Wassail
Spiced holiday punch
Wassail is a hot spiced drink, traditionally made with ale or wine, associated with Christmas and New Year's celebrations.
The word also names the festive occasion itself—going door to door singing carols and offering toasts to neighbors' health: The carolers came wassailing through the village.
To wassail is to drink such toasts or to go caroling.
The drink and custom are old-fashioned but persist in holiday traditions.
Those who vocalize melodies
- door-to-doorDirectly between residences
- traditionCustom passed through generations
- processionFormal moving line
- minstrelsItinerant medieval performers
revelers · neighborhood · lanterns · Victorian · Gloucestershire · apple trees · Twelfth Night · folk custom
Spiced, heated red drink
- ciderPressed apple beverage
- punchStrike with fist
- meadHoney-fermented alcoholic drink
- clovesDried flower-bud spice
cinnamon · nutmeg · ginger · honey · toast · warming · goblet · bowl
Fruit tree plantation
- apple-treesFruit-bearing orchard plants
- blessingPrayer seeking divine favor
- fertilityCapacity for reproduction
- paganNon-mainstream religion follower
Somerset · Devon · harvest · libation · ceremony · folklore · tradition · awakening
Casual toast or farewell
- healthCondition of body, mind
- salutationExpression of goodwill
- blessingPrayer seeking divine favor
- prosperityGood fortune, success
drinking · celebration · goodwill · fellowship · merriment · greeting · cup · raised
singers
Those who vocalize melodies
- door-to-doorDirectly between residences
- traditionCustom passed through generations
- processionFormal moving line
minstrels · revelers · neighborhood · lanterns · Victorian · Gloucestershire · apple trees · Twelfth Night · folk custom · winter solstice
mulled wine
Spiced, heated red drink
cloves · cinnamon · nutmeg · ginger · honey · toast · warming · goblet · bowl · brew
orchard
Fruit tree plantation
- apple-treesFruit-bearing orchard plants
- blessingPrayer seeking divine favor
- fertilityCapacity for reproduction
pagan · Somerset · Devon · harvest · libation · ceremony · folklore · tradition · awakening · spirits
cheers
Casual toast or farewell
- healthCondition of body, mind
- salutationExpression of goodwill
- blessingPrayer seeking divine favor
prosperity · drinking · celebration · goodwill · fellowship · merriment · greeting · cup · raised · abundance
Wassailtemperance
Habitual moderation in behavior
sobriety · abstinence · teetotalism · fasting · prohibition