The Gower Wassail is a wassail song from

Gower Gower ( cy, Gŵyr) or the Gower Peninsula () in southwest Wales, projects towards the Bristol Channel. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan. In 1956, the majority of Gower became the first area in the United Kingdom ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, UK. Wassailing is a midwinter tradition wherein either orchards or households are blessed by guisers, which came to Wales through exposure to English custom. The song is printed in A.L. Lloyd's book ''Folk Song in England'' (1967), having been heard from

Phil Tanner Phil Tanner (16 February 1862 – 19 February 1950) was a traditional singer from Llangenith in the Gower Peninsula ( South Wales). Songs and singing style Tanner was an invaluable source of several once popular English language folk songs, ...

. Structurally, the song is in

6/8 time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

with bacchius trisyllables, a Balliol rhyme scheme, and the "ffal de radl" musical syllables characteristic of much of

Welsh folk songs Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

. Some of the lyrics closely resemble other popular wassailing songs, such as the ' Gloucestershire Wassail' Anderson, Douglas D. "Wassail! Wassail! All Over The Town" Hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com,https://web.archive.org/web/20191031192848/https://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/wassail_wassail_all_over_1.htm

Lyrics

The majority of versions of the song begin with the same two stanzas, although pronouns (i.e. you, we, your, our, etc.) vary. Following the second verse and chorus, the number of stanzas and their order vary from version to version. The primary difference between the lyrics that appear here is that one version is a dialogue between the wassailers and the master and mistress they are appealing to for hospitality. The other version is sung from the wassailers’ perspective alone. All the known stanzas are included below. Opening Stanzas
A-wassail, a-wassail throughout all the town
Our cup it is white and our ale it is brown
Our wassail is made of the good ale and cake (too)
Some nutmeg and ginger, the best you can bake (do) Our wassail is made of the elderberry bough
And so my good neighbors we'll drink unto thou
Besides all on earth, you have apples in store
Pray let us come in for it's cold by the door

Main references

* Mudcat Café

Versions

Shirley Collins Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE (born 5 July 1935) is an English folk singer who was a significant contributor to the English Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s. She often performed and recorded with her sister Dolly, whose accompaniment on ...

on ''

Anthems in Eden ''Anthems in Eden'' is a 1969 album by Shirley and Dolly Collins, with the Early Music Consort of London, directed by David Munrow. The album originally consisted of a 28-minute set of folk songs plus seven other individual pieces performed by t ...

'' * Steeleye Span on the album ''

Ten Man Mop, or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again ''Ten Man Mop or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again'' is the third album by Steeleye Span, recorded in September 1971. It was issued on the short-lived Pegasus label, and then the Mooncrest label, also in 1971 (Crest 9). It was not initially issu ...

'' and on ''The Journey''

References

Gower Peninsula Welsh folk songs British Christmas songs Year of song missing Year of song unknown Songwriter unknown {{folk-song-stub

Lyrics

Main references

Versions

External links

References