39 / 54
39
toasted
brown
into
it,
and
it
is
fit
for
use.
Sometimes
a
couple
or
three
slices
of
lemon,
and
a
few
lumps
of
loaf
sugar
rubbed on
the
peeling
of
a
lemon,
are
introduced.
Bottle
this
mixture,
and
in
a
few
days
it
may
be
drank
in
a
state
of
effervescence.
The
Wassail
Bowl,
or
Wassail
Cup,
was
formerly
prepared
in
nearly
the
same
way
as
at
present,
excepting
that
roasted
apples,
or
crab
apples,
were
introduced
instead
of
toasted
bread.
And
up
to
the
present
period,
in
some
parts
of
the
kingdom,
there
are
persons
who
keep
up
the
ancient
custom
of
regaling
their
friends
and
neighbours
on
Christmas-eve
and
Twelfth-eve
with
a
Wassail
Bowl,
with
roasted
apples
floating
in
it,
and
which
is
generally
ushered
in
with
great
ceremony.
Shakspeare
alludes
to
the
Wassail
Bowl
when
he
says,
in
lis
Midsummer
Night's
Dream,
Sometimes
lurk
I in
a
gossip's
bowl,
In
very
likeness
of
a
roasted
crab,
And
when
she
drinks,
against
her
lips
1
boh,
And
on
her
withered
dewlap
pour
the
ale.