| Where: | Curry Rivel, Somerset , around the village and formerly at the King William IV on the High Street but now at the Firehouse on Church Street |
| When: | 6 pm onwards around the village (formerly at pub, then back at pub 10 pm or so). |
| Time: | 5th January |
The Ashen Faggot is a West Country Christmas custom – it’s a large log with withies bound around it to make a bundle which is burned indoors in the hearth. Drinks are consumed as each withy breaks in the flames, which sounds like as good an excuse as any! The practice still survives in country pubs notably the Harbour Inn at Axmouth in Devon and in this case, the burning takes place on Christmas Eve -in some other locations it takes place on January 5th or 17th which are Old Christmas Eve and Old Twelfth Night respectively, if you adhere to the pre-Gregorian calendar. Wassailing is a traditional luck-bringing custom associated with apple orchards dating back at least a few hundred years; the word has its origins in the Old English toast “waes hael” meaning Good Health. Revivals are particularly common in cider producing areas such as the West Country and Herefordshire and are usually in mid-January but can take place as early as Christmas. Expect singing, morris dancing, cider offerings to the trees (and in some cases pieces of toast), beating the branches and lots of noise including firing shotguns into the trees to wake them up. At Curry Rivel they burn their faggot every 5th January and it’s combined with the local Wassail custom – until the closure of the King William pub a few years ago it was a long-standing unbroken tradition, and the wassailing party used to meet and end their tour of the village at the pub- the event now ends at the Firehouse. The period between is essentially a villagers’ event but you might be squeezed in if space is available and the parts at the pub are a public event open to all.
Helpful Hints
After the King William permanently closed the end now takes place at the Firehouse (thanks Chelsea for this information!).
The local wassail around the houses continues -the wassail part is tricky to get details for as it’s very much a locals visiting locals event. The pub part has moved to the Firehouse.
If you’re thinking of visiting a wassail there are lots around the country which you can easily find details for – there are a few others on this site or just try searching online with a location (there are too many to keep track of on this site!). And there are a few Ashen Faggots, notably at Laymore (see separate article).
Click here for the village Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CurryRivel/
Click here for the Firehouse: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063499394749
and here for the Wassailing Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Curry-Rivel-Wassailing-1827720804001175/
I found the archive photo on the internet but don’t know who owns the copyright- please let me know if it’s you!
View this location on the map.
I love “firing shotguns into the trees to wake them up.” I wonder, with climate change causing many species of trees to be highly stressed (Douglas Firs here in the Pacific Northwest, Baobabs dying in Madagascar) if we might not try to awaken the trees to their plight and join with them in some good prevention work. That’s my mission right now, to send energy to the trees and try to get them to radically change their natural tendency to “take what comes” in favor of just a wee tilt in the direction of activism!
I love the idea of this site, and would like to comment sometimes, but am being blocked because I am not using WordPress. I have no idea what to do.
Hi Anita,
It’s ok your comments haven’t been blocked – all comments sent to calendarcustoms have to be approved before they appear on the site, and there is a short delay while that process takes place.You don’t need to do anything else!
Averil
this still happens, happen last night and ended up at the firehouse, previously known as the forge
Thanks Chelsea- I thought it would still be happening but it’s good to have to confirmed,
Best wishes,
Averil