wassail-msg - 12/23/16

Spiced cider and ale drinks. Wassail traditions and games.

NOTE: See also the files: beer-msg, cider-msg, cider-art, beverages-msg, beverages-NA-msg, spiced-wine-msg, wine-msg, mead-msg, jalabs-msg.

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    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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From: pat at lalaw.lib.CA.US (Pat Lammerts)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: med. drink?
Date: 28 Nov 1995 14:17:40 -0500

>hey whats a good, but easy aloc. drink to make like some kind of Ale
>or maybe a Mead of some sort? I have to make some for an event.
>I would very thankfull for any instructions so PLEASE if any one
>knows fill me in.....
>
>TERRY AUCOIN  HDXQ27A at prodigy.com

Here are some wassail recipes you might like.

1) This is from "How to Cook Forsoothly", by Mistress
Katrine de Baillie du Chat, OL.  From Raymond's Quiet
Press.  I think that this is still in print and available
from the SCA Stock Clerk (?).

6 cups ale              pinch of cloves
1 cup sugar             pinch of nutmeg
pinch of cinnamon       6 eggs, beaten
pinch of ginger         4 roasted apples

Pour ale in a saucepan and heat.  Add sugar and spices
and bring to a boil.  Remove from heat.  Gradually add a 
small amount of the hot mixture to the beaten eggs, as
for custard.  Return to saucepan and cook, stirring 
constantly, until slightly thickened.  Place apples in a
heat-proof punch bowl, and pour the hot mixture over.

2)This is from "Christmas Feasts", by Lorna Sass, a noted
food historian.

She gives the original recipe from Robert Herrick (1591-1674)
"Next crowne the bowle full
 With gentle lamb's wooll;
 Adde sugar, nutmeg and ginger'
 With store of ale too;
 And thus ye must doe
 To make a Wassaile a swinger."

1 1/2 pounds apples, cored
1 quart ale
1 tablespoon (or more) sugar
1/8 teaspoon each, ground ginger and nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Bake the apples in a large dish for 45 minutes, or until
they burst.  Set them aside to cool.
When the apples are cool enough to handle, remove the peel
and mash the pulp.  You should have about 1 1/2 cups.
In a large pot, heat the ale.  With a whist, blend the apple
pulp,sugar and spices.  Adjust the seasonings to taste.
Place the mixture in a heat proof bowl and sprinkle the top
with some additional nutmeg.

3)This is from "Medeival holidays and festivals", by Madeleine
Pelner Cosman, also a food historian, but one who never gives
her original sources and is viewed with suspicion.  Whether
or not this is period, I have found it to be the best tasting.
Also, the apple cider listed can be substituted by hard apple
cider, dry white wine, light ale or stout beer.  (Her recommendations)

1 gallon apple cider                    12 small apples, peeled
1/2 cup sugar, if cider is tart.          with cores removed
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg              2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon powdered cinnamon          1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger            2 tablespoons brown sugar

In a large enameled pot, slowly heat 3/4 of the cider, until warm
but not boiling.  In another enameled pot, pour remaining cider and
add the apples, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger and bring to a
boil.  Vigorously simmer the apples until they lose their shape and
become "frothy".  Combine the two liquids and pour into a heat proof
bowl.  Whip the cream with the salt and brown sugar until it peaks.
Spoon the cream onto the wassail, or add the cream to each tankard
as it is served.

I hope that you will like one of these recipes.

Huette
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ Mistress Huette Aliza von und zu Ahrens und Mechthildberg +
+         Ars non gratia artis, sed gratia pecunae          + 
+                     Kingdom of Caid                       +
+        Barony of the Angels, Canton of the Canyons        +
+                   (pat at lalaw.lib.ca.us)                   +
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


From: Marc Shapiro <mn.shapiro1 at mindspring.com>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Wassail recipe
Date: Mon, 25 Nov 1996 23:29:44 -0500

Compop wrote:
> ...  The last good wassail I
> had the good fortune of partaking was quite a few years ago at the Twelfth
> Night Event in Trimaris.  It was held at Camp Keystone.  If, by any chance,
> one of the persons who helped make that batch is reading this post,
> puuuuhhhllleeezze send me the recipe?!

