Twelve Days of Yule
Day One: 21st
► Noson Gyflaith or ‘Toffee Evening’, where children and women make toffee through the evening.
Day Three: 23rd
► Women go from house to house to ask for flour to make bread or cakes for the proceeding events.
Day Four: 24th
► Farmers bring home their ploughs to show they are no longer working.
Day Five: 25th (Y Gwyliau)
► Plygain is where the men of the community go to the temples or the centre of their community and sing from four or five until daylight breaks.
► Everyone goes to the largest farm to share in a large goose or beef dinner and ‘wet’ the plough hidden under the table with beer.
Day Six: 26th
► Holly beating often occurs where young men beat the bare arms of unwed women with holly until they bleed. A man who is interested in marrying the woman can take her place as a show of dedication.
Day Seven: 27th
► The wren hunting begins.
Day Twelve: 1st
► Mari Lwyd or ‘Grey Mare’ comes to the community.
► The Calening begins.
History
Due to Tir Hydref being ruled by Istara for so long that people have forgotten there was ever a war between them, Tir Hydref has little to no memory of losing its Yule celebrations.
Food, Decor and Family
Food
► Goose and beef are the main meats eaten at Yule.
► Goose blood tart, plum pudding, toffee and loaf cake are all types of sweet treat eaten.
► Beer is mostly the drink of choice for the people of Tir Hydref.
Decor
► Wreaths are hung on doors to protect households from the bad spirits who only come during Yule.
► Mistletoe is hung about the house as a nod to the beliefs of their ancestors.
Family
► Everyone spends time with their family throughout Yule. Unlike the other cultures, they spend even more quality time with their children.
Community
Y Gwyliau
From the 25th, all farmwork is suspended as symbolised by farmers carrying their ploughs home at the end of the 24th.
Grey Mare
One man from each city is assigned the task to dress up as a scary horse with a skull on their head and knock on each door, challenging the residences to a battle of rhyming, and then present the family with a wreath with a similar skull on it.
Calening
Children will go around, door to door, carrying wooden baskets they have decorated for themselves using white or red ribbon, singing Yule-tide carols, splashing people with water, and asking for a gift in return.
Royal children will hang Gold, silver, or holyberries from their ribbon and go from quarters to quarters. Instead of water, they will throw rice in the air, and present each resident with a small trinket, or token of gratitude.
Wren Hunting
Groups of men go out Hunting the Wren. The tiny bird would be caged in a wooden box and carried from door to door. Householders would pay for the privilege of peeping at the poor wren in the box.
But no two families are the same. So everyone’s Yule will be different, too. The people of the Forgotten Kingdoms are free to celebrate however they like.