REQ: Wassail songs
Adam Bernay
Hello! There's two traditional British Christmas songs that feature
mentions of the traditional drink Wassail. I know the first bits of both
of them. Hopefully you can provide me with lyrics and titles. The
beginnings of the songs are:
"Here we come a-wassailing among the leaves so green,
Here we come a-wandering so fair to be seen."
"Wassail, wassail, all over the town,
Our bowl it is white and our ale it is brown,
Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree,
With our wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee."
Kyle Harris
Here you go:
HERE WE COME A WASSAILING (2)
Here we come a-wassailing among the leaves so green
Here we come a-wandering so fair to be seen
Love and joy come to you and to your wassail too
And God bless you and send you a happy New Year
And God send you a happy New Year
We are not daily beggars that beg from door to door
We are your neighbor's children whom you have seen before
God bless the master of this house, likewise the mistress, too
And all the little children that round the table go
... and is this the other one?
GOWER WASSAIL
A-wassail, a-wassail throughout of this town
Our cup it is white and our ale it is brown
Our wassail is made of good ale and cake
Of nutmeg and ginger, the best we can bake
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
Our wassail is made of the el'berry bough
Although my good neighbors I'll drink unto thou
Besides all on earth, we have apples to store
Pray let us come in for its cold by the door
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 star that we are not too far
And we know by the ground that we are within sound
Now master and mistress let your company forbear
To fill up are 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
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
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
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
If that's not it, then check the Digital Tradition page at
http://www.deltablues.com/folksearch.html
There are lots more wassail songs, and many of them have a little midi
file to play the melody for you!
sue harris
Adam Bernay
On Mon, 8 Dec 1997, Kyle Harris wrote:
> ... and is this the other one?
>
> GOWER WASSAIL
This is close to the words I learned.
Adam Bernay
E.Smith
Ostensibly, Adam Bernay <abe...@mammoth.psnw.com> said this:
^^^
^^^On Mon, 8 Dec 1997, Kyle Harris wrote:
^^^
^^^> ... and is this the other one?
^^^>
^^^> GOWER WASSAIL
^^^
^^^This is close to the words I learned.
^^^
^^^
^^^Adam Bernay
^^^
Only one I know is Sail Away by Enya.
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"Everyone discusses my art
and pretends to understand,
as if it were necessary to
understand,when it is simply
necessary to love."-Claude Monet
<----------------------------------
Ray Crenshaw
>Hello! There's two traditional British Christmas songs that feature
>mentions of the traditional drink Wassail.
>"Here we come a-wassailing among the leaves so green,
> Here we come a-wandering so fair to be seen."
This is one of the "Alfred Burt Carols". As I was told (about 25 years ago),
Alfred Burt was a Methodist minister who began writing carols inside
Christmas cards he would send to friends. The carols were grouped together
and published only after his early death. They are incredibly nice, all of
them.
Ray Crenshaw in SC (USA)