Christmas Traditions: Wassail

The word “wassail” comes from the Old Norse phrase “ves weill”, meaning “be in health”. Thus, a holiday tradition sprang up from toasting others’ health with a spicy drink. There are many wassail recipes, but most are based on a hot-spiced ale or cider with roasted apples.

In old times, a group of carolers would carry around a wassail bowl during the Twelve Days of Christmas, offering samples, and sometimes being invited into homes and offered food, money or a re-fill of the wassail bowl. In older times, there was a wassail ceremony performed at the roots of apple trees, blessing them to be especially fruitful during the coming year. Wassail was poured around the roots, and a shot-gun was fired up through the branches while a wassail song was sung: “Oh, here we come a-wassailing among the leaves so green…”. (See The Tradition of Caroling)