The evening is dark; the air, crisp; but the small group is merry as it moves along the neighborhood street.Spying a lit candle in a window, the cluster of men and women pause in front of the door and break into a holiday song.
The door opens, spilling welcome light onto the delighted people on the stoop. They cheer and offer the master of the home a cup of steaming mulled cider from the large bowl. In return, he provides them with small gifts.
Why don’t we wassail anymore? It seems like a fine tradition, and I’m sure it was – as long as people maintained the proper spirit. As with just about any activity, though, wassailing was subject to abuse.
Even in the old English carols, there are hints that wassailers weren’t always a respectful or obliging bunch. Consider the second verse of “We wish you a merry Christmas:”
Oh bring us a figgy pudding/Oh bring us a figgy pudding/Oh bring us a figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer. We won’t go until we get some/We won’t go until we get some/We won’t go until we get some, so bring some out here.
However, if you’d like to get a taste of what wassailing was all about, find your way to Ebensburg on Friday, December 2, and join that community’s “Dickens of a Christmas” celebration. From Friday through Sunday of that weekend, Ebensburg will host a Victorian-style Christmas festival with activities that range from ice carving and antique sales to a Yuletide Tea. For more information, visit EbensburgDickens.com.
Soon, virtually every community in our region will be celebrating their “official” beginnings of the holiday season with lighting ceremonies, parades, open houses, shopping tours, decorative displays and a variety of other activities.
Some communities and sites offer events that celebrate aspects of the Alleghenies’ unique holiday heritage. For Ebensburg, it’s the Victorian period. For Indiana, it’s all about favorite son Jimmy Stewart and one of America’s beloved holiday films.
“It’s A Wonderful Life Festival” started last weekend and continues through December 23 with special – different – sets of events happening each weekend. Throughout the period, of course, there will be weekend matinee showings of the movie that made household names of George Bailey and Bedford Falls. WonderfulLifeFestival.com.
We’ve a real Bedford in the region that is far older than the fictional movie town, and there’s an Old Bedford Village there that recreates life of the 18th and early 19th centuries. On December 3 and 10, the Village will host a “Candlelit Christmas,” featuring thousands of lighted candles within luminaries and picturesque cabins – a holiday treat for photographers. OldBedfordVillage.com.
Also on December 3 and 10, you can compare holiday commemorations here within the Alleghenies during “Three Centuries of Christmas” at Historic Hanna’s Town near Greensburg. Three-times-daily tours will be provided through 18th, 19th and 20th century holiday displays. Reservations are suggested. Call (724) 532-1935, extension 210.
December 4, you can compare gastronomic traditions during a program at the Somerset Historical Center. Presenters will explain some great ethnic feasts, including the Italian Feast of Seven Fishes, the Slovak Holy Supper, Polish Wigilia Feast, and German practices. Food sampling will be part of this tickets-required program. SomersetHistoricalCenter.org.
Among the larger community-based holiday events is “It’s a Connellsville Christmas,” December 3-4, a festival featuring church tours, business open houses, cookie sales, live entertainment, a live Nativity, outdoor ice-skating and a variety of other activities. Look it up on Facebook.
While these events offer a wide range of holiday related activities, from what I could see, if you want to wassail, you’ll have to do it in Ebensburg. At least you won’t have to worry about anything getting out of hand.
The event’s based at the Cambria County Courthouse. Anyone becoming a little too merrymay get a little gift from the sheriff.