Wassailing is a fertility rite. Time to bless the crops and animals by sprinkling them with cider and drinking to their health. youtu.be/g3hCdxS0hls Full lyrics: 1. Wassail! wassail! all over the town, Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown; Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree; With the wassailing bowl1, well drink to thee.2 2. Heres to our horse, and to his right ear, God send our master a happy new year: A happy new year as eer he did see, With my wassailing bowl I drink to thee. 3. So here is to Cherry and to his right cheek Pray God send our master a good piece of beef And a good piece of beef that may we all see With the wassailing bowl, well drink to thee. 4. Heres to our mare, and to her right eye, God send our mistress a good Christmas pie; A good Christmas pie as eer I did see, With my wassailing bowl I drink to thee.3 5. So here is to Broad Mary and to her broad horn May God send our master a good crop of corn And a good crop of corn that may we all see With the wassailing bowl, well drink to thee. 6. And here is to Fillpail and to her left ear Pray God send our master a happy New Year And a happy New Year as eer he did see With the wassailing bowl, well drink to thee. 7. Heres to our cow4, and to her long tail, God send our master us never may fail Of a cup of good beer5: I pray you draw near, And our jolly wassail its then you shall hear. 8. Come butler, come fill us a bowl of the best Then we hope that your soul in heaven may rest But if you do draw us a bowl of the small Then down shall go butler, bowl and all. 9. Be here any maids? I suppose here be some; Sure they will not let young men stand on the cold stone! Sing hey O, maids! come trole back the pin, And the fairest maid in the house let us all in. 10. Then heres to the maid in the lily white smock Who tripped to the door and slipped back the lock Who tripped to the door and pulled back the pin For to let these jolly wassailers in. 1. Some versions have In the wassail bowl…. Return 2. Some versions have verse 1 as a chorus. Return 3. Another version of this verse is: And here is to Dobbin and to his right eye, Pray God send our master a good Christmas pie, And a good Christmas pie that we may all see; With our wassailing bowl well drink to thee. Return 4. Some versions have And here is to Colly Return 5. Some versions have A bowl of strong beer; Return hymnsandcarolsofchristmas/Hymns_and_Carols/wassail_wassail_all_over_1.htm Note: A SATB setting, freely arranged by R. Vaughan Williams, 1913, can be obtained from Stainer & Bell, Ltd., London. You can hear this song performed by Jan and John Corbin Goldsberry by opening or downloading an MP3 file (full length, not an excerpt) at Withe and Stone (link opens in a new window at their music page). This is from their CD On A Cold Frost Morn, volume 1; the CD can be ordered from this page.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 16:26:47 +0000