Gower Wassail
A traditional cider wassailing song from the Gower peninsula. The word "wassail" comes from the Anglo-Saxon "wes hal", meaning "be whole" - a greeting for good health. Wassailers travelled from house to house singing bringing a wassail cup their hosts were expected to fill.
- A-wassail, a-wassail, throughout all this town.
- Our cup it is white and our ale it is brown.
- Our wassail is made of the good ale and true,.
- Some nutmeg and ginger, it's the best we can do.
- Chorus:
- Fol the dol, fol the dol-de-dol,
- Fol the dol-de-do, fol the dol-de-dee,
- Fol the der-o, fol the da-dee,
- Sing tu-re-lye-do!
- Our wassail is made of the elderberry bough.
- And so, my good neighbor, we'll drink unto thou..
- Besides all of that, you'll have apples in store,.
- Pray let us come in for it's cold by the door.
- We hope that your apple trees prosper and bear.
- So that we may have cider when we call next year,.
- And where you've one barrel, I hope you'll have ten,.
- So that we may have cider when we call again.
- We know by the moon that we are not too soon,.
- And we know by the sky that we are not too high,.
- We know by the stars that we are not too far,.
- And we know by the ground that we are within sound.