Welcome dear friends back to the Hypnogoria Old-time Yuletide Advent Calendar! We have reached Door 22 and W for Wassailing!
Now we already looked at the origins of the word itself yesterday, so what of the tradition itself. Well there appears to be two distinct branches, if you will pardon the pun, the tree wassail and the house wassail. Now the tree wassail still survives in some parts of the country, in particular in Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Herefordshire, and often takes place on Twelfth Night. Here merry folks gather in an orchard and wassail the trees in order to wake them from their winter sleep and to drive away evil spirits. As well singing a traditional wassail song, a tree is given a drink from the wassail bowl and often bells are rung and guns fired in order to raise a suitable noise, to wake the tree and scare away bad spirits.
However there was also the house wassail, and this was the ancestor of modern day carol singing. Much like their present day counterparts, a merry band of folks would go from house to house, and regale the inhabitants with a song or two, and in return get gifts of food, drink and sometimes money. However there was a key difference, and that was in more ancient times, they carried with them the special wassail bowl, filled with a special festive drink. And at each house, the contents would be shared with the householders, who would then be expected to top up the bowl before the wassailers went on their way.
And what was the hearty brew inside the wassail bowl? Well, a verse in Robert Herrick’s poem Twelfth Night from 1648 has the answer -
Next crown the bowl full
With gentle lamb's wool
Add sugar, nutmeg and ginger,
With store of ale too;
And thus ye must do
To make a wassail a swinger
So how does one make lamb’s wool? Well, much Smoking Bishop which we learned about a few doors down, this wasn’t a drink that one could whip up quickly. But when out on a cold and frosty night, making a batch of this spicy, hot steaming tipple was undoubtedly worth it!
While there are several variations, the basic recipe is as follows.
Core six apples and roast them in the oven for about an hour until the flesh is soft and pulpy. Meanwhile in a large pan, pour in 150 grams of brown or golden sugar and on a gentle heat, gradually stir a litre and a half of either ale or cider. Add in one grated nutmeg and a teaspoon for ground ginger.
When the apples are done, allow to cool, and then strip off the skins, scraping the soft roast apple into the pan. Whisk the apple into the mixture while simmering until it’s hot and frothy. Then the mixture may be poured into a wassail bowl which traditionally includes a couple of slices of toasted bread. According to old tradition, the bread slices are reserved to be given to the most important person one meets when wassailing house to house. And indeed, it is thought that this custom is the origin of the phrase to drink a toast to someone. Ves heill indeed!
However there was a slightly darker side to wassailing. Indeed there is a reason it was resurrected in a more refined form as carol singing, for the earlier wassailers did have a reputation for drunkenness and indeed there was an element of demanding money with menaces. Much like mumming, hooded animal plays and soul-caking, these traditions were a socially acceptable form of begging in some ways, allowing poor folks, often disguised in some form of costume, to get some festive fare from their betters. However, like modern trick or treating, which is another descendant of this tradition, there was an element of threat - if folks were not generous, then a certain amount of mischief and mayhem might come their way. And funnily enough, there’s still a trace of this in one of our most beloved festive favourites - We Wish You a Merry Christmas. This carol which is thought to be relatively recent, dating from the 18th century, has some very telling lyrics. The second verse has the carollers asking for some figgy pudding -
Oh, bring us some figgy pudding
And bring it right here
Now this a reference to an old West Country tradition of giving carollers little Christmas puds. However, the next verse adds -
We won't go until we get some
So bring it right here!
And there we have it, a clear reference to the somewhat rowdy nature of the original wassailers! So then if you do get some carollers round, do be generous! Ves Heill!
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