We are likely all familiar with the Twelve Days of Christmas and many also know that they start on Christmas and end on Twelfth Night. But less known is that the period fell later on the retired Julian Calendar, ending on Jan 17 by modern reckoning. The mid-winter practices of Wassailing that mark the date are unique and appropriate for the cold winters of the Chippewa Valley.
Wassailing is a complex set of rituals that have been practiced continually in Britain since pre-Christian days. ‘Was Hale’ or be healthy is the traditional Anglo-Saxon toast which is answered with ‘Drinc Hale’. The drink may be hard cider, wine or ale with warm spices like nutmeg and ginger. Singing or making noise also plays into scaring evil spirits away from the orchards to ensure a good apple crop. Christmas caroling is a distinct tradition, sometimes occurring on the same date.
Regional wassailing songs describe interactions between the working class and landholders. Providing good drinks and even coin would bring the blessings of the common folk. As sung in Essex Wassail, “God Bless the Master of the House and the Mistress also/And all the little children who around the table go” followed by the minor threat, “This night you’ll never once deny of us strong ale or beer/For we will come a’ wassailing until this time next year.”
References:
Simon Reed, Wassailing. Troy Books, 2013.
Celebrating Old Twelfth Night https://www.lavenderandlovage.com/2020/01/celebrating-old-twelfth-night.html
Folkcast Ep. 56. http://www.folkcast.co.uk/ShowNotes/shownotes056.html
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