Word Of The Day: Wassail, Wassailing Word Of The Day: Wassail, Wassailing Wassail is a hot, mulled punch associated with Yuletide. The earliest forms were more like mulled beer or mead. Over time, the drink evolved into a mulled cider made with sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg and topped with slices of toast. Some variants called for beaten eggs to be tempered into the drink. Modern recipes may begin with a base of wine or fruit juice enhanced with brandy or sherry. Apples or oranges are often included in the mix. In the cider-producing counties in the South of England, wassailing or the wassail refers to a traditional Twelfth Night ceremony that involves singing and drinking to the health of the apple trees. The purpose is to awaken the apple trees, scare away evil spirits that might harm them and ensure a good harvest of fruit in the autumn. A wassail King and Queen lead the playing of the song or processional tune from one orchard to the next. The wassail Queen is then lifted into the boughs of the tree where she places toast soaked in wassail from the ‘clayen cup’ as a gift to the tree spirits. In some counties the youngest boy, Tom Tit, will stand in for the Queen and hang the cider soaked toast in the tree. A folktale relating to this custom tells of the Apple Tree Man, the spirit of the oldest apple tree in an orchard in whom the fertility of the orchard is said to reside. In the tale a man offers his last mug of mulled cider to the trees in his orchard and is rewarded by the Apple Tree Man who reveals to him the location of buried treasure. Editors Note: A Merry Eleventh Day of Christmas and Happy Wassailing!
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 00:00:01 +0000
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