History and Definition of Wassail
The very name, wassail, comes from wæs hæil meaning ‘Be healthy’ which in Anglo-Saxon was used as a salutation or toast. Wassailing, also known as Waysailing, apple howling and vessel-cupping, is most commonly known as a house- visiting custom (much like Caroling), wishing health and good tidings to neighbors. It is also sometimes considered a nature custom, wishing health to fruit trees, farm crops, animals, and other forms of nature. The proper day for wassailing varied from place to place, but was always in midwinter, near Christmas, or New Year, and the name also varies considerably, including vessel-cup, waysailing, and howling.
In English tradition, young women went "wassailing" about the neighborhood with a bowl of drink, often spiced ale, dressed up with garlands and ribbons, singing or reciting a set of verses that wished luck to the neighborhood. They were usually given holiday food or small amounts of money for their songs. The drink could be of any suitably festive sort, but was often described as Lamb’s Wool, made from spiced ale or cider and baked apples. The Wassailing tradition later included men, but most of the earlier references take it for granted that it was a female custom, and although the actual words may vary, the basic structure and import of the verses do not differ a great deal from place to place.
Wassail, Wassail Lyrics
Wassail, wassail all over the town
Our toast it is white, our ale it is brown
Our bowl it is made of a maplin tree
We be good fellows all, I drink to thee.
Successive verses salute the horse, the cow, the maids, and the butler (Gloucestershire: Time's Telescope (1814), 3).
Wassailing
As an alternative or addition to the drink in the bowl, many wassailers carried a decorated box, usually glass with evergreen and ribbon and made their rounds by singing Christmas carols. The box usually held one or two dolls inside to represent the baby Jesus and the Virgin Mary.
Later on, Wassailing with men was usually around New Year. The custom involved visiting the local orchards and wassailing the trees to encourage a good crop in the coming year. Songs would be sung, the trunks beaten with sticks or splashed with cider, cider-soaked toast might be laid at the roots or placed in the branches, there was much cheering, and, usually, guns were fired into the air. The verses were normally on the lines of:
Here stands a good old apple tree, stand fast root
Every little twig bear an apple big
Hats full, caps full, and three score sacks full
Hip! Hip! Hurrah!
(Edward Swanton, Bygone Haslemere (1914), 285)
Best Traditional Apple Wassail Recipe, also called Lamb's Wool
- 1 gallon apple cider
- 1 large can pineapple juice - unsweetened if possible
- ¾ cup strong tea
- 1 Tablespoon whole cloves
- 1 Tablespoon whole allspice
- 2 Teaspoons of chopped ginger
- 2 sticks cinnamon
- Cheesecloth
- Fill a pitcher with water and two teabags.
- Place the apple wassail spices in a square of cheesecloth, and tie securely with string or a clean rubber-band. (Alternately, skip the cheesecloth and strain spices at the end of recipe.)
- Pour juices and tea into a large kettle, and place over low heat. Add cheesecloth bag filled with spices.
- Simmer the traditional apple wassail for at least one hour and up to 5 hours.
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Carol Hilker - Carol Hilker is a Freelance writer based in San Francisco, CA. Originally from Chicago, IL, Carol grew up studying theater, dance and ...
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