.jpg)
The tradition ofwassailing (also spelledwasselling)[1] falls into two distinct categories: the house-visiting wassail andthe orchard-visiting wassail. The house-visitingwassail, which traditionally occurs on the twelfth day ofChristmastide known asTwelfth Night or Epiphany Eve (5 January), is the practice of people going door-to-door, singing and offering a drink from thewassail bowl in exchange for gifts; this practice still exists, but has largely been displaced bycarol singing.[2][3] The orchard-visiting wassail refers to the custom of visitingorchards incider-producing regions ofEngland and singing to the trees to promote a good harvest for the coming year.[4][5] Notable traditional wassailing songs include "Here We Come a-Wassailing", "Gloucestershire Wassail", and "Gower Wassail".
Wassail (/ˈwɒsəl/,/-eɪl/WOSS-əl, -ayl) is also a beverage made from hotmulledcider, ale, or wine and spices, drunk traditionally as an integral part of wassailing.[6][7]
According to theOxford English Dictionary, the word "wassail" originated as a borrowing from theOld Norse salutationves heill, corresponding toOld Englishhál wes þú orwes hál – literally meaning 'be in good health' or 'be fortunate'.[8] It was initially used in the sense of 'hail' or 'farewell', without any drinking connotation.[8] The English interjection "hail" is acognate of theetymon of the second part of "wassail", and was probably influenced by the Old English phrase.[9]
The expression later became part of thedrinking formula"wassail ... drinkhail" which, the OED suggests, initially arose in England among theAnglo-Danes, and from there spread to the native population, being considered a specificallyAnglo Saxon characteristic by the 12th century. The earliest record is of around 1140, inGeoffrey of Monmouth's telling of theRowena story, which haswes heil ... drinc heil (or, in a variant reading,was heil). LaterMiddle English manuscripts have a variety of spellings, includingwæs hæil, wæshail, wessail, washayl, washail, wesseyl, wassayl, wassaile, wassaylle, wessayle, whatsaile andwhatsaill.[8]
The second expression, "drinkhail", may derive either from Old Norse or Old English, again with a variety of spellings includingdrinkel, drincheheil, drechehel, drincheheil, drinceseil, drinqueheil, drinkeil anddringail.[10]
The earliest example of the drinking phrases in a specifically English context comes from a manuscript of 1275, preserving a 12th-century text which hasOld English:Þat freond sæiðe to freonde...Leofue freond wæs hail Þe oðer sæið Drinc hail.[8] [That friend said to [the other] friend..., "beloved friend, wassail!"; the other said, "drinkhail!"]
Byc. 1300, the sense had extended from a toast to the drink itself, especially to the spicedale used inTwelfth-night andChristmas Eve celebrations. By 1598 it was being applied to the custom of drinking healths on those nights.Shakespeare's 1603 use of "Keep wassel" inHamlet i. iv. 10 was the first record of the term's use in a more general sense of "carousal" or "revelling".[8]
Here's to thee, old apple tree,
That blooms well, bears well.
Hats full, caps full,
Three bushel bags full,
An' all under one tree. Hurrah! Hurrah!
Here's to thee, old apple-tree,
Whence thou mayst bud, and whence thou mayst blow,
And whence thou mayst bear apples enow! [enough]
Hats-full! Caps-full!
Bushel, bushel sacks-full!
And my pockets full, too! Hurra![11]
In the cider-producing counties in the South West of England (primarily Cornwall,[12] Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Gloucestershire, and Herefordshire) or South East England (Kent, Sussex, Essex, and Suffolk), as well as Jersey,wassailing refers to a traditional ceremony that involves singing and drinking to the health of trees onTwelfth Night in the hopes that they might better thrive. In the context of Christian Christmas celebrations, wassailing involves pronouncing ablessing on a tree so that it will bear fruit, often through the singing of a hymn.[4] The purpose of wassailing is to awaken the cider apple trees and to scare away evil spirits to ensure a good harvest of fruit in the Autumn.[13] The ceremonies of each wassail vary from village to village but they generally all have the same core elements. InDartmoor today, the Ashburton and Moorland Mission Community gathers in the barn at Newcombe Farm to sing Wassailing songs and pray for God's blessing on the New Year.[14]
A folktale from Somerset reflecting this custom tells of theApple Tree Man, the spirit of the oldest apple tree in an orchard, and in whom the fertility of the orchard is thought to reside. In the tale a man offers his last mug of mulled cider to the trees in his orchard and is rewarded by the Apple Tree Man who reveals to him the location of buried gold.[15][16]
Traditionally, the wassail is celebrated on the twelfth day ofChristmastide, known asTwelfth Night or Epiphany Eve, being the day prior to theEpiphany.[2][17] In theliturgical calendars ofWestern Christianity, including those of theLutheran,Anglican andRoman Catholic denominations, Twelfth Night falls on 5 January.[18][19] Some people still wassail on "Old Twelvey Night", 17 January, as it would have been before the introduction of theGregorian Calendar in 1752.[20][21]
In theMiddle Ages, the wassail was a reciprocal exchange between thefeudal lords and theirpeasants as a form of recipient-initiated charitable giving, to be distinguished frombegging. This point is made in the song "Here We Come A-wassailing", when the wassailers inform the lord of the house that
we are not daily beggars that beg from door to door
But we are friendly neighbours whom you have seen before.
