wassailing

• “To go out singing from door to door at Christmas is called wassailing -- a relic of the ancient time when wassail was a common word.”

  Field and Hedgerow Being the Last Essays of Richard Jefferies

• “A very old custom was that of "wassailing" the fruit trees on”

  A Righte Merrie Christmasse The Story of Christ-Tide

• “This is called "wassailing" the trees, and is thought by some to be "a relic of the heathen sacrifice to Pomona.”

  Excursions

• “It was a mad orgy of imagination, wassailing in the skull of a dying man who half sobbed under his breath and was quick with the wild flutter of fading heart-beats.”

  Chapter 35

• “When I was a kid, we sang a lot; not just going to the neighbours (wassailing) but also at home.”

  This is my tradition, tell me yours « Write Anything

• “An evening's wassailing not being what it once was, Twelfth Night has declined into one of the less widely celebrated of the ancient festivals.”

  The Guardian: In praise of … Twelfth Night | Editorial

• “Fearing the dark, into which he observed all men passed, he built beyond the dark a fairer region, a happier hunting-ground, a jollier and robuster feasting-hall and wassailing-place, and called it variously”

  CHAPTER XIV

• “Or, go wassailing in a jolly bow tie or party sock that peeks out from just below your gray flannels.”

  The Wall Street Journal: Making Merry

• “A fanciful 19th century image of the far older midwinter custom of wassailing — drinking to the health of trees, crops, livestock and people.”

  The Guardian: Country diary: St Dominic, Tamar Valley

• “Did your Yuletide wassailing awaken poetic memories and did you recite it loudly to the gathered merrymakers?”

  The Guardian: Cryptic crossword No 25,200

Show 10 more examples...