Yarlington Wassail

Last updated February 24, 2019

The Yarlington Wassail is a Wassail held in the village of Yarlington, Somerset, England, and dating from the 17th century.^[1]^[2]

Wassail is a beverage of hot mulled cider, drunk traditionally as an integral part of wassailing, a Medieval Christmastide English drinking ritual intended to ensure a good cider apple harvest the following year.

Yarlington is a village and civil parish, near the source of the River Cam, in the English county of Somerset.

The Wassail, which has not been held for many years, was revived in January 2012 by the Brue Valley Rotary Club. The Wassail began outside the local Pub, the Stag's Head Inn, with music and dance performed by the Wyvern Jubilee Morris Men. There was then a noisy procession to a local orchard where the Wassailing Carol (see below) was sung, the Wassail Queen placed slices of bread soaked in cider in the oldest tree in the orchard. Cider was then poured around the base of the tree and a shotgun was fired into the night sky. After drinking mulled cider and apple juice the procession returns to the local pub. The Wyvern Jubilee Morris Men then performed a Mummers Play. A traditional meal of pork with apple sauce was followed by apple crumble with custard.

Rotary International international service organization

Rotary International is an international service organization whose stated purpose is to bring together business and professional leaders in order to provide humanitarian service and to advance goodwill and peace around the world. It is a non-political and non-sectarian organization open to all people regardless of race, color, creed, religion, gender, or political preference. There are 34,282 member clubs worldwide, and 1.2 million individuals, known as Rotarians, have joined.

Morris dance is a form of English folk dance usually accompanied by music. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers, usually wearing bell pads on their shins. Implements such as sticks, swords and handkerchiefs may also be wielded by the dancers. In a small number of dances for one or two people, steps are near and across a pair of clay tobacco pipes laid one across the other on the floor. They clap their sticks, swords, or handkerchiefs together to match with the dance.

Cider is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is popular in the United Kingdom, especially in the West Country, and widely available. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, as well as its largest cider-producing companies. Cider is also popular in many Commonwealth countries, such as India, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Aside from the UK and its former colonies, cider is popular in other European countries including Ireland, Portugal, France, northern Italy, and Spain. Central Europe also has its own types of cider with Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse producing a particularly tart version known as Apfelwein. In the U.S. and parts of Canada, varieties of fermented cider are often called hard cider to distinguish alcoholic cider from non-alcoholic "cider" or "sweet cider", also made from apples.

The Wassailing Carol that was sung was:

Old apple tree we wassail thee
And hoping thou will bear
For the Lord doth know where we shall be
'Till apples come another year.

For to bear well and to bloom well
So merry let us be
Let every man take off his hat
And shout to the old apple tree

Old Apple tree we wassail thee
And hoping thou will bear
Hat fulls, Cap fulls
Three bushel bag fulls
And a little heap under the stair

There is also a song called the Yarlington Wassail.^[3]

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References

↑ "Yarlington Village". North Cadbury. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
↑ C. R. J. Currie, R. W. Dunning (Editors), A. P. Baggs, M. C. Siraut (1999). "Yarlington". A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 7: Bruton, Horethorne and Norton Ferris Hundreds. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
↑ "Yarlington Wassail". The British Library Board. Retrieved 24 January 2012.

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[1] "Yarlington Village". North Cadbury. Retrieved 23 January 2012.

[2] C. R. J. Currie, R. W. Dunning (Editors), A. P. Baggs, M. C. Siraut (1999). "Yarlington". A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 7: Bruton, Horethorne and Norton Ferris Hundreds. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 23 January 2012.

[3] "Yarlington Wassail". The British Library Board. Retrieved 24 January 2012.