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  What is popularly known as wassailing was the custom of trimming with ribbons and sprigs of rosemary a bowl which was carried round the streets by young girls singing carols at Christmas and the New Year. This ancient custom still survives here and there, especially in Yorkshire, where the bowl is known as ‘the vessel cup,’ and is made of holly and evergreens and trimmed with ribbons. The cup is borne on a stick by children who go from house to house singing Christmas carols. In Devonshire and elsewhere it was the custom to wassail the orchards on Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Pitchers of ale or cider were poured over the roots of the trees to the accompaniment of a rhyming toast to their health.

  The bowl itself could take many forms; many were very ornate, decorated with birds, berries, oak leaves and other figures, though earlier bowls were much plainer. The wassail song of the Gower, in South Wales, mentions that the bowl was made of an elderberry bough, and the Welsh Folk Museum in St Fagans is home to one that is made of a wood called guayacan or lignum vitae, translated from the Latin as ‘Wood of life’, known for its extraordinary strength, density and toughness. In Jesus College, Oxford, there is a wassail bowl that can hold almost ten gallons of drink.

  In one wassailing song, the singers tell that their bowl is ‘made of the white maple tree’. White maple is a completely tasteless wood, commonly used even today to make some kitchen utensils and it is likely most simple peasant wassail bowls were made from white maple. There are also surviving examples of puzzle wassail bowls, with many spouts. As you attempt to drink from one of the spouts, you are drenched from another spout.

  In the last few centuries the wassail has changed from merely drinking the health of your hosts, and has even become more than the blessing of trees; ‘The Gloucestershire Wassail’ carol, celebrates the traditions of dipping toast into the bowl full of ale, but it also asks for a blessing on their animals and staff too.

  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 bowl, we’ll drink to thee.

  Here’s to our horse, and to his right ear,

  God send our master a happy new year:

  A happy new year as e’er he did see,

  With my wassailing bowl I drink to thee.

  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, we’ll drink to thee.

  Here’s to our mare, and to her right eye,

  God send our mistress a good Christmas pie;

  A good Christmas pie as e’er I did see,

  With my wassailing bowl I drink to thee.

  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, we’ll drink to thee.

  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 e’er he did see

  With the wassailing bowl, we’ll drink to thee.

  Here’s to our cow, and to her long tail,

  God send our master us never may fail

  Of a cup of good beer: I pray you draw near,

  And our jolly wassail it’s then you shall hear.

  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.

  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.

  Then here’s 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.

  Presenting the Wassail Bowl.

  Whatever its origins, wassailing, the wassail and wassailers have quite a history in certain parts of Britain. It would also be wrong to assume that it has been confined to the south of England.

  In parts of Northern England, according to the book British Popular Customs Past and Present (1876) villagers in Cumberland on Twelfth Night would celebrate the end of the Christmas holidays by meeting together in a large rooms and begin dancing at seven o’clock. When they stopped dancing at midnight, they would sit down to a meal of lobscouse (beef, potatoes and onions fried together); and ponsondie (another name for wassail or wael-hale or ale), warmed with sugar and nutmeg, into which roast apples are placed. All the villagers would pay an equal share for the food and drink.

  Similarly, it appears that the tradition of singing at a wassail was considerably stronger in the north of England. The first recorded wassailing carol, ‘Here we come a-wassailing’ (found at the beginning of this chapter) was first published in the 1871 Oxford Book of Carols, and originated in the north of England. It is a lively piece in a 6/8 time, with close harmonies, giving the pace for the dancing.

  The Mari Lwyd

  In Wales, the tradition of the wassail sat comfortably with local traditions. In Kidwelly, a custom called Perllan was popular. A small rectangular board was carried around the village on New Year’s Day by young men, the board had apples affixed to the four corners and a minature tree with a bird on it in the middle. They were accompanied by a large wassail cup of beer. The song included the words:

  And with us we have a perllan

  With a little wren flying in it

  He is the king of all birds.

  The links with wassailing are quite clear in Perllan. However, the really popular tradition in Wales is the Mari Lwyd. The name ‘Mari Lwyd’ is a colloquial form of the Welsh, Y Fari Llwyd, or ‘Grey Mare’, and is one of the most ancient traditions that the people of Wales practice to mark the passing of the old year and the darkest days of midwinter.

  The Mari Lwyd is a horse skull with a sprung lower jaw, mounted on a pole, which is covered in a white sheet; leather reins with bells are held by the leader, who carries a stick for knocking on doors. The revellers challenge householders to a singing contest in Welsh. In a nutshell, the Mari Lwyd is wassailing par excellence. It brings out the raw Welsh talent for singing, that to this day continues in the hundreds of male voice choirs and church and chapel choirs dotted all over Wales.

  On New Year’s Day (Dydd Calan in Welsh) householders knew that the Mari Lwyd wassailers would be calling and would plan their defence in advance. They would either ply the visitors with alcohol or food, or they would challenge them to a choral contest. A joker, who would visit all kinds of practical jokes on householders who tried to avoid the revellers, would usually accompany the Mari Lwyd party.

