THE Mari Lwyd, one of south Wales’ most curious folk customs, has entered the digital age with a filter on multimedia messaging app Snapchat.
The Welsh folk tradition sees a hooded, real-life horse skull mounted on a pole and paraded through towns to greet the New Year.
Recently, the Mari Lwyd has been refashioned to take part in verbal sparring with owners of houses and pubs.
The Mari Lwyd group and owner trade mocking verses and should the Mari Lwyd be deemed victorious, then it has to be let in and given a drink.
On the weekend, the Mari Lwyd made its way around Newport for the first time and was given a warm reception – you can read about that here.
And now you can assume the role of the Mari Lwyd - even changing your voice to fully immerse yourself in the character.
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This is how you can become the Mari Lwyd (Phil Walton uploaded the brilliant and amusing filter):
Step 1
Ensure location is enabled on your phone. You can usually do this by going into your settings.
Step 2
Open Snapchat and turn on selfie mode.
Step 3
Pinch the screen and enable maps.
Step 4
Click on the search icon and type ‘Mari Lwyd’ in the search bar.
Step 5
Click ‘try lens’.
Step 6
Take a selfie with you as the Mari Lwyd or record yourself dishing out some appropriately mocking verses.
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