We attended our first ever Wassail on Yesterday (Sunday) at Paddington Farm in Somerset
A registered charity based on an organic farm just under Glastonbury Tor, Paddington Farm helps people connect with nature and learn about organic food, farming and growing. They host farm residentials for young people from disadvantaged urban areas, run a weekly volunteer day and offer a range of seasonal events and activities throughout the year.
The tradition of wassailing (also spelled wasselling I’m told) refers to the custom of visiting orchards and singing to the trees to promote a good harvest for the coming year.
The purpose of wassailing is to awake the cider apple trees and to scare away evil spirits to ensure a good harvest of fruit in autumn. The ceremonies of each wassail vary from village to village but they generally all have the same core elements. While wassailing, a hymn is usually recited, such as:
Old apple tree, we wassail thee,
And hoping thou wilt bear:
For the Lord doth know where we shall be
Till apples come another year.
To bloom well, and to bear 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 wilt bear,
Hatfuls, capfuls and three bushel bagfulls
And a little heap under the stairs.
— Wassail Song
We banged our pots with wooden spoons, sung songs, poured apple juice into the roots of the apple trees and put bread in the branches.
After we’d scared all the evil spirits away and woken the trees (nothing was sleeping after we’d finished I can tell you), we went back to the farm and sat around a open fire drinking mulled apple juice and eating apple cake.
Thank you to all the staff and trustees at the farm for giving us a great experience. We had a brilliant afternoon!