Thelord of the manor would give food and drink to the peasants in exchange for their blessing and goodwill, i.e.
Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail too;
AndGod bless you and send you
a Happy New Year
This would be given in the form of the song being sung. Wassailing is the background practice against which an English carol such as "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" can be made sense of.[22] The carol lies in the English tradition where wealthy people of the community gave Christmas treats to the carol singers on Christmas Eve such as 'figgy puddings'.[23] InDartmoor today, the Ashburton and Moorland Mission Community gathers in the barn at Newcombe Farm to sing Wassailing songs and pray for God’s blessing on the New Year.[14]
Although wassailing is often described in innocuous and sometimes nostalgic terms—still practised in some parts of Scotland and Northern England on New Years Day as "first-footing"—the practice in England has not always been considered so innocent. Similar traditions have also been traced to Greece and the country of Georgia. Wassailing was associated with rowdy bands of young men who would enter the homes of wealthy neighbours and demand free food and drink (in a manner similar to the modern children'sHalloween practice oftrick-or-treating).[24] If the householder refused, he was usually cursed, and occasionally his house was vandalized. The example of the exchange is seen in their demand for "figgy pudding" and "good cheer", i.e., the wassail beverage, without which the wassailers in the song will not leave; "We won't go until we get some, so bring some out here".[23] Such complaints were also common in the early days of the United States, where the practice (and its negative connotations) had taken root by the early 1800s; it led to efforts from the American merchant class to promote a more sanitized Christmas.[25]
In thecider-producing West ofEngland (primarily the counties of Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire) wassailing also refers to drinking (and singing) the health of trees in the hopes that they might better thrive. Wassailing is also a traditional event inJersey, Channel Islands where cider (cidre) made up the bulk of the economy before the 20th century. The format is much the same as that in England but with terms and songs often inJèrriais.
17th-century Englishlyric poetRobert Herrick writes in his poem "Another (To The Maids)" (also known by the first line as "Wassail The Trees"):[26]
Wassail the trees, that they may bear
You many a plum and many a pear:
For more or less fruits they will bring,
As you do give them wassailing.
The purpose of wassailing is to awake thecider apple trees and to scare awayevil spirits to ensure a good harvest of fruit in autumn.[27] The ceremonies of each wassail vary from village to village but they generally all have the same core elements. While wassailing, a hymn is usually recited, such as:
Old apple tree, we wassail thee,
And hoping thou wilt bear:
For the Lord doth know where we shall be
Till apples come another year.
To bloom well, and to bear well,
So merry let us be:
Let every man take off his hat,
And shout to the old apple tree:
Old apple tree, we wassail thee,
And hoping thou wilt bear,
Hatfuls, capfuls and three bushel bagfulls
And a little heap under the stairs.
— Wassail Song,[4]
This incantation is followed by noise-making from the assembled crowd until the gunsmen give a final volley through the branches. The crowd then moves onto the next orchard. In the context of Christian observance, wassailing involves pronouncing ablessing on a tree so that it will bear fruit, often through the singing of a hymn.[4]
As the largest cider producing region of the country, theWest Country hosts historic wassails annually, such asWhimple inDevon andCarhampton inSomerset, both on 17 January, or oldTwelfth Night. Many new, commercial or "revival" wassails have also been introduced throughout the West Country, such as those inStoke Gabriel andSandford,Devon.Clevedon in North Somerset holds an annual wassailing event at the Clevedon Community Orchard, combining the traditional elements of the festival with the entertainment and music of the BristolMorris Men.[citation needed]
Nineteenth-century wassailers ofSomerset would sing the followinglyrics after drinking thecider until they were "merry and gay":
Apple tree, apple tree, we all come to wassail thee,
Bear this year and next year to bloom and to blow,
Hat fulls, cap fulls, three cornered sack fills,
Hip, Hip, Hip, hurrah,
Holler biys, holler hurrah.
