Here we come a wassailing Among the leaves so green, Here we come a wandering So fair to be seen. _Chorus._ For it is in Christmas time Strangers travel far and near, So God bless you, and send you a happy New Year. We are not daily beggars, That beg from door to door, But we are neighbours' children, Whom you have seen before. Call up the butler of this house, Put on his golden ring, Let him bring us a glass of beer, And the better we shall sing. We have got a little purse Made of stretching leather skin, We want a little of your money To line it well within. Bring us out a Table, And spread it with a cloth; Bring out a mouldy cheese, Also your Christmas loaf. God bless the Master of the house, Likewise the Mistress too, And all the little children That round the table go. Good master and mistress, While you're sitting by the fire, Pray think of us poor children Who are wand'ring in the mire.[62] [Footnote 62: Those who went round thus were called "Vessel Cup women."] At Aberford, near Leeds, two dolls were carried about in boxes in a similar manner, and they were called "wesley (_wassail_) boxes." Whilst on the subject of Yorkshire Christmas customs, I may mention that a correspondent of the _Gentleman's Magazine_ (1790, vol. 60, p. 719), says that at Ripon the singing boys came into the church with large baskets of red apples, with a sprig of rosemary stuck in each, which they present to all the congregation, and generally have a return made to them of 2d., 4d., or 6d., according to the quality of the lady or gentleman. In the _History of Yorkshire_ (1814, p. 296) it tells how, during the Christmas holidays, the Sword or Morisco Dance used to be practised at Richmond by young men dressed in shirts ornamented with ribbons folded into roses, having swords, or wood cut in the form of that weapon. They exhibited various feats of activity, attended by an old fiddler, by "Bessy," in the grotesque habit of an old woman, and by the fool, almost covered with skins, a hairy cap on his head, and the tail of a fox hanging from his head. These led the festive throng, and diverted the crowd with their droll antic buffoonery. The office of one of these characters was to go about rattling a box, and soliciting money from door to door to defray the expenses of a feast, and a dance in the evening.[63] [Footnote 63: This dance is thus described in _Notes and Queries_ (5th series, xii. 506). "Six youths, called sword dancers, dressed in white and decked with ribbons, accompanied by a fiddler, a boy in fantastic attire, the Bessy, and a doctor, practised a rude dance till New Year's day, when they ended with a feast. The Bessy interfered, whilst the dancers, surrounded him with swords, and he was killed."]