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Of the many ancient traditions associated with Halloween ( Nos Calan Gaeaf ) in Wales, one of the most colorful is the legend of Yr Hwch Ddu Gwta. According to the Wikipedia :- "Legend has it that a fearsome spirit called Yr Hwch Ddu Gwta took the form of a tail-less black sow and roamed the countryside with a headless woman. Children would rush home early." For more information on Yr Hwch Ddu Gwta and other Welsh Halloween traditions visit the 'Wales on Britannia' Welsh Culture and Traditions webpage. We are still working on a 'tailless black sow with headless woman' template but in the meantime here's an easy Castell Coch pumpkin stencil. Click the link below for a downloadable pdf template together with easy to follow instructions.
Although Castell Coch does not have any particularly creepy associations it is a fine mock gothic pile. It's a very simple, easy stencil and I threw in a couple of circling bats for extra seasonal ambience. There are Welsh dragon ( Ddraig Goch ) halloween pumpkin stencils here .
castellCochHalloween.pdf
I love carving jack o'lanterns and do gothic haunted houses, castles and stuff for my house and friends and relatives and I thought I'd do a dragon this year so I made some stencils which anyone can download and use for personal use only, not for any commercial use or resale without my express, written permission.
Below you'll find three dragons , a hard version and medium and easy versions. We also have an easy 'Castell Coch' stencil here for those of you who prefer a castle. The dragon is an emblem of Wales and can be seen on the national flag:-'Y Ddraig Goch'. So if you are Welsh or of Welsh descent carving a dragon pumpkin is a superb way of celebrating Halloween and your 'Welshness' at the same time. If not, well, it's a great motif anyway.
There are pictures of the dragons on this page, both in outline and as finished products. Full directions are included with each of the Dragon Stencil downloads. If you try one of our stencil patterns please feel free to send us a picture or post in the comments box below. Read on for an account of some interesting Welsh Halloween customs.
Directions
The easy and medium design patterns can be carved out or done by scraping away the outer rind and hollowing out the pumpkin to leave a thin wall of pumpkin meat in the areas in black. The hard pattern is better done by the second method i.e. not actually carving out sections but scraping away the outer rind and hollowing out the pumpkin to leave a thin wall of pumpkin meat in the areas in black below.
Cut out black sections with X-Acto knife and trace on pumpkin with crayon or wipe erase marker OR hold stencil over pumpkin surface and poke around silhouette of black areas with pin, then remove stencil and carve sections outlined by holes.
Make your jack o'lantern last longer by washing the inside with lemon juice to retard mold growth, then coat insides and exposed inner membrane with petroleum jelly to keep moist.
Easy Dragon Pattern
This design is simply a silhouette and anyone can use this for any purpose, it is public domain. This is an easy difficulty design. It can be carved out or done by scraping away the outer rind and hollowing out the pumpkin to leave a thin wall of pumpkin meat in the areas in black, above.
Download Here
Welsh Dragon Halloween Stencil (Easy Pattern) easyDragon.pdf, 122KB ∞
Medium Dragon Pattern
This is a medium difficulty design and can be downloaded for personal, non-commercial use. It can be carved out or done by scraping away the outer rind and hollowing out the pumpkin to leave a thin wall of pumpkin meat in the areas in black, above. This design may not be copied, published, reproduced or used for any commercial or resale use without my express written permission.
Download Here
Welsh Dragon Halloween Stencil (Medium Difficulty Pattern) medDragon.pdf, 148KB ∞
Copyright ©2009, StoryForge Studios
Hard Dragon Pattern
This is a more difficult design and may be downloaded for personal, non-commercial use. It is better done by not actually carving out sections but scraping away the outer rind and hollowing out the pumpkin to leave a thin wall of pumpkin meat in the areas in black, above. This design may not be copied, published, reproduced or used for any commercial or resale use without my express written permission.
