Video: FW joins a traditional Somerset wassail

More than 300 farmers, farmworkers, colleagues and friends gathered to watch the wassail ceremony unfold in a cold, crisp West Country orchard earlier this month.

An annual event to bless the apple trees, ward off evil spirits, and encourage a bountiful harvest in the year ahead, the wassail ceremony stems from an Anglo-Saxon ritual and Twelfth Night tradition, and varies from region to region.

See also: Farmer’s wool looming workshops unite Welsh communities

Wassail, or Waes Hael, means good health – a time to wish your future harvest well and enjoy lots of merriment with the help of the Green Man, a symbol of rebirth.

While the hope for a fruitful year underpins the purpose of the ritual, the emphasis today is firmly on people, connection and coming together during the quieter winter months.

To shake off the January blues, Farmers Weekly joined one of the farming calendar’s longest-standing wassails at Thatchers Myrtle Farm in Somerset.

Martin Thatcher © Benjamin Potts/Nurture Films

Eleanor Thatcher © Benjamin Potts/Nurture Films

1. Guests are welcomed with glasses of cider and speeches from Martin and daughter Eleanor Thatcher about the importance of maintaining tradition, and opening the farm gates to the wider community.  

© Benjamin Potts/Nurture Films

2. As dusk falls, the trees light up against the darkening sky, and the Mendip Morris dancers perform around a central apple tree.

© Benjamin Potts/Nurture Films

3. Gunshots are fired into the sky. Then the crowd, armed with wooden sticks, pots and pans, joins the Morris dancers in making as much noise as possible to scare away evil spirits believed to threaten the coming harvest.

© Benjamin Potts/Nurture Films

© Benjamin Potts/Nurture Films

4. The Green Man and Wassail Queen pour cider around the base of the apple tree and hang slices of bread soaked in cider from its branches.

The offerings, traditionally intended to feed the robins and attract the good spirits, are a symbolic gesture of respect for the land and the natural system that farming depends upon. 

© Benjamin Potts/Nurture Films

5. The ritual concludes with a final rendition of the wassail song, calling for healthy trees and a fruitful harvest in the year ahead.  

Do you have a quirky farm tradition in your area that you’d like us to cover? Send us an invite at farmersweekly@markallengroup.com