Wassail facts for kids
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Wassail is a special hot drink, often made from mulled cider, ale, or wine, mixed with spices. People traditionally drink it as part of a very old English custom called wassailing. This custom was either about giving to charity door-to-door or, more commonly, about helping to make sure there would be a good harvest of fruit the next year. It's usually enjoyed around the Christmas and New Year holidays.
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What Does "Wassail" Mean?
The word "wassail" comes from an old language called Old Norse. It means "be in good health" or "be fortunate." At first, it was just a greeting, like saying "hello" or "goodbye." It didn't have anything to do with drinking.
Later, people started using "wassail" as part of a special toast: "wassail...drinkhail." This toast became popular in England, especially among the Anglo-Danes. By the 12th century, it was seen as a common English custom. The earliest record of this toast is from around 1140.
Around the year 1300, the meaning of "wassail" changed. It started to mean the drink itself, especially the spiced ale used in Twelfth-night and Christmas Eve celebrations. By 1598, it referred to the custom of drinking to people's health on these nights. Later, in 1603, William Shakespeare used "Keep wassel" in his play Hamlet. This meant having a big party or celebration.
The Wassail Drink
Wassail is a hot, spiced punch. It is often served from a large, special bowl called a 'wassail bowl'. The very first versions of wassail were made from warm mead (a drink made from honey). People would drop roasted crab apples into it. These apples would burst and create a drink called 'lambswool'. This drink was popular even in Shakespeare's time.
Over time, the drink changed. It became a mulled cider, which means it was warmed and mixed with sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Slices of toast were often floated on top. People would drink it from a big shared bowl. Today, wassail recipes often start with wine, fruit juice, or mulled ale. Sometimes, a little brandy or sherry is added. Apples or oranges are also common ingredients. Some recipes even include beaten eggs that are carefully mixed in.
Large, decorated bowls made from wood, pottery, or tin were often used. They sometimes had many handles so several people could drink from them at once. You can still find old examples of these bowls in traditional pubs. The first part of a famous old carol, "Gloucestershire Wassail", talks about this:
Wassail! Wassail! All over the town,
Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown;
Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree;
With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink unto thee.
In a place called Carhampton, people hold an Apple Orchard Wassailing on Old Twelfth Night (January 17th). This is a ritual to ask for a good apple harvest. Villagers gather around the biggest apple tree. They hang pieces of toast soaked in cider on the branches for the robins. Robins are thought to be the 'good spirits' of the tree. They also fire a shotgun into the air to scare away any bad spirits. Then, the group sings a song, with the last verse being:
Old Apple tree, old apple tree;
We've come to wassail thee;
To bear and to bow apples enow;
Hats full, caps full, three bushel bags full;
Barn floors full and a little heap under the stairs.
Lamb's Wool
"Lamb's wool" is an older type of wassail. It is made from ale, baked apples, sugar, and different spices. Some people think the name "lamb's wool" comes from an old Irish festival called "Lamas Ubhal". Others believe it's because the drink looks a bit like the wool of lambs. Sometimes, ginger ale is used instead of ale for children, especially around Halloween and New Year.
Wassailing Traditions
In parts of England where a lot of cider is made, like Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset, wassailing is a traditional ceremony. It involves singing and drinking to the health of fruit trees, especially apple trees, on Twelfth Night. The goal is to wake up the cider apple trees and scare away bad spirits. This helps make sure there will be a good harvest of fruit in the autumn.
The ceremonies are a bit different in each village, but they all have similar main parts. A wassail King and Queen lead the singing or music from one orchard to the next. The wassail Queen is then lifted into the branches of a tree. She places toast soaked in wassail from a clay cup as a gift to the tree spirits. This also shows the fruits that grew the year before. In some areas, the youngest boy, sometimes called "Tom Tit," does this instead of the Queen. After this, a special chant is usually said.
There's a folktale from Somerset about this custom. It tells of the Apple Tree Man, who is the spirit of the oldest apple tree in an orchard. People believed the orchard's ability to grow fruit came from him. In the story, a man gives his last mug of mulled cider to the trees in his orchard. The Apple Tree Man rewards him by showing him where buried gold is hidden.
Wassail in Popular Culture
Music
Many musicians have been inspired by wassail. The British folk rock band Steeleye Span included a version of "Gower Wassail" on their 1971 album. The British rock band Blur released a song called "The Wassailing Song" in 1992.
In 1978, Kate Bush sang about wassailing in her song "Oh England My Lionheart." The band Half Man Half Biscuit also had a song called "Uffington Wassail" on their 2000 album. More recently, in 2013, Wojtek Godzisz created new music for the traditional Gloucestershire Wassail words. The pagan rock band Roxircle also wrote a wassail song in 2014. The English progressive rock band Big Big Train released an EP called "Wassail" in 2015. Folk singer Kate Rusby included "Cornish Wassail" on her 2015 album.
Television
Wassail has also appeared on TV shows. In Mystery Science Theater 3000, characters jokingly ask for wassail but admit they don't know what it is. They describe a 500-year-old batch as "skunky."
In 1957, Frank Sinatra explained wassail to Bing Crosby on a special TV show. In 2004, The Simpsons ended their alternative Christmas message with "traditional British wassail." However, the characters quickly spit it out, saying it tasted "like hurl."
Wassail was featured on the BBC Two show Oz and Hugh Drink to Christmas in 2009. Oz Clarke and Hugh Dennis tried the drink and attended a wassailing party in Southwest England.
On the sitcom Frasier, the character Niles asks to borrow a wassail bowl. When his father asks why he can't just use a punch bowl, Niles says it wouldn't be "Wassail" then. His father looks up "wassail" and finds it's defined as "a Christmas punch."
In the Good Eats holiday episode, Alton Brown gets a wassail recipe from St. Nicholas. He has to make it to calm down a group of angry carolers.
In Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas Celebration (1987), characters Rex and Herb talk about the term "wassail" in a Christmas carol.
See also
- Apple Day
- Apple Wassail
- Here We Come A-wassailing
- List of hot beverages
- Mari Lwyd (a similar tradition in Wales)
