Wassailing

This year, the children were pleased to be able to return once again to the orchard to revive the school's traditional practice of wassailing in January, to encourage a good apple harvest. Led by their Wassail king and queen, the children processed down to the orchard where they were met by some of their parents and other members of the Branscombe community. Together, the gathered assembly sang the traditional Wassailing song that was written by former members of the school community, as well as the more widely known, “Here we Come A-Wassailing”. The wassail king and queen dipped pieces of toast in the Wassail cup (spiced apple juice) and put these in the trees to encourage them to grow a good harvest of apples. They chanted and banged their instruments, pots and pans to ward off evil and encourage the trees to grow, before returning to school to partake of the Wassail cup. It is always fascinating to learn about and explore local traditions in such a hands-on, practical and memorable way.