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Locals braved the cold to join in with the ancient art of wassailing at the Okehampton Community Garden last Sunday (January 9).
A group of approximately 60 people gathered in the garden to take part in the event, run by community interest group, Wren Music.
The wassailers sang to three of the garden’s apple trees as part of an ancient tradition, designed to scare away evil spirits and wish the trees good health and a bountiful harvest in the coming year.
Linda Harper, chairman of the Okehampton Community Garden, said: ’This kickstarts our ten year anniversary, which is just perfect because we’ve wanted to set this up for a couple of years and the trees are actually big enough to warrant wassailing.
’I just thought it’s a really nice way to start the year and bless the trees. It’s a really nice thing to bring the community together at a time when it’s really cold and bleak and to do something fun.’
Wren Music’s community musician and the night’s master of ceremonies Jon Dyer led the proceedings which started with traditional wassailing songs followed by the banging of pots and pans in order to wake the tree from its winter slumber and scare away any evil spirits.
An offering of cider-soaked toast was then hung on the tree and the youngest of the group poured cider on the tree’s roots from a traditional wassailing cup.
The night finished with a cup of soup and glass of cider for the revellers and a chance to chat and relax around a campfire.
Jon said: ’It’s just the community coming together and having fun. What more do you need on this cold winter’s night? It’s fantastic and I hope we can carry it on for years and years to come.’
Wren Music, a charity which aims to bring communities together through folk music, has been holding wassailing events across Devon for 30 years and had originally organised the Okehampton event for 2020 which was put on hold due to lockdown restrictions.
So far, the charity has also hosted a wassailing event in Exeter and will host another next week in Landkey in north Devon.
Wren Music’s chief executive Marilyn Tucker, said: ’We thought this is a really good way of helping to bring communities together out of the pandemic and after that low from Christmas so that we can start to build towards the spring and summer and better days ahead. I think it’s lovely and it’s safe because we’re outdoors.’
Wassailing is a centuries-old practice that was traditionally held around Twelfth Night and was an important part of Christmas revelry in the past. The word comes from the Old English ’waes hael’ meaning good health.
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