Download Here
Welsh Dragon Halloween Stencil (Hard Pattern) hardDragon.pdf, 264KB ∞
Copyright ©2009, StoryForge Studios
Old Welsh Customs Associated With Halloween / Nos Calan Gaeaf
Nos Calan Gaeaf is the Welsh term for Samhain otherwise known as Halloween in English. It has its roots in ancient pagan tradition. Whilst Samhain means 'November' in Irish Gaelic, Nos Calan Gaeaf in Welsh means 'the night of the first day of winter'.
It should be pointed out that pumpkin carving is not an ancient Welsh tradition. Indeed pumpkins were unknown in Europe in pre-Columbian times. How rapidly their cultivation spread westward to Britain and ultimately Wales after 1492 is a matter for conjecture. Of course pumpkins grow very well in Wales today, particularly, it would seem, if they are raised on a diet of real ale - Giant pumpkin fed on beer
Ghastly faces were , however, carved on turnips to ward off evil spirits on Halloween night in parts of England, Scotland and Ireland. It seems unlikely that the practice was entirely unknown in Wales.
One custom most certainly associated with Wales (and other parts of Britain) was the 'Puzzling Jug'. For more on this, see the following post:- What Did The Welsh Do On Halloween? - The Puzzling Jug
Puzzling jugs were very popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. Typically an inscription challenges the drinker to consume the contents without spilling them, which, because the neck of the jug is perforated, is impossible to do conventionally. This occasioned much hilarity when unwary drinkers inundated themselves with ale.
Other specifically Welsh customs include the Coelcerth, Yr Hwch Ddu Gwta and more. From the Wikipedia :
Coelcerth - Families build a fire and place stones with their names on it. The person whose stone is missing the next morning would die within the year.
Yr Hwch Ddu Gwta - Legend has it that a fearsome spirit called Yr Hwch Ddu Gwta took the form of a tail-less black sow and roamed the countryside with a headless woman. Children would rush home early.
Eiddiorwg Dalen - A few leaves of ground ivy is thought to give you the power to see hags. For prophetic dreams a boy should cut ten ivy leaves, throw away one and put the rest under his head before he sleeps. A girl should take a wild rose grown into a hoop, creep through it three times, cut it in silence, and go to bed with it under her pillow.
Teiliwr - In Glamorgan tailors were associated with witchcraft. They supposedly possessed the power to ‘bewitch’ anybody if they wished.
Twco Fala/fale Ducking apples
For more on these and other ancient Welsh customs and superstitions you might wish to consult 'Cambrian Superstitions', an excellent work on Welsh folklore published by William Howells in 1831. The full title of the book is ' Cambrian superstitions, comprising ghosts, omens, witchcraft, traditions, To which are added a concise view of the manners and customs of the principality, and some fugitive pieces ' There are links to buy, or read online from the Internet Archive, in the advertisement below.
"Cambrian Superstitions, comprising ghosts, omens......"
Or download here: Cambrian Superstitions on the Internet Archive
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Free dragon pumpkin stencils for halloween! #wales #halloween https://t.co/ZdC64Ovi7x pic.twitter.com/nPeHkd6G6k
— americymru (@americymru) October 2, 2016
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It gives me great pleasure to announce the winner of the first Left Coast Eisteddfod lovespoon is Howard Evans! Howard was very generous in his support of the Eisteddfod and is a more than worthy winner of this traditional, handcrafted, one-of-a-kind Welsh lovespoon!
As the designer and carver of this spoon, it has been very heartening for me to see people support the inaugural Left Coast Eisteddfod through their kind donations and to personally have been the recipient of so many kind words of praise from many of you. I would, therefore, like to take this occasion to announce that I will be back with a new spoon design to support next year's edition of the Left Coast Eisteddfod!! Lots of lessons have been learned from the whole process of trying to initiate a great Welsh cultural event here in North America and although it has not been without its challenges, I believe next year's version will be bigger, better and even more widely supported than this years!
I look forward to designing next year's spoon and to showing its progress on this blog and I hope you will continue visit me and support the Left Coast Eisteddfod as well!!
So congratulations, Howard!!
