Twelfth Night: British Isles: Straw Bear

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Britain: Straw Bear Procession
In Whittlesey the Sunday before the first Monday after Twelfth Night is the procession of the straw bear. A man wrapped in straw from head to toe dances through the streets. Other mummers plays have characters called She-Males. These are men who dress up as hags in the plays. The hags are goddesses of winter.

Up-Helly-A: In the Shetland Islands, Yule begins seven days before Christmas and ends at Antinmas the twenty-fourth day after Christmas. The Trows: Trolls are let free from their homes in the earth and saining is done. Doors are opened and a pantomimic chasing goes on to rid the area of Trows. People piously read the Bible and display iron. When day dawns after twenty-fourth night, the Trows or Grey-folk had vanished and the Yules are ended.