Day 22 – Wassailing
“The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.” Proverbs 10:22
Wassailing is a very ancient custom that is rarely done today. The word ‘wassail’ comes from the Anglo-Saxon phrase ‘waes hael’, which means ‘good health’. Originally, the wassail was a drink made of mulled ale, curdled cream, roasted apples, eggs, cloves, ginger, nutmeg and sugar. It was served from huge bowls, often made of silver or pewter.
This made me think about eggnog so I looked up the difference between the two drinks and this is what AI generated for me.
Wassail and eggnog are not the same; wassail is a warm, spiced cider or ale traditionally consumed during winter, while eggnog is a chilled, sweetened dairy beverage made with milk, cream, sugar, and eggs, often served during the Christmas season. Both drinks are popular holiday beverages but have different ingredients and serving styles.
The Wassail drink mixture was sometimes called ‘Lamb’s Wool’ because of the pulp of the roasted apples looked all frothy and a bit like lambs’ wool! Here is a recipe for wassail.
Wassailing was traditionally done on New Year’s Eve, but some rich people drank Wassail on all the 12 days of Christmas!
One legend about how Wassailing was created, says that a beautiful Saxon maiden named Rowena presented Prince Vortigen with a bowl of wine while toasting him with the words ‘waes hael’.
Over the centuries, a great deal of ceremony developed around the custom of drinking wassail. The bowl was carried into a room with a great fanfare, a traditional carol about the drink was sung, and finally, the steaming hot beverage was served.
The person offering the drink would say “wassail” (good health) and the recipient would reply “drinkhail” (drink good health). From this it developed into another way of saying Merry Christmas to each other!
One of the most popular Wassailing Carols went like this:
Here we come a-wassailing
Among the leaves so green,
Here we come a-wassailing,
So fair to be seen:
Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail too,
And God bless you and send you,
A happy New Year,
And God send you,
A happy new year.
And so, a Happy New Year, to you! But enjoy the Christmas season as we progress towards Christmas.