Wassail!
Copyright New Ash Green
Traditionally held on Old Twelfth Night (17 January), the ancient tradition of wassailing the orchard has seen a huge revival over the last 15 years - there are now hundreds of these bacchanalian celebrations throughout the land every year​​
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Our friends at TradFolk maintain a great list of wassails
Wassail songs
Image credit Jeff Davies
Apples, Cherries, Plums and Lovely Pears
(sung to the tune of “She'll be coming round the mountain......”)
Singing apples, cherries, plums and lovely pears....
Singing apples, cherries, plums and lovely pears....
Singing apples, cherries, plu-ums,
Apples, cherries, plums......,
Apples, cherries, plums and bang our drums...
Bang our drums!
Plants need bees and other insects to grow well...
So that seeds and nuts and fruits all start to swell.
Without that pollen transfer -
No apples, cherries, plums,
So let's all get busy on our drums....
on our drums!
Singing apples, cherries plums and lovely pears,
Singing apples, cherries, plums and lovely pears....
Singing apples, cherries, plu-ums,
Apples, cherries, plums......,
Apples, cherries, plums and bang our drums...
Bang our drums!
(All sing chorus, then verse, then chorus again. Participants, encouraged to bring saucepans, sticks, whistles, etc. to scare off the negative spirits, join in the singing and add their own percussion at the end of each section.)
Words by Jenny Floyd, Tree Warden in Radford Arboretum, Radford Woods Local Nature Reserve and Community Orchard, Plymstock, Devon
Wassail Song
(Sung to the tune of “Oh Christmas Tree” or “O Tannenbaum” borrowed from an old German Folksong)
Dear apple trees be healthy please.
We've come to help your fruit grow.
We're gathered here to bring good cheer
and make all bad things disappear.
May blossoms bloom in Spring again,
while bees and insects bring again
the pollen that will make fruit come.
So now we're going to bang our drums!
(Sing song a few times through with percussion accompaniment. Audience, with saucepans, sticks, whistles, etc. to scare off the negative spirits, joining in the singing and adding their own noisy percussion at the end of each verse)
Words by Jenny Floyd, Tree Warden in Radford,Arboretum, Radford Woods Local Nature Reserve and Community Orchard, Plymstock, Devon
Image credit Jeff Davies
Traditional wassails
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Wassail! Wassail! All over the town,
Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown;
Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree;
With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink unto thee.
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Old Apple tree, old apple tree;
We've come to wassail thee;
To bear and to bow apples enow;
Hats full, caps full, three bushel bags full;
Barn floors full and a little heap under the stairs
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Old apple tree we wassail thee
And hope that thou will bear
For who doth know where we shall be
Come apples another year
For to bloom well and to bear well
So merry let us be
Let every man take off his hat
And shout out to the old apple tree
Old apple tree we wassail thee
And hope that thou will bear
Hat fulls, cap fulls, three bushel bag fulls
And a little heap under the stair
Hip! Hip! Hooray!
Image credit Jeff Davies
Lyrics Forum Wassail
Courtesy of The Orchard Project
Wassail! wassail! all over the town,
Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown;
Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree;
With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee.
Verse 1:
Here's to the apple and pear standing tall,
May blossoms be plenty and strong roots for all!
With hands that have planted, pruned, and made free,
With the wassailing bowl, we drink to thee!
Verse 2:
Here's to the sapling, its branches now wide,
A home for the bees and the birds at its side.
With orchards of plenty, for all folk to see,
With the wassailing bowl, we drink to thee!
Verse 3:
So here's to the growers who nurture the land,
To neighbours and friends who lend a kind hand.
With cider well-pressed and fruit sweet on the tree,
With the wassailing bowl, we drink to thee!
Verse 4:
And here’s to the future, where orchards remain,
In cities and fields, through sunshine and rain.
With land that is shared and a harvest that’s free,
With the wassailing bowl, we drink to thee!
Verse 5:
Come gather ye round and join in the cheer,
For orchards shall thrive through each coming year.
A future of plenty for all folk to see,
With the wassailing bowl, we drink to thee!
Viva Las Frutas
A wassail song to the tune of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida
Lyrics by Harry Earle-Mundil, The Orchard Project
Verse 1
We used to share the world
Endless forms that swarmed and swirled
Then destruction and a Silent Spring
What a bleak and shameful thing
We used to be naïve
Took for granted birds and bees
Pesticidal and industrious Man
Keep saying “oh yes we should, because we can”
More-than-human species hold the key
Reciprocal roots, and fruits for free
Overstoreys that have long stood proud
Through gale force lies and broken boughs Chorus
I see resilient folk wassailing Hope and feel that the winds are changing Hear brave speakers of truth to power A chorus to wake all of nature's bower I smell petrichor after rain Sow ideas to inspire again Rattle your pots of stew As the orchard wakes anew
Verse 2
There’s a many wicked well-heeled shoes
Status quo and sing the blues Scattered daisies and the drums of war
Just transition we need and to restore
Live by seasonality Raise the call for a trillion trees
Just stop oil and we’ll all be fine
Raise our cups of damson wine
Chorus
Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh, oh x 5
Chorus