having a miserable pair of lath legs AKA
really skinny wood legs one of the
earliest known written references we
have to the Mary leid appears only in
the 19th century where it is condemned
as immoral rather than being part of
some an icient Pagan tradition the Mary
leid is likely a uniquely menacing Welsh
adaptation of the British is's many
hooded animal Traditions the atmology of
the Mary leid is thus unsurprisingly
similarly murky with many scholars
divided on the actual Origins it has
become consensus that the term likely
means gray M particularly since the word
LD translates to Gray in Welsh this
would also make sense as it parallels
other hobby horse Traditions throughout
the region namely in Ireland and the is
of man in the Celtic language it is
known as the Len which translates to
White mare but a connection to the
Virgin Mary still exists in many modern
iterations of the Mary leid with very
clear references to the mother of Jesus
in several of the traditional songs but
hey it is Ule time after all despite
this inclusion of Christian elements in
the tradition the Mary leid was not a
part of the public Consciousness for
most of the early 20th century because
of disapproval from local christian
clergy and general movement away from
more ancient practices in an
increasingly modern World however by the
mid-century Mary leid started creeping
its way back into the light a 1941 poem
by Vernon Watkins called The Ballad of
the Mary LD was well-received in Welsh
literary circles as was Susan Cooper's
1977 novel silver on the tree in which
Mary leid appears as an undead unicorn
and protector of a magic sword in the
mythical sunken lands off the coast of
Wales how that's not a movie yet is a
mystery to me later the Mary leid became
better known outside of Wales via the
tabletop roleplaying game Dungeons and
Dragons in D and D the Mary leid is an
undead horse that speaks only in rhyme
with a chattering jaw and seeks entry
into people's homes where it devours
food and drink before needing a place to
sleep Behavior clearly inspired by the
original folklore in 2000 the artist
Clive Hicks junkins featured Mary leid
in a series of drawings that personified
the monster as the horrific bringer of
his father's death the series was
accompanied by poems by kriana urkhart
titled the mayor's Tale local
celebrations that included the Mary leid
became more and more commonplace
throughout Wales as the 20th century
wore on culminating in a turn of the
Millennium Jubilee in the town of abers
wiwith wherein they rang in the new
century with an elaborate procession
throughout Town their top build
attraction being a massive
representation of the creature dubbed
the world's largest Mary leid Christmas
time celebrations that include the tall
dark and fearsome creation continue
throughout Wales and parts of England to
this day as regular monster viewers may
know Christmas Time Monsters lurk in the
holiday Shadows of many cultures and
traditions there's fral Pera also known
regionally as the Italian laana the
Russian Babushka or the Slavic babayaga
from Iceland we have graa and her
Offspring the prankster Ule Lads not to
mention our favorite murder floof the
uat and of course most famous crompus
the half goat half demon anti- Santa who
punishes naughty children and this begs
the question why during a holiday so
associated with joy and festivity do we
have so many monsters so much darkness
and fear to answer that we need to look
at celebrations of the winter solstice
the winter solstice has always been
viewed as an important time the Harvest
seasons have now come to a close the
cold chill begins to blow in and weather
becomes increasingly less hospitable
traditionally without much work to do
for those who would otherwise be plowing
the fields they often pass the hours by
drinking and telling stories by the fire
the Roman Festival of saturnalia
occurring on or around the solstice was
a holiday of opposites Masters would
serve their slaves the rich would Garner
gifts for the poor and enslaved and free
men alike would take to the streets in
Disguise to engage in all manner of
Roman debauchery Ule was a Nordic and
Germanic tradition which involved
feasting and celebration but was also
ripe with animal sacrifice and the
ceremonial smearing of blood all over
the temple and the worshippers in
attendance humans have always had a
complicated relationship with the coming
of winter the cold dark depths of our
chilliest season bring about a sense of
wonder and also dread whether we choose
to approach at headon Via the spooky
Christmas characters of Europe or to
sugarcoat it with candy canes and
gumdrops winter is a time of
contemplative reflection on the small
death of our world as it freezes and
sometimes the marry and the scary are a
perfect marriage as is the case with the
Mary leid which despite its Grim Vis is
actually viewed by all participants as
jolly good fun thank you to surf shark
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I have you here I want to give you a
heads up that the new season of our
sister show fate and fabled is underway
this season promises more stories of
action romance and mystery that have
been told in our weird world's folklore
and mythology throughout the ages if you
haven't checked it out already join me
and Dr MCT for the new season of fate
and fabled here on storyed our skeletal
friend some elaborate Mary loud are you
sure this is your name in the town of
abers wiwis with I have to do that again
cuz it sounds like it's not a
word