Sandor,

I can't say for sure that the wassail that you had was mine, but it
certainly might have been.  I made a lot of wassail for Twelfth Night
events hosted by Southkeep before I moved out of Trimaris.  My recipe is
as follows:

1 gallon cyser (I made my own; semi-dry)
1 gallon apple juice
2 sticks cinnamon
5 cloves
1 slice fresh ginger root (thin)

Heat the apple juice to just below boiling.  Place the spices in a
muslin, or cheescloth bag and steep in the hot juice.  Cover the juice
to retain heat and allow to sit over night.  Mix the cyser and apple
juice. Serve warm over sliced oranges.

(NOTE: the spices and their proportions can be adjusted to taste, but
the above spices were what I usually used.)

Alexander Mareschal
-- 
Marc Shapiro                                  
mn.shapiro1 at mindspring.com

THL Alexander Mareschal    Canton of Kappellenberg    Kingdom of
Atlantia


From: Marc Shapiro <mn.shapiro1 at mindspring.com>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Wassail recipe
Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 21:28:59 -0500
Organization: MindSpring Enterprises

holly allan wrote:
> I've been following this thread for a bit and I'd love to try some
> of the recipies that have been posted.  I do however have one question,
> and please excuse me if the answer is obvious; but could you please tell
> me what "Cyser" is?

Just to clear this up, cyser is a mead made with apple juice instead of
water.  The best way to do this (at least for the purposes of my wassail
recipe) is to add honey to the same apple juice and spices that the
recipe called for and ferment as you would for wine.  (Then mix an equal
amount of the same juice and spice combo to add to the cyser to make
your wassail.  This dilutes the alcohol, giving a pleasant warth while
allowing more consumption, but does not dilute the taste, since it is
using the same ingredients.)

Sorry for the confusion.  I should have included that info in my
original post.
-- 
Marc Shapiro                                  
mn.shapiro1 at mindspring.com

THL Alexander Mareschal    Canton of Kappellenberg    Kingdom of
Atlantia


From: bard at csnsys.com (Medwyn)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Recipe: Wassail and Eggnog
Date: 29 Nov 1996 08:00:11 GMT

Here are a couple of recipes that went over well last year. Don't know if 
they're period, but they're good.

Wassail:

6 bottles ale
12 small apples
3 whole cloves
3 whole allspice
3 broken cardamom seeds
1 broken 3" cinnamon stick
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2 cups sugar
1 fifth dry sherry (1 750 ml bottle)

bake the apples at 350 for 20 minutes, or until tender. Tie the cloves, 
allspice, cinnamon, and cardamom into a cheesecloth bag, place it with 1 
bottle of ale, the ginger and nutmeg, into a kettle and heat gently for 10 
minutes. Remove the bag, puur in the rest of the ale, the sugar, and the 
sherry. Heat for 20 minutes. Pour into a large bowl and float the apples on 
top. Serve hot.
Personally, I like to make holes in the apples. I would recommend a brown ale 
for best results (newcastle, grant's, etc), but most good ales work fine.


Eggnog:

12 eggs - seperated
1 cup sugar
2 cups bourbon
1 cup brandy
1/2 tsp salt
1 qt milk
1 pt heavy cream
(nutmeg)

beat the yolks with the sugar. Add bourbon and brandy and chill. Beat the salt 
and egg whites until stiff. Stir the milk into the yolk/liauor mixture, fold 
in the egg whites and cream. Chill. Serve cold, optionally top with nutmeg.


WARNING
Both of these are very drinkable, and you realy can't taste the alcohol at 
all. Be sure that people know they are alcoholic drinks - especially minors. 
Also, it is very easy to drink a lot of it before noticing that you are 
getting drunk, so BE CAREFUL.

Medwyn


From: Galen & Raven <galen at pa.net>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Wassail recipe
Date: Thu, 05 Dec 1996 12:47:50 -0500

Heather Rose Jones wrote:
> 
> What I was trying to point out about the Anglicized word "Metheglin" is
> that whether the original Welsh word had "th" _or_ "dd", it would be
> rendered in English with the spelling "th" -- at which point those
> learning the word by sight instead of sound have to make their own best
> guess at the pronunciation
> 
> Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn

I think I answered the Wassail question about a week or so ago.  It
makes me laugh at the way a request for a simple recipe has turned into
a linquistics lesson.  Only SCAdians.......

