Wassailing at Greenwich pleasaunce

The only time I hear the words "wassail" and "wassailing" are at Christmas, mostly in the words of the Christmas song "Here we come a wassailing". Wassail is thought to be an Anglo Saxon word meaning good health to you, from wes hail, be healthy.

Wassailing is a Pagan ceremony of singing to fruit trees. It also refers to house visiting, but in this context it is visiting the orchards. It is traditionally done on the 12th night, but nowadays, wassails are hosted between late December and February.

I saw several events listed for the London area in Jan, so went along to the wassail at Greenwich Pleasaunce. A pleasaunce is a secluded part of a garden laid out with trees, walks, etc. The Greenwich pleasuance is a formal, tree-lined garden housing a naval burial site, it also has a cafe, playground and community centre. 

It was formerly The Greenwich Hospital Cemetery from 1857, but it is now a public park and arboretum. The naval burial ground contains the remains of around 3,000 sailors who spent their last days at the local Royal Hospital Greenwich. When the Royal Hospital Greenwich graveyard was judged to be full in the 1840s, the Royal Navy needed a new burial site. In 1857, the admiralty bought an orchard in east Greenwich for use as the new cemetery. 

In 1875, the remains of 3,000 naval pensioners were moved from central Greenwich to this new cemetery. This was to make way for the construction of a railway tunnel. In 1926, the Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich (a predecessor of the Royal Borough of Greenwich) acquired the site. The name 'Pleasaunce' came into use shortly after, when the site opened as a public park, [from Royal Greenwich].

The wassail ceremony was held on 14 January. There were various singing performances and some dances by the Greenwich Morris men. People were given sticks to bang together to accompany the songs. 

Words from the common Christmas song -

Here we come a-wassailing Among the leaves so green; Here we come a-wand'ring So fair to be seen.

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.

There was also a craft area for people to make wreaths and headwear -

The Green Man oversees the wassail -

The purpose of the orchard-visiting wassailing is to awake the cider apple trees and to scare away evil spirits to ensure a good harvest of fruit in autumn. There are songs and incantations to the trees. A wassail King and Queen lead the procession through the orchard. Traditionally the wassail Queen is lifted up into the boughs of the tree where she will place toast soaked in Wassail as a gift to the tree spirits (and to show the fruits created the previous year). An incantation is usually recited.

The Greenwich procession -

A piece of bread was hung in the branches and cider poured on the tree. Incidentally there are no apple trees in the Greenwich pleasaunce. 

Some of the graves -

Variegated holly tree