Fun,
feasting …..and wassail
Chearsley went a-wassailing and enjoyed
a wonderful evening of fine food and entertainment in a very traditional
celebration of Twelfth Night in the Village Hall. Wassailing has a strong
connection with England’s apple producing regions of the West Country and
involves drinking the wassail cup and toasting the good health of the apple
trees in order to scare away evil spirits and help deliver a good harvest of
apples later in the year.
The Village Hall provided a
spectacular setting for the evening, thanks to the tireless efforts of Joy
Payne and helpers. Proceedings began with the drawing of lots to choose the
Master of Ceremonies. John Wynburn was duly elected as the Lord of Misrule. His
duty was to ‘turn the world upside down’ and he passed the test with aplomb.
Glasses charged with wassail and
toasts delivered, diners then enjoyed a sumptuous banquet prepared by Anne
Pratt and Julia Witcher, including a hearty game pie - and homity pie for the
less carnivorously inclined, followed by lemon posset and a tempting cheese
board. If that was not enough, all were then offered a large slice of Beryl
Wright’s delicious Twelfth Night Cake, specially baked for the occasion.
Revellers then sat back and
enjoyed a full programme of home-grown entertainment – no doubting that
Chearsley’s got talent
Jenny Scholefield and Joy Payne
got the evening off to a flying start as they sailed across the floor ‘stately
as two galleons’ with a colourful performance of the Joyce Grenfell classic.
Mike Heybrook was in fine voice
as he delivered the Irish ballad ‘The West’s Awake’ with great passion, in
celebration of the recent Connacht rugby victory over French giants Toulouse in
the Heineken European Cup. He then changed tack and treated his audience to a
humorous interpretation of ‘Christmas Waites’ by William Sterndale Bennett.
Alicia Howard took to the floor,
suitably attired in her husband’s best shirt, to read ‘T’was the Month after
Christmas’ - with its its awful reminder of the weeks of dieting and abstinence
ahead, after the recent excesses of Christmas festivities.
Giles Witcher and Chris Mundy delivered
an enchanting performance of Handel’s aria and love song ‘Silent Worship’.
Colm Henry took us back to the Emerald Isle
with the highly entertaining ‘Ballad of Father Gilligan’ by Irish literary
genius, W.B. Yeats.
The St Nicholas Christmas Choir delivered
a beautiful rendition of the popular Christmas hymn ‘Jesus Christ the Apple
Tree’
The audience then travelled ‘oop
north’ in the company of Darren Sampson to hear the trials and tribulations of
Tony Capstick after a hard day’s work at ‘t’pit’
Giles and Chris orchestrated the
assembled company in the performance of an ‘alternative’ Twelve Days of
Christmas, based on an eclectic range of gifts received from their true loves
including six sweaty socks, five toilet rolls and a ‘bra that was made to fit
three’…..and worse besides.
The Chearsley Handbell Ringers
brought the entertainment to a delightful close as they played a traditional
carol from cider country ‘The Gloucestershire Wassail
The raffle was then drawn, and
Clare Lazaruk won the star prize – yes, you’ve guessed it, an apple tree!
The Lord of Misrule put his more
anarchic behaviour to one side and offered sincere thanks to the many who had
helped in putting together such a wonderful and memorable evening, with special
mention to the main organisers, Anne Pratt and Julia Witcher.
The evening raised a total of
£600 for the Three New Bells for St Nicholas and the pundits are already
forecasting a bumper crop of apples next autumn.
