Gwych i glywed, @Deborah-SSi! Much of the spread of the Mari Lwyd as a kind of key Welsh tradition in recent years has been down to the work of Trac Cymru - as it says on their website - “going round the country delivering workshops to schools and community groups, and working with local enthusiasts to bring communities together to learn about this unique Welsh tradition”.
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I’m definitely aware of the midwinter portion, but I figure one needs to plan ahead to find a skull source. 
I’ve got a strong Welsh (with some Scots/Irish) family background and thought I owed it to myself to have some facility with my cultural roots which have been erased. I’m also working on a thesis relating to oral cultures as they impinge on literacy and how memory plays a role in that. Old Welsh provides a view on the sort of cultural changes I’d love to look at, though it may be a while before I’m at a level of fluency to make that research bear fruit.
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Diolch am esbonio, diddorol iawn. Thanks for explaining.
I thought the idea and history of Sioni Winwns (Johnny Onions) was a fascinating one.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-61864756
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion_Johnny
Isn’t there also a common pattern of a generic first name combined with a career (butcher, baker, etc.) that is a cultural Welsh feature? I’d love to have examples of others if people can provide them.
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In a newspaper article about my dad, David, (another Welsh physicist) and his work with crystals, the headline referred to him as “Dai the Atom”. 
The fact that he had very little to do with Atomic Physics did not discourage the headline writer.
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That’s a wonderful story @HuwJones! Sorry I didn’t make it to the Ukulele session in your ‘pabell’ but I did get to a taster session in Maes D and now have 2 chords firmly under my belt! Hope to meet again sometime in the future,
Not me on the Ukelele, @jenny-5. I was on the Institute of Physics stand in the Science and Technology village where our musical instruments were a Theremin and do it yourself “straw oboes”.
It was good to bump into you on the Maes and see you in the Vale on the Monday evening though.
My Dad had two friends when I was growing up called Neil so they became Neil Chef and Neil Garage.
The Mari Lwyd kits have come back in stock, mine has just been delivered - in case anyone else wanted one
https://trac.cymru/en/about-mari-lwyd/
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I thought of this the other week. I saw a guy in a beret selling onions in Lampeter. It was from the back of a van and he didn’t have a French accent so I’m not sure if that counts…