The Yarlington Wassail is a

Wassail Wassail (, , most likely from Old Norse ''"ves heill"'') is a beverage made from hot mulled cider, ale, or wine and spices, drunk traditionally as an integral part of wassailing, an ancient English Yuletide drinking ritual and salutation ei ...

held in the village of

Yarlington Yarlington is a village and civil parish, near the source of the River Cam, in the English county of Somerset. Administratively, Yarlington shares a parish council with nearby North Cadbury and forms part of the district of South Somerset. The v ...

, Somerset, England, and dating from the 17th century. The Wassail, which has not been held for many years, was revived in January 2012 by the Brue Valley

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, profe ...

. The Wassail began outside the local Pub, the Stag's Head Inn, with music and dance performed by the Wyvern Jubilee

Morris Men Morris dancing is a form of English folk dance. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers, usually wearing bell pads on their shins. Implements such as sticks, swords and handkerchiefs may ...

. There was then a noisy procession to a local orchard where the Wassailing Carol (see below) was sung, the Wassail Queen placed slices of bread soaked in

cider Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and the Republic of Ireland. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, ...

in the oldest tree in the orchard.

Cider Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and the Republic of Ireland. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, ...

was then poured around the base of the tree and a

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small p ...

was fired into the night sky. After drinking mulled

and apple juice the procession returns to the local pub. The Wyvern Jubilee Morris Men then performed a Mummers Play. A traditional meal of pork with apple sauce was followed by apple crumble with custard. The Wassailing Carol that was sung was: Old apple tree we wassail thee
And hoping thou will bear
For the Lord doth know where we shall be
'Till apples come another year. For to bear well and to bloom well
So merry let us be
Let every man take off his hat
And shout to the old apple tree Old Apple tree we wassail thee
And hoping thou will bear
Hat fulls, Cap fulls
Three bushel bag fulls
And a little heap under the stair
There is also a song called the Yarlington Wassail.

References

{{portal bar, Drink Festivals in Somerset Drinking culture Somerset ciders Somerset cuisine