A Tudor Chistmas - Wassail (27th December)

27th December - Wassail

Also known as the Feast of St John the Evangelist, this day was normally full of carousing and feasting. As a result of this a large amount of wine was consumed, it was said to help men's strength and women's beauty. The poor on the other hand, who were used to drinking weak ale, had wine as a treat and on a rear occation. Because the wine that was produced in England was weak, it was mostly important from from France and came in barrels. Ale was also popular and during the Christmas period and special batches were made through out the period. 

The tradition of wassailing was popular with all classes through out the Tudor period. It came from Old Norse "ves heill" and Middle English "wes heil", which means good health, and was an ancient fertility rite. A bowl was decorated with ribbons and contained either hot ale, beer, cider along with apples, sugar, spices, rosemary and a crust of bread at the bottom. The bowl was then passed around while people cried "Wassail", reipients then took a drink before passing it on saying "Drinkhail".  The crust of bread was reserved for the most important person in the room. Children used to walk from house to house with the bowl with greetings and blessings. On twelth night, farmers would wassail their trees by pouring drink on the roots to wish for a bountyful harvest.

This was a time when Tudor kitchens were working at full speed. Everything that was needed for the celebrations started in November, animals were slaughtered and then preserved till it was needed. Not only was meat dishes being made, there was also a demand for sweet dishes. Sugar sculptures were the most popular, made from marchpane (modern day marzipan) they were constructed in to ornate things such as castles and ships. Most of the time this course was served to the King and Queen in their own chambers, only the most prvileged were allowed in to share the sweets. The monarchs then were presented with gold cups, hippocras and wafers before their company departed.