the apple little sprigs of box, and they delicately slit the ends of hazel-nuts, and so worked that the nuts appeared to grow from the ends of the holly leaves ... At last, three bits of stick were fixed into the base of the apple tripod-wise; and so it borne round from house to house; and the children got cakes and sweets, and-those were wild days, remember-small cups of ale. Back in the 1880's, my mother, who came from Tregarth, Bangor, taught us this song, the words which were as follows: Calennig, Calennig, Bore Dydd Calan, Dyma'r amser i rannu'r arian, Blwyddyn newydd dda i chi, Ac i bawb sydd yn y ty, Dyma yw ein dymuniad ni, Ar ddechrau'r flwyddyn hon, O dyma ni yn ddod, I ganu'r flwyddyn hon, I chi a phawb sydd yn y ty Ar ddechrau'r flwyddyn hon. We used to sing this song from door to door, hoping to be rewarded with some money from our efforts. Machen traces the Calennig to the Roman Saturnalia and suggests that the custom was brought to Caerleon by the Romans. References New Year celebrations Holidays in Wales