But, here is another recipe that may be closer to the one requested:
6 oranges (in period they were very cherished)
1 or 2 gallons of ale OR apple cider
cloves
sugar (to taste)?
water 
cinnamon

Heat at a low temp. for awhile.

Raven


Date: Fri, 13 Jun 1997 10:18:31 -0500
From: Lark Miller <lucilla at ponyexpress.net>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: wassail and lambswool

>Since you brought up wassail, does anyone have a recipe for wassail or 
>lambswool?  I am looking for alcholic and non-alcoholic recipes.
>
>Edwin

Lamb's Wool
Next crowne the lowle full 
with gentle lamb's wooll;
Adde sugar, nutmeg and ginger;
with a store of ale too;
and thus ye must doe
to make the wassaille a swinger.
Robert Herrick (1591-1674)

It derives its name from the pulp of roasted apples floating on the top.
usually they were crab apples.  It was often the custom to float toasted
bread on top of the steaming liquid, hence the presumed origin of our
expression "to propose a toast".

Quoted from Christmas Feast from History.

Hopes this helps.
Lucilla


Date: Thu, 06 Nov 97 08:51:54 -0800
From: "LHG,JRG" <liontamr at postoffice.ptd.net>
Subject: SC - Re: WASSAIL--Is There Documentation?

Thought the list would enjoy this discussion from rec.org.sca.

Aoife

djheydt at uclink.berkeley.edu (Dorothy J Heydt) wrote:
>LHG,JRG <liontamr at postoffice.ptd.net> wrote:
>>Here we come a-wassailing
>>amongst the leaves so green......
>
>Martin Shaw, in the _Oxford Book of Carols,_ give early-to-mid-
>nineteenth-century sources for two versions of this song, indicates
>that one of them "seems to have copied it from source of the
>reign of James I or Charles I," and speculates that it may be as
>old as the Elizabethan period.
>
>Drinks for cold weather made of gently heated ale with stuff in
>it (oatmeal, roasted apples, whatever) seem to be fairly old.
>Dorothy Hartley, in _Food in England,_ quotes Shakespeare:
>
>	Sometimes lurk I in the gossip's bowl,
>	In very likeness of a roasted crab,         [meaning, crabapple]
>	And when she drinks, against her lips I bob,
>	And down her wrinkled dewlap pours the ale.
>
>But the recipe she gives is from 1722 and involves twice-fermented
>ale served at room temperature with hot roasted apples floating
>in it.
>
>That's all I can come up with at this hour of the morning.
>
>Dorothea of Caer-Myrddin			      Dorothy J. Heydt
>Mists/Mists/West				    Albany, California
>PRO DEO ET REGE					        djheydt at uclink


From: nachtanz at patriot.net (Susan and Ken Reed)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: WASSAIL--Is There Documentation?
Date: Thu, 06 Nov 1997 09:05:23 -0500

dell at goodnet.com wrote:
[snip]
 
> The oldest reference I have to the custom is in "Daily Living in the
> Twelfth Century" by Urban Tigner Holmes, jr.  He says that it was a
> silly custom of the English.  One drinker would pick up a vessel of
> wine, "salute his companion with a kiss, and cry "Wassail!"  The other
> bestowed a kiss in turn and cried "Drink-hail!"  They both drank. . .
> .  The people on the Continent observed this practice with awe and
> amusement, and were disposed to consider the English to be drunkards
> because of it."  His footnotes refer to John of Salisbury, to Gaimar
> in "Estorie des Engleis", to "Brut", and to Giraldus (who describes a
> Cluniac version of the procedure).
[snip again]
> -- della

In _History of the Kings of Britain_ (Ca 1139), Geoffrey of Monmouth
associates the beginning of the custom described above to the meeting of
Vortigern and Hengist's daughter, Ronwen in Book VI, section 12 in the
Sebastian Evans translation. However fanciful his story might be, the
custom was known by the 12th century.

