Wassail: The Forgotten Christmas Beverage
You are probably wondering - what is this absurd word Wassail
. If not, then what you may not realise is that you have probably been drinking this festive beverage for many years and should be commended.
Let me explain this foreign liquid to you, with no detail left unwritten. This substance has quite a troubled background, however you only need to know the main narratives of this drink.
So lets get down to the facts. Wassail comes from an old English term waes hael which in modern day English means be well. This was first used in old Saxon culture, where at the end of every year the Lord of the manor would shout waes hael with the people of the manor responding by shouting drink hael. Literally translated means drink and be healthy.
In this brief, but certainly fascinating history lesson, the origins of this beverage will become clear. Originally from the South-West of England, its main origin is the Orchard-Visiting wassail event.
Here people would drink and sing to orchards, with the idea of improving the trees health, having the notion that it would awaken the cider apple trees and scare away any unwanted evil tree spirits. Think of this procedure as if pesticides were musical lyrics intended to ensure a healthy harvest. Each ceremony or song would vary from village to village.
The idea is that a Wassail King and Queen would be cast. After these castings had been made their first role would be to lead the procession of vocalists. Over the course of this rendition the Queen would be raised up into the cider tree. Here she would soak a piece of toast with wassail, which would then be placed on to the tree to show the plant its fruits that it created the previous year - hopefully giving the tree a good old morale boost. Thinking about this, if you were a tree you would want some acknowledgement of the goods youve been producing year in year out. After all the hullabaloo had finished, it would be topped off with a recital of another musical treatment which would include these lyrics;
Here's to thee, old apple tree
That blooms well, bears well. Hats full, caps full
Three bushel bags full
An' all under one tree. Hurrah! Hurrah!
If this sounds right up your street, then youll be pleased that Wassailing is still going on today. If youre more interesting in drinking it then I can recommend it as it is absolutely delicious.
Wassail is traditionally made up of mulled cider, sugar, cinnamon and ginger and topped off with the original slices of toast. It is definitely worth a try this festive period, with or without a sing song.
Finally a bit of interesting wassailing information, Wassail is normally drunk out of a brown type goblet which is often known as the loving cup (this term came about because the cup was normally passed around and used by many for the consumption of Wassail).
In conclusion, if I have sold you on this new mulled wine replacement then I will let you know where I stock up my Wassail rack. I normally head to Simply Cornish Hampers. This is the best place I have found for Wassail. This is the site I also frequent to purchase many of my relatives a unique
Cornish Gift.
by: asm88
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