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Gloucestershire Wassail facts for kids

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Gloucestershire Wassail
by Traditional
Other name Wassail! Wassail! All Over the Town
The Wassailing Bowl
Wassail Song
Genre Christmas carol
Text Traditional
Language English
Based on Traditional English carol

The Gloucestershire Wassail, also known as "Wassail! Wassail! All Over the Town", "The Wassailing Bowl" and "Wassail Song" is an English Christmas carol from the county of Gloucestershire in England, dating back to at least the 18th century, but may be older.

The author of the lyrics and the composer of the music are unknown. The first known publication of the song's current version was in 1928 in the Oxford Book of Carols; however, earlier versions of the song had been published, including, but not limited to, publications in 1838, 1857, and 1868 by William Chappell, Robert Bell, and William Henry Husk respectively. Husk's 1868 publication contained a reference to it being sung by wassailers in the 1790s in Gloucestershire. "Gloucestershire Wassail" has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 209.

Recordings

The folklorist James Madison Carpenter made several audio recordings of the song in Gloucestershire in the early 1930s, which can be heard online via the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library website. Many other audio recordings were made of Gloucestershire residents singing wassailing songs in the second half of the twentieth century.

The American musical group Mannheim Steamroller did an instrumental cover of the song titled "Wassail, Wassail" on their popular 1984 album Christmas. American early music group Waverly Consort recorded and released the song on their 1994 album "A Waverly Consort Christmas".

Canadian folk/world music singer/composer Loreena McKennitt released the song on her 2008 Christmas album A Midwinter Night's Dream.

Lyrics

Below are the ten present-day, most commonly heard stanzas of lyrics, as originally published in the Oxford Book of Carols. Note the first stanza is also the chorus. It is traditionally sung at the beginning of the song and after each stanza, or some variation thereof:

1 (Chorus)

Wassail! wassail! all over the town,
Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown;
Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree;
With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee.

2

Here's to our horse, and to his right ear,
God send our master a happy new year:
A happy new year as e'er he did see,
With my wassailing bowl I drink to thee.

3

So here is to Cherry and to his right cheek
Pray God send our master a good piece of beef
And a good piece of beef that may we all see
With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee.

4

Here's to our mare, and to her right eye,
God send our mistress a good Christmas pie;
A good Christmas pie as e'er I did see,
With my wassailing bowl I drink to thee.

5

So here is to Broad Mary and to her broad horn
May God send our master a good crop of corn
And a good crop of corn that may we all see
With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee.

   
6

And here is to Fillpail and to her left ear
Pray God send our master a happy New Year
And a happy New Year as e'er he did see
With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee.

7

Here's to our cow, and to her long tail,
God send our master us never may fail
Of a cup of good beer: I pray you draw near,
And our jolly wassail it's then you shall hear.

8

Come butler, come fill us a bowl of the best
Then we hope that your soul in heaven may rest
But if you do draw us a bowl of the small
Then down shall go butler, bowl and all.

9

Be here any maids? I suppose here be some;
Sure they will not let young men stand on the cold stone!
Sing hey O, maids! come trole back the pin,
And the fairest maid in the house let us all in.

10

Then here's to the maid in the lily white smock
Who tripped to the door and slipped back the lock
Who tripped to the door and pulled back the pin
For to let these jolly wassailers in.

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