{"id":2742,"date":"2015-12-08T13:37:06","date_gmt":"2015-12-08T13:37:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.reading.ac.uk\/crg\/?p=2742"},"modified":"2015-12-08T13:37:06","modified_gmt":"2015-12-08T13:37:06","slug":"advent-botany-2015-day-8-wassailing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/herbarium\/2015\/12\/08\/advent-botany-2015-day-8-wassailing\/","title":{"rendered":"Advent Botany 2015 – Day 8 – Wassailing"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Yvette Harvey<\/a> and Maria Christodoulou<\/a><\/h2>\n

After last year\u2019s relatively well behaved advent plants, it is time for the more obscure and yet omnipresent ingredients of a good Christmas. Time for the humble apple, or as we will try to convince you by the end of this blog: time for the Amazing Apple!<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A plate of cider apples. (l to r) ‘Perthyre’, ‘Broom Apple’, ‘Monmouth Green’, ‘Pen Caled’, ‘Frederick’, ‘Upright French’, ‘Twyn-y-Sheriff’ and ‘Cadwallader’ at Raglan Cider Mill, Wales. \u00a9RHS\/Tim Sandall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As most of you probably know, apples are a stalwart of the mince pie and Christmas pudding, however we won\u2019t dwell on these, instead we will head straight for their unique role in Twelfth Night in the form of cider.<\/p>\n

Wassailing can take three different forms, all including the apple based product, cider: sharing a drink within a confined space, sharing a drink with your neighbours (similar to a pub crawl\u2026), and sharing your drink with orchard trees. The term originated from the Old English \u201cwas h\u00e1l\u201d, meaning \u201cbe in good health\u201d, it traces its origins at least as far back as the 8th<\/sup> Century, mentioned in Beowulf<\/a>. The aim of the exercise is to promote good health (through the means of drinking, of course) for both people and harvest.<\/p>\n

\"Frontispiece<\/a>
Frontispiece showing the use of cider-making machinery, from John Worlidge: Vinetum Britannicum or a treatise of cider. (2nd impression). London: 1678. \u00a9RHS Lindley Library.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Simon Garbutt, in The Garden<\/a><\/em> (2006, vol 131, p. 828-831) takes the reader through an evening of wassailing starting with a torch-lit procession leading to the orchard where twelve bonfires are lit in a circle, the centre of which is a tree. Under that tree a 13th<\/sup> bonfire, known as the Judas, is briefly lit and almost immediately extinguished. The roots are then soaked with cider and a cider-soaked piece of bread is placed amongst the branches. The wassailers burst into song while the embers are stamped out.\u00a0RHS Garden Wisley<\/a>\u2019s Orchard has been traditionally blessed through the ritual of wassailing\u00a0(no gunfire, just drumming, singing and a small fire). \u00a0This is currently a staff-only event, but they\u00a0are hoping for it to become a public event in the future.\u00a0 There are many public wassailing events around the world, especially in the UK (including Cornwall<\/a>, Sussex<\/a>, Hampshire<\/a>, Berkshire<\/a> & the Southern marches<\/a>) , USA<\/a> and Canada<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Apple<\/a>
Apple orchard at RHS Garden Wilsey. \u00a9RHS\/Tim Sandall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The more popular type of wassailing involves drinking from a large bowl filled with mulled cider passed around the Christmas table, or carried from house to house. A wonderful example of a wassailing bowl<\/a> is found in the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, dating back to the 17th<\/sup> Century. Following the colonisation of the West Indies in the early 17th<\/sup> Century, the commonly used wood was the now Endangered Guaiacum officinale<\/a><\/em> (Lignum vitae) because of resistance to liquids due to its high oil content.<\/p>\n

Cider apples<\/h3>\n

Apples for cider are grouped into four<\/a> classes: Sweet; Bittersweet; Sharp, and Bittersharp, based on the proportions of sugar, tannin and acid in the fruit.\u00a0 The UK<\/a> and US (Sweet; Sharp; Sharpsweet<\/a>; Bittersweet<\/a>; Bittersharp<\/a>) grow different varieties generally.<\/p>\n

Should you wish to increase your 2016 harvest, here is a handy recipe for mulled cider<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Advent Botany 2015 Day 7<\/a>, Day 9<\/p>\n

Advent Botany 2015 index<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Yvette Harvey and Maria Christodoulou After last year\u2019s relatively well behaved advent plants, it is time for the more obscure and yet omnipresent ingredients of a good Christmas. 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