A festive occasion on which toasts are drunk; and the ale or wine in which such toasts are made.

On Thursday 4 December St. Clare's held their annual Wassail Feast at the Banbury Road campus. With a Tropical theme, students and staff came attired in appropriate beach type costumes, a brave feat in the winter cold of December. Link here to see the full gallery of beach braves.

The meaning of Wassail is from the Saxon times when you would have used the original form of this word, hail, to greet or say goodbye to somebody; it literally meant, "be in good health".

In the western counties of Britain, the tradition grew up on Twelfth Night of toasting the good health of the apple trees that would bear the crop from which next year's cider would be made. Pieces of bread soaked in cider were placed in the crooks of trees, guns were fired to ward off evil spirits, and special songs were sung:

Let every man take off his hat
And shout out to th'old apple tree
Old apple tree we wassail thee
And hoping thou will bear.

Ceremonies like these have almost entirely died out, though one or two are kept alive in Somerset and, of course, at St Clare's.

Each year we choose a different theme. Last year it was the Swinging Sixties. This year the theme was Tropical and the Hall was decorated with a beach theme, featuring surfboards, tropical fish and even pineapples on the tables. Students and staff feasted on tropical food and danced the night away to some sultry tunes.

Meg Claringbold, Activities Department - December 2003