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Somerset Wassail / Ashen Faggot Wassail

[ Roud 209 ; VWML CJS2/9/1b , CJS2/9/1911 ; Wiltshire 1112 ; trad.]

Cecil Sharp collected the Wassail Song from Harry Richards at Curry Rivel, Somerset on 6 January 1909 [VWML CJS2/9/1911] . It is #92 in his book One Hundred English Folksongs.

Walter Sealy (b. 1890) and Harry Sealy of Ash Priors, Taunton, Somerset sang the Somerset Wassail in a field recording by Peter Kennedy the anthology Songs of Ceremony (The Folk Songs of Britain, Volume 9; Caedmon 1961, Topic 1970). Though no date is given, it could possibly be 1957 because Kennedy recorded other songs by Walter Sealy in that year, e.g. Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bethnal Green on 24 January 1957 (BBC recording 26368).

Bernard Wrigley sang The Wassail Song in 1971 on his Topic album The Phenomenal B. Wrigley. A.L. Lloyd noted:

All over Europe in the uneasy gloom of midwinter, strong lads went through the villages from door to door, singing good-luck wishes and getting a reward, a drink, a bite to eat, a little money even. For this ceremonial moment, countryfolk went to the door in their finery, hence the reference to “silverheaded pins” and such. Versions of the ancient tune are known all across Europe to the shores of the Black Sea, nearly always associated with luck-visit songs. Bernard’s version here was collected by Cecil Sharp at Curry Rivel, near Taunton, Somerset [VWML CJS2/9/1911] .

Dave Bland and Bob Patten recorded a group our wassailers outside a house in Drayton, Somerset, on 5 January 1971. This recording was included in 1998 on the Topic anthology of the joys and curse of drink, They Ordered Their Pints of Beer & Bottles of Sherry (The Voice on the People Volume 13).

Shirley Collins sang the Ashen Faggot Wassail, accompanied by John Watcham on Anglo concertina, on her 1974 Topic album, Adieu to Old England. She and A.L. Lloyd noted:

Another song learned from the BBC Sound Archives. The singer was Sidney Richards of Curry Rivel, Somerset [recorded by Peter Kennedy in 1952, BBC 177880], who when asked by the collector about the significance of the custom, mumbled, hesitatingly, “Well, I reckon it were just an excuse for a good boozeup.”

Nowell Sing We Clear sang the Somerset Wassail in 1975 on their eponymous first album, Nowell Sing We Clear ain in 2008 on their CD Nowell Nowell Nowell. They noted:

Also from the OBC, this carol was collected by Cecil Sharp ca. 1908 from wassailers in Drayton, Somerset in what the English call the “West Country”. Going out on a limb, Sharp speculated that the “Great Dog” referred to a Danish invasion of nearby Langport which would have happened one thousand years earlier.

The Albion Band or Albion Christmas Band sang Somerset Wassail on their Christmas albums A Christmas Present from The Albion Band (1985, with Cathy Lesurf), on An Albion Christmas (2003, also included on Burning Bright), and on Traditional (2009, both with Kellie While). The first CD's liner notes commented:

A traditional song collected by Cecil Sharp in the early years of this century from the Drayton Wassailers in Somerset.

Magpie Lane sang The Somerset Wassail in 1995 on their Christmas CD Wassail! A Country Christmas, and Andy Turner sang it as the 3 January 2015 entry of his project A Folk Song a Week.

John Kirkpatrick et al sang the Wassail Song on the Folkworks project and subsequent 1998 Fellside CD Wassail!. He noted:

The word ‘Wassail’ comes from the Anglo Saxon expression ‘wes hal’, meaning ‘be of good health’. Several kinds of ‘wassailing’ occur in England. This song accompanies the parading of a wassail bowl, filled with drink, from house to house. You are invited to drink from the bowl for good luck, and in return make a contribution of money, or more drink, or preferably both.

The song was collected by Cecil Sharp in Drayton, Somerset, in 1909, after witnessing a performance at the vicarage where he was staying [VWML CJS2/9/1b, CJS2/10/2] . Sharp slightly doctored the verses, using lines from other Somerset wassail songs to make them all of uniform length. I have subsequently doctored Mr Sharp’s doctoring.

The New Scorpion Band sang The Somerset Wassail in 2001 on their CD The Carnal and the Crane. They noted:

The custom of wassailing, or drinking festive toasts from the wassail bowl, is described from the 14^th century. The word is of Saxon origin, coming from the toast “Wes Hal” (good health) to which the reply would be “Drinc Hal”. The West Country wassailing tradition is largely confined to the apple-growing and cider-making districts, where the old custom still continues, of

Wassailing the trees that they may bear
Hatfuls, capfuls, three bushel bagfuls,
Little heaps under the stairs -
Hip Hip Hip Hooray!

The trees are circled, cider is poured into the roots, toast soaked in cider hung in the branches, and guns are discharged to scare off any malicious spirits. All of this ensures a bumper crop the following autumn! The time for wassailing is often around Epiphany, 5^th January. Our Somerset village band features melodeon, fiddle, whistle and percussion.

Lyrics

Acknowledgements and Links

The Somerset Wassail lyrics were copied from The Hymns and Carols of Christmas.