Gower Wassail - Misplaced Pages

Welsh folk song

The Gower Wassail is a wassail song from Gower in Wales. Wassailing is a midwinter tradition wherein either orchards or households are blessed by guisers, which came to Wales through exposure to English custom. The song is printed in A.L. Lloyd's book Folk Song in England (1967), having been heard from Phil Tanner. Structurally, the song is in 6/8 time with bacchius trisyllables, a Balliol rhyme scheme, and the "ffal de radl" musical syllables characteristic of much of Welsh folk songs. Some of the lyrics closely resemble other popular wassailing songs, such as the 'Gloucestershire Wassail'.

Lyrics

The majority of versions of the song begin with the same two stanzas, although pronouns (i.e. you, we, your, our, etc.) vary. Following the second verse and chorus, the number of stanzas and their order vary from version to version. The primary difference between the lyrics that appear here is that one version is a dialogue between the wassailers and the master and mistress they are appealing to for hospitality. The other version is sung from the wassailers’ perspective alone. All the known stanzas are included below.

Chorus A	Chorus B
Fol de dol fol de dol de dol Fol de dol de dol fol de dol de de Fol de da ro fol de da di Sing tu re lye do	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

Opening Stanzas
A-wassail, a-wassail throughout all the town
Our cup it is white and our ale it is brown
Our wassail is made of the good ale and cake (too)
Some nutmeg and ginger, the best you can bake (do)

Our wassail is made of the elderberry bough
And so my good neighbors we'll drink unto thou
Besides all on earth, you have apples in store
Pray let us come in for it's cold by the door

Dialogue Version	Standard Version
Carolers Now master and mistress let your company forbear To fill up our 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 Master & Mistress 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 Together 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 Carolers 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	There's a master and a mistress sitting down by the fire While we poor wassail boys stand out in the mire Come you pretty maid with your silver headed pin Pray open the door and let us come in It's we poor wassail boys so weary and cold Please drop some small silver into our bowl And if we survive for another new year Perhaps we may call and see who does live here We know by the moon that we are not too soon And we know by the sky that we are not too high And we know by the stars that we are not too far And we know by the ground that we are within sound We hope that your apple trees prosper and bear So that we may have cider when we call next year And where you have one barrel we hope you'll have ten So that we may have cider when we call again

Dialogue Version

Standard Version

Carolers

Now master and mistress let your company forbear
To fill up our 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

Master & Mistress
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

Together
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

Carolers
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

There's a master and a mistress sitting down by the fire

While we poor wassail boys stand out in the mire
Come you pretty maid with your silver headed pin
Pray open the door and let us come in

It's we poor wassail boys so weary and cold
Please drop some small silver into our bowl
And if we survive for another new year
Perhaps we may call and see who does live here

We know by the moon that we are not too soon
And we know by the sky that we are not too high
And we know by the stars that we are not too far
And we know by the ground that we are within sound

We hope that your apple trees prosper and bear
So that we may have cider when we call next year
And where you have one barrel we hope you'll have ten
So that we may have cider when we call again

Main references

Mudcat Café:

Versions

Shirley Collins on Anthems in Eden
Steeleye Span on the album Ten Man Mop, or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again and on The Journey
The Oh Hellos on the EP The Oh Hellos' Family Christmas Album: Volume II

External links

Gower Wassail sung by Phil Tanner
Gower Wassail sung by Melissa Weaver Dunning
Gower Wassail sung by Steeleye Span
Gower Wassail sung by the Stairwell Carollers
Gower Wassail sung by the Quadriga Consort
Gower Wassail sung by The Oh Hellos

References

"Wassail! Wassail! All Over The Town - Version 1". hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com. 31 October 2019. Archived from the original on 31 October 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2023.

v t e Gower Peninsula
Geographical areas	Bishop's Wood Burry Holms Cefn Bryn Clyne Common Fairwood Common Loughor estuary
Beaches listed clockwise	Bracelet Bay Limeslade Bay Rotherslade Langland Bay Caswell Bay Brandy Cove Pwlldu Bay Hunts Bay Pobbles Bay Three Cliffs Bay Tor Bay Oxwich Bay Slade Bay Horton Beach Port Eynon Beach Mewslade Bay Fall Bay Rhossili Bay (Llangennith Sands) Burry Holms Blue Pool Bay Broughton Bay Whiteford Sands
Headlands	Burry Holms Mumbles Rhossili
Villages in Gower	Bishopston Burry Green Caswell Cheriton Crofty Gowerton Horton Ilston Kittle Knelston Landimore Langland Llanddewi Llangennith Llanmadoc Llanmorlais Llanrhidian Llethryd Middleton Murton Newton Nicholaston Oldwalls Overton Oxwich Oxwich Green Parkmill Penclawdd Pennard Penmaen Penrice Pitton Pitton Green Port Eynon Reynoldston Rhossili Slade Scurlage Southgate Three Crosses Upper Killay
Prehistoric sites	Arthur's Stone Long Hole Cave Parc le Breos Parc Cwm long cairn Paviland Cave
Castles	Loughor Castle Oxwich Castle Oystermouth Castle Pennard Castle Penrice Castle Weobley Castle
Lighthouses	Mumbles Lighthouse Whiteford Lighthouse
Other	Cuisine of Gower Geology of the Gower Peninsula Gower Ornithological Society Gower Wassail Ilston Book
People	Byron Davies Ifor Davies Edgar Evans Iris Gower Cyril Gwynn Karl Jenkins Nigel Jenkins Thomas Johnes (priest) Ernest Jones Kathleen Lloyd Jones Will Jones (rugby union) Jo Mazelis John Myles (minister) Red Lady of Paviland Colin Pressdee Phil Tanner Mark Thomas (composer) Vernon Watkins Harri Webb Audrey Williams (archaeologist) C. Anne Wilson

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