  In its purest form (still to be seen at Llangynwyd, near Maesteg, every New Year’s Day) the tradition involves the arrival of the horse and its party at the door of the house or pub, where they sing several introductory verses. Then comes a battle of wits (known as pwnco) in which the people inside the door and the Mari party outside exchange challenges and insults in rhyme. At the end of the battle, which can be as long as the creativity of the two parties holds out, the Mari party enters with another song.

  Some examples of this are shown below:

  First Round:

  The Mari Lwyd party sing: ‘Open your doors/let us come and play/it’s cold here in the snow./At Christmastide.’

  The House-holders reply: ‘Go away you old monkeys./Your breath stinks and stop blathering./It’s Christmastide.’

  Second Round:

  Outsiders: ‘Our mare is very pretty (The Mari Lwyd)./Let her come and play./Her hair is full of ribbons/At Christmastide.’

  House-hold
ers (giving in): ‘Instead of freezing,/We’ll lead the Mari,/Inside to amuse us /Tonight is Christmastide.’

  Or, alternatively

  House-holders (Repelling invaders thus): ‘Instead of freezing/Take the Mari home./It’s past your bedtime /Tonight is Christmastide.’

  The Mari Lwyd custom was not fixed and variations throughout Wales were common. Sadly, by 1920, the custom had started to die out. Some suggested that it might have been because of the decline in the Welsh language at the turn of the twentieth century, there have also been suggestions that the decline could have been a product of the 1904 Welsh religious revival, that saw preachers speaking out against what they saw as Pagan practices, some suggest that the austerity practiced between the wars forced people to avoid such events.

  In recent times, the Mari Lwyd has made somewhat of a comeback. One writer on the subject suggested that a full return to the days of the Mari Lwyd would be impossible, because the world is no longer ready for the sight of Welshmen demanding money or alcohol with menaces, being repelled by householders with the strength of their choral singing.

  Llantrisant’s Mari Lwyd custom was revived nearly two and half decades ago by members of the Llantrisant Folk Club very much in the style in which it was being performed when it originally died out.

  Barbara Bailey, a Monmouthshire resident, has recorded information about the Mari Lwyd and recounts that the party with the Mari would sing a song or a poem of sometimes fifteen verses, then the Mari would ask, in Welsh, ‘Oes bwyd yma?’, ‘is there any food here?’. If the answer came ‘oes’, ‘yes’, then the party would enter the house and the Mari would ask one more question, ‘Oes gafr eto?’, ‘are there any more goats?’. Then everyone present would join in the song, whilst the Mari would run wildly around the house, snapping at any girls present, until it was time to eat.

  Oes gafr eto?

  Oes gafr eto?

  Oes heb ei godro?

  Ar y creigiau geirwon

  Mae’r hen afr yn crwydro.

  Gafr wen, wen, wen.

  Ie fin wen, finwen, finwen.

  Foel gynffon wen, foel gynffon wen,

  Ystlys wen a chynffon.

  Wen, wen, wen.

  Gafr ddu, ddu, ddu.

  Ie finddu, finddu, finddu.

  Foel gynffon ddu, foel gynffon ddu,

  Ystlys ddu a chynffon.

  Ddu, ddu, ddu.

  Gafr goch, goch, goch.

  Ie fin goch, fin goch, fin goch.

  Foel gynffon goch, foel gynffon goch,

  Ystlys goch a chynffon.

  Goch, goch, goch.

  Gafr las, las, las.

  Ie fin las, fin las, fin las.

  Foel gynffonlas, foel gynffonlas,

  Ystlys las a chynffon.

  Las, las, las.

  Gafr binc, binc, binc.

  Ie fin binc, fin binc, fin binc.

  Foel gynffonbinc, foel gynffonbinc,

  Ystlys binc a chynffon.

  Binc, binc, binc.

  Is there another goat? (Translated)

  Is there another goat?

  That’s not been milked?

  On the craggy rocks

  The old goat is wandering.

  A white, white, white goat,

  Yes a white lip, white lip, white lip,

  A white tail, white tail

  A white flank and tail,

  White, white, white.

  A black, black, black goat,

  Yes a black lip, black lip, black lip,

  A black tail,black tail.

  A black flank and tail,

  Black, black, black.

  A red, red, red goat,

  Yes a red lip, red lip, red lip,

  A red tail, red tail.

  A red flank and tail,

  Red, red, red.

  A blue, blue, blue goat,

  Yes a blue lip, blue lip, blue lip,

  A blue tail, blue tail.

  A blue flank and tail,

  Blue, blue, blue.

  A pink, pink, pink goat,

  Yes a pink lip, pink lip, pink lip,

  A pink tail, pink tail.

  A pink flank and tail,

  Pink, pink, pink.

