Image: Wassailing at Maplehurst, West Sussex 2

Description: Twelfth Night Tradition. This is the orchard of John Batcheldor Cider (JB's) in Maplehurst West Sussex. Here the Broardwood Morris Men are enacting the ancient West Country tradition of Wassailing the Apple trees on twelfth night to ensure a good harvest. The good burgers of West Sussex have been Wassailing these trees almost as far back as the dawn of the millennium! A wassail consists of beating the trees to scare away demons, anointing the ground around the trees with cider, Hanging cider soaked toast in the tree so the robins who eat it can carry away any residual evil, reciting a verse and finally making as much noise as possible with whatever instruments come to hand. You can follow the 2007 festivities starting at 305980
Title: Wassailing at Maplehurst, West Sussex 2
Credit: From geograph.org.uk
Author: Glyn Baker
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0
License: CC BY-SA 2.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Attribution Required?: Yes