A group of Wassailers would travel from door to door with a wooden wassail bowl filled with ale.  It is not known when the custom stopped, possibly around the time of World War I, but the song continued to be sung by Harry Aldridge in the pub at New Year’s Eve up to the 1960s. Mr Aldridge’s version is interesting for the slow pace at which it is sung,  but it is unclear whether this was how it was performed around the houses or whether he was singing it slower for the recording.

Notes by Gwilym Davies March 2020