Christmas Traditions 2 -Wassailing

Another of our now lost traditions

Wassailing is a very ancient custom that is rarely done today. The word 'wassail' comes from the Anglo-Saxon phrase 'waes hael', which means 'good health'. Originally, the wassail was a drink made of mulled ale, curdled cream, roasted apples, eggs, cloves, ginger, nutmeg and sugar. It was served from huge bowls, often made of silver or pewter. Jesus College, in Oxford University, has a Wassail bowl that could hold 10 gallons of drink and was covered in silver! Wassailing was traditionally done on New Years Eve and Twelfth Night, but some rich people had Wassail on all the 12 days of Christmas! The Wassail drink mixture was sometimes called 'Lamb's Wool', because of the pulp of the roasted apples looked all frothy and a bit like Lambs Wool!!!

One legend about how Wassailing was created, says that a beautiful Saxon maiden named Rowena presented Prince Vortigen with a bowl of wine while toasting him with the words 'waes hael'. Over the centuries, a great deal of ceremony developed around the custom of drinking wassail. The bowl was carried into a room with a great fanfare, a traditional carol about the drink was sung, and finally, the steaming hot beverage was served.

From this it developed into a another way of saying Merry Christmas to each other!

One of the most popular Wassailing Carols went like this:

Here we come a-wassailing

Among the leaves so green,

Here we come a-wassailing,

So fair to be seen:

Love and joy come to you,

And to you your wassail too,

And God bless you and send you,

A happy New Year,

And God send you,

A happy new year.

Ray Thompson