The Food Programme - Wassail! Wassail! A celebration of cider, orchards and song

Download Wassail! Wassail! A celebration of cider, orchards and song

Dan Saladino goes in search of the history, meaning and spirit of wassails and cider. In Somerset he takes part in a village wassail sung door to door and one sung in an orchard.

Contributors: The Drayton village wassailers. Gerard Tucker, wassail master of ceremonies. Nell Leyshon (novelist and dramatist, play: Folk). James Crowden, author, Cider Country: How an Ancient Craft Became a Way of Life.

Music: Drayton Wassail (as documented by Cecil Sharp in 1903) Tam Lin, Fairport Convention (1968) Bruton Town, Pentangle (1968)

Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.

Published on Sunday, 30th January 2022.

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