Teleri Talgellawg
-- 
Susan and Ken Reed     AFPOPA     nachtanz at patriot.net
RK Architects, 900 S. Washington St., Falls Church, VA
http://www.patriot.net/users/nachtanz


Date: Fri, 23 Oct 1998 11:02:25 -0500
From: Marc Carlson <marc-carlson at utulsa.edu>
Subject: Re: cloved fruit (was: SC - Period Wedding)

>From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
>The practice I was referring to was not just the cloving of the fruit, but
>its use in a kissing game.

OTOH, the Wassail bowl *is* used in such a kissing game first recorded in
the 1320s.  People obviously just confused the tree decoration for the
bowl... :)

(Peter de Langtoft, cited in Hutton, Ronald, Stations of the sun, A history
of the ritual year in Britain. Oxford: OUP,1996)

I. Marc Carlson
McFarlin Library, University of Tulsa -or- Tulsa Community College West
Campus LRC


Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 21:55:15 EST
From: Korrin S DaArdain <korrin.daardain at juno.com>
Subject: Re: SC - In search of...Wassil

Jo Marie Friedel <jazzi at alltel.net> writes:
>    I'm looking for a Wassail recipe since we seem to be all in a
>Holiday spirit.  Preferably one with spirits....can anyone help?
>
>                            Tygre Marie
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        Wassaile
        "Christmas Feasts", by Lorna Sass, a noted food historian. She
gives the original recipe from Robert Herrick (1591-1674)
        "Next crowne the bowle full With gentle lamb's wooll; Adde sugar,
nutmeg and ginger' With store of ale too; And thus ye must doe To make a
Wassaile a swinger."
        1 1/2 pounds apples, cored
        1 quart ale
        1 tablespoon (or more) sugar
        1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
        1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
        Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake the apples in a large dish for
45 minutes, or until they burst. Set them aside to cool. When the apples
are cool enough to handle, remove the peel and mash the pulp. You should
have about 1 1/2 cups. In a large pot, heat the ale. With a whist, blend
the apple pulp, sugar and spices. Adjust the seasonings to taste. Place
the mixture in a heat proof bowl and sprinkle the top with some
additional nutmeg.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        Wassail
        "Medeival holidays and festivals", by Madeleine Pelner Cosman,
also a food historian, but one who never gives her original sources and
is viewed with suspicion. Whether or not this is period, I have found it
to be the best tasting. Also, the apple cider listed can be substituted
by hard apple cider, dry white wine, light ale or stout beer. (Her
recommendations)
        1 gallon apple cider
        12 small apples, peeled with cores removed
        1/2 cup sugar, if cider is tart.
        1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
        2 cups heavy whipping cream
        1/4 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
        1/4 teaspoon salt
        1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
        2 tablespoons brown sugar
        In a large enameled pot, slowly heat 3/4 of the cider, until warm
but not boiling. In another enameled pot, pour remaining cider and add
the apples, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger and bring to a boil.
Vigorously simmer the apples until they lose their shape and become
"frothy". Combine the two liquids and pour into a heat proof bowl. Whip
the cream with the salt and brown sugar until it peaks. Spoon the cream
onto the wassail, or add the cream to each tankard as it is served.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 12:45:36 -0500
From: Wade Hutchison <whutchis at bucknell.edu>
Subject: Re: SC - In search of...Wassil

Be warned, if this is a 16th/17th century recipe, the Ale that is
mentioned is not the ale you're going to find today.  Try to find
something that's not too hoppy, or the bitterness will clash
terribly with the apple flavor.  Look for a good double-bock, which
is sweet and fairly alcoholic, and would go with the apple flavor
fairly well.
         -----Gille MacDhnoiull

>On Sun, 19 Dec 1999 20:52:09 -0500 Jo Marie Friedel <jazzi at alltel.net>
>writes:
>         Wassaile
>         "Christmas Feasts", by Lorna Sass, a noted food historian. She
>gives the original recipe from Robert Herrick (1591-1674)
>         "Next crowne the bowle full With gentle lamb's wooll; Adde sugar,
>nutmeg and ginger' With store of ale too; And thus ye must doe To make a


Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 14:53:50 -0700
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Mulled Cider

Elysant and Adamantius have been discussing the origin of the word mull.

