What exactly is a wassail?
(Entry 1 of 2) 1 : an early English toast to someone’s health. 2 : a hot drink that is made with wine, beer, or cider, spices, sugar, and usually baked apples and is traditionally served in a large bowl especially at Christmastime. 3 : riotous drinking : revelry.
What is wassailing at Christmas?
Wassailing is the background practice against which an English carol such as “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” can be made sense of. The carol lies in the English tradition where wealthy people of the community gave Christmas treats to the carolers on Christmas Eve such as ‘figgy puddings’.
What does wassail taste like?
A hot cup of homemade Wassail is one of my favorite holiday drinks. It’s a delicious hot cider drink that combines the flavors of orange and apple with cinnamon and spices.
What happens at a wassail?
Wassailing is an annual tradition which involves blessing orchards to ensure a good harvest for the year to come. The celebrations involve music, song, dancing and a recognition of what orchards give to us.
How do you use wassail in a sentence?
Wassail sentence example Another was the fashion for the king to hold wassail with his courtiers, in which he unbent to an extent scandalous to the Greeks, dancing or indulging in routs and practical jokes. ‘
Who invented wassailing?
One legend about how Wassailing was created, says that a beautiful Saxon maiden named Rowena presented Prince Vortigen with a bowl of wine while toasting him with the words ‘waes hael’. Over the centuries, a great deal of ceremony developed around the custom of drinking wassail.
How do you make wassail?
What generally happens is that pieces of toast soaked in cider are placed around the oldest or finest tree in the orchard, cider is poured round the base then shot guns are fired into the upper branches, buckets are beaten and a general cacophony of noise made to scare away evil spirits and wake the sleeping trees.
What was a warder?
A warder is someone who works in a prison supervising the prisoners. [British]regional note: in AM, use guard. Synonyms: jailer, guard, screw [slang], warden More Synonyms of warder. COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary.
How old is wassailing?
The earliest accounts of wassailing fruit trees come from the East of England—in St Albans in 1486 and Kent in 1585. But it isn’t until the 17th and 18th centuries that the wassail truly comes to prominence.
What is a female warden called?
The warden in a women’s prison is also called a matron, which may lead you to conclude that the term is often not a glowing compliment. In a wedding, you can have a maid of honor (the bride’s unmarried attendant) or a matron of honor (one who’s married).
What is the difference between warden and warder?
As nouns the difference between warden and warder is that warden is (archaic|or|literary) a guard or watchman while warder is a guard, especially in a prison.
What is a matronly woman?
If someone describes you as matronly, they think you look or act like a middle-aged woman. In fact, matronly comes from matron, which today primarily means “female prison warden,” but which once meant “married woman,” especially one who is respectable, unadventurous, and mature.
Do female prisons have male guards?
The findings indicate that in most women’s prisons in the United States males are employed as correction officers and are routinely assigned to supervise inmate living units.
What are warders?
Word forms: plural warders. countable noun. A warder is someone who works in a prison supervising the prisoners. [British]regional note: in AM, use guard.
Is wassailing a pagan?
Wassailing is a Twelfth Night tradition that has been practised in Britain for centuries. It has its roots in a pagan custom of visiting orchards to sing to the trees and spirits in the hope of ensuring a good harvest the following season.
Why is it called wassail?
The word ‘wassail’ comes from the Anglo-Saxon phrase ‘waes hael’, which means ‘good health’. The Wassail drink mixture was sometimes called ‘Lamb’s Wool’, because of the pulp of the roasted apples looked all frothy and a bit like Lambs Wool! Here is a recipe for wassail.
Is wassail German?
What is Wassail? Wassail is a traditional German drink made with apple cider, citrus of some form, and winter herbs.
What do people do at a Wassail? It takes place in orchards where traditionally songs are sung to the apple trees, people drink their health and cider is poured onto their roots. A Wassail queen is usually crowned and toast soaked in cider is placed in the branches of the trees as an offering to ensure a good harvest.
Who invented wassail?
Here is a recipe for wassail. One legend about how Wassailing was created, says that a beautiful Saxon maiden named Rowena presented Prince Vortigen with a bowl of wine while toasting him with the words ‘waes hael’. Over the centuries, a great deal of ceremony developed around the custom of drinking wassail.
Which is the best definition of the word wassail?
2 : a hot drink that is made with wine, beer, or cider, spices, sugar, and usually baked apples and is traditionally served in a large bowl especially at Christmastime. 3 : riotous drinking : revelry. wassail.
What is the meaning of the tradition of wassailing?
Freebase(4.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition: Wassailing. The tradition of wassailing falls into two distinct categories: The House-Visiting wassail and the Orchard-Visiting wassail. The House-Visiting wassail, caroling by another name, is the practice of people going door-to-door singing Christmas carols.
What does the term house visiting wassail mean?
The House-Visiting wassail, caroling by another name, is the practice of people going door-to-door singing Christmas carols. The Orchard-Visiting wassail refers to the ancient custom of visiting orchards in cider-producing regions of England, reciting incantations and singing to the trees to promote…
When was Wassail first used as a drink?
By the 13th century, wassail was being used for the drink itself, and it eventually came to be used especially of a hot drink (of wine, beer, or cider with spices, sugar, and usually baked apples) drunk around Christmastime. This beverage warmed the stomachs and hearts of many Christmas revelers and was often shared with Christmas…
Wassail ( /ˈwɒsəl/, /-eɪl/; Old Norse “ves heil”, Old English was hál, literally: be hale) is a beverage of hot mulled cider, drunk traditionally as an integral part of wassailing, a Medieval Christmastide English drinking ritual intended to ensure a good cider apple harvest the following year.
What is Wassail, anyway?
Generally Wassail is a spiced ale or mulled wine drunk during celebrations for Twelfth Night and Christmas Eve. Many versions though here in the U.S. are alcohol free, as is this one (though if preferred you could add vodka or rum).
What is the tradition of the wassail?
Wassail is a traditional drink served during the winter holidays, including Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and Twelfth Night. It is especially popular in northern European countries, where it originates. It consists of a hot, spiced drink, often alcoholic, that most commonly resembles cider in the modern day.
What are the wassail ingredients?
Ingredients ▢ 2 apples ▢ 8 cups apple cider ▢ 2 cups orange juice ▢ 1/3 cup lemon juice ▢ 4 cinnamon sticks ▢ 15 whole cloves ,or 1/2 tsp ground cloves ▢ 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger ▢ 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg ▢ 1 Tablespoon light brown sugar , optional
