Is it a man or is it a tree? Both, actually

The Holly Man was part of a pagan procession on the South Bank to celebrate Twelfth Night and bid a fond farewell to Christmas merry-making for this year.

The arrival of the Holly Man by boat on the Bankside, covered in evergreen foliage, heralded a celebration of the new year with ancient seasonal customs.

In pagan folklore Holly Man was the winter guise of the Green Man. The Holly Man traditionally 'brings in the green' and toasts the people, and the River Thames, to encourage good growth.

Twelfth Night falls on January 6, chosen by the Church as the day to celebrate the visit of the Magi. This day was already significant for pagan midwinter festivities as it was the day before a return to work on Plough Monday, and therefore a last chance to make merry.

The Mummers play processed to the Bankside Jetty, to perform the folk combat play of St George, featuring Beelzebub, the Turkey Sniper, the Doctor, Clever Legs, the Old 'Oss and many others, dressed in their colourful "guizes". The play is full of wild verse and boisterous action, a time-honoured part of the season recorded from the Crusades.