Wassailing into a Bountiful 2023
When the New Year celebrations are over, Herefordshire has another unique seasonal tradition up its sleeve!
It’s time for the wassail, an ancient ceremony passed down through the generations in cider-making counties to bless the orchards, and the apple and pear trees, with singing and dancing by the light of burning torches to encourage fruitfulness and bounty in the year ahead. The word itself originates from “waes hael”, meaning ‘be healthy’ in both Old English and Old Norse.
Typically, the wassail kicks off with a lively, torch-lit procession, led by a wassail King and Queen, to the orchard, where the queen will be lifted into the boughs of the tree to place ‘toast soaked in wassail (cider)’ as a gift to the tree spirits. Revellers are encouraged to make loads of noise to ward off evil spirits in the orchard.
‘Apple tree, apple tree
Bear good fruit
Or down with your top
And up with your root.’
Often a wassail bowl, filled with warm spiced cider, perry or ale, is shared among the procession and wassailing ceremonies will typically carry on with a visit to a local pub to warm up.
So pull on your woollies and your wellies and head for one of Herefordshire’s wassailing evenings for an experience like no other. At Gattertop we will be performing our wassailing ceremony on the evening of 21st January, wish us luck!
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