Christmas Carolling History - First Known as Wassailling it has Become a Christmas Tradition

Christmas Carolling History
First Known as Wassailling, its Become a Christmas Tradition

Like so many of our Christmas traditions, Christmas carols and carolling have their roots in England. In medieval England, minstrels would travel from castle to castle singing. The poor people in England would go wassailling, they would bring their empty mugs to rich houses hoping for a cup from the wassail bowl. Wassailling later became known as carolling. The tradition is for a group of singers to travel from house to house, singing carols. They are often rewarded with food, a warm drink or money. The money is normally given to charity. The condemnation of carolling by the Puritans ended the tradition for over 160 years.

Today, in England the tradition of carolling continues. The carollers generally go carolling to collect money for charity. In Wales, each village has several choirs that prepare well in advance of the holiday season for this event. Also, the Round Table, in England will send sleighs filled with people around the cities and towns singing carols.

I remember the fun we had going carolling each year. The warm smiles we would bring to the faces of the people we visited. Sometimes we would be invited in for something warm to drink and usually cake or cookies to eat. Carolling is a great way to get into the Christmas spirit.

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