Welsh Christmas And New Year Traditions

There are some great Welsh Christmas and New Year traditions. The ‘Mari Llwyd’ involves walking around the village with a horse’s skull on your head chanting rhymes. Another ancient custom, holming, ensured that the last one out of bed on Boxing Day was beaten with the prickles of a holly branch. A bit too ‘off the wall’ for our family if I’m honest. But here are some gentler traditions that you might want to adopt in your home this Christmas. NOSON GYFLAITH / TOFFE NIGHT In days gone by, Christmas Eve was known to many as Noson Gyflaith or toffee evening. Friends and family would gather for a celebratory meal, followed by singing, games and the making of the Christmas taffy (toffee). The base of all toffee follows a simple recipe of boiled sugar, water and butter but it’s the pulling of the toffee into long strands that makes taffy chewier and creamier than its English…