Wassailing the apple trees

It’s always great to get out and photograph in your own community, even more so when it’s an event you’ve known about for a couple of years but never quite managed to make it along to.

But yesterday, I went along to listen to the singing and view the dancing at the ‘Wassailing of the apple trees’, in two of the orchards of Queen’s Park, in Glasgow’s Southside.

I knew nothing about wassailing, but the internet tells me it’s an established folk custom to wake the apple trees after their cold, dark winter, and to bless them, hoping for a fruitful harvest later in the year.

Yesterday’s wassail in Queen’s Park took place in a few locations within the park, meeting first by the gates of Victoria Road entrance, for some singing and dancing.

All were encouraged to join in, and for those who did and wished to view the lyrics to the many songs, there was a QR code to scan with their iPhone to retrieve the lyrics and to sing along (as in pic above). Even folk customs have QR codes these days.

After a song or two and a dance or two it was onwards to the all important orchards.

Once at the top of the hill, there was more singing including a rendition of the song, based on traditional verses, and arranged by Harry Campbell, called ‘Govanhill Orchard Wassail’.

Apple tree, old apple tree,

Bear good fruit for us to see

For ‘tis our wassail and ‘tis your wassail

And ‘tis joy come to our jolly wassail…

finishing with the cheery lines…

Hats full, caps full, bushel-bags full,

Arms full, barns full, cider presses full…

Cider was then poured onto bread (“passed the sell by date” bread we were assured!) which had been shared around, and this then placed into the nooks, crannies and branches of the apple trees, as way of offering to the tree spirits, and to act as nourishment.

Yesterday’s event was all the more colourful thanks to the dancing of the Border Reivers Morris Glasgow club, with their assorted musicians in accompaniment.

The Border Reivers Morris Glasgow club are “the best Morris dancing club in the West of Scotland” we were told, before it was added “in fact we’re the only Morris dancing club in the West of Scotland.”

The 20 or so members meet once a week to practice their dances, and take part in 4 or 5 events a year, but are looking to do more.

And then more singing, more noise made with everyone encouraged to be cheery and loud to awake the trees, and finally, the partaking of refreshments amongst the trees of the orchard…

This is the type of lovely little event it is a joy to photograph, and to add to my photography archive, all adding up to tell the story of our nation and its peoples.

As ever I appreciate all who let me join in and photograph. Perhaps one day this set of images can become a colourful small ‘zine publication, a little story of a cheery couple of hours on a damp, grey Saturday afternoon.

My latest trilogy of zines are of seminal community protests form the Southside of Glasgow, and is made up with documentary of ‘’No M77 CarHenge’ environmental protests of 1994/95, Govanhill’s famous ‘Save Our Pool’ protests and campaign from 2001 (and ongoing!), and another featuring more recent, iconic protests against the Home Office Immigration Detention of two men from the Pollokshields area in May 2021, in a community protest which became known as ‘Kenmure Street.’

Prints!

A small selection of images are on my site, but the majority of my archive images are available as prints, with prices from £300. If you don’t see the image you’d like, then just ask, and we can arrange it. It’s easy enough.