The Yorkshire Wassail Song is one of the best known English Christmas carols. The caroling traditions of Yorkshire date from centuries back:
Children sing Christmas songs door to door. In return, the host of the house gives them gifts of money, food or a heated spice cider/beer, known as wassail, to keep the children warm.
The singers wish blessings upon their benefactors, but also, in the vein of good medieval traditions, remind them to pray for those who have wandered in the mire, a reference to the cold winter weather - but also the mire of sin.
The Yorkshire Wassail Song is one of the earliest English carols to attain widespread popularity. The author is unknown, though its origins are believed to date back to the 15th century. It is here performed by the Theater of Voices
Listen to the Yorkshire Wassail Song
We've been a-while a-wandering,
Amongst the leaves so green.
But now we come a wassailing,
So plainly to be seen.
For it's Christmas time, when we travel far and near,
May God bless you and send you a happy New Year.
We are not daily beggars,
That beg from door to door,
But we are neighbors children,
Whom you have seen before.
For it's Christmas time, when we travel far and near,
May God bless you and send you a happy New Year.
We've got a little purse,
Made of stretching leathern skin.
We want a little money,
To line it well within.
For it's Christmas time, when we travel far and near,
May God bless you and send you a happy New Year.
Call up the butler of this house,
Put on his golden ring.
Let him bring us out a glass of beer,
The better we shall sing.
For it's Christmas time, when we travel far and near,
May God bless you and send you a happy New Year.
So bring us out a table,
And spread it with a cloth,
And bring us out a moldy cheese,
And then your Christmas loaf.
For it's Christmas time, when we travel far and near,
May God bless you and send you a happy New Year.
Good master and good mistress,
While you're sitting by the fire,
Pray think of us poor children,
That's wandered in the mire.
For it's Christmas time, when we travel far and near,
May God bless you and send you a happy New Year.
