EASTER FOLKLORE
Approaching Easter as we are now, a popular time for many a wedding, it is interesting to look back at the old Welsh wedding customs.
When a young couple decided that they wished to marry, they would first have to inform their respective parents. In due time, the young man's father accompanied by a family friend would then meet with the girl's father and discuss the matter and in the case of the farming community, arrange and agree on the Dowry, so that they would have a good start in life. Once this stage was agreed satisfactorily, the next step would be a highlight in many a district.
A Bidder (Gwahoddwr) would go from house to house to bid or invite the guests to the Bidding and the Wedding. The Bidding was a general invitation to one and all to meet the young couple at their respective parents' house or any other house appointed for the occasion. Even strangers staying in the neighbourhood were welcome but it was an unwritten law that everyone was expected to contribute something, however small, to make a purse for the young couple. Of course, the Banns were published in the appointed Church or Chapel as well.
Ideally, the Bidder would be a bit of a wag, have fluent speech, and be a reasonable poet. He would carry a willow pole stripped of its bark, and decorated with ribbons and his hat and breast would be similarly decorated. On entering a house, he would stand in the centre of the room, strike the floor with his staff, announce the wedding, names of the young couple and the preparations being made to entertain the guests. The Bidding would be done either in prose or verse or even both, and this varied from district to district.
An ancestor of mine who took to jotting down customs and folk-lore in North Carmarthenshire, records another custom, which took place before appointing the Bidder. Neighbours and friends would meet at the bride or groom's parents' house, where a great deal of home-brewed beer was drunk, ' er lles y par ifanc', for the benefit of the young couple, with all the proceeds going towards giving the couple a start in married life. Very often the Wedding date would be fixed as well as the Bidder being appointed and should he be inexperienced he would have to run through his speech to see whether he had enough wit and humour to perform his task successfully
Here are a couple of verses from a Bidder's song written c.1820 which runs to fifteen verses.
Dydd da i chwi, bobl, o'r hynaf i'r baban,
Mae Steffan Wahoddwr a chwi am ymddiddan,
Gyfeillion da mwynaidd, os felly'ch dymuniad,
Cewch genyf fy neges yn gynhes ar gariad.
Chwi gewch yna roeso, 'rwy'n gwybod o'r hawsaf,
A bara a chaws ddigon, onide mi a ddigiaf,
Caiff pawb eu hewyllys, dybacco, a phibelli,
A diod hoff ryfedd, 'rwyf wedi ei phrofi.Here's Stephen the Bidder, Good day to you all,
To baby and daddy, old, young, great and small,
Good friends if you like, in a warm poet's lay,
My message to you I'll deliver today.
A welcome you'll get there I guarantee you,
With bread and cheese plenty, and prime beer,
I know, for I have tried it, and everybody there,
Can have 'bacco, pipes enough and to spare.Late 18C and early 19C, the Bidder was rather poorly paid, and would supplement his income by taking jobs such as mole-trapping, but a hundred years and more earlier he was a person of some importance, knowledgeable in family pedigree and traditions. Bidding has very ancient origins from the time of the Druids. It stems from the wisdom of the original soothsayers of the Celtic tribes who instituted them to encourage wedlock to increase the population, and make up for the losses of plagues and war. A chieftain would frequently act as Bidder on behalf of his men, and enemy clans would respect his person as he went from castle to castle.