Wassail The Absolute and complete Wassail Guide! WASSAIL!!!!

First Comes the Wassail

There are many approaches to Wassail.
Traditionally it is served in wooden bowls and
loving cups or poured from Susans or as say
some of the songs.
Peter Kennedy notes the following materials for bowls are mentioned in the songs:

"Mulberry, Rosemary (Bramley and Stainer), White Maple Tree
(Vaughan Williams 1908), Elderberry Bough (Gower,
South Wales) Ashen Tree (Sharp)"-Kennedy,1975,p232.

Charles Dickens mentions an Earthenware Jug
(see our literature page)

We use shining pewter tankards and a great silver plated pitcher -colored ribbons tied to its handles, and tray. The word Wassail is Scandinavian- In Sussex it is often called "Howling". The most popular date is the evening of Epiphany January 6 or 12th night. For more on celebration customs go to our texts page.
click here. for sources click here

The History of the Celebration: Click here for history
Wassail in the Hall, Here we go a Wassailing in the streets from house to house and the mysterious Apple Wassail. The songs and traditions are associated with specific places click here to view maps indicating their locations.

The Drink-click here for recipes!
The world now seems quite confused as to the drink itself. Recipes vary greatly and include jello shooters. Wine, Sherry, Madeira, Cider, Scrumpy and fine ale are all mentioned but then so is Tequila. In the tradition of the west of England and the apple country Scrumpy must have played a large role. This is an extremely potent drink made from fermented apples possibly akin to Apple Jack. Spices are often put into the drink. Allspice, Mace, Nutmeg, Cinnamon are all mentioned.....
Apples roasted till cooked in hot in the oven or underneath a broiler are thrown in at the last minute when they burst out making a loud noise of popping. You can take your pick from Possets, Bishops and Cider/Ale Wassails. We also have a page which discusses Wassail beers and provides some recipes for them. Click here for the beers.

The Song-click here for songs
Sung by carolers. They wish blessings and good fortune on the occupants of a house. They mention that they are in need of drink and or food and or money. There are many tunes and lyrics associated with Wassail. Often the songs were sung head bowed with great reverence. For the tunes go here!

The Food-click here for recipes The food must be hearty. The Wassailers are out doors - they need warmth pies and plum pudding. Steaming plates inside, and hand warmers to be taken on the way. We also have recipes for toast for the bowl- an essential part of any Wassail.

The Texts: click here for wassail in texts Wassail is described or referenced in many important books and texts. We present a few of them for you here. Here you will find more details on the history of the celebration.

Where to Celebrate?Click here for a guide to celebrations all over the world. You can e.mail us to have your wassail event listed here for free!

To return to the top click it right here

wassail   n.,
Etymology: Middle English wæs hæil, from Old Norse ves heill be well, from ves (imperative singular of vera to be) + heill healthy .Date: 13th century

A festive occasion or meeting with much drinking and pledging of healths; a drinking bout; a carouse. the liquor used on such occasions, especially around Christmas or the new year. a merry drinking song. the salutation formerly given in drinking the health of a person, as at a festivity.   v.,   wassailed, wassailing; to drink to the health or prospering of.   to drink wassail; to carouse.
wassailer   n., one who wassails; a merry maker; a reveler.

Origins
In Saxon times the original form of this word was:
was hail, (be whole) and was a greeting meaning: "be in good health". In twelfth century, it became a toast, you replied: drink hail, or "drink good health". (Hail = modern "hale" ,Meaning: "health; well-being". It is related to: "hail" which means "salute, greet or welcome".) The toast originated with the Danes; by the twelfth century the Normans thought it to be the most popular sayings of Britain .The word later was used for drink related to the toast. which was usually spiced ale or mulled wine made for Christmas Eve or Twelfth Night (Jan.6). In the west of Britain the good health of the apple trees was toasted on Twelfth Night. The luck of next year's crop of cider apples was wished. Bread soaked in cider was put into the branches of trees to keep evil spirits away. Ritual songs were sung. Wassailing This is also done on 17th January: the Old Twelfth Night. Hot cakes were a popular accompaniment. Cider was often splashed on the apple trees while men fired their guns at the tree and banged on pots and pans.

A. L. Lloyd in his work Folksong of England suggests that Wassail songs belong to a wider group of pan-European songs he calls quete or quest, begging or collecting songs. He illustrates his point with examples from Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Sweden and France.

Ronald Hutton reports: "From the eighth century poem Beowulf to fourteenth century literature such as the conduct book of Robert of Brunne, the word "wassail" appears as a toast. It is simply the Old English for "be of good health". The bowl is first mentioned by Matthew Paris in the thirteenth century, as one in which cakes and fine white bread were communally dipped. Near the end of the same century Robert of Gloucester retold the legend of the marriage of the British king Vortigern with the Saxon princess Rowena, making the latter drink to the former with the words "waes heal". When Peter de Lantoft repeated the story in the 1320s, he portrayed people drinking alternately from the same cup with the exchange "wassaille" and "drinkhaille", exactly as in Tudor England. This sequence raises the possibility that the exchange became customary around 1300, but this, again cannot be proved."- The Rise and Fall of Merry England, Ronald Hutton, Oxford,1996. p. 58.

What is interesting about the wassail custom is that those who go door to door generally bring the wassail! Sometimes they mention receiving payment for it. This may indicate that the custom evolved as a way to re-distribute apple, ale, and alcohol based resources. One function would be to preserve and re-distribute the crop but, could a concern for taxation enter into this? Certainly appearing to give away alcohol as a part of ancient tradition may be a way to avoid the revenuer!