Now here's a thing. I have been singing the Gower wassail for years but the words I have, and I can't remember where I got them, are different to the Tanner or Ace versions above. Here's what I sing:

A-wassail, a-wassail throughout all the town,
Our cup it is white and our ale it is brown.
Our wassail is made of the good ale and cake,
Some nutmeg and ginger, the best we could bake.

Chorus (after each verse):
Fol dedol dol dedol Dol dedol dol de dol
Fol de de ro Fol de da ri
Sing too ra li o

Our wassail is made of the elderberry bough,
And so my good neighbours, we'll drink unto thou,
Besides all on earth, you have apples in store,
Pray, let us come in for it's cold by the door.

We hope that your apple trees prosper and bear
So that we may have cider when we call next year.
And where you have one barrel we hope you'll have ten
So that we may have cider when we call again.

There's a master and a mistress sitting down by the fire
While we poor wassail boys stand here in the mire.
Come you pretty maid with your silver-headed pin,
Pray, open the door and let us come in.

We know by the moon that we are not too soon,
And we know by the sky that we are not too high,
And we know by the stars that we are not too far,
And we know by the ground that we are within sound.

It's we poor wassail boys so weary and cold,
Please drop some small silver into our bowl,
And if we survive for another New Year,
Perhaps we may call and see who does live here.

I see that the 'barrels of cider' verse does not appear in the collected versions, and that the 'master and mistress' and 'see who do live here' verses are considerably different. Can anyone shed light on this? Am I perchance singing a Bert Lloyd or Steeleye Span version?

Tradsinger