— [28]
A folktale from Somerset reflecting this custom tells of theApple Tree Man, the spirit of the oldest apple tree in an orchard, and in whom the fertility of the orchard is thought to reside. In the tale a man offers his last mug of mulled cider to the trees in his orchard and is rewarded by the Apple Tree Man who reveals to him the location of buried gold.[29][30]
Wassail is a hot, mulledpunch often associated with Christmastide, often drunk from awassail bowl.[21] The earliest versions were warmedmead into which roastedcrab apples were dropped and burst to create a drink called 'lambswool' drunk onLammas day, still known inShakespeare's time.[31] Later, the drink evolved to become a mulled cider made with sugar,cinnamon,ginger andnutmeg, topped with slices oftoast assops and drunk from a largecommunal bowl.[32] Modern recipes begin with a base ofwine,fruit juice or mulled ale, sometimes withbrandy orsherry added.Apples ororanges are often added to the mix, and some recipes also call for beateneggs to betempered into the drink. Great bowls turned from wood, pottery ortin often had many handles for shared drinking and highly decorated lids; antique examples can still be found in traditional pubs.[33] Hence the firststanza of the traditional carolGloucestershire Wassail; variations of which were known to have been sung as far back as the 1700s,[34] and possibly earlier:[35]
Wassail! Wassail! All over the town,
Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown;
Our bowl it is made of the whitemaple tree;
With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink unto thee.
AtCarhampton, nearMinehead, the Apple Orchard Wassailing is held onOld Twelfth Night (17 January). The villagers form a circle around the largest apple tree, hang pieces of toast soaked in cider in the branches for therobins, who represent the 'good spirits' of the tree. Ashotgun is fired overhead to scare awayevil spirits, and the group sings the following being the (last verse):
"Lamb's wool" or "lambswool" is an early variety of wassail, brewed from ale or mead, baked apples, sugar and various spices.[37][38][39]
— Richard Cook,Oxford Night Caps, 1835
British-Irish antiquarianCharles Vallancey proposed that the term "lambswool" is acorruption of the name of apagan Irish festival,"Lamas Ubhal", during which a similar drink was had.[40] Alternatively, the name may derive from the drink's similar appearance to the wool oflambs.[41] Ale is occasionally replaced byginger ale for children, especially aroundHalloween andNew Year.
Wassail bowls, generally in the shape of goblets, have been preserved. TheWorshipful Company of Grocers made a very elaborate one in the seventeenth century, decorated with silver.[42] It is so large that it must have passed around as a "loving cup" so that many members of the guild could drink from it.[citation needed]
In the English Christmas carol "Gloucestershire Wassail", the singers tell that their "bowl is made of the white maple tree, with a wassailing bowl we'll drink to thee". Aswhite maple does not grow natively in Europe,[43][44] the lyric may be a reference tosycamore maple orfield maple, both of which do,[45][46] and both of which have white-looking wood.[47][48] This is reinforced by an 1890s written account from a man describing the wassailing bowl of his friend from Gloucestershire:
The bowl was one of those wooden sycamore or maple ones used to hold boiled potatoes on a farm kitchen table.[49]
Alternatively however, many formal publications from the 1800s list the lyric simply as saying "maplin tree", without mentioning "white".[50][51][52] Additionally, the lyric appears to have varied significantly depending on location and other factors, calling into question how literal the term was and/or how varied the construction of wassail bowls was. For example, a 1913 publication byRalph Vaughan Williams, who had recorded the lyric in 1909 by a wassailer inHerefordshire,[53] recorded it as "green maple".[54] Another version fromBrockweir[55] listed the bowl as being made frommulberry.[56]
British folk rock bandSteeleye Span opened their third albumTen Man Mop, or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again (1971) with an extended, minor-key version of "Gower Wassail", Tim Hart singing the traditional verses and the others joining the chorus.
The British rock bandBlur released a song titled "The Wassailing Song", with each member taking a verse. The release was limited to 500 7-inch pressings, given out at a concert in 1992. The version of "The Wassailing Song" performed by Blur was later adapted in a recording byThe Grizzly Folk, who have stated that the arrangement bears a close resemblance to the "Gloucestershire Wassail".[35]
In her song "Oh England My Lionheart", on the 1978 albumLionheart,Kate Bush sings, "Give me one wish, and I'd be wassailing in the orchard, my English rose."
