Plygain Welsh carol singing video enchants a new audience

David Owens

A video of the traditional form of Welsh carol singing is introducing new fans to the beautiful sound of Welsh language Christmas carols.

One of Wales' oldest Christmas traditions, Plygain is a traditional Welsh Christmas service which takes place in a church between three and six o'clock on Christmas morning.

It was first recorded in the 13th century but believed to be older - and possibly comes from the Latin word pullicantio, meaning 'when the cock crows at dawn'.

The tradition of singing Plygain carols to celebrate Christmas has continued consistently in many parts of Wales.

When Twitter user Owen Williams, the former head of social media at BBC Wales, posted the video of Plygain singing he was thrilled with the reactions from around the globe.

One Australian fan said: "I have never heard anything like this in my life, so beautiful. As a descendant of Irish Celts this stirred my soul, thank you."

While a Canadian wrote: "Gorgeous! Connects to the Welsh heritage in my soul."

Spine-tingling

Social media consultant Owen explained how he came across the videos.

"I remember former Yr Ods singer Gruff Pritchard, content editor at BBC Cymru, putting this on the Radio Cymru social channels in 2016 or so, and asking me if I’d consider sharing it to the BBC Wales channels. I was transfixed.

"Here were three men singing century-old songs in the most beautiful, three-part harmony I’d ever heard. It was like being submerged in a rich half-forgotten, barely-remembered historic corner of my culture.

"I knew - at that moment - that the world needed to experience Plygain. And every Christmas, I make it my mission to expose even more people to that unbelievable, goosebump-raising, spine-tingling sound."

This is “Plygain”.

It’s an old Welsh form of harmonic carol singing.

It’s the most Christmassy thing you’ll see today.🎄

Goosebumps. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿❤️

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— Owen Williams (@owswills.bsky.social) 11 December 2025 at 18:23

There was more Plygain enchantment on BBC Radio Cymru this week...

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Find out more about Plygain and concerts throughout December and January via https://www.plygain.org/