I’m sorry I have neglected you all for so long. Christmas is always such a busy time, isn’t it? But may I wish you a very Happy New Year and a prosperous one too (despite the current economic climate).

Here’s something to make us think of longer days and better weather and the scent of apple blossom in the air …

In these parts, Twelfth Night is around the time Wassailing takes place. Not to be confused with touring houses and singing carols, this tradition is about thanking the apple trees for a crop and wishing all well for another. It had largely died out but is making a comeback.

On or about the Twelfth Night, members of the village process to the apple orchard (often starting from the pub!), sprinkle cider on the ground and hang toast in the branches of the trees. Then they chant to frighten off any evil spirits lurking. Some may bang on pots and pans and generally make as much racket as they can. Sometimes shots are fired into the air as a final call for renewed fertility.

According to various accounts, the word ‘Wassail’ probably comes from the Anglo-Saxon to mean ‘Be thou hale’ and is sometimes celebrated on the old Twelfth Night, the 17th January, as was before the Gregorian calendar was introduced.

The ancient tradition of Wassailing is thriving in the cider growing parts of England, so if you live near an apple orchard and hear sounds of revelry accompanied by gunshot in the dead of night, don’t be alarmed, it’s just Wassailers ensuring a bumper crop of fruit for later this year!

For more information about Herefordshire traditions, try Roy Palmer’s book Herefordshire Folklore published by Logaston Press. And, for a truly terrifying interpretation, read Phil Rickman’s wonderful folklore-y thriller The Wine of Angels.