# And a Merry Mari Lwyd to you! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 24, 2023, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-merry-mari-lwyd-to-you/995080 "2023-12-24T15:23:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2023, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-merry-mari-lwyd-to-you/995080/21 "2023-12-24T19:23:29Z")
It appears to me (not an expert) that cultures that experience winter all seem to have some sort of midwinter celebrations. Perhaps there’s a human need to push back against the dark and cold. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2023, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-merry-mari-lwyd-to-you/995080/22 "2023-12-24T20:12:09Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Am I correct that in one of Shakespeare’s plays the stage direction is [The lady speaks in Welsh]? I’m reasonably familiar with most of the Shakespearean plays but don’t recall such a stage direction. Shakespeare’s plays are for the most part completely devoid of stage directions, except for the famous “Exit, pursued by a bear” in _The Winter’s Tale_. In _Cymbeline_ there are two Welsh characters. The one time I saw it performed at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the actors spoke with Scottish accents, either because it was too difficult for the actors to manage Welsh accents, or, more likely, because the director assumed the US audience wouldn’t recognize a Welsh accent. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2023, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-merry-mari-lwyd-to-you/995080/23 "2023-12-24T20:13:33Z")
Found it: [Mae'r Arglwyddes yn siarad yn Cymraeg: Lady Mortimer and Welsh in 1 Henry IV](https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/blogs/maer-arglwyddes-yn-siarad-yn-cymraeg-lady-mortimer-and-welsh-1-henry-iv/) ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2023, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-merry-mari-lwyd-to-you/995080/24 "2023-12-24T20:20:24Z")
Everything read aloud in Welsh is a miracle, is what it is. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2023, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-merry-mari-lwyd-to-you/995080/25 "2023-12-24T20:29:22Z")
I’ll try to make this the last time I use this: Dave Barry says the Welsh language had all its vowels stolen by the Vikings, so now when parents sing, “Old MacDonald,” to their children and come to, “E-I-E-I-O,” they just lapse into sad silence. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2023, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-merry-mari-lwyd-to-you/995080/26 "2023-12-24T21:26:40Z")
I wonder if there is any connection between the Welsh [Mari Lwyd](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mari_Lwyd) and the Norse [nithing pole](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nithing_pole). ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2023, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-merry-mari-lwyd-to-you/995080/27 "2023-12-24T23:34:21Z")
I’d never heard of it, but I’m, uh, trying to get back into gaming a bit?, and am currently playing _Assasins’ Creed: Valhalla_, and I’m kind of getting a Halloween vibe from Mari Lwyd, rather than a Christmas vibe. I’m to tired to go down a Wikipedia rabbit hole right now. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2023, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-merry-mari-lwyd-to-you/995080/28 "2023-12-25T18:23:34Z")
Anyone who is interested in these themes might enjoy _Off With His Head!_ by Ngaio Marsh (_Death of a Fool_ in the UK, I understand.) Set at the Winter Solstice, appropriately enough for this discussion. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2023, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-merry-mari-lwyd-to-you/995080/29 "2023-12-25T20:39:59Z")
Wow, i haven’t read any of her books in, gee, decades! ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2023, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-merry-mari-lwyd-to-you/995080/30 "2023-12-25T21:10:54Z")
I’ve occasionally wondered if this was where whoever it was got the idea for the stage name of the music-hall singer [Marie Lloyd](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Lloyd), even though she was a Londoner born and bred. Nadolig Llawen! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-merry-mari-lwyd-to-you/995080.md?page=1)