Wassail...

A procession of fifty people, noisily walked through the village and down to the orchard on Saturday, 21st January for the first Painswick Wassail. The villagers taking part carried lanterns and banged drums to wake the trees up from their winter slumber. In the orchard a large fire roared, whilst the 'Green Man' John Rhodes, wassailed the largest and most bountiful tree in the orchard, toasting it with cider and hanging bread on it's branches. On one of the coldest nights of the year, the mummers arrived and performed a traditional play about St. George and everyone warmed themselves up with a warming stew. 

Coming to an orchard near you...

The Apple Core presents...

WASSAILING

in Painswick

at 6pm, Saturday 14th January 2012

• Join in a lantern lit procession from The Painswick Centre, at the heart of the village, down Beech Lane to the Orchard. 
• Wear fancy dress, a woodland animal perhaps and bring drums, whistles, pots and pans to bang and scare away any evil spirits! 
• There will be a traditional ceremony followed by a mummers play & music
• Delicious food for sale and sample some of the new seasons cider made by the members of the Painswick Community Orchard Group. 

further enquiries 01453 812879/813779

What is wassailing?

The Wassail Queen drinks to the health of the tree, picture by Bill Bradshaw taken from the Guardian website

Wassailing is the tradition of drinking and singing to the health of your trees and is a very local custom. This is an extract taken from the book 'England in Particular' by Sue Clifford and Angela King, Common Ground RRP. £30.

"The word 'Wassail' comes from the Anglo-Saxon waes-haeil - to be healthy, so wassailing apple trees was a way of encouraging a good crop in the following season. It usually took place after dark on Old Twelfth Night, 17 January, but could also occur on other days around Christmas and the New Year.

Often farm workers and villagers carrying lanterns, a pail and pitcher full of cider, shotguns and horns, walk to their local orchard, which is sometimes lit by bonfires, and gather around the largest or most prolific tree. This tree is known as the Apple Tree man and is feted as the guardian of the orchard. Cider or beer is poured on its roots and pieces of soaked toast or cake put in branches for the robins - guardians of the spirits of the trees. Often the tips of the lowest branches are drawn down and dipped into the pail of cider.

The wassailers fill their earthenware cups with cider and toss it into the branches. They then refill their cups and drink and sing to the tree. To drive away evil spirits and wake up the sleeping trees, cow horns are blown, trays and buckets beaten and shotguns fired into the upper branches - as much noise as possible is made.

The wassail bowl went round from house to house in the evenings during the Twelve Days of Christmas and often in the last days of Advent. A mixture of hot ale, sugar and roasted apples, sometimes with eggs and thick cream floating on it, was known as Lamb's Wool in Gloucestershire, and was also drunk on St Catherine's Day, 25th November. The bowl was made from turned ash or maple, often elaborately carved and kept for the purpose."

Gloucestershire Wassail Song...

Wassail, wassail all over the town!

Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown;

Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree;

With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee!

Drink to thee, drink to thee, 

With the wassailing-bowl we'll drink to thee!

So here is to Cherry and to his right cheek!

Pray God send our master a good piece of beef,

And a good piece of beef that may we all see;

With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee!

And here is to Dobbin and to his right eye!

Pray God send our master a good Christmas pie,

A good Christmas pie that may we all see;

With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee!

So here is to Broad Mary and to her broad horn!

May God send our master a good crop of corn,

And a good crop of corn that may we all see;

With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee!

And here is to Fillpail and to her left ear!

Pray God send our master a happy New Year,

And a happy New Year as e'er he did see;

With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee!

And here is to Colly and to her long tail!

Pray God send our master he never may fail

A bowl of strong beer! I pray you draw near,

And our jolly wassail it's then you shall hear.

Come butler, come fill us a bowl of the best

Then we hope that your soul in heaven may rest

But if you do draw us a bowl of the small

Then down shall go butler, bowl and all.

Be here any maids? I suppose here be some; 

Sure they will not let young men stand on the cold stone! 

Sing hey O, maids! come trole back the pin,  

And the fairest maid in the house let us all in.

Then here's to the maid in the lily-white smock 

Who tripped to the door and slipped back the lock; 

Who tripped to the door and pulled back the pin,  

For to let these jolly wassailers in. 

Wassail! Wassail all over the town! 

Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown; 

Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree; 

With the wassailing-bowl, we'll drink to thee! 

Drink to thee, drink to thee,  

With the wassailing-bowl we'll drink to thee.

http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiWASGLOUC%3bttWASGLOUC.html

Christmas Wreath Making...

