The idea that orchard wassailing is an unbroken, prehistoric pagan survival is a myth popularised by Victorian antiquarians. The documented history of the orchard wassail shows that it was created by Christian communities, largely emerging as a post-Reformation custom.
The True Origins of Orchard Wassailing
The evolution of the custom breaks down into documented historical phases rather than ancient pagan myths:
- The Linguistic Origin: The word wassail comes from the Anglo-Saxon greeting Wæs þu hæl, meaning “be thou in good health”. For centuries, this was strictly a social toast between people at feasts—not trees—and was used by often deeply pious, everyday medieval Christians.
- The Post-Reformation “Reinvention” (16th–17th Century): Before the English Reformation, Catholic priests conducted formal parish processions called Rogationtide blessings, where they walked the fields and orchards to bless the community’s crops with holy water. When the Protestant Reformation banned these “popish” church rituals, rural communities took matters into their own hands. They essentially invented a secular, cultural substitute to ensure their livelihoods. The first written records of orchard wassailing do not appear until the late 16th century (around 1585).
- The Shift to the Orchards: The specific ritual of firing guns into the branches and placing cider-soaked toast in trees developed as a practical, seasonal tradition in the commercial cider heartlands of Devon and Somerset. It was performed by churchgoing farmers and agricultural workers who wanted to protect their most valuable cash crop.
Why is it called “Pagan” today?
The framing of the wassail as a “pagan ritual” is a product of 19th-century Romanticism. Victorian folklorists were obsessed with finding hidden, prehistoric meanings in English country habits. Because the ritual involved making noise to “frighten evil spirits” and pouring libations on roots, Victorian writers eagerly classified it as an ancient nature-worship survival.
When wassail ceremonies were revived in modern times – often by morris-dance groups – they embraced these colourful, dramatic folkloric themes for entertainment. However, historically, it was a practical custom born out of post-Reformation necessity, created and kept alive by ordinary, churchgoing country people.
During the English Civil War and the Interregnum (1642–1660), the Puritans launched a systematic, state-sanctioned campaign to completely eradicate seasonal customs like wassailing, Christmas, and May Day. They viewed these traditions as sinful, “popish” (Catholic) remnants, or lawless excuses for public drunkenness and disorder.
The Puritan government attempted to dismantle these rural customs through strict legal actions and enforcement:
1. Banning Christmas and Christmastide (1644–1647)
Because wassailing was a core part of the Twelve Days of Christmas, it was directly hit by the Puritan war on the holidays.
- The 1644 Ordinance: Parliament passed a law ordering that December 25th be kept strictly as a day of fasting and penance, rather than feasting.
- The 1647 Total Ban: The Long Parliament passed a strict ordinance completely abolishing the festivals of Christmas, Easter, and Whitsun. Shops and markets were legally forced to stay open on December 25th, and anyone caught celebrating was subject to fines.
2. Targeting Hospitality and “Misrule”
Wassailing traditionally involved groups of lower-class labourers going from house to house, demanding food and drink from wealthy landowners in exchange for blessings.
- Anti-Vagrancy Laws: The Puritans heavily enforced laws against vagrancy and traveling groups. Bands of wassailers moving between farms were often treated as unlawful, disruptive crowds or beggars.
- Suppression of Disorder: The puritanical government closed down thousands of alehouses across England. Because wassailing relied entirely on the consumption of strong beer and cider, restricting the alcohol supply was a highly effective way to kill the custom.
3. Military Enforcement by the Major-Generals (1655)
When laws alone failed to stop rural communities from celebrating quietly, Oliver Cromwell divided England into military districts ruled by Major-Generals.
- Local Crackdowns: In the West Country (including Devon), these military rulers used local militias to physically tear down Maypoles, break up illegal holiday gatherings, and arrest anyone attempting to perform seasonal mumming plays or community toasts.
Why the Puritan Ban Ultimately Failed
Despite their absolute control, the Puritans found it impossible to police every orchard and farmhouse in rural counties like Devon. While large public celebrations vanished from village squares, country people simply moved their customs behind closed doors or out into the hidden rows of their orchards.
When King Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660, the Puritan laws were instantly repealed. Communities across England celebrated by immediately reviving their seasonal traditions, cementing the Christmastide customs back into rural British culture.
While the most famous violent uprisings against the Puritan holiday bans occurred in places like Canterbury (the famous Plum Pudding Riots), the people of Devon resisted the restrictions through a mix of localized violence, public defiance, and widespread underground rebellion.
As a staunchly traditionalist and heavily Royalist county during the English Civil War, Devon became a hotbed for anti-Puritan resistance. The people of Devon pushed back against the holiday bans using several notable tactics:
1. Armed Town Confrontations
When Parliamentary authorities ordered that shops and markets stay open on December 25th, ordinary citizens in Devon’s urban hubs fought back.
- The Apprentice Riots: In Devon’s major towns, groups of young apprentices and labourers formed armed mobs to enforce the holiday. They marched down commercial streets, physically threatening any shopkeeper who tried to open for business.
- Forced Closures: If a merchant complied with the Puritan law, the mobs broke their windows, plundered their goods, and locked the shop doors by force. Local constables who tried to intervene were routinely beaten or chased into the gutter.
2. The 1652 “Merry Devon” Defiance
Despite the heavy-handed laws, the Puritans found it impossible to police the rural West Country. In 1652, the famous English writer and poet John Taylor travelled through the region and published a report revealing that Devon was in open, joyous defiance of London’s laws. He documented that while London was quiet under military rule, the country folk of Devon and Cornwall completely ignored the government. They openly:
- Played cards and drank strong ale in public houses.
- Sang traditional Christmastide carols.
- Consumed roast apples mixed into warm ale (the exact base of a wassail toast).
- Played banned festive party games like Hot Cockles and Shoeing the Wild Mare.
3. Subversive Parish Record Keeping
In smaller Devon villages like Whimple, the resistance was quieter but highly political. Local churchwardens and parishioners deliberately used illegal language to record their events. While Parliament legally changed the name of the Christmas season to the secular “Christide” to erase its religious significance, Devon legal depositions from the 1650s show local witnesses stubbornly refusing to use the state-mandated terms. Instead, they legally timed their community events to “the Feast of the birth of our Lord God,” explicitly maintaining the traditional Christian holiday calendar.
4. Secret Church Decking
The law explicitly prohibited decorating buildings with holly, ivy, or rosemary. In response, Devon congregations engaged in midnight guerrilla decorating. Parishioners sneaked into their local churches on Christmas Eve to pack the rood screens, pulpits, and pews with winter greens. When Puritan officials or magistrates arrived the next morning, they were met with fully decorated churches and angry, protective crowds of villagers standing at the doors.
Through this combination of urban riots and rural stubbornness, Devon successfully kept its seasonal customs alive in the shadows until the Monarchy was restored in 1660.