Calennig

What it is

Calennig is a Welsh word with two linked senses: a New Year greeting or present, and the New Year visiting custom itself. Taken apart, it means the first day of the month, and it shares a root with the English word calendar, since both come from the Latin kalends. The custom belongs to New Year's Day, when children go from house to house with a decorated apple on sticks. They sing a short verse at each door and are usually rewarded with money or something to eat. The name is also used for the apple they carry.

Origins and history

Giving presents and money on New Year's Day is described as an old custom that still survives in Wales. Arthur Machen, recalling his boyhood at Caerleon-on-Usk, traced it back to the Roman Saturnalia and suggested the Romans brought it to that town. Ronald Hutton records a Calennig rhyme gathered at Aberystwyth in the 1950s. Fred Hando's book of 1944 about Gwent reproduces a drawing of a Calennig seen at Devauden, and quotes Machen's memory of children hunting out the finest apple they could find.

Dress and objects

The centrepiece is an apple, though an orange could be used instead. Three sticks are pushed into the base so that it stands like a little tripod. The fruit is coated with flour, and nuts, oats or grains of wheat are pressed into it. A sprig of box or another fragrant herb goes on top. A skewer through the middle lets a child hold it while walking. In some versions raisins were pushed into the skin, hazelnuts were slit and fixed so that they seemed to grow, and small pieces of gold leaf were added.

Music and dance

Singing is the heart of the visit, and a verse is sung at each door. In the rhyme Hutton records, the singer asks for coins, or a crust with bread and cheese, wishes the household a cheerful year, and remarks that many will not live to see the next one. Machen's mother, who came from Tregarth, Bangor, taught her family a Calennig song that opens with the word itself and the morning of New Year's Day, greets everyone in the house, and asks for money to be shared.

Food and drink

Food and drink change hands on New Year's Day. Houses give coins when they can, and cakes, sweets and small cups of ale were once handed to the children who came singing at the door. Bread and cheese is what is now usual to give, and the same pair appears in the old rhyme, where a crust with bread and cheese is named as a fair reward. In some parts of Wales relatives had to be visited before midday so that a Calennig, meaning the gift, could be collected from each household.

How Calennig is kept

On New Year's Day children set out early with a decorated apple on a stick. At each house they sing a verse, usually standing at the door. The people inside give what they have: coins, bread and cheese, cakes, sweets, or in past times a small cup of ale. The round goes on from door to door through the neighbourhood. In some places a family visited every relative before midday to collect a Calennig from each one. Practice differs from area to area.

When and where

Calennig belongs to New Year's Day, the first of January. The old rhyme calls the day dydd calan, the opening of the year, and the singing happens in the morning. Visits to relatives were expected before midday. The word itself carries the idea of a month's beginning, coming from the Latin kalends.

The custom is kept in Wales. The sources place its details most firmly in the south east, in Gwent around Caerleon-on-Usk and Devauden, and in mid Wales at Aberystwyth. The name of the decorated apple was known in the Forest of Dean as well. Children carry it around their own streets and houses, and the way it is done varies from one district to the next.

What Calennig means

Calennig marks a beginning. The first day of the year is met with a wish for a good year and with something given, money, bread or a small treat, passed from the household to the child waiting at the door. The decorated apple is a made object, carried carefully and shown off, and the verse sung with it speaks both of welcome and of the uncertainty of the months ahead.

Questions people ask about Calennig

See also

Punkie NightA Somerset Halloween custom where children carry mangelwurzel lanterns and sing for candles.MummingA medieval European custom of masked house-to-house visits, performances and seasonal revelry.April Fools' DayAn annual day of lighthearted pranks, hoaxes and teasing kept on the first of AprilChristmas marketA seasonal street market held during Advent in German-speaking regions and beyond, featuring stalls, food, and crafts.

Good reading and sources

• Calennig on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.