900 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



bowl of cider, with a toast in it ; and, carrying it in state to the orchard, they 

 salute the apple trees with much ceremony, in order to make them bear well the 

 next season. This salutation consists in throwing some of the cider about 

 the roots of the tree, placing bits of the toast on the branches ; and then, 

 forming themselves into a ring, they, like the bards of old, set up their voices, 

 and sing a song, which may be found in Brand's Popular Antiquities.'" (Mrs. 

 Bray's Borders of the Tamer and the Tovy, vol. i. p. 335.) In Hone's Eveiy 

 Day Book, this custom is mentioned, but with some slight variation. It is 

 there stated, that the farmer and his men, after making their oblation of cider, 

 encircle one of the best bearing trees in the orchard, and repeat three times 

 the song, which is as follows : 



" Here's to thee, old apple tree, 



Whence thou mayst bud, and whence thou raayst blow; 

 And whence thou mayst bear apples enow. 

 Hats full! caps full! 

 Bushel bushel sacks full ! 

 And my pockets full too ! 



Huzza!!" 



This is sometimes done on the Twelfth Night Eve, as well as on Christmas 

 Eve ; and, at the former-mentioned festival, when the song is finished, the 

 whole party return to the house, the doors of which they find bolted against 

 them by the females, who were left at home, and who refuse to open the 

 door till some one of the party " has guessed what is on the spit, which is gene- 

 rally some nice little thing, difficult to be hit on, and is the reward of him 

 who first names it." (Every Day Book, vol. i. p. 42.) In Brand's Popular 

 Antiquities, the following is stated as another mode of performing this charm : 

 The farmer and his workmen go out into the orchard, after supper, on the 

 eve of Twelfth Night, with a large milk-pan full of cider, having roasted 

 apples pressed into it. " Out of this, each person in company takes what is 

 called * a clayen cup,' that is, an earthen cup full of liquor ; and, standing 

 under each of the most fruitful of the apple trees, and passing by those that 

 are not good bearers, he addresses it in the following words : 



" Health to thee, good apple tree, 

 Well to bear, pocketfuls, hatfuls, 

 Peckfuls, bushelbagfuls!" 



And then, drinking part of the contents, he throws the rest, with the frag- 

 ments of the roasted apples, at the tree. At each cup the company set up a 

 shout." In Herefordshire, Brand tells us that, "at the approach of evening, 

 on the vigil of the Twelfth Day, the farmers, with their friends and servants, 

 meet together, and about 6 o'clock walk out to a field where wheat is growing. 

 On the highest part of the ground, 12 small fires, and one large one, are 

 lighted up. The attendants, headed by the master of the family, pledge the 

 company in old cider, which circulates freely on these occasions. A circle is 

 formed round the large fire, when a general shout and hallooing takes place, 

 which you hear answered from all the adjacent villages and fields. Sometimes 

 50 or 60 of these fires may be all seen at once. This being finished, the 

 company return home, where the good housewife and her maids are preparing 

 a good supper. A large cake is always provided, with a hole in the middle. 

 After supper, the company all attend the bailiff (or head of the oxen) to the 

 wainhouse, where the following particulars are observed : The master, at the 

 head of his friends, fills the cup (generally of strong ale), and stands oppo- 

 site the first or finest of the oxen. He then pledges him in a curious toast : 

 the company follow his example with all the other oxen, addressing each by 

 his name. This being finished, the large cake is produced, and, with much 

 ceremony, put on the horn of the first ox, through the hole above mentioned. 

 The ox is then tickled to make him toss his head. If he throw the cake 

 behind, then it is the mistress's perquisite ; if before (in what is termed the 

 boosy), the bailiff himself claims the prize. The company then return to the 

 house, the doors of which they find locked ; nor will they be opened till some 

 joyous songs are sung. On their gaining admittance, a scene of mirth and 

 jollity ensues, and which lasts the greatest part of the night." Pennant, in his 



