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New Year Celebrations, part three
According to Paul Dickson in his book, Toasts; the word “wassail” was derived by a thousand year British tradition of accompanying drinking with the phrase waes hael!, meaning “be of health!” with the reply of “Drink, hael!” He states that one of the earliest known Christmas carols from the days of the Norman minstrels, ends with the following lines:
And I the first will toss off mine Thus I advise, Here then I bid you all Wassail, Cursed be he who will not say Drink hail. The term “wassail” soon became associated with Christmas and the New Year and by the 17th century, wassail referred to drinking from a large bowl or loving cup on Christmas Day and Twelfth Night. According to Dickson, drinking to one another’s health and good fortune was prevalent for centuries, but the word “toast” wasn’t used until the late 17th century. The word “toast” came from the practice of placing a piece of toast or crouton in a drink. Other sources indicate the term toast comes from the Roman practice of dropping a piece of burnt bread into the wine. It was thought this was done to improve bad wine by reducing the acidity. Over time, the Latin “tostus” meaning roasted or parched, meant the drink itself. One drinking song published in 1684 alluded to the practice of dropping toast in a drink. A toast is like a sot; or what is most Issac Bickerstaffe recorded the name change in The Tatler, Vol. 1, No. 24 in 1709. Following is the excerpt: It happened that on a publick day a celebrated beauty of those times was in the Cross Bath, and one of the crowd of her admirers took a glass of the water in which the fair one stood and drank her health to the company. There was in the place a gay fellow, half fuddled, who offered to jump in, and swore though he liked not the liquor, he would have the toast. He was opposed in his resolution; yet this whim gave foundation to the present honour which is done to the lady we mention in our liquor, who has ever since been called a toast.” I suppose she was the first “toast of the town.” Paul Dickson covers the whole history of toasting, including the efforts of “antitoast” crusaders, in his book. He also includes toasts for almost every occasion. The following are excerpts from the Paul Dickson’s Toasts and are the most appropriate for the New Year. Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article Toasts in Word Play is owned by . Permission to republish Toasts in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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