The alternative rock bandHalf Man Half Biscuit fromTranmere, England, included a song named "Uffington Wassail" on their 2000 albumTrouble over Bridgwater. With its references to the Israeli Eurovision contestantDana International, theSealed Knot English Civil War re-enactment society, and also to the skierVreni Schneider, the meaning of the song's title in this context is a little obscure.
In 2013 Folk Rock musician Wojtek Godzisz created an arrangement of the traditional Gloucestershire Wassail words with original music for the Pentacle Drummers' first Annual Wassail festival (2013), called "Wassail".[57]
For the Pentacle Drummers' second Wassail festival (2014), the pagan rock bandRoxircle also wrote a Wassail song especially for the event called "Wassail (Give Thanks to the Earth)". The Pentacle Drummers encourage their headline acts to write a song centered around wassailing, a way to keep the tradition alive.
The English progressive rock bandBig Big Train[58] released an EP entitled "Wassail" in 2015, named for the title track.
Yorkshire-based folk singerKate Rusby included the track "Cornish Wassail" on her 2015 album,The Frost Is All Over.[59]
Australia-based bandSpiral Dance included the track "Earth Wassail" on their 2002 album "Notes of Being", based on theGower Wassail song.[60]
Wassail was mentioned in the television showMystery Science Theater 3000. Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo ask Mike Nelson to provide some. When asked to explain further what exactly wassail is, they admit to having no idea. However, they offer a guess that it might be an "anti-inflammatory". Upon actually getting some, they describe it as "skunky", discovering it to be a 500-year-old batch.
It was mentioned and explained toBing Crosby byFrank Sinatra in a special episode of theFrank Sinatra Show entitled "Happy Holidays with Bing and Frank" released 20 December 1957.[61][62]
In 2004, thealternative Christmas message was presented byThe Simpsons who close out with a cup of "traditional British wassail". When the director cuts, they spit it out in disgust, with Bart remarking that it tasted "like hurl".
Wassail was featured on the BBC Two specialOz and Hugh Drink to Christmas, aired in December 2009.Oz Clarke andHugh Dennis sampled the drink and the wassailing party in Southwest England as part of their challenge to find Britain's best Christmas drinks.
During the episode "We Two Kings" on the NBC sitcomFrasier, the title character's brother Niles asks to borrow his wassail bowl; when Frasier's father Martin asks why they can't just use a punch bowl, Niles retorts, "Then it wouldn't be Wassail then would it?" In response, Martin looks up 'wassail' in the dictionary, defined as 'a Christmas punch'.
In theGood Eats holiday special episode "The Night Before Good Eats",Alton Brown is given a wassail recipe bySaint Nicholas which he then must make to appease a mob of angry carolers.[63]
In Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas Celebration, which originally aired 21 December 1987, the main characters of the special Rex and Herb talk about the term "wassail" regarding a specific Christmas carol, which is comically mis-sung by varying groups that show up throughout the show.
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)The ritual has obvious Christian features: wassailing is, effectively, blessing the tree.
A wassail can be performed on any date between Christmas Eve and Old Twelfth Night (January 17).
At Christmastide too, a second group of celebrants sang their own carols--wassail carols.
January 5th: Twelfth Night or Epiphany Eve. Twelfth Night, the last evening of the traditional Twelve Days of Christmas, has been observed with festive celebration ever since the Middle Ages.
Anglicans, Lutherans and other churches that use the ecumenicalRevised Common Lectionary will likely observe the four Sundays of Advent, maintaining the ancient emphasis on the eschatological (First Sunday), ascetic (Second and Third Sundays), and scriptural/historical (Fourth Sunday). Besides Christmas Eve/Day, they will observe a 12-dayseason of Christmas from 25 December to 5 January.
Christmas or Christmastide is a season of the liturgical year in most Christian churches. For the Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, and Methodist Churches, Christmastide begins on the 24th of December at sunset or Vespers, which is liturgically the beginning of Christmas Day. Most of December 24th is thus not part of Christmastide, but of Advent, the season in the Church Year that precedes Christmastide. In many liturgical calendars Christmastide is followed by the closely related season of Epiphany that commences at sunset on January 5th, a date known as "Twelfth Night".
For centuries, wassail punch was served in Britain from Christmas Eve to the Twelfth Night.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: year (link){{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link) quote: "Lamb's Wool. — Roast 8 apples; mash them, and add 1 quart of old ale; press and strain; add ginger and nutmeg (grated); sweeten to taste; warm, and drink while warm."
