It’s that time of year in England and Wales when communities ‘wassail’ their orchards. These ceremonies are typically conducted in January, often on Twelfth Night, January 6th. The wassail held at Tarring in East Sussex is a good example of the ceremony: with torches, morris men, instruments, fireworks and noise, it is proclaimed that “All of the birds and all of the insects will come to the tree, they will clean it and cleanse it of evil spirits and ensure a bountiful harvest.” This is followed by a chant, the purpose of which is to enchant the trees and ensure fruitfulness. The trees are then toasted with cider. Note that these songs are addressed to the tress and not not just about them.
Practices vary from place to place. Sometimes cider is poured on the tree roots; sometimes pieces of toasted bread are hung from the boughs- ostensibly to attract birds and other animals, who will then perform their cleansing function. In Wales the mysterious Mari Lwyd might turn up, snapping her jaws and helping to scare away evil; at Melbury Osmond in Dorset, the horned Ooser may appear, presumably having the same effect. This mysterious being wears a cow skin and has cow’s horns; its name may derive from dialect word meaning ‘hairy’ or, possibly, just cow/ oxen. In Somerset a dragon dances at Wellington and an old crone at Wiveliscombe.
The nature of the ‘evil spirits’ that wassailing scares off is unclear; they seem to be a generalised harm that might blight trees and fruit. At Wellington, the wassail is directed against the mawlscrawls, who are identified as mischievous sprites- although the word, also found as maskel, is local dialect for a green caterpillar (an obvious threat). By implication, though, we might conclude that good spirits- whether taking the form of winged creatures or otherwise- are being simultaneously summoned and assisted by the practice of ‘charming’ the orchards.
Wassailing beliefs and practices cannot be unrelated to parallel notions about faery interest in, and involvement with, fruit crops. English orchards and nut groves are haunted by sprites whose role is to bring life to the trees and to protect the fruit from thefts. This benign influence over the productivity and security of fruit and nut trees might be considered as part of the wider faery role of promoting agricultural fertility (of crops and cattle). However, these orchard spirits appear (rather like dryads) to be inseparable from their trees, so that thinking of them as indwelling- as against merely protective- may be a more accurate way of conceiving of them.
These faeries go by various regional names, including Jack up the Orchard, the Grig and the Apple Tree Man. As well as wassailing ceremonies, at harvest time in Somerset a few apples would always be left behind on the trees, which would be regarded as the pixie’s rightful entitlement and property. This customary offering was called ‘pixying,’ ‘grigging’ or the ‘pixy-hoarding’ and in return it was hoped that the next year’s crop would be blessed. The traditional Yuletide rituals address the ‘old apple tree,’ but surely this must denote not the mere organism but a life or spirit within it. The autumn gifts of apples far more explicitly acknowledge the vital faery presence in the trees. The exact concepts at play here- ‘payment’ for assistance, a recognition of faery residence or some notion of identity between spirit and plant and a resultant wish not to harm or over-exploit the tree too much- are ill-defined.
Ontological debates aside, fruit tree spirits are found across England. One British writer in 1913 listed the following:
“Churn-milk Peg (West Yorkshire & Malham, North Yorkshire) and Melsh Dick (north country) are wood-demons supposed to protect soft, unripe nuts from being gathered by naughty children, the former being wont to beguile her leisure by smoking a pipe. The Gooseberry-wife (Isle of Wight), in the guise of a large furry caterpillar, takes charge of the green gooseberries, hence ‘If ye goos out in the gearden, the gooseberry-wife’ll be sure to ketch ye’; while in the orchards is Awd Goggie (East Yorkshire), guarding the unripe apples.”
Another writer described Awd Goggie as a wicked sprite and added that children were warned to stay away from orchards at “improper times” otherwise (just like the gooseberry wife) “Awd Goggie might get them.” We can also add to this list Nut Nan, who guards the hazels from theft with threats of burning naughty children with heated pokers. Churn-milk Peg is described as being an old and very ugly hag, whose name derives from the hazels in their green state, when they’re called ‘churn-milk’. All she says is “Smoke! smoke a wooden pipe!/ Getting nuts before they’re ripe!” and if this doesn’t work, she’ll abduct the disobedient youths. Melsh Dick apparently gets his odd name from the same unripe, ‘mushy’ or ‘mulchy’ nuts; he too will make off with disobedient children. All of these northern sprites were assisted by Clap-Cans, a being with no physical form or substance whose sole purpose is to scare away youngsters by beating on tins with sticks.
In the south of England, Lazy Lawrence haunted orchards from Hampshire to Somerset. In the former county, it seems that- rather like the colt-pixy or cole-pexy in Dorset- he might take the form of a horse and chase off naughty children and apple thieves. The equine form of Lawrence in more easterly counties perhaps has ancient links to the presence of the Mari Lwyd in Welsh orchards. The Welsh name means, simply, ‘Grey Mare’ and- as may also be the case with the bovine Ooser- suggests that sprites in animal form had sepcial efficacy in guarding the unripe fruit.
In Somerset, Lazy Lawrence inflicted crippling ailments on anyone detected stealing the fruit. One spell used by farmers to protect their crops wished on the intruders that:
“Starke be their sinews…
May dread and doubt
Enclose them about…
So be the cramp in the toes
Cramp and crooking
And fault in their footing.”
The thieves struck by this charm would become immobile and trapped, hence the rhyme “Lazy Laurence, let me goo/ Don’t hold me summer and winter too.” Another Somerset proverb, “So many cratches [baskets], so many cradles” explicitly links fertility in the orchards and groves to fertility and growth in the human population.
These orchard spirits are sometimes termed ‘nursery sprites’ because of their particular role in stopping children ‘scrumping’ fruit and nuts before they’re ready to be picked. This function was doubtless an important one, as it both protected the crops and avoided infants getting poorly from eating unripe produce. Nevertheless, bearing in mind the fact that these beings are found only near their trees, the southern English customs of wassailing the orchards, and the example of the Elder Woman who inhabited her tree, we may be justified in suspecting that the faeries of the orchards and groves had a more profound role in promoting growth and fruitfulness.
British Fairies 