Here is a new arrangement of "Here We Come a-Wassailing," the traditional English Christmas carol, for four-part a cappella treble voices. Wassail (Old English wæs hæl, literally ’be you healthy’) refers both to the salute ’Waes Hail’ and to the drink, Wassail, a hearty combination of hot ale or beer, apples, spices and mead, is just alcoholic enough to warm tingling toes and fingers of those a-wassailing (going door-to-door singing Christmas carols). The "a-" is an archaic intensifying prefix (compare "A-Hunting We Will Go" and, in "The Twelve Days of Christmas," "Six geese a-laying"). Traditionally, wealthy persons embued with Christmas spirit often were a bit more generous than usual; bands of beggars and orphans would dance their way through the snowy streets of England. offering to sing good cheer and to tell good fortune if the householder would give them a drink from his wassail bowl or a penny or a pork pie or, let them stand for a few minutes beside the warmth of his hearth. Source: WIKIPEDIA.