There are numerous allusions to this form of tree-worship in the literature of the past; and Tusser, among his many pieces of advice to the husbandman, has not omitted to remind him that he should, "Wassail the trees, that they may bear You many a plum and many a pear; For more or less fruit they will bring, As you do them wassailing.

And still Christmas Day was at his elbow, plying him the wassail-bowl, till he roared, and hiccup'd, and protested there was no faith in dried ling, but commended it to the devil for a sour, windy, acrimonious, censorious, hy-po-crit-crit-cri-tical mess, and no dish for a gentleman.

Lord, I confess too, when I dine, The pulse is thine, And all those other bits that be There placed by thee; The worts, the purslain, and the mess Of water-cress, Which of thy kindness thou hast sent; And my content Makes those, and my beloved beet, To be more sweet. 'Tis thou that crown'st my glittering hearth With guiltless mirth, And giv'st me wassail-bowls to drink, Spiced to the brink.

It represents the rough grandeur, hospitality, wassail and rude romance of the English nobility five hundred years ago.

I sing of May-poles, hock-carts, wassails, wakes; Of bridegrooms, brides, and of their bridal cakes * *

wine, spirits, liqueur, beer, ale, malt liquor, Sir John Barleycorn, stingo^, heavy wet; grog, toddy, flip, purl, punch, negus^, cup, bishop, wassail; gin &c (intoxicating liquor) 959; coffee, chocolate, cocoa, tea, the cup that cheers but not inebriates; bock beer, lager beer, Pilsener beer, schenck beer^; Brazil tea, cider, claret, ice water, mate, mint julep

Witness the maypoles, wassails, and wakes of rural life, and the grotesque morris-dance, originating in a kind of Pyrrhic or military dance, and described by Sir William Temple as composed of "ten men, who danced a maid marian and a tabor and pipe."

Then more shouting for joy when the bowls of wassail and posset come in, and all standing to give three times three for their new mistress and her husband.

" Then the page, on bended knee, presented to each guest in turn the massive silver bowl of wassail, "the midnight draught of sleep," rich with wine and spices.

And, while occupying a room in the fort, his fervent and holy spirit was often tried "By most unseemly mirth and wassail rife.

"money matters became scarce," and the poor Briton was forced to associate with the delirium tremens and massive digestion of the Saxon, who floated in a vast ocean of lard and wassail during his waking hours and slept with the cunning little piglets at night.

"Many a wassail-bout Wore the long Winter out; Often our midnight shout Set the cocks crowing,

[Footnote 7: A wassail-bout is a drinking bout, or carouse.

It is a spacious airy room, overhung with chandeliers and lamps in profusion, and bears the marks of many scenes of mirth and wassail.

He, too, would leave his strong box unlocked in his hurry if cards or wassail called.

There wait the automobiles to carry the pleasure bent to Kelly's grove at Fa'a, where the maxixe and the tango rage, the hula-dancers quiver and quaver, and wassail has no bounds.

The hours of our last wassail, the bowl of velvet, and my waking by the Pool of Psyche with the mahu and the Dummy beside me, were painted on my brain.

'Tis good and cheering to the soul To see the ancient wassail bowl No longer lying on its face, Or dusty in its hiding place.

T'was woman that with health did greet, When Vortigern did Hengist meet 'Twas fair Rowena, Saxon maid, In blue-ey'd majesty array'd, Presented 'neath their witching roll To British Chief the wassail bowl.

Village wassail.

Eleanor Copenhaver Anderson (W); 23Apr62; R293973. Village wassail.

It represents the rough grandeur, hospitality, wassail and rude romance of the English nobility five hundred years ago.

And thou for each good turn shalt drink a wassail to thy buxom wench and shalt have money for the basset-table.

They stood on the benches, they bestrode the railing, they swarmed over the altar, shouting and carousing in riotous wassail.

After locking us up regularly for the night, the "Lady Anastasia" withdrew, followed by Dinah; and I would hear, later, sounds of festivity, in which her well-known laugh was blended, in the dining-room below, where, with Bainrothe and his friends, she held wassail, frequently, until after midnight.