I didn’t get outside to Wassail my small apple trees on the modern twelfth night on the 6th – it was probably raining, so must do it tonight which was twelfth night before the calendars changed in 1752. It was still called ‘old twelfy’ in parts of the country up to the C19. I have a can of cheap cider in the cupboard right ready.
Wassail is a very old word, coming from the Anglo-Saxon Drinking toast “Waes Hael” meaning “be of good health” to which the answer was “Drinc Hael”. This has been recorded in old medieval English and earlier in the epic ‘Beowulf’ poem and there is also a toasting scene on the Bayeux Tapestry. It was definitely well known by the mid C13 not just as a personal drinking toast but as a festive occasion around Christmas with drinking and entertainment.
On Twelfth night in the past there were two different types of Wassailing. The first was moving door to door around the village singing and carrying a wassailing bowl and the second was a ceremony taking place in orchards, blessing the trees for a good crop next year. In the C19 farm workers were often paid in cider during the harvest, so it was important the trees were healthy and produced plenty of fruit……… at one time there were 400 varieties of apples and an orchard on every farm in every village and an apple tree in every cottage garden.
The tradition has come and gone and then “reawakened” more recently, often by groups of Morris Dancers and folk singers.
So that’s what I’ll be doing, blessing the apple trees and pouring cider on the roots, although I won’t be shouting – the neighbours are a bit close for that!
