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:

Jan 21, 2026Squirrel Appreciation Day
Jan 21, 2021The tale of squirrels like Nutkin
May 20, 2020It s World Bee Day
Sep 29, 2023Mid-Autumn Festival
Jul 10, 2024Collared aracari in Costa Rica
Sep 5, 2020Beaver achievers
Oct 31, 2024Happy Halloween!
Dec 30, 2025Whooper swans, Kotoku Pond, Japan
Jun 5, 2020By the light of the fireflies
Jul 23, 2024Methoni Castle, Messenia, Greece
Oct 20, 2024International Sloth Day
Nov 26, 2025World Olive Tree Day
Nov 10, 2022Badlands National Park turns 44
Feb 16, 2020When an ideal microclimate gives you lemons…
Nov 17, 2022National Take a Hike Day
Apr 19, 2023Taiwan yuhinas in Alishan National Scenic Area
Jan 6, 2023Black Fell in England s Lake District
Dec 17, 2022Mountain goats at Glacier National Park in Montana
Jul 24, 2022Amelia Earhart
Dec 9, 2018There’s treasure in them thar hills
Mar 7, 2020Summer winds down in the Southern Hemisphere
Aug 8, 2021Bridge to infinity
Oct 17, 2019Red-leaf hunting in Japan
Feb 21, 2018Innerdalsvatna Lake, near Ålvundeidet, Norway
Jun 1, 2025World Reef Awareness Day
Feb 15, 2023Hippo family in Chobe National Park, Botswana
Jan 14, 2022Road to Sa Calobra, Majorca, Spain
Jul 31, 2020The Big Blue of the Sierra
Feb 4, 2018Male kori bustard, Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya
Oct 16, 2020It s harvest time on World Food Day