WHILE the country remains in lockdown, one Somerset pub has found a way to banish bad spirits and encourage a bumper fruit crop. The Lion, at West Pennard near Glastonbury, broadcast a socially distanced wassail on its Youtube channel on Sunday (January 17), on what many traditionalists recognise as twelfth night, before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar. The wassail ritual has been performed for centuries, and usually sees drummers and singers parading to fruit orchards in an attempt to drive away bad spirits, and look forward to a good new year and a bumper fruit crop. But, like many other events across the country, many of this year’s wassail festivities have been cancelled.