The tradition of wassailing falls into two distinct categories: the house-visiting wassail and the orchard-visiting wassail. The house-visiting wassail, which traditionally occurs on the twelfth day o
Wassailers in Shirehampton, Bristol
A pot of simmering wassail, infused with citrus fruit slices and cinnamon sticks
An apple sapling, hung with toast, placed in a handcart and pushed around the streets during the Chepstow Mari Lwyd, 2014
A Christmas Eve 1842 issue of the Illustrated London News, depicting Father Christmas in a wassail bowl
The Yule goat is a Scandinavian and Northern European Yule and Christmas symbol and tradition. Its origin is from Germanic paganism and has existed in many variants during Scandinavian history. Modern
A Yule goat on a Christmas tree.
'Old Christmas', riding a yule goat; 1836 illustration by Robert Seymour
A 19th century Christmas card God Jul by Jenny Nyström.
A Swedish Gävle goat (Gävlebocken).