Raising toasts, sharing cups of cheer, and singing raucous songs while partaking of alcohol are customs which date back to the early Middle Ages in England. Several of the more formal customs persist today in public and private institutions that cherish traditions. Nowadays, glass dominates when landlords pull a pint, but this was not always so. From Peg tankards to Toby jugs, from tanned leather to pewter, landlords of the past were wont to serve beers and ales in all kinds of ingenious ways, encouraging overconsumption and raising a giggle amongst the revellers.
Toasts and Community
Drinking a toast dates back to antiquity, but the first record of the practice in England dates to a Saxon feast in the mid-5th century. Rowena, the daughter of Hengist, the Saxon chief, raised a toast to the good health of the guest of honour, Vortigern, the British king. Rowena's toast was: Liever Kyning Wass-hael!, meaning "Lord King, your health!" Vortigern must have appreciated the gesture since he later married Rowena.
The Saxon custom was to pass around a common drinking bowl, often called a wassail bowl. The tradition was adopted in England and eventually became a custom associated with Christmas festivities, particularly on New Year's Eve, when the content of the shared bowl was typically ale spiced with nutmeg, some apple added, and with toasted bread floating on the surface. The holiday wassail bowl was not drained at a private party, but carried by young women around the community, door to door. People were expected to give a few coins in return for the drink. The ritual was usually accompanied by singing such songs as:
Wassail, Wassail, Over the town,
Our toast it is white, our ale it is brown,
Our bowl it is made of the maplin tree,
We be good fellows all, I drink to thee.
(Haydon, 12)
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