Calennig

We were in Aberystwyth on the first day of the year. I have come across it before but I wanted to note how during the day there was a knock at the door and some children from over the road to my wife's parents came to the door and sung a lovely traditional Welsh song. Calennig is the Welsh for "New Year celebration/gift," though literally it translates to "the first day of the month," deriving from the Latin Kalends (cf the English word "Calendar").

Wikipedia says that many people give gifts on New Years morning, with children having skewered apples stuck with raisins and fruit. In some parts of Wales, people must visit all their relatives by midday to collect their Calennig, and celebrations and traditions can vary from area to area. In Stations of the Sun Ronald Hutton gives an example of a Calennig rhyme from 1950s Aberystwyth,

 

Dydd calan yw hi heddiw,

Rwy'n dyfod ar eich traws

i ofyn am y geiniog,

Neu grwst, a bara a chaws.

O dewch i'r drws yn siriol

Heb nesid dim o'ch gwedd;

Cyn daw dydd calan eto

Bydd llawer yn y bedd.

 

("It is new year's day today, I have come over to you to ask for a penny or a crust and bread and cheese. O come to the door pleasantly without waking anyone; before the arrival of the new year again many will be in the grave.")