Wassail and Wassailing

This ancient wassailing ceremony took place at Mill Green village and Museum in Hertfordshire in January 2014. These pagan proceedings were led by local wood craftsman and historian Ralph Hentall to invoke a good fruit harvest later in the year, Stuart King

[@williamstclaire809]

Well Done Everyone involved.

[@JulieQ150]

Thankyou for sharing and enlightening my knowledge of ancestral culture which I will endeavour to revive!

[@kestrelmuse]

Delightful. I wish we had such a tradition in New Mexico

[@williamstclaire809]

Exactly.

[@Wotsitorlabart]

Other than the Old English word itself (meaning 'good health') there's actually nothing 'pagan' about wassailing at all. The word wassail became attached to parties, drinks and songs in the 13th - 15th centuries. Earliest reference to the visiting wassail custom is sometime between 1461 and 1493 in St Albans. Earliest reference to tree wassailing is from Kent in 1585.