Why Was the Partridge in the Pear Tree?

The History of Christmas Carols

Rev Mark Lawson-Jones, Revd Mark Lawson-Jones

• Publisher: The History Press
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9780752459578
• eBook ISBN: 9780752477503
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

Why was the partridge in the pear tree? Who was Good King Wenceslas? And what are the pagan origins behind 'The Holly and the Ivy'? Discover the hidden stories behind our best-loved Christmas carols, from their earliest incarnations in the Middle Ages and their banning under the Puritans to the wassailing traditions of the nineteenth century and the carols that united soldiers on the Western Front during the First World War. This fascinating book charts the history of one of Christmas' longest-running traditions and is sure to appeal to all those who love the festive season.

1

Wassailing, Mari Lwyd and Singing in the Pub

Here we come a-wassailing

Among the leaves so green,

Here we come a-wand’ring

So fair to be seen.

Refrain

Love and joy come to you,

And to you your wassail, too,

And God bless you, and send you

A Happy New Year,

And God send you a Happy New Year.

We are not daily beggars

That beg from door to door,

But we are neighbours’ children

Whom you have seen before.

Good master and good mistress,

As you sit beside the fire,

Pray think of us poor children

Who wander in the mire.

We have a little purse

Made of ratching leather skin;

We want some of your small change

To line it well within.

Bring us out a table

And spread it with a cloth;

Bring us out a cheese,

And of your Christmas loaf.

God bless the master of this house,

Likewise the mistress too;

And all the little children

That round the table go.

The history of Christmas songs, carols and traditions takes us on a journey of over a thousand years to the present day; almost everything we sing, say or do needs closer investigation to understand the rich tapestry of convention and practice. People of every generation have adopted, changed and made traditions to celebrate together in mid-winter. One of the most persistent and curious is the one we consider in this chapter. No book on Christmas would be complete without looking closely at the wassail and wassailing. It’s so curious that it has its own song!

The word ‘wassail’ derives from an Anglo-Saxon phrase, Waes Hael, which means to ‘to be healthy’. When Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote The History of Kings (1135), he told the famous story of wassail, dating back to the fifth century where Vortigern, King of the Britons, meets Rowena, daughter of Hengist, a Germanic mercenary who served him:

Rowena and King Vortigern.

While King Vortigern was being entertained by Hengist at a royal banquet, the girl Rowena, Hengist’s daughter, came out of an inner room carrying a golden goblet full of wine. She walked up to the King, curtsied low, and said ‘Lavert King, was hail!’ When he saw the girl’s face, Vortigern was greatly struck by her beauty and was filled with desire for her. He asked his interpreter what it was that the girl had said and what he ought to reply to her. ‘She called you Lord King,’ answered the interpreter, and did you honour by drinking your health. What you should reply is ‘drinc hail’.’ Vortigern immediately said the words ‘drinc hail’ and ordered Rowena to drink. Then he took the goblet from her hand, kissed her and drank in his turn. From that day to this the tradition has endured in Britain that the one who drinks first at a banquet says ‘was hail’ to his partner, and he who drinks next says ‘drinc hail’.

Unfortunately, history takes a cruel turn and eventually Rowena seduces King Vortigern, this results in the Night of the Long Knives when Hengist’s men massacre the Britons at a peace accord, bringing about the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain.

A woodcut of a man preparing for wassailing.

The term ‘wassail’ at this stage is no more than a declaration, a blessing or a wish that your host might enjoy good health. Its association with treachery and murder seems to slip away, and the term wassail remains in popular usage. It is mentioned once again in the eighth-century epic poem Beowulf as a toast, it’s translated there as ‘be of good health’.

Since the twelfth century, the meaning of the word seems to have changed from a simple greeting and was instead used to describe an important event in the life of any community or village.

Usually held around Christmas and the New Year, the wassail was a party where people would meet and drink considerable amounts of beer or cider, pledging each others’ health. To be a wassailer was to be a merry maker, reveller and carouser.

Soon after this, it became traditional to have a Wassail Bowl with beer or cider, into which fine white bread and cakes were communally dipped. In the 1320s Peter de Lantoft repeated this story, portraying people drinking from the same cup with the words ‘drinkhaille’ and ‘wassaille’. Although this cannot be proven, it is believed that this practice continued and became widespread.

Around Christmas and Twelfth Night people would travel door-to-door giving away cider, beer or other alcoholic drinks, sometimes requesting payment. It has been suggested that this might have been a way to share the alcohol whilst avoiding taxation. A song from 1550 records this:

Wassail, wassail, out of the milk pail,

Wassail, wassail as white as my nail,

Wassail, wassail, in snow, frost and hail,

Wassail, wassail, that much doth avail,

Wassail, wassail, that never will fail.

This song was used to accompany the Wassail Bowl as it travelled around the village on the cold winter’s nights to encourage the participants as they shared good health with their friends and neighbours. The bowl, which was by now traditionally decorated with ribbons and evergreens and sprigs of rosemary, was carried by young girls singing songs.

It appears to have been around this time that the tradition took another route. In South-West England (Devon, Somerset, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire) and South-East England (Essex, Sussex and Kent) wassailing became associated with singing and drinking the health of trees in orchards, in the hope that they might thrive and produce a bumper crop at harvest.

Wassailing apple trees with hot cider on Twelfth Night.

In the orchards, villagers would gather, usually on Twelfth Night, and select a King and Queen in elaborate ceremonies. The pair would then be led to the trees where bread soaked in cider from the bowl, would be placed by the royalty on the branches. Whilst this was being done, the other villagers banged pots and pans and sang, beating the tree with sticks also to wake it up from its winter sleep.

Apparently, the tradition was first recorded at Fordwich, Kent in 1585 and it appears in Devon in the 1630s according to a poem by Robert Herrick:

Wassail the Trees, that they may bear

You many a plum, and many a pear.

Later it features quite frequently in the diary of a vicar who ministered to congregations in Sussex in late seventeenth century. The tradition was both regular and widespread, taking place each year around Christmas time in the fruit growing areas of Britain.

Another rhyme begins, ‘Here’s to thee, old apple tree, That blooms well, bears well. Hats full, caps full, Three bushel bags full, An’ all under one tree. Hurrah! Hurrah!’ There is some disagreement amongst some historians as to whether this wassail derives from pre-Christian ritual or whether it is an extension of the village wassail, from the Middle Ages. The eleventh edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica states that:

What is popularly known as wassailing was the custom of tri...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction
• 1 Wassailing, Mari Lwyd and Singing in the Pub
• 2 The Puritans Tried to Kill Christmas
• 3 The Golden Age of Carols
• 4 The Coventry Carol
• 5 The Twelve Days of Christmas
• 6 The Holly and the Ivy
• 7 Hark! the Herald Angels Sing
• 8 O Come All Ye Faithful
• 9 Angels from the Realms of Glory
• 10 Silent Night, Holy Night
• 11 Once in Royal David’s City
• 12 Good King Wenceslas
• 13 In the Bleak Midwinter
• Copyright