Wassail Song

Wassail Bowl ( 7 pints of brown ale, 1 bottle of dry sherry, cinnamon stick, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, lemon slices )

Here We Come A-wassailing , recording by the US Army Band Chorus

The Wassail Song, or after its opening verse: Here We Come A-wassailing (or Here We Come A-caroling ) is an English traditional Christmas and especially New Year song that was printed around 1850. Text and music are likely from the 17th century.

The song sings about and is part of the old custom of Wassailing (from Middle English wæs hæil ) or caroling from house to house with the wish of good health. The a- in "A-wassailing" is an archaic intensifying prefix (see A-Hunting We Will Go and in the text of The Twelve Days of Christmas from the point "Six geese a- laying" etc.).

refrain

His refrain reads:

Love and joy come to you,

And to you your wassail too,

And God bless you and send you

A happy new year.

Love and joy may come to you,

And your Wassail to you too;

And God bless you and send you

Happy New Year.

It culminates in the final stanza:

Good Master and good Mistress,

While you're sitting by the fire,

Pray think of us poor children

Who are wandering in the mire.

Good lord and good mistress,

While you sit by the fire

Please think of us poor children

Moving around in the dirt here.

There are different versions of the text. The stanzas of the individual stanzas are sung in 6/8 time, while the choir changes to 2/2 in the Kehrvers. Verses 2, 4, and 6 are omitted when the carol is sung in church.

text

Oxford Book of Carols (1928: 31), there after Husk: Songs of Nativity (1868)

1. Here we come a-wassailing
Among the leaves so green
Here we come a-wandering
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.

2. Our wassail cup is made
of the rosemary tree,
and so is your beer
Of the best barley.

REFRAIN

3. We are not daily beggars
That beg from door to door,
But we are neighbors' children
Whom you have seen before.

REFRAIN

4. Call up the butler of this house,
Put on his golden ring;
Let him bring us up a glass of beer,
And better we shall sing.

REFRAIN

5. We have got a little purse
of stretching leather skin.
We want a little of your money
To line it well within.

REFRAIN

6. Bring us out a table,
and spread it with a cloth;
Bring us out a moldy cheese,
and some of your Christmas loaf.

REFRAIN

7. God bless the master of this house,
Likewise the mistress too;
And all the little children
that round the table go.

REFRAIN

8. Good Master and good Mistress,
While you're sitting by the fire,
Pray think of us poor children
Who are wandering in the mire.

REFRAIN

literature

William Henry Husk: Songs of the Nativity (London: John Camden Hotten, 1868) ( digitized )
William James Vinson: Vinson's Christmas and Other Oddities . 2012 ( online excerpt )

Web links

Videos

The Wassail Song (The Starlight Carolers)
The Yorkshire Wassail (Towneley Hall, Burnley )
Modern Parody (Samuel Stokes)

Individual evidence

↑ hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com
^ William Henry Husk: Songs of the Nativity (London: John Camden Hotten, 1868): "This carol is from a broadside printed at Bradford in Yorkshire within the last twenty years."
↑ “probably created 17th century” (William E. Studwell: Christmas Carols. A Reference Guide. New York & London 1985, p. 215 (No. 736))
↑ wassail , in: Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
↑ Oxford Book of Carols (1928: 31)

[1] ymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com

[2] William Henry Husk: Songs of the Nativity (London: John Camden Hotten, 1868): "This carol is from a broadside printed at Bradford in Yorkshire within the last twenty years."

[3] “probably created 17th century” (William E. Studwell: Christmas Carols. A Reference Guide. New York & London 1985, p. 215 (No. 736))

[4] wassail , in: Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

[5] Oxford Book of Carols (1928: 31)