In December the Government launched its call for submissions to the UK’s first-ever national inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), also known as living heritage, and communities have been invited to nominate their cultural traditions for inclusion in the registry. 

National Landscapes have a rich assortment of cultural heritage. The reason National Landscapes are protected in law is to conserve and enhance their natural beauty, and this includes historical and cultural associations. Keeping cultural heritage and traditions alive gives a connection to our shared past and brings communities together. 

One example of living heritage is the tradition of wassailing, a custom that dates back centuries and takes its name from the Norse for ‘good health’.  It’s an opportunity for communities to come together at the coldest time of year and give blessings for a healthy year and a fruitful harvest to come. Traditionally, people wassail around old Twelfth Night (17 January) but nowadays wassailing can happen any time in January or early February, doing it while the trees are dormant is the important factor. 

Wassailing rituals vary from village to village, but include:

Traditional greetings of ‘waes hael’ (be healthy) and the response ‘drinc hael’ (drink healthy). 

Blessing the trees in the orchard. Cider from last year’s harvest will be poured on to the roots of the apple trees and traditional blessings said, shouted or sung:

Old apple tree, we wassail thee,
And hoping thou wilt bear:
For who knows where we all shall be, 
at apple time next year
To bloom well, and to bear well,
So merry let us be:
Let every man take off his hat,
And shout to the old apple tree:
Old apple tree, we wassail thee,
And hoping thou wilt bear,
Hatfuls, capfuls and three bushel bagfulls
And a little heap under the stairs.
— Wassail Song,

Attracting good spirits.  Toast soaked in cider is hung in the branches of the apple trees to attract good spirits or robins, the spirit animal of the orchard. 

Warding off evil spirits. Banging pots and pans, loud singing, music and merry making, and even in some places a volley of gunshots fired through the branches drives away any wicked spirits which might be tempted to damage the harvest. 

Plays performed by local groups called mummers (also known by local names like pace-eggers, guisers or galoshins). These might take the form of traditional tales told in the same way each year, or more satirical productions incorporating pantomime-like takes on current affairs. Traditional performances include sword fights that see St George killed and then revived by a doctor. 

Wassailing is especially common in cider areas and Dorset National Landscape is home to numerous wassailing events.

Tom Munro, Dorset National Landscape Lead Officer is a keen wassailer – he can sometimes be seen playing Tom Putt in his local apple-themed mummers play where the evil Gordon De Licieux is revived by cider after being slain by the orchard's protector Lazy Lawrence. He says of the tradition:

"Dorset has a strong orcharding tradition, particularly in the west - where legend has it the first cider in England was made by French monks before the Norman conquest - and the orchards are regularly wassailed to promote the next harvest.  Wassailing is a great way to bring people together, out in the orchards in the dark days of January, with much-needed noise, fire and cider as the glow of Christmas fades."

It’s a fantastic spectacle and brilliant fun to wrap up warm and enjoy the fire, the cider and the singing at an otherwise drab time of year, but some people say there is a scientific basis to wassailing. The vibration from pots and pans being bashed, and the loud singing, music making and shouting are thought to be an early wake up call for some of the insects, like the coddling moth, that burrow into tree trunks over the winter ready to nibble on the apples come autumn. Robins initially attracted by the cider dipped toast get a hangover cure of protein-rich coddling moth larvae! 

If you know a living heritage practice (oral expression, performing arts, social practice, craft, nature or spiritual practice, sport or game or culinary practice) that belongs in the inventory, you can submit it here, before 27 March.

Images: Instagram @kiahstrong_photo