Wassailing the Apple Trees : 17 January

Apple Trees will be Wassailed tonight in Carhampton, Somerset.

In the old, Julian calendar, Wassailing the Apple Trees used to be done on welfth Night, January the 6th.

On Wednesday, 3 September 1752, the calendar was advanced by 11 days, so that suddenly, it was the 14th of September in the Gregorian calendar. Apple Tree Wassailers, however, stuck with the old date of January 6th, even though it had actually become the 17th.

The Apple Trees were toasted with Apple Cider. It was a fun evening and a time for revelry after Christmas was over and the dark, cold nights of winter had set in. It was mostly done by men in high spirits and who had been into high spirits themselves. The Apple Cider used was, of course, real Apple Cider: the kind that North Americans call "hard."

A Wassail Bowl full of cider was carried out to the orchard for the tree, in addition of course to the cups that the men carried for themselves. You didn't Wassail every tree in the orchard; you picked the oldest one and gathered around it. A piece of toast made from white bread would be dipped in the Wassail Bowl, and placed either on the roots or in the branches of the tree to attract good spirits. One of several possible Wassail songs would be sung, sometimes several times as the crowd got into the swing of things. Then, the cider in the Wassail Bowl would be poured over the roots of the tree, and the men would truck back to the house for more fun and merry-making.

It was recorded in Kent in 1585 as being done by the teenage men of the villages. In Devonshire, the tradition was that when the men came back to the house, the women would have some special type of meat roasting for the men as suited this festive occasion. Whatever the weather, though, the women wouldn't allow the men back into the house until they could guess what it was the women were roasting. The man who finally guessed would get the choicest piece that year, and, no doubt, the gratitude of his fellow Wassailers if freezing rain had been coming in sideways.

In other traditions, people or animals were Wassailed.
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.
For to bear 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, three bushel bagfuls
And a little heap under the stairs
Hip! Hip! Horray! -- Somerset Wassail Song


Here’s to thee, old apple-tree,
Whence thou mayst bud, and whence thou mayst blow!
And whence thou mayst bear apples enow!
Hats full! Caps full!
Bushel-bushel-sacks full,
And my pockets full too! Huzza! -- Devenonshire Wassail Song

"Wassail" means "good health". It comes from the Anglo-Saxon words "Wes" ("good" or "well") and "Hael" ("health"). In Sussex, some used the term "howling" the orchard, which may have reflected on the quality of the singing after several good pints of cider by the farmers. Apple & Berry Nut Crumble Recipe; Lentil, Apple & Bacon Soup Recipe; Pork and Apple Pot Roast Recipe; Sausages with Fried Apples Recipe; Steamed Apple Pudding Cake Recipe

Osborne, Hilary. Wassailing the cider orchard. Word of Mouth Blog. Manchester: The Guardian. 21 January 2010. Retrieved January 2010 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/jan/21/wassailing-cider-apple-orchard

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