Gower Wassail
Encyclopedia
The Gower Wassail is a wassail
Wassail
The word Wassail refers to several related traditions; first and foremost wassailing is an ancient southern English tradition that is performed with the intention of ensuring a good crop of cider apples for the next year's harvest...

 song from Gower
Gower Peninsula
Gower or the Gower Peninsula is a peninsula in south Wales, jutting from the coast into the Bristol Channel, and administratively part of the City and County of Swansea. Locally it is known as "Gower"...

 in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. It is printed in A.L. Lloyd's book Folk Song in England (1967), having been heard from Phil Tanner. The song takes its tune and structure from the Irish traditional song Here's A Health
Here's A Health
"Here's a Health" is an Irish traditional song. The song is based around the long history of emigration from Ireland. The song has been recorded by many artists, most notably by Irish singer Cara Dillon and Brobdingnagian Bards....

, in the same vein as The Liberty Song
The Liberty Song
"The Liberty Song" is an American Revolutionary War song composed by patriot John Dickinson, the author of Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania. The song is set to the tunes of "Heart of Oak", the anthem of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom and "Here's a Health", an Irish song of emigration...

.

Lyrics

The majority of versions of the song begin with the same two stanzas, although pronouns (i.e., you, we, your, our, etc) vary. Following the second verse and chorus, the number of stanzas and their order vary from version to version. The primary difference between the lyrics that appear here is that one version is a dialogue between the wassailers and the master and mistress they are appealing to for hospitality. The other version is sung from the wassailers’ perspective alone. All the known stanzas are included below.
Chorus A Chorus B
Fol de dol fol de dol de dol

Fol de dol de dol fol de dol de de

Fol de da ro fol de da di

Sing tu re lye do
Al dal di dal di dal

Dal di dal di dal

Dal di dal di dee

Sing deero, sing daddy

Sing too ral di do

Opening Stanzas

A-wassail, a-wassail throughout all the town

Our cup it is white and our ale it is brown

Our wassail is made of the good ale and cake (too)

Some nutmeg and ginger, the best you can bake (do)

Our wassail is made of the elderberry bough

And so my good neighbors we'll drink unto thou

Besides all on earth, you have apples in store

Pray let us come in for it's cold by the door
Dialogue Version Standard Version
Carolers

Now master and mistress let your company forbear

To fill up our wassail with you cider and beer

We want none of your pale beer, nor none of your small

But a drop of your kilderkin, that's next to the wall



Now master and mistress if you are within

Pray send out your maid with her lily-white skin

For to open the door without more delay

For our time it is precious and we cannot stay



Master & Mistress

You've brought your wassail, which is very well known

But I can assure you we've as good of our own

As for your jolly wassail, we care not one pin

But its for your good company we'll let you come in



Together

Here's a health to our Cooley and her croo'ed horn

May God send her Master a good crop of corn

Of barley and wheat and all sorts of grain

May God send her Mistress a long life to reign



Carolers

Now Master and Mistress, know you will give

Unto our jolly wassail as long as you live

And if we do life to another new year

We'll call in again just to see who lives here
There's a master and a mistress sitting down by the fire

While we poor wassail boys stand out in the mire

Come you pretty maid with your silver headed pin

Pray open the door and let us come in



It's we poor wassail boys so weary and cold

Please drop some small silver into our bowl

And if we survive for another new year

Perhaps we may call and see who does live here



We know by the moon that we are not too soon

And we know by the sky that we are not too high

And we know by the stars that we are not too far

And we know by the ground that we are within sound



We hope that your apple trees prosper and bear

So that we may have cider when we call next year

And where you have one barrel we hope you'll have ten

So that we may have cider when we call again


There is another version called the Kentucky Wassail.
Chorus
Wassail, wassail all over the town! Our cup it is white and our ale it is brown.

Our cup is made from the old oak tree and our ale is made in Kentucky!

So it’s joy be to you and a jolly wassail!

Verses
O good man and good wife, are you within? Pray lift the latch and let us come in.

We see you a-sitting at the boot o’ the fire, not a-thinkin’ of us in the mud and the mire!

So it’s joy be to you and a jolly wassail!

O, where is the servant with the silly little pin to open the latch and let us come in?

For here in the draught it is our desire to nibble on a cheese and a toast by the fire!

So it’s joy be to you and a jolly wassail!

There was an old maid and she lived in a house, and she had for a pet a tiny wee mouse.

O, the house had a stove and the house was warm, and a little bit of liquor won’t do no harm!

So it’s joy be to you and a jolly wassail!

Oh a man in York drank his sack from a pail, but all we ask is a wee wassail.

O, husband and wife, alack, we part. God bless this house from the bottom of our heart!

So it’s joy be to you and a jolly wassail!

Versions

  • Shirley Collins
    Shirley Collins
    Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE is a British folksinger who was a significant contributor to the English Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s...

     on Anthems in Eden
    Anthems in Eden
    Anthems in Eden is a 1969 album by Shirley and Dolly Collins, with the Early Music Consort of London, directed by David Munrow. The album originally consisted of a 28-minute set of folk songs plus 7 other individual pieces performed by the same group. The musical arrangements for these 8 pieces...

  • Steeleye Span
    Steeleye Span
    Steeleye Span are an English folk-rock band, formed in 1969 and remaining active today. Along with Fairport Convention they are amongst the best known acts of the British folk revival, and were among the most commercially successful, thanks to their hit singles "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat"....

     on the album Ten Man Mop, or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again
    Ten Man Mop, or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again
    Ten Man Mop or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again is the third album by Steeleye Span, recorded in 1971. Of all their albums, it is the most acoustic and it also has considerable Irish influence, second only to Horkstow Grange. Tracks like "Four Nights Drunk", "Marrowbones", and "Wee Weaver" are...

    and on The Journey
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