wassailing

To go out singing from door to door at Christmas is called wassailing -- a relic of the ancient time when wassail was a common word.

Field and Hedgerow Being the Last Essays of Richard Jefferies Richard Jefferies 1867

A very old custom was that of "wassailing" the fruit trees on

A Righte Merrie Christmasse The Story of Christ-Tide John Ashton

This is called "wassailing" the trees, and is thought by some to be "a relic of the heathen sacrifice to Pomona."

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 61, November, 1862 Various

This is called "wassailing" the trees, and is thought by some to be "a relic of the heathen sacrifice to Pomona."

Excursions Henry David Thoreau 1839

Fearing the dark, into which he observed all men passed, he built beyond the dark a fairer region, a happier hunting-ground, a jollier and robuster feasting-hall and wassailing-place, and called it variously

CHAPTER XIV 2010

It was a mad orgy of imagination, wassailing in the skull of a dying man who half sobbed under his breath and was quick with the wild flutter of fading heart-beats.

Chapter 35 2010

When I was a kid, we sang a lot; not just going to the neighbours (wassailing) but also at home.

This is my tradition, tell me yours « Write Anything 2009

An evening's wassailing not being what it once was, Twelfth Night has declined into one of the less widely celebrated of the ancient festivals.

In praise of … Twelfth Night | Editorial 2011

Or, go wassailing in a jolly bow tie or party sock that peeks out from just below your gray flannels.

Making Merry Alexa Brazilian 2010

A fanciful 19th century image of the far older midwinter custom of wassailing — drinking to the health of trees, crops, livestock and people.

Country diary: St Dominic, Tamar Valley 2010