The Whimple Wassail is an orchard-visiting 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...

 ceremony which takes place in the Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

 village of Whimple

Whimple

Whimple is a village and civil parish in East Devon in the English county of Devon, approximately due east of the city of Exeter, and from the nearest small town, Ottery St Mary. It has a population of 1,642...

 annually every Old Twelfth Night (January 17th).
The Whimple Wassail was first mentioned by the Victorian author and folklorist Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould

Sabine Baring-Gould

The Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould was an English hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1240 publications, though this list continues to grow. His family home, Lew Trenchard Manor near Okehampton, Devon, has been preserved as he had it...

 in his book Devon Characters and Strange Events (published 1908).

Later in 1931 the Whimple Wassail was given further mention in the Devon & Exeter Gazette describing how the Wassail was hosted at Rull Farm, Whimple by a Mr and Mrs Reynolds.

The ceremony stopped during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 but was revived by the Whimple History Society in 1993 and has grown into a very popular tradition

Tradition

A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...

, attracting visitors from all over the country.