A wassailing we go Jan 17, 2019

A wassailing we go

Somewhere under that dense fog, the people of Somerset county in southwest England may be marching from house to house, singing songs and dancing, and asking for a drink or snack in return. If that sounds like Christmas caroling, you’re right. But it’s the English tradition of wassailing—a practice that usually takes place on Twelfth Night, which marks the coming of the Epiphany and takes place on January 5th or 6th. So why do the people living in this farmland moor wassail on January 17? Because in Somerset, the locals observe the pre-Gregorian calendar Twelfth Night, which falls on January 17. They may even stage an ‘apple wassail’ with a trip to a local cider orchard, to sing and make noise for a good harvest in the new year.

© Guy Edwardes/Minden Pictures

palette

Today in History

Jan 17, 2018Train crossing the Tadami River in Japan
Jan 17, 2020A seabird gets schooled
Jan 17, 2021On the Route of the Waterfalls
Jan 17, 2022Martin Luther King Day
Jan 17, 2023Muniellos Nature Reserve
Jan 17, 2024Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany
Jan 17, 2025Brown pelican, San Diego, California

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Mar 10, 2021Commemorating the life of a famous railroad conductor
Sep 17, 2020Citizenship Day and Constitution Day
Sep 10, 2022Mid-Autumn Festival
Sep 30, 2021Global commerce in motion
Feb 23, 2025Mount Fuji Day
Dec 16, 2018Holidays in the Venetian Lagoon
Jul 17, 2023Cloughoughter Castle, County Cavan, Ireland
Feb 26, 2024Grand Canyon National Park turns 105
Jun 11, 2025Greater flamingos, Lüderitz, Namibia
Feb 28, 2026Oloupena Falls, island of Molokai, Hawaii
Aug 12, 2025World Elephant Day
Jul 11, 2023World Population Day
Nov 3, 2022International Day for Biosphere Reserves
Aug 25, 2020Punakaiki on South Island, New Zealand
Aug 5, 2020Aw shucks, It s Oyster Day
Nov 24, 2020Feel the spray in Monterey
Mar 3, 2022World Wildlife Day
Jul 30, 2022Milford Sound/Piopiotahi rainforest in New Zealand
Jan 24, 2023Colle Santa Lucia, Dolomites, Italy
Nov 11, 2025Marine Corps War Memorial, Arlington, Virginia
Jun 13, 2019A unique elephant encounter in Nantes
Apr 14, 2023Mediterranean red sea stars
Sep 6, 2024Glenariff Forest Park, Northern Ireland, UK
Apr 14, 2022Horseshoe Bend, Arizona
Oct 17, 2023Spreadsheet Day
Aug 3, 2023Zelenci Nature Reserve, Slovenia
Dec 27, 2022Blue Lagoon spa, Grindavík, Iceland
Apr 1, 2023Frog Month
Aug 21, 2024Nazca boobies, Wolf Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
Nov 20, 2023World Childrens Day