Friends group create Berwick version of ancient wassail ceremony to encourage a good crop

Friends of Castle Parks members did their own version of the ancient ceremony – traditionally, an orchard wassail takes place on Old Twelfth Night (January 17) to ‘wake up the trees and encourage a good crop in the year ahead’.

The word ‘wassail’ is derived from the Middle English ‘waes hael’ (good health). Wassails are often associated with cider producing counties such as Somerset, Herefordshire and Suffolk.

However, such ceremonies take place all over the country and vary from region to region – usually including music, dancing and drinking of local ale or cider.

Friends of Castle Parks chairman Jackie Kaines Lang said: “We wanted to try out a mini wassail. We did a bit of research and created our own Berwick version, complete with an adapted wassail poem.

“Hopefully, people will build on this small foundation and bring more music and dance in future years.”

The Friends’ wassail included selecting a wassail tree in the orchard, placing toast in its branches (to entice robins – the guardians of the orchard), sprinkling cider on its roots, chanting and clattering pans to ward off evil spirits and wake the trees from their winter slumber and singing.

No wassail is complete without a toast with the wassail drink – in this case, local mulled cider donated by Ramparts-based Monkey House Cider.

The community orchard was planted by the Friends in December 2020, with the trees financed from local county councillor Catherine Seymour’s budget allocation.

Jackie added: “As well as being a place of beauty and tranquillity, the idea of the community orchard is for local people to help themselves to a few apples when the time comes.

“Hopefully, this year will be a bumper crop after the wassail!”

The Berwick Wassail Poem (adapted from the traditional by Jackie) is as follows: Here we come a wassailing; Among the trees so bare.

Here we come a wandering; In Berwick’s orchard fair.

We call for leaves of verdant green; And fruit abundant like a dream.

Now love and joy to all those here; Be strong of health and good of cheer.

Let’s pour the cider, place the bread; And God bless Berwick this year ahead.