Posted on 01/08/2017 3:45:36 PM PST by Bigg Red
Apple Howling or 'wassailing' is an ancient custom in which the 'evil' spirits are driven out and the 'good' spirits are encouraged to produce a good apple crop for the following year's cider.
The Chanctonbury Ring Morris Men revived this tradition in the area over 45 years ago and it has become an essential part of Christmas for many people, especially families with young children, who seem to welcome the opportunity to make as much noise as possible! The ceremony was traditionally held on the eve of Twelfth Night, old Christmas Day, but we have settled on the first Saturday in January as a regular date for our event.
The venue is Old Mill Farm, Bolney, RH17 5SE [Map] and we are grateful to Glyn Stevens, the owner, for making us welcome, as always.
The proceedings begin in the farmyard at 6pm with a torchlight procession down the lane to the orchard, where the wassailers encircle one of the oldest trees. The Master of the Ceremony begins the proceedings by leading an invocation, encouraging the tree to produce a bumper crop in the coming season. A spiced and cider-soaked wassail cake is placed in a fork of the tree and cider is poured over the roots to promote good growth. After some more words of encouragement for the tree, the Master of the Ceremony calls for beaters to thrash the trunk of the tree with sticks. This is one of the parts of the event that particularly appeals to the younger members - the harder they hit, the greater the stimulation! This is followed by a wassail song and a number of dances by the Chanctonbury Ring Morris Men.
The high point of the ceremony now takes place with the ‘general hullabaloo’. This begins with a shotgun being fired into the air, at which point, everyone makes as much noise as possible. Bring your own ‘instruments’ - dustbin lids, old saucepans and football rattles - let your imagination be your guide! The hullabaloo ends with another gunshot - we used to use a whistle, but once the racket got going, no-one could hear it!
The evening concludes back "There are no catering or toilet facilities at the farmyard with spiced wassail cakes and English cider. As in previous years, we are hoping to be able to sample some more of that wonderful cider from Old Mill Farm, where the ceremony is held. A collection is taken to offset our costs, and so that everyone may associate themselves with the occasion and its undoubted benefits!
~snip~
(The section that I snipped is just a list of bits of information for someone who plans to attend, e.g., "There are no catering or toilet facilities...." --Bigg Red)
~snip~ (This paragraph appeared at the bottom of the page. --Bigg Red) A new book called “Wassailing” - Reawakening an Ancient Folk Custom has recently been published, which features our ceremony and its history, among many others. It is detailed yet a very enjoyable and informative read and we can thoroughly recommend it. Click on the image of it to the right and you will open a direct link to their website for more detail and ordering information. (I have posted the link below. This book is the 6th item down the page. --Bigg Red)
http://hedinghamfair.co.uk/hedingham_fair_books.htm
I remember reading something about the etymology of the word that mentioned that the origin of the phrase “hale and hearty” is related.
:)
We used to sing the Wassail song as children at Christmas. Never knew its meaning but I knew it had to do with drinking. Pretty cool...as compared to kwanzaa or other contrived BS!
Great story.
After reading your comment, I did a quick search on the Internet hoping to find something about thumping an apple tree to help it produce, but nothing came up. :(
Washington, West Sussex.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_West_Sussex
Do you mean this Washington?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_Tyne_and_Wear#George_Washington_connection
Nice. Thanks.
I saw the best fruits of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro orchards at dawn looking for an angry dumpling,
angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of cider ...
I told her to, in the fall, give the trunk a flogging with the garden hose.
She thought I had lost my mind but did it.
Next year the bush was full of flowers.
Flower and fruit trees produce best when they feel threatened.
Here is a song that might be associated with this. The Watersons, “Apple Tree Wassail.”
LOL! Yeah, well Ginsberg sure knew a lot about fruits, didn’t he?
Actually, the song appeared to be “Malpas Wassail”, but I enjoyed it.
I like to listen to that kind of singing, but it drives the husband crazy. Same with bagpipes and bluegrass.
In New Orleans, Epiphany also begins the Mardi Gras party season with the first street car that leaves the depot and goes up until Shrove Tuesday.
The stress of beating the tree induces the tree to produce induces Ethylene,resulting in a larger yield the following season. Here, the stress is created by bending a branch up or down, but the result is the same.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1005948918382
“Mechanically induced stress (MIS) was imposed on apple shoots by bending horizontal shoots upward and vertical shoots downward and its effect on internal ethylene evolution, polar auxin transport and cytokinin levels studied. Induction of stress caused a significant rise in internal ethylene production in the tissues under stress, decreased polar auxin transport and cytokinin levels and increased the percentage of floral buds in the shoots.... more at link”
The Washington in post 26. I think the name of the pub is the Frankland Arms. They are there every year on December 26th. Go as soon as the pub opens, seats are tough to come by : )
That’s a long party.
Very good! My laugh for the night.
“Malpas Wassail” is correct, but I didn’t remember the title when I looked for it.
I discovered The Watersons some years ago on youtube when I was looking for something else. I have several of their albums now. I share your experience with that kind of music as well as bluegrass and bagpipes. No one I know has quite the enthusiasm for them that I have, except for one of my sons. I am a student of history and genealogy and I like to learn about how people at a certain time and place lived. This music gives me a glimpse of that.
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