wassailing...
"in cider-producing areas of England, such as the West Country, wassailing also refers to singing to the health of trees in the hopes that they might better thrive...an old rhyme goes:
“wassaile the trees,
that they may beare
You many a Plum and many a Peare:
For more or lesse fruits they will bring,
As you do give them Wassailing.”
the purpose of wassailing is to awake the cider apple trees and to scare away evil spirits to ensure a good harvest of fruit in the autumn.
(image: 1910 RPPC from england)
Labels: RPPC, trees, wassailing
1 Comments:
this still goes on. a friend of mine has recordings of some wassailing from a year or two ago. they do it in secret now, because otherwise, people turn up, take the piss and generally disrupt things...how very 21st century england.
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