Strange Stroud

The tradition of wassailing is well established in the cider producing counties of the South West. As the new year rises, folk gather in orchards for a celebration with ritual and revelry at its core.

The tradition is often celebrated on the 17th January or Old Twelvey, a date that corresponds with the twelfth night before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in the 18th Century. It marked the end of Christmas celebrations and the start of the New Year.

Wassailing is a blessing for the health of the orchard and its trees. Typically the largest or oldest tree is chosen as a focal point. Its roots are anointed with cider and cider drenched toast is hung in the branches as an offering to the robin, the guardian of the orchard.

Cider is also consumed by the revellers, traditionally from a wooden wassail bowl that is passed around those attending. Sticks, drums, pots and pans are all used to create a hullabaloo to awaken the trees from their winter hibernation and scare away any evil spirits lurking in the orchard. Celebrations follow, typically with songs, morris dancing and the firing of muskets.

The best known wassail song originates from Gloucestershire and likely enjoys its popularity thanks to Vaughan-Williams including it in the Oxford Book of Carols in 1928. There are different variants of the song, even within the Stroud Valleys, with lyrics adapted to suit local customs.

Wassail! wassail! all over the town
Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown
Our bowl it is made of the green maple tree
With a wassail bowl, we’ll drink unto thee

Wassailing also has an important social function in bringing people together in the depths of winter, a dark and lonely time of the year. The word wassail  is rooted in the Old English “Waes Hael”, meaning “ be in good health”.

In modern times, the ritual continues to foster a sense of connection to the land and changing of the seasons. No wonder that during a period of ecological crisis, people are rediscovering traditions of old and adapting them to reflect the world as it is today.

In Nailsworth this year, a wassail accompanied the planting of new trees on the local playing fields, a blessing to strengthen their growth in years to come.

We sing a blessing to the trees
May golden sun shine through your leaves
May rainfall clear and fair winds blow
That ancient forest here may grow 

In the absence of any apple trees, the wassail butler led the procession to a young Holm Oak. Planted so that future generations can enjoy its shade, we can hope it will witness many more wassails in its lifetime.