Tune of the Day: Here We Come A-wassailing
This 17th-century English carol is about “wassailing”, or singing carols door to door. According to Readers Digest, “the Christmas spirit often made the rich a little more generous than usual, and bands of beggars and orphans used to dance their way through the snowy streets of England, offering to sing good cheer and to tell good fortune if the householder would give them a drink from his wassail bowl or a penny or a pork pie or, let them stand for a few minutes beside the warmth of his hearth. The wassail bowl itself was a hearty combination of hot ale or beer and spices and mead, just alcoholic enough to warm tingling toes and fingers of the singers”.
This carol is a bit unusual in that its verses are sung in 6/8 time, while the chorus switches to 2/2, but always keeping the same tempo.
Thanks to Christine for suggesting this tune!