Used to be, when I thought of wassailing, I’d picture Christmas carolers in full Victorian-era costume, going door-to-door to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. But in reality, as I’ve come to learn, wassailing is a centuries-old English tradition, with one form that’s deeply-rooted in apple trees.
Apple Wassailing dates back to the 16th century, though some may believe the tradition began as a Pagan ritual. This type of wassailing is to pay homage to apple trees and scare off the evil spirits so that the trees may bear lots of tasty apples during the harvest. Apple Wassailing is usually practiced during “Twelfth Night” though there’s a lot of confusion as to when “Twelfth Night” actually occurs. Wikipedia tells us that “it is defined by the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary as ‘the evening of the fifth of January, preceding Twelfth Day, the eve of the Epiphany, formerly the last day of the Christmas festivities and observed as a time of merrymaking.'” Anglophiles and historians will split hairs with you about which calendar was in use at the time wassailing originated (Julian or Gregorian) and its impact on the proper date for wassailing. So, for the sake of argument, we’ll just call it sometime in January.
Sounds intriguing? Then you’ll be happy to know that the Wallingford Morris Troupe, known as the Sound and Fury Morris, will be performing an Apple Wassailing this Saturday, at 10:30 a.m. at Meridian Park.
Wallyhood writer Kimberly C. (who happens to be a dedicated Morris dancer and seasoned apple tree wassailer) writes:
The Sound and Fury Morris dancers invite you to honor the fruit trees of Meridian Playfield with a traditional English Wassail. The dancers will lead all well-wishers in a toast to the good health of the apples trees so that they will bear much fruit in the coming year. The toast will include: songs, dance performance, making lots of noise to scare off the bad spirits, placing cider soaked bread in the trees for the birds, and sharing apple cider and cake. What better way to extend your holiday cheer to Mother Nature than joining in this fun tradition which dates back hundreds of years? Please join in this free celebration!
We will gather near the north-end picnic tables at 10:30 on Saturday January 12th at Meridian Playfield in Wallingford.
And, like the post office, we will be there whether or not there is rain, sleet or snow. Nothing can get between us and a cup of cider!
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These guys must have been “Wassailing” long into the evening. I was out with our dog that night in front of our home and we saw, or rather HEARD, two people playing guitar and singing as they walked down the street towards us.
They looked as though they stepped out of A Mid Summer’s Night Dream. Two men, happily drunk on cider, strumming old English… or were they Irish? tunes. We asked them what it was all about and they explained they were honoring the fruit trees and singing to boost the trees fertility so that in the end there might be more fruit to make more of that yummy cider.
We pointed to our small, pathetic columnar apple tree and said it could use a little help.
The two merry men went over to it and serenaded it.
We won’t know until the spring if their efforts were “fruitful.”
Gotta love this place.
Jennifer, if you want some help with your “pathetic” columnar apple tree beyond wassailing, let me know. I’m working with City Fruit to test some organic holistic treatments for fruit trees that are showing real results. [email protected]