SC - Wassail traditions

[Louise Sugar]

I know Lady Karen and she is a talented (her blackwork acorn pattern
appeared on a recent copy of the Acorn) and brilliant young lady just newly
married a few months and is fair and beautiful too  :)

Dragonfyr
- -----Original Message-----
From: L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt <liontamr at ptd.net>
To: sca-cooks at Ansteorra.ORG <sca-cooks at Ansteorra.ORG>
Date: Thursday, November 06, 1997 7:59 AM
Subject: SC - Wassail traditions


>A copy of an excellent reply from a very nice lady too shy to post to the
>Rialto:
>
>>Here's the section on wassail from a paper I'm writing for the local
>>baronial newsletter's A&S edition:
>>
>>Another variation on the king-for-a-day is an English Twelfth Night
>>custom that was documented in the mid-nineteenth century in
>>Devonshire.  On Twelfth Night, the farmers would get their weapons,
>>gather around the oldest tree in the apple orchard, and sing a short
>>song:
>>
>>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,
>>Bushels, bushels, sacks full,
>>And my pockets full too!
>>
>>The men would then fire their weapons at the tree.  They returned
>>to the home and would be denied entrance no matter what the weather
>>by the women indoors.  When one of the men guessed what sort of
>>roast that was being prepared for them, all were let in.  The one
>>who guessed the roast was named "King for the Evening" and
>>presided over the party until the wee hours.
>>
>>This custom of "wassailing" the apple tree is still done in the west
>>country in England, and has been done for centuries.  The word
>>"wassail" comes from the Anglo-Saxon "wæs hæl," meaning "be whole" or
>>"good health."  This custom dates from a medieval story, of a Saxon
>>lady named Rowena who presented Prince Vortigen with a bowl of wine,
>>toasting him with the words "wæs hæl."  Over the centuries a great
>>deal of ceremony had developed around the custom of drinking wassail.
>> The bowl is carried into a room with great fanfare, a traditional
>>carol about the drink is sung, and finally, the steaming hot beverage
>>is served.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>Hope it's helpful!
>>
>>Yours in Service to the Dream,
>>
>>Karen Larsdatter
>>  Barony of Ponte Alto, Atlantia
>>
>
>
>Aoife
>
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