.......and hope that thou dost bear
For the LORD does know
where we shall be
When apples come again
another year
For to bear well, and
to bloom well, then happy we shall be
Let every man take off
his hat and shout to the old apple tree.
Old apple tree we wassail
thee and hope that thou dost bear
Hats full, caps full,
bushel bags and barrels full
And a little heap under
the stair.
hurrah!
hurrah!
HURRAH!
Wassailing is an old country custom involving fun, friendship, bonfire, song, cider and shotguns in an orchard in midwinter.
4 or five years ago, in the public bar of the Wheatsheaf inn at Shedfield, Andy Folkes the then squire of Wickham Morris asked me if I wouldn't mind the Morris side having a wassail in our orchard, something they'd wanted to do for a long time but until I had recently started coming along faced the significant obstacle of not having an orchard to wassail in. He thoughtfully suggested that as the pagan nature of wassailing might be of concern to us as Christians, perhaps we could get 'your vicar along to do his bit'. I thought over this and researched wassailing which until then was pretty much unknown to me.
My researches demonstrated that wassail (or waes hal) was an Anglo Saxon greeting meaning 'be thou of good health', or 'cheers' or something like that, and that as to being Pagan, as opposed to merely folk custom, this was very much a matter of opinion. It was apparently an old midwinter custom (old Christmas eve or old twelfth night or some such time) to get together in an orchard and drink cider or strong beer, possibly warmed and spiced, have a bonfire, fire shotguns into the trees 'to frighten off the evil spirits', sing, and depending on local tradition carry out various customs, the most common of which was for a piece of toast on which some cider had been poured to be put on to the oldest tree 'for the robins'. It wasn't clear from my research that there was anything like a precise pattern that could be called 'The Authentic'. (Morris dancing itself, far from being 'From Time Immemorial' was reinvented just a few decades ago, and like all folk traditions is being adapted and renewed today as its practitioners see fit). Anyway, I couldn't see anything about wassailing per se which would offend my Christian faith (after all, as the rector of All Saints Botley said when I discussed it with him, hadn't the church grafted Christmas on to the midwinter solstice?) In any event, all things are His and I couldn't see any problem with a midwinter season tide knees up in the orchard, so I went back to Andy and said yes.
On an evening in early January not long after, drinkers in the Farmers Home public house at Durley were surprised to see a band of Morris men and women in full border kit (see pictures) assembling in the bar for a pint or 2 before heading off to the orchard a mile away. We played, sang and danced in the dark and drank much hot spiced cider and enjoyed a nocturnal barbecue. I offered a prayer of thanks to the Lord of earth and sky for the harvest, songs were sung, and a retiring collection raised a modest sum for the Leprosy Mission. There are no pictures of this first nocturnal excursion, those below are I think from 2002.
We decided later (see above) that dancing in the dark was a bit dodgy and that since the 'tradition' was so flexible, we would gather for 15.00 and light a fire at sundown. This has the benefit of allowing families with children to come and I thought it was a nice idea to watch the sun go down and light a big fire at dusk. The reverend Ian Coomber led a short time of prayer and thanks for the orchard. Hot spiced cider was served (recipe below) dance and song and laughter and good talk took place, and some fooling around including a mummers play about the Norman Conquest. A bit of toast was placed in the oldest tree for the robins according to old tradition, and some of our number being keen bird watchers, several balls of fat, bags of peanuts and a couple of nesting boxes were placed in the trees, a clear example of the contemporary development of tradition! We dispensed with the firing of shotguns in the interest of safety-guns and alcohol don't mix and we could hardly dispense with the cider!. In 2002 we had over 100 people there and a jolly good time. A dozen of us sat round the wassail fire 'til about 10pm, which felt like way past midnight. One year, I forget which, we saw three planets all bright in a row and frost formed on the musicians' instrument cases.
Last year sadly we had to cancel the main event due to heavy rain in the week up to the event, which we hold 'by tradition' (since 2001) on the second Saturday of January (which is near enough to the traditional dates, of which there are several, and far enough away from New Year). 4 stalwarts turned up to keep the tradition unbroken although we had to use diesel to get the fire going and it wasn't that good. This year we will put up a marquee, but will still have to limit numbers severely if it rains a lot due to the problems of getting cars up a grassy slope.
Wassailing is making a comeback, depending on your point of view it
is a seasonal marker, a knees up, a time for reflection and thanksgiving,
or something spiritual. Whatever.
recipe for wassail cider bowl
for a gallon
Take 2 pints of apple juice, preferably 100% pressed apple as opposed to the cheaper stuff made from concentrate. Simmer for half an hour with a mix of spices-I suggest 2 or 3 sticks of cinnamon, half a dozen cloves, some grated nutmeg and maybe a piece of star anise and a few sliced chunks of ginger. If in doubt, stick to cinnamon and cloves. Add the juice of 2 or 3 oranges, I quarter and squeeze the oranges and put the squeezed skin in. Some people stick lots of cloves into whole oranges and put them in. Add sugar to taste, suggest a quarter pound of brown sugar to the gallon, you decide.
When ready to serve, add the simmered quart of spiced apple juice to 3 quarts of best dry cider, if you don't make your own try to get a gallon or 2 from someone who does, failing that get some Weston's, Thatcher's or other real cider from a big supermarket or good off licence. Simmering the spices in the juice prevents boiling off the alcohol, adding the hot juice to the cool cider brings it up to a nice warm temperature ready to drink. If you are having a lengthy outdoor event you might want a stove of some kind to keep it warm. If you are having a lot of people, make up a larger amount of the spiced apple juice beforehand. I like to make the drink as above to about 5% alcohol by volume, if you add rum, sherry, port or brandy or use wine instead of cider, these will all make lovely drinks but be aware that with a hot sweet spicy drink like this especially with the excitement of an outdoor party in the dark, bonfire etc., its quite possible to get 4 or 5 cups down the throat in short order and if its 10% abv or more people can get staggering blind drunk and I don't think that's the point, so keep it around 5% and let the older children have some if they like.
