Page:Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern.djvu/58

 song.” There were regular Wassail-songs, of which some ancient specimens may be found in the Harleian MSS. (275 and 541 for instance,) but of no great merit or curiosity, sometimes containing a mixture of Latin and English, not unusual in the monkish times, as thus,

The following is, perhaps, one of the most amusing.

In the 17th century the wassel bowl was carried round to the houses of the gentry and others with songs, the bearers expecting a gratuity wherever they proffered it: a custom still preserved in some