Until the industrial revolution the Christmas season consisted of twelve days and nights where no work was carried out, and communities, particularly in rural areas, would celebrate with feasting and a variety of entertainments. The season would end on the twelfth night, the 6th December, which was also the date on which the Church celebrated the arrival of the Magi (the Three Wise Men, or Three Kings) in Bethlehem to offer the baby Jesus the gifts of frankincense, gold and myrrh.
The day ends the festivities of Christmas and begins Epiphanytide which lasts until Candlemas Day – 1st February – which commemorates the presentation of Jesus to the temple. For many European countries Epiphany is the time for gift-giving, rather than at Christmas, due to its associations with the gift-giving of the Magi.
In England the only reference to Epiphany is the serving of the Twelfth Night Cake, a rich fruit cake, elaborately decorated and topped with a gold crown. It is also sometimes known as a Three Kings Cake. In France an almond stuffed pastry cake, which is also topped with a gold crown, is called a Galette des Rois.
In the cider and perry-producing counties of England the 6th of December is the day for wassailing apple trees. Wassailing ceremonies differ from area to area, but the fundamental purpose is to awaken the apple trees and rid them of any evil spirits, to ensure a bountiful harvest of fruit in the autumn. The ceremony begins when some of the previous year’s cider is poured into the trees’ roots, and cider-soaked toast is placed in the branches to entice robins to come and guard the tree. An incantation is recited by the main celebrant and then the onlookers all make as much noise as possible, usually with pots and pans, to scare away the evil spirits. They then go through the village with a large bowl of wassail to share amongst the inhabitants.
For the English nobility and gentry Twelfth Night was celebrated with masques, pageants and plays (Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night or What You Will being an example in Elizabeth I’s court). In the eighteenth century, gambling was also a popular activity. In ordinary households the entertainments were less flamboyant but nonetheless entertaining. As well as feasting on the Twelfth Night cake the tradition of electing a King and Queen to oversee the festivities would take place. A bean and a pea would be hidden in the cake and the person who found the bean would take the role of the King: the discovery of the pea would mean you would be crowned Queen. The gender of those elected was irrelevant so the King could be played by a woman and a man could adopt the role of Queen. They would be expected to dress accordingly. It was then up to the King and Queen what games would be played and which songs would be sung.
In Anglo-Saxon times to wassail was to drink to good health (the word comes from the Old Norse ves heill meaning “be in good health”). This ritual took place at special times of the year, particularly during Yuletide. As the cup of mulled cider or ale was raised, “wassail” would be exclaimed. The respondents would then shout “drinkhail” as the cup was passed round.
In England, particularly the southwest, wassailing rituals would take place during the winter in orchards. In apple orchards the mulled cider (or wassail) was not only drunk but poured into the roots of the apple trees to awaken them and ensure a plentiful crop the following autumn. Pieces of toast were also soaked in cider and an elected Wassail Queen would be lifted into the boughs where she would place the cider-sodden bread. The assembled wassailers would then make a loud noise to scare any evil spirits away.
If you have any apple or pear trees in your garden or in a public space nearby it can be fun to hold a wassailing ceremony with family and friends. I have a large apple tree and every year friends come to help me wassail it. I usually serve a lunch involving apples or pears – for instance, roast pork with cider gravy and an apple or pear pudding – and we then conduct a wassail ceremony while drinking from a large jug of warm wassail.
If you want to wassail your trees you will need toasted bread soaked in cider or perry, a bottle of cider, and items with which to make a loud noise (pots, pans, sticks, whistles, drums etc).
First pour the cider into the ground around the tree, then place the cider-soaked toast in the branches of the tree. Ideally you should elect a Wassail Queen who should be lifted up to do this if your tree is large enough. Elect someone to read one of the following:
Here's to thee, old apple tree,
Whence thou mayst bud
And whence thou mayst blow!
And whence thou mayst bear apples enow!
Hats full! Caps full!
Bushel—bushel—sacks full,
And my pockets full too! Huzza!Old apple tree we wassail thee
And hoping thou will bear
For the Lord doth know where we shall be
'Til apples come another year
For to bear well and to bloom well
So merry let us be
Let every man take off his hat
And shout to the old apple tree
Old apple tree we wassail thee
And hoping thou will bear
Hat fulls, cap fulls, three bushel bag fulls
And a little heap under the stairs
Everyone should then make as loud a noise as possible to scare off the evil spirits. Following the ceremony everyone can go back into the warm and continue to drink the wassail.
