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"When the steward cometh in at the hall doore with the
wassell, he must crie three tymes, Wassell, Wassell, Wassell."
1494.
The Wassail Bowl
The Wassail Bowl contained liquor in which healths
were' drunk in the long ago, the favorite content being
the spiced ale used in Christmas eve and Twelfth-night
celebrations. The custom of brewing a Wassail bowl
has fallen into disuse and is revived only rarely.
The word "Wassail" used of old when presenting a
cup of wine, or drinking a comrade's health, carried the
same meaning as "hail" and "farewell." The reply to
the salutation "Wassail," when presenting the bowl of
wine, was "Drink-hail," in accepting it.
Sang Sir Walter Scott in his Lay of the Last Minstrel
"The blithesome signs of wassel gay, Decay'd not with
the dying day."
Wassail Bowl
2 baked apples
2 tablespoons fine sugar
1 tablespoon allspice
1 lemon, juice and peel
1 quart hot ale
1 pint warm sherry
To make the Wassail Bowl bake two apples and cut in small
pieces. Add the sugar, the allspice, the lemon, the heated ale,
and warm sherry. Mix well, mashing with a muddler, heat and
serve hot.
The Wassail Bowl is as significant of Christmas as is
St. Nicholas himself. After sampling, who shall say
there ain't no Santa Claus? Perhaps, indeed, it was the
original Wassail Bowl that inspired this loveliest myth
of childhood, when out of good fellowship engendered
by the mellowing Christmas brew, the spirit of Christ
mas took shape in the hearts of men.
Hail the Wassail Bowl! We know there's a Santa
Claus!
Eighty-eight
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