The cider apple crop from our community orchard should be a good one this year, if the levels of noise and merriment at the Wassail celebrations were anything to go by. On January 25th, villagers gathered at the church and feasted on delicious cake, drank cider made from Littlehempston’s own apples kindly donated by Bulkamore Orchards who brewed it, whilst listening to a fine rendition of traditional songs from our “Wassail Wassail” choir. All were agog to know who the Green Man was to be this year – a well kept secret. Finally, Rev Nicholas Pearkes, one time vicar for our parish, revealed himself and welcomed all, poetically reminding us of the resurrection of Christ mirrored by the rebirth of the Green Man after the death of John Barleycorn under the stubble. He then crowned our young Wassail Queen, Hizuki (pictured here), the daughter of the lovely Japanese family staying in the village and who are delighted by all the local goings on.
Draped in a beautiful golden cloak, she led a procession with the Green Man through the dark night to the orchard with the Dartington Morris Men bringing up the rear, playing the accordion. The darkness was filled with the lights of home-made lanterns carried by people in all sorts of gaudy dress, banging drums, whistling and shouting to scare away the evil spirits. The Beauty of Bath and Luscombe’s Pine and all our new trees planted in the autumn certainly had an enthusiastic wake-up call! And here’s a lovely picture by Hizuki – her role as Queen was to give the apple tree a piece of toast dipped in cider. It obviously made an impression!
Afterwards, a crowd piled into the Tally Ho for a delicious Wassail meal (thank you, Kelly and Mike) and sang the night away to folk music played by the Morris Men. All agreed it was a brilliant event and the cider was delicious. Try a glass next time you’re in the Tally – if there’s any left. Many thanks to all who helped make this event such a success.
Did you know? The purpose of wassailing, a Medieval English drinking ritual, is to awake the cider apple trees and to scare away evil spirits by making loud noises to ensure a good harvest of fruit in the Autumn.