AGŵyl Mabsant (Welsh for "Feast of thePatron"), also known as thepatronal festival orWake of aparish,[1] is a traditionalWelsh festival held annually in commemoration of thepatron saint of aparish. Prior to1752, the corresponding fair was reckoned by theSaint's Day according totradition or to the officialCatholic orAnglicanCalendar of Saints; following the shift toNew Style dating, however, the fair was reckoned eleven days later.[1] (For example,St. Teilo's Fair inLlandeilo was originally held on 9 February but came to be held on the 20th.[1]) By the 19th century, the fair often began on the followingSunday and then lasted between three days and a week.[1]
By that time, theReformation had already removed the religious solemnities formerly observed and replaced them with programmes of recreational activities.[1] Owing to the combination of betting, feasting, anddrinking, parish festivals built up a reputation for their rowdiness.[2][3] The local, rural nature of the fairs also occasioned many variations in the rules of the contests, leading to disagreements between parishes.[2][3] The fairs had mostly died out by the 1860s.[1]