Wassail

Wassail is a traditional drink consumed on the final day of Christmas, the epiphany. The Wassail is a way to celebrate Christmas and bless the trees so that they will bear plenty of fruit for the cider, a clear melding of Christian and pagan practices. This celebration happens on different dates depending on who you ask - the Eve of Epiphany or the Twelfth Night.

The drink is essentially hot mulled cider or ale, sweetened, spiced, spiked with sherry, brandy, or sack, and occasionally thickened with eggs. Roasted apples are an essential ingredient. They burst apart and the fluffy flesh gives Wassail it's alternate name of Lamb's Wool. Toast was also often floated on the surface of the punch, which is traditionally served in a large wooden bowl.

During the Wassail ceremony the Wassail King and Queen lead the revelers. The Queen is lifted into the boughs of the largest apple trees where she spears pieces of toast that have been soaked in Wassail as an offering to the orchard spirits. Revelers dance around the trees and bang pots and pans to drive out the evil spirits. This Wassailing is thought to have its origins in Ancient Rome and the sacrifices made to Pomona, the goddess of fruits. The term Wassail itself is derived from the Anglo-Saxon waes-hael, meaning "to your health". Revelers would pass around the wassail bowl, raise it above their heads and shout "Wassail!" and then drink. This is the origin of "raising a toast".