_Wessel Cup Hymn._--The following Wassail Song is taken from a little
chap-book printed at Manchester, called _A Selection of Christmas
Hymns_. it is obviously a corrupted version of a much older song:--
"Here we come a wesseling,
Among the leaves so green,
Here we come a wandering,
So fair to be seen.
"_Cho._--Love and joy come to you,
And to your wessel too,
And God send you a happy new year,
A new year,
And God send you a happy new year.
"Our wessel cup is made of the rosemary tree,
So is your beer of the best barley.
"We are not daily beggars,
That beg from door to door,
But we are neighbours' children,
Whom you have seen before.
"Call up the butler of this house,
Put on his golden ring,
Let him bring us up a glass of beer,
And the better we shall sing.
"We have got a little purse,
Made of stretching leather skin,
We want a little of your money,
To line it well within.
"Bring us out a table,
And spread it with a cloth,
Bring us out a mouldy cheese,
And some of your Christmas loaf.
"God bless the master of this house,
Likewise the mistress too,
And all the little children,
That round the table go.
"Good master and mistress,
While you'r sitting by the fire,
Pray think of us poor children,
Who are wand'ring in the mire.
"_Cho._--Love and joy come to you,
And to your wessel to,
And God send you a happy new year,
A new year,
And God send you a happy new year.
Our wessel cup is made of the rosemary tree,
So is your beer of the best barley."
It is a song of the season which well deserves to be preserved. Its
insertion will at least have that effect, and may be the means of our
discovering an earlier and purer text.