>Adamantius wrote:
>><snip> However, my Webster's New World Dictionary draws a
>>distinction between the mull as in pulverize, and mull as in "soft",
>>associated with, for example, the French oeufs mollet or soft-boiled
>>eggs, and, according to them, with mulled wine and cider. Maybe the
>>gentle heat?

The Oxford English Dictionnary says that "mull" in that sense is "of 
obscure origin", offering as "unsupported conjectures" the connection 
with the mulled = ground spices and the connection with mull = to 
make soft or mild. The earliest use of the word with that meaning is 
from a play (I think) from 1618, and reads: "Do not fire the cellar, 
for there's excellent wine in't, Captain, and though the weather be 
cold, I do not love it mull'd."

Elizabeth/Betty Cook


Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2001 13:09:30 +0100
From: "Cindy M. Renfrow" <cindy at thousandeggs.com>
Subject: SC - butter beer recipe

I just came across this & I remembered someone here was looking for a
Butter Beer recipe.  This is from the Good Huswifes Handmaide for the
Kitchen (undated, probably mid 1600s), ed. by Stuart Peachey, Stuart Press,
1992, p. 62.

To make Buttered Beere.
Take three pintes of Beere, put five yolkes of Egges to it, straine them
together, and set it in a pewter pot to the fyre, and put to it halfe a
pound of Sugar, one penniworth of Nutmegs beaten, one penniworth of Cloves
beaten, and a halfepenniworth of Ginger beaten, and when it is all in, take
another pewter pot and brewe them together, and set it to the fire againe,
and when it is readie to boyle, take it from the fire, and put a dish of
sweet butter into it, and brewe them together out of one pot into an other.


Cindy Renfrow/Sincgiefu
cindy at thousandeggs.com


Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2001 07:47:21 +0100
From: "Cindy M. Renfrow" <cindy at thousandeggs.com>
Subject: Re: SC - butter beer recipe

>Anyone have an idea how much a "penniworth" of Nutmeg or Ginger or cloves
>is?
>
>Also, this sound awlfully wastefull of pots. Sugar, eggs, beer and spices
>is one pot, then put this into another pot and then boil with sweet butter
>and then put into another pot. Or is this just the way it is written
>and the same physical pot could be used for all steps? And why does it
>specify a "pewter" pot? Why specify what the pot is made of? Are they
>leaching some of the lead out of the pot for flavor? Or just using
>a thick pot, rather than copper, to moderate the heat?

Hi.  Stuart Peachey, in his booklet "Early 17th century Imported Foods",
pp. 11-12, gives a table of spices and their costs (taken from Stuart-era
household accounts), and breaks some down by pennyweight.

He gives the approximate weight in ounces of one pennyworth of
Cloves as  0.25 oz.
Nutmeg     0.25 oz.
Mace       0.1 oz.
Cinnamon   0.17 oz.
Ginger     0.8 oz. (doesn't specify fresh or dried)
Pepper    1.0 oz.
Carraway seed 1.0 oz.


I count only 2 pots being used. In the end, the mixture is being poured
back and forth between one pot & another to mix it well, and possibly to
keep it from overheating.  You wouldn't want a mixture like this to boil
and clot the eggyolks.

I don't know why he specifies pewter pots.

Cindy


Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2001 23:08:18 -0600
From: Stefan li Rous <stefan at texas.net>
Subject: SC - buttered ale/beer info

C. Anne Wilson says this in "Food and Drink in Britain" about
buttered beer/ale:

p389
"The thickened aleberries, ale caudles, possets and similar drinks, which
had been a feature of medieval diet, were still enjoyed, and indeed only 
began to go out of fashion in the later eighteenth century. Mild beers,
lighly hopped, were the usual foundation. These warm drinks were taken
early in the day as a morning draught, or in the evening in lieu of
supper. Buttered Ale was a favorite version of the thickened ale drink
during the seventeenth century. To make it, mild beer or ale was boiled
with some butter, sugar, nutmeg, or other spice, and was thickened with
beaten eggs or egg yolks. Mulled ale was not dissimilar, for although it
was prepared without butter it often contained eggs. It had to be poured
back and forth between pan and bowl many times, in order to achieve the
right consistancy."

So, perhaps this last comment is the reason for the several pots
mentioned in the recipe given on this list earlier. It would also
appear that C. Anne Wilson does consider this a drink vs. a thick
pudding that someone else suggested here. I can't tell from this
quote though, whether C. Anne Wilson is saying this was only an
post-1600 beverage or not.
- -- 
THLord  Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mark S. Harris             Austin, Texas         stefan at texas.net


Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 06:57:58 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - "Fake" ypocras

"Laura C. Minnick" wrote:
> UlfR wrote:
> > "Lambs wool" made with non-alcoholic cider?
> 
> And what is that? I've never heard of it. (There's a lot of drinks I've
> never heard of. Mostly I'm a wine or microbrew person if I drink at
> all.)

IIRC, lamb's wool is a hot, sweetened & spiced ale drink characterized
by the addition of the pulp of a hot roasted apple; the fluffy roasted
apple pulp, along with any residual ale foam, which tends to rise to the
surface as the ale is heated, forms the signature "lamb's wool" which
floats on top and gives the drinker a kewl mustache. In other respects
it's pretty much the same as many another wassail-type drinks. I've
served it at 12th Night feasts to good reactions, normally when friends
who are brewers come to me and say, "This ten gallons of ale will be fit
to drink for the next two weeks or so, then it'll go off." I assume
there would be various low-to-non-alcohol options.
 
Adamantius


Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 07:26:01 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Wassail was  A college class... on Coffee
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

OED has this long very complicated entry on wassail.
There's an association of it where it means basicly
a drinking salute...

A salutation sed when presenting a cup of wine to a guest, or drinking
the health of a person, the reply being drink-hail
</cgi/o/oed/oed-idx?type=Lookup&q1=drink-hail&size=First+100>.
C. 1205 Lay. 14309 Reowen..bar an hir honde ane guldene bolle i-uulled
mid wine..& us ærest sæide in Ænglene londe Lauerd king wæs hæil [C.
1275 wassayl].

Then later comes this--

The liquor in which healths were drunk; esp. the spiced ale used in
Twelfth-night and Christmas-eve celebrations.

wine and wassail (now arch., echoing Shaks): vaguely, strong drink in
abundance (cf. sense 4).

C. 1300 Havelok 1246 Wyn and ale deden he fete, And made[n] hem glade
and bliþe, Wesseyl ledden he fele siþe;
1494 in Househ. Ord. (1790) 121 When the steward cometh in at the hall
doore with the wassel, he must crie three tymes, Wassell, wassell, wassell.A.
1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 9 Then was the wassaill or banket brought
in, and so brake vp Christmas.

So by Tudor times there is an association with Christmas.
But remember that Yule at one time lasted for longer period of  time.  I have references that say that the Christmas greenery ought to come
down at Candlemas... which is in February!

Johnnae

> Wassail wasn't a holiday tradition? Mordonna
>>
>> "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamanius.magister at verizon.net>
>> wrote:
>>> Although it was a holiday tradition and not an everyday thing,
>>> perhaps wassail is another, similar tradition. And that does go way
>>> back.
>>
>> I dunno, maybe you're reversing something in your logical sequence. I
>> don't think these were holiday dishes/beverages in period, but have
>> since become associated with them. It's kind of like, how many
>> non-SCAdians make gingerbread in the summertime? I think it may be
>> more likely that we remember our od traditions around the holiday
>> season.
>>
>> Adamantius


Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2011 19:36:09 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] mulled wine

On Mar 17, 2011, at 10:17 AM, Ian Kusz wrote:
<<< I'm finding lots of recipes for spiced or fruity wine; but the only  
stuff I find for "wassail" is not period.....is wassail a class of thing?  I  
mean, is hypocras a wassail? Or is there an actual recipe for period  
wassail? >>>

It's not quite the season (it was 70 degrees here today) but here's an  
amusing Q&A on Wassail since you asked.

