Toast, Wood and Queen of Wasser: Ancient English Rituals Returned

A hiss rings as the hot red poker plunges into the bowl of cider. Woman with wreaths spears toast with a long fork and lodges offerings inside a tree branch. Then, as they scream from the crowd, the torch-lit ceremony ends with a shooting sounding under the winter sky on a clear night.

Most often, Sheppy's farm in Bradford-on-Tone, in the western part of England, uses state-of-the-art machines to tilt 22,000 apple trees and produces over 500,000 gallons of cider per year.

But one night in January, modern agricultural techniques have led to the ancient ritual called “Washer,” in which next year's apple crops are blessed, evil spirits are driven away, and cider is enthusiastically intoxicated by hundreds of spectators. It is reserved for.

Wassail (the word originated from the old English toast and healthy, “waes hael”), which dates back to at least the 13th century, appeared to have almost disappeared by the 1990s.

However, it has recently come back with cider makers and community events, particularly in western England. It spurred an interest in tradition and folklore, a new respect for the countryside, and a desire to energize the winter winter months among some Brits. With a party.

“Washing has been falling on the roadside for a very long time and has had a major revival,” says Louisa Sheppy, co-owner of Sheppy, who is co-owner of Sheppy, a company that has made cider for over two centuries. He said that. The seventh, consecutive years hosting Wasserle (one of dozens of advertised in the region this winter).

Sheppy is not superstitious and doesn't believe that, as traditions suggest, the fate of crops depends on the annual wassail. However, she cherishes events that attract more than 400 paid guests, promotes cider and features Morris Men and folk dancers known as lively barn dancers.

But before dancing, the visitors first took part in a song directed at two trees, begging them to produce a “sack of hatred, capful, three bushels” of fruit. After that, the evening “Wassail Queen” (symbolizing fertility and richness) tasted heated cider, soaked in toast and poured the rest around the tree roots.

The Queen, wearing a crown of Ivy, mistletoe, hellebore and rosemary, placed bread on the branches using a toast fork. This is a gesture designed to attract Robin, who is considered a robin seen as a precursor to spring. .

Her evening passed away smoothly, but it wasn't stress-free for Sheppy's 2025 Queen of Wasserre, M. Sibley. Drinking cider was okay (“Oh, what a god, really, really, sweet, tasty,” she said).

But what's tricky was to soak the toast in the cider without letting it soak, and then rebald it from a long fork into a tree branch without causing it to fall over.

“You don't want to bother it,” Sibley, an employee of Sheppy, hinted at the celestial consequences that could shake up the ritual, meaning guaranteeing crops. Ta.

“It's all not going well, the harvest is down and we don't have as many apples as we normally do per year,” Sibley said. : It might have been toast! ”

Whether or not there was a Christmas or New Year tradition in the past is usually held after January 18th.

According to Ronald Hutton, a professor of history at the University of Bristol, rituals have evolved over time. He recorded the first recorded wasseres and dates of the 13th century.

Someone is drinking “waes hael” and calling it.

“We will continue to hand the wassail bowl from hand to hand and pass the round lur until the host decides it is sufficient or the winner is gradually keeling and the winner is standing, until the host judges enough,” the English word in English. said Professor Hatton, author of the book. Folklore.

By the 16th century, agriculture had been established, with farmers blessing by singing bee hives, fruit trees, crops, sheep and cows, encouraging and blessing a rich harvest.

Professor Hatton has been interested in scattering over the last century, saying, “Better knowledge about horticulture and fertilizer growth, trees and farming mechanisms, and singing to your trees and fields actually does good things. “As my belief decreases.” ”

As he prepares to wear his multicolored outfit, Mike Highfield (64) is a Sheppy Morris Dancer and ritual master who is taking a visitor tour and welcomes his resurrection.

“We should celebrate culture because cider was really an English wine in one stage,” says Highfield, and the nights are usually in the range of 4% to intensity, except for its low-alcoholic version. He added that he swallows the drink. Up to 7.5% alcohol.

“If you lower your hair and scream at the apple tree, you scream and sing, and you start talking to people because you lose some of the restraint,” he said.

One audience member, Matthew Mudge, 62, a church musician from Cardiff, Wales, said he wanted to attend Wasserle for decades. “It's a great tradition. Madge, who enjoyed the cider after the ceremony, said, “I'm sorry it took me so long to come here. All the ranches were drinking and probably lived for six centuries. ” he added.

In the village of Midsomer Norton, about 50 miles away, around 100 people participated in a community event where three small apple trees weresered in a local park. Local children helped to toast the branches in place of the Queen. Morris dancer Trevor Hughes, 70, who held the ceremony, said tradition never vanished here.

“We've been wassailing all the time at this time. It may not have been advertised, there may have been only events in the local village, but it never really died.” He said. Recently he added, “There was an explosion of Wasserle because it's a simple way to laugh.”

The pleasure of washing can be countered, but do everyone really think it protects the crop?

“My rationalists say, 'Of course, what should I do?'” he spends every January afternoon with friends in the garden, singing to the trees with a few drinks.

However, he pointed out that his apple tree “will never get bored until I've “wassiled” for the first time.” Added: “Since then, I've been making bumper crops every year.”