At St Mary’s Church Rooms on Thursday 8^th December
7pm - 9pm

£10 per person including all materials, a hot drink and mince pies

Call 812879 to reserve a place or talk to Iris, Pete, Emma, Kerensa or Nick

Organised by the Painswick Orchard Group

mulled apple juice recipe...

Now the weather has turned chilly, why not warm up your apple juice and add some mulling spices?

photograph from Country Living

Ingredients

1 bottle of Painswick Apple Juice
1 cinnamon stick
5 cloves
pinch of nutmeg
strips of orange peel
sugar or honey to taste

Method 

simmer all ingredients on a low heat for 5 - 10 minutes, until all the spices have infused together.

add sugar or honey to taste.

sealed with a kiss...

We have just found this really interesting article on the Orchard Network website about mistletoe...

One of the traditional symbols of Christmas, mistletoe, may disappear from some areas of the British countryside in the next twenty years, warn naturalists. 

The National Trust have launched a new campaign to encourage people to help secure the future of mistletoe in its heartland by buying sustainably sourced home-grown mistletoe in the run up to Christmas and the season of office parties.  The campaign also encourages shoppers to ask where the mistletoe they are buying has come from. 

The heartland for mistletoe is cider country – Somerset, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire – and this is where it has an uncertain future as its main habitat is traditional orchards, which have declined dramatically in the last sixty years. 

Peter Brash, National Trust Ecologist, is urging Britons to think about where their mistletoe comes from: “Mistletoe is part of our Christmas heritage and has a special place in a wonderful winter landscape. It would be a sad loss if mistletoe disappeared all together from its heartland. We could end up relying on imports of mistletoe from mainland Europe for those festive kisses.”

Mistletoe is commonly found on fruit trees where it is relatively easy to harvest but can also be seen on other host trees such lime, poplar and hawthorn across a wider area of the UK.  The best time to sow new mistletoe seeds on host trees is in February and March.

Mistletoe is a parasitic plant which prefers the domestic apple tree as its’ host. Data shows that mistletoe distribution is closely linked to that of lightly managed, traditional orchards, particularly in the most prolific mistletoe growing area of the South West and Midlands.

Traditional orchards have declined by at least sixty per cent since the 1950s (and by up to ninety per cent in Devon and Kent) and with them, an important habitat for the plant.

A project launched by the National Trust and Natural England in 2009 aims to reverse the loss of this habitat by restoring traditional orchards, supporting small cottage industries producing cider and juices and promoting the growth of community run orchards.

In recent years there has also been an increase in the sale of imported mistletoe from Europe, particularly from northern France. Leading mistletoe expert Jonathan Briggs, explained: “Mistletoe benefits from management. Unchecked, it will swamp its host tree and ultimately cause it to die. Regular, managed cropping will ensure that the host tree remains productive while ensuring that a healthy population of mistletoe will persist.”

If mistletoe became more inaccessible because of an ongoing decline of traditional orchards and a loss of its main host, fruit trees, then it might become more a premium product with more scarce supply. 

Mistletoe also plays an important role in supporting wildlife.  It provides winter food for birds such as the blackcap and mistle thrush. It also supports a total of six specialist insects including the scarce mistletoe marble moth, some sap-sucking bugs and the affectionately named ‘kiss me slow weevil’ (Ixapion variegatum).   

Peter Brash added: “Ensuring your mistletoe comes from a sustainably managed, British source is good news all round.  You will be supporting a small home grown industry, while helping to ensure a future for mistletoe and the creatures that are dependent upon it. You’ll be kissing with a clear conscience this Christmas.”

In the UK mistletoe has long been associated with Christmas and mid-winter customs, probably dating way back into prehistory as a symbol of ongoing life in the winter months.  The kissing custom is a very British version of those ancient traditions. Over the channel in France slightly different traditions evolved over time, with mistletoe seen as a good luck symbol at the New Year, rather than kissing at Christmas.

Three steps to save our mistletoe:

1. Try to ensure that the mistletoe you buy is British and sustainably managed.  Ask your local greengrocer or supermarket where the mistletoe they sell comes from.  You can also buy mistletoe via mail order.  For more information visit http://www.buy.mistletoe.org.uk
2. Help to ensure a future for mistletoe’s main habitat, the traditional orchard, by supporting producers of juice, cider and fruit from these smaller orchards.
3. Grow your own mistletoe.  It’s easy to do if you have the host tree (apple, lime or hawthorn).  More information about growing your own can be found at: http://www.mistletoe.org.uk