  Although there are significant regional variations for this song, traditionally, the last goat is always pink. I have been unable to fathom why this might be. However, it is clear that there is a strong link between wassailing and the Mari Lwyd; they sit well together as culturally important events in the lives of their communities.

  A mixture of the Mari Lwyd and wassail customs occurs in the border town of Chepstow in South Wales, every January. A band of English wassailers meet with the local Welsh border morris side, The Widders and the Chepstow Mari Lwyd group on the bridge in Chepstow. They greet each other and exchange flags in a gesture of friendship and unity and celebrate the occasion with dance and song before performing the ‘pwnco’, or ‘verbal jousting’ at the doors of Chepstow Castle and several places in the lower part of the town, beginning at the Bridge Inn and then around the town. Tim Ryan, a member of the group said, ‘It looked like they were marching to war, then all peace broke out.’ Member of the Widders ‘Mick Widder’ said it’s the ‘newest old tradition in Wales’.

  Singing Carols in the Pub

  In the north of England, more specifically Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire, the formality of wassailing has given way to something of a phenomenon: Mass singing in the public houses during the second half of November and all of December. It has been described as one of the most remarkable instances of traditional singing in the whole of Britain.

  Local people write settings for popular carols, but also the more obscure songs that have been all but forgotten. The participants attend for many reasons; some are Christians, who see this as important as any observance of Christmas held in church; some see it as an event that helps to preserve the historic singing tradition and the ancient hymns that would otherwise be out of print and out of mind; and some attend because they enjoy singing together. Whatever the reason, the pubs are usually packed with people standing with a drink in hand, to deliver their unique repertoire of Christmas songs, both sacred and irreligious, that have become an essential part of Christmas for local people and visitors alike.

  In a 1978 article of the magazine Melody Maker a reporter travelled to South Yorkshire to experience the event in one of the ‘singing pubs’. The Royal Hotel, on the edge of Sheffield, is situated in Dungworth, a village where then ‘mostly farmers, farmers’ wives and their children live’ and the few others who made the five-mile journey into Sheffield every day.

  Carols in a Derbyshire pub.

  Even though Dungworth is a small village, it was reported that the people couldn’t remember a time when they didn’t spend their Sundays during the Christmas period gathering at the Royal Hotel, settling down to a pint, and then proceeding to ‘sing their heads off’ with verve and gusto. The singing started on the Sunday after Remembrance Sunday and continued until the Sunday after Boxing Day.

  After the article was published in 1978, the tradition had somewhat of a resurgence, attracting fans of folk music and others who wanted to witness a living folk tradition and help to keep it alive. The influx of ‘folkies’ wasn’t wholly popular with some local people, believing that the tradition was sufficiently robust to survive on its own.

  The 1978 report noted that the tradition had indeed survived in many of the ‘singing pubs’ in the area, where carols were sung with ‘no airs and graces, roared out with vigour, and at a volume that could strike terror into the hearts of neatly-surpliced choirboys with piping pure voices. Loud and lusty with no time for the sweet, lilting cadences of the carols sung at most Christmas services. The singers in the bar, shoulder to shoulder, pints in hand, mostly singing from memory.’

  Singing king on a barrel.

  The landlady of the Royal Hotel in the 1970s, quoted in the Yorkshire Post, said that they would need ‘Three eighteens for a good sing’, meaning three eigh
teen-gallon barrels of beer (400 pints). A regular at the carols who was also questioned about the events said, ‘Proper carolers sing and drink, sing and drink, sing and drink’, and that he felt it was ‘almost like church with good feeling and fellowship. It’s like religion with beer’.

  More recently, in 2011, Dave Lambert, the current landlord of the Royal Hotel, confirmed that the tradition is still alive and well. He said, ‘Some say that carols have been sung in local pubs for the past 200 years, some say 400.’ Commenting on how unique the carols are, he said, ‘Locally, there are twenty-eight versions of “While Shepherds Watched” with a several of them being sung exclusively in The Royal Hotel with local musical arrangements that have stood the test of time’. The singing still takes place for the same amount of time, the Sunday after Remembrance until the Sunday after Boxing Day. He was also able to confirm that the consumption of beer at these unique events has not diminished either.

  The carol singing attracts upwards of 150 people, many standing outside. People travel from all over England and even further afield to witness this prime example of British culture at its best. Mr Lambert said, ‘A group of people even travelled from Norway and stayed a fortnight to enjoy the singing, they took back ideas to start the practice there’.

  One feature of the Yorkshire carols that is reminiscent of the Mari Lwyd and wassailing is called ‘fuguing’, a verse and a response pattern of singing. Where people repeat the words at the end of the verses, and musically the bass line answers the melody. ‘Mount Moriah’, ‘Old Foster’ and ‘Egypt’ are three examples of this. Probably the most famous, however, is the musical setting written for ‘While Shepherds Watched’, which was borrowed for the folk song ‘Ilkley Moor B’aht At’.