Wissel wassel, bread and possel,
Cwrw da, plas yma:
An apple or a pear, a plum or a cherry,
Or any good thing to make us merry.
Sol cakes, sol cakes,
Pray you, good missus, a sol cake;
One for Peter, and two for Paul,
And three for the good man that made us all.
The roads are very dirty,
My shoes are very thin,
I’ve got a little pocket,
To put a penny in.
Up with the kettle and down with the pan,
Give us an answer and we’ll be gan.
(A loud rap at the door.)
Spoken. Please to give us a ’apenny.
Some of these rhymes are heard in Glamorganshire and elsewhere at Christmas and New Year’s.
The puzzling jug is a vessel in use in some quarters as a means of increasing the hilarity of a Hallow-e’en party. It is a stone jug, ‘out of which each person is compelled to drink. From the brim, extending about an inch below the surface, it has holes fantastically arranged so as to appear like ornamental work, and which are not perceived except by the perspicacious; three projections, of the size and shape of marbles, are around the brim, having a hole of the size of a pea in each; these communicate with the bottom of the jug through the handle, which is hollow, and has a small hole at the top, which, with two of the holes being stopped by the fingers, and the mouth applied to the one nearest the handle, enables one to suck the contents with ease; but this trick is unknown to every one, and consequently a stranger generally makes some mistake, perhaps applying his mouth as he would to another jug, in which case the contents (generally ale) issue through the fissures on his person, to the no small diversion of the spectators.’[130]
Another merry custom of All Hallows was—and is—twco am ’falau, bobbing for apples. A large tub (crwc) is brought into the kitchen of a farm-house and filled with water; a dozen apples are thrown into it, and the rustic youths bob for them with their mouths. To catch up two apples at a single mouthful is a triumphant achievement. Again the revellers will form a semicircle before the fire, while there depends above their mouths from a hook in the ceiling, a string with a stick attached. At one end of the stick is an apple, at the other end a candle. To snatch the apple with the lips, and yet avoid the candle, is the aim of the competitors. The stick is so hung that it turns easily on its axis, and the bobbers often find themselves catching the candle in their hair while aiming at the apple. This appears to be a relic of the ancient Welsh game of quintain, or gwyntyn.
FOOTNOTES:
[129] Brand, ‘Pop. Ant.,’ i., 191.
[130] ‘Camb. Sup.,’ 174.