Wassail.  Would you kindly give me the old recipe for wassail? I want  
to revive it in my family this year, but want a good old English  
recipe. Is it still made in Norfolk? Is their recipe the same as the  
old? A. W. Taylor.
[The ingredients of the earlier Wassail Bowl, it would seem, were not  
the same as those of a later period. In Wharton's Amjlia Sacra, i.  
164, is a curious account of a visit of King Edgar to the Abbey of  
Abingdon. It is there said that "the king was glad, and commanded that  
hydromel [metheglin] should be abundantly supplied for

[ * His Ecclesiastical History Epitomiz'd, 1682-3, is neither in the  
Bodleian Library nor in that of the British Museum. The latter  
contains a copy of another work by him, entitled, The Honour of  
Chivalry, or the Famous and Delectable History of Don lielliunis of  
Greece. Translated out of Italian. In Three Parts. London, 4to, 1683.  
The preface to second and third parts is signed J. Shurley.]

[t Nisbet (voL i. p. 263) states that "the most exsctest copy he had  
seen of James Pont's MS. Collections of the Blazons of the Nobilitv  
and Gentry in Scotland in the year 1624, was in the House of Seton,  
where he died."? Ed.]

the visitors to drink. What followed? The attendants iln-.v the liquor  
all day in full sufficiency for the guests; but the liquor itself  
could not be exhausted from the vessel, except a hnndbrcath, though  
the Northanhimbri mode merry, and at night went home jolly!" Leaving  
the miraculous part of the story out of the question, it appcnrs (says  
Dr. Milner) that this w4s a true Wassailing bout, and that metheglin  
was the beverage made use of on the occasion (Arducologia, xi. 421.)  
The melheglin, or mend, is a fermented liquor, of some potency, made  
from honey. Hence from a metheglin jollification of thirty days after  
a wedding comes the expression so familiar to the friends of a newly- 
married couple: the Honeymoon.

In later times, however, the composition of the Wassail Bowl was ale,  
nutmeg, sugar, toast, and rousted crabs or apples, which has also  
received the more comfortable name of Lamb's Wool. The contents of the  
bowl are specified in the first verse of "The Wassaillera" Song,"  
siill sung on New Year's Eve in Gloucestershire: ?

"Wassail! Wassail 1 all over the town j
Our toast is white, our ale is brown;
Our bowl is made of maplin tree,
We be good fellows all?I drink to thee."

In that pleasant brochure. Cups and their Customs, p. 3G, occurs the  
following receipt for the Wassail Bowl:?"Put into a quart of warm beer  
one pound of raw sugar, on which grate a  nutmeg and some ginger; then  
odd four glasses of sherry and two quarts more of beer, with three  
slices of lemon; add some sugar, if required, and serve it with three  
slices of toasted bread floating in it."]

This comes from the journal Notes and Queries, Third Series, Volume 4,  
July-December 1863. Pages 499-500.

Johnnae


Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2011 22:05:13 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] mulled wine

<<< I'm finding lots of recipes for spiced or fruity wine; but the only stuff 
I find for "wassail" is not period.....is wassail a class of thing?  I mean,
is hypocras a wassail?

Or is there an actual recipe for period wassail?
-- 
Ian of Oertha >>>

You may not find a period recipe for wassail.

The word is a salutation in both Old English (5th to 12th Centuries) and Old 
Norwegian (12th to the 14th Centuries), but bears no relationship to drink 
in either language.  At the beginning of the 13th Century, it is used as a 
salutation when presenting a cup of wine or ale to a guest.  In 1300, the 
word is used to refer to wine and ale for a fete (festival or feast).  The 
earliest reference I can find that relates wassail and spiced alcoholic 
beverage is from 1601 and refers to "wassail and bragget."  Wassail bowl 
dates from the 17th Century.

So wassail is a salutation, a guest cup, or the drink in the guest cup 
depending on usage.  In period, the drink was probably whatever was 
available, becoming spice wine in a more modern context.

Bear

<the end>
Edited by Mark S. Harris	wassail-msg	Page 14 of 14