Apples have great significance for how we used to manage our living. Cropped in the autumn and stored carefully they provided food for people and their animals during a cold hard winter! The community orchard in the Byes has a good range of apple trees as does the Knapp wood. Both fine places to go for an afternoon stroll! And you may have some in your garden.

The tradition of Wassailing began in medieval times to celebrate the previous year’s apple crop and encourage a new crop for the next. It was done around the Twelfth Night from 5th-17th January. People gathered in the orchards with pots and pans to make a loud noise to scare off any evil spirits. A story would be told, then the last of the cider would be placed in a two-handled wassailing cup, passed amongst the company to take a sip “Wassail!” To which the reply is “Drink Hail!” Toasted bread pieces would soak up the rest, and be placed in the apple trees with the cry:
"Here’s to thee, old apple-tree,
Whence thou mayst bud, and whence thou mayst blow!
And whence thou mayst bear apples enow!
Hats full! Caps full!
Bushel-bushel-sacks full,
And my pockets full too! Huzza!

We have been Wassailing the apple trees in the Byes community orchard. Covid prevents us from meeting this year. But it doesn’t stop you from doing it at home with your own apple trees. Here is a story that you can tell too: the Apple Tree Man.

There was a farmer who left his son a broken-down cottage with some old trees, a stable with no roof, an ox covered in sores and a donkey with a wonky leg.

The son tended the wounds of the animals and fed them up. He tried to mend the cottage and the stable. The old trees were apple trees and the more he looked after the land, the better the trees grew. The better the trees grew, the more fruit it gave. The more fruit it gave, the more he was able to give to the ox and the donkey. The more the ox and the donkey ate, they thrived and converted it into “dung” which the son dug back into the land by the apple trees. The more dung was ploughed back into the roots of the trees, the better the trees grew, and the more fruit they gave. The cycle was complete and there was enough to make cider and sell it too. But it was not enough to be able to make all the repairs to the cottage.

He tended to the ox and the donkey, made sure they were well fed. Then stood amongst the apple trees. In his hand was the last cup of cider from that year’s crop.

“Thank you, apple trees. I drink to you and thank you for the crop that has kept me, and my animals well fed and my throat wet. Now I return to you the fruits of your labours to keep you going because I must leave here. I cannot afford to live here.”

He poured the last of the cider onto the roots of the oldest tree in the orchard. Suddenly there was a cracking sound, and a man stepped out of the shadow of that old apple tree.

“I am the spirit of the apple tree. You have cared for and nurtured us for the past year. You understand the cycle between trees, animals, man, and the land. In the roots of my tree, you will find treasure. Take it. Use it in the best way you can. We trust you.”

The son was astonished. He quickly dug into the roots and found treasure. He cried when he realised there was enough to make the repairs and stay with the ox, the donkey, and the apple trees.

The cycle continues. Wassail. Drink Hail!