Here We Come A-wassailing (or Here We Come A-caroling) is an English traditional Christmas carol and New Year song, apparently composed c. 1850. The old English wassail song refers to 'wassailing', or singing carols door to door wishing good health, while the a- is an archaic intensifying prefix; compare A-Hunting We Will Go and lyrics to The Twelve Days of Christmas (e.g., "Six geese a-laying").
Contents
According to Readers Digest; "the Christmas spirit often made the rich a little more generous than usual, and bands of beggars and orphans used to dance their way through the snowy streets of England, offering to sing good cheer and to tell good fortune if the householder would give them a drink from his wassail bowl or a penny or a pork pie or, let them stand for a few minutes beside the warmth of his hearth. The wassail bowl itself was a hearty combination of hot ale or beer, apples, spices and mead, just alcoholic enough to warm tingling toes and fingers of the singers".
Lyrics
As with most carols, there are several related versions of the words. One version is presented below, based on the text given in the New Oxford Book of Carols. The verses are sung in 6/8 time, while the chorus switches to 2/2.
Variant
A variant is known as "Here We Come A-Christmasing". It replaces the word "wassail" with "Christmas".
There are also other variants (often, but not always, sung by Americans) wherein, the first verse is sung, "Here We Come A-Caroling" and it is titled as such. Often in this version, the third verse (directly after the first refrain (see lyrics)) is removed, along with the refrain that follows it, however this depends on which version is being used.
Another variant is entitled, "We've Been A While-A-Wandering" or "Yorkshire Wassail Song."
Notable recording
This song has been performed by: