THE ancient tradition of wassailing was observed in Allerford on Sunday (January 5) and for a second year merged with a new mythology of the Great Green Stag.

The ceremony was led by Lisa Eden, who in 2024 came up with the Great Green Stag folklore.

The stag can be seen at other times of the year in Allerford Museum, but comes out for the annual wassail to help protect the apple harvest.

Allerford Community Orchard Group looks after two orchards on behalf of the National Trust and the village.

The wassail was followed by apple cake and tea in the village hall while orchard group members played some traditional music.

Ms Eden said the Allerford mythology began not on Exmoor, but in the valleys of South Wales and the rugged coast of Cornwall, where Grey Mares, the Mari Lwyd of Wales, and Pen Gwyn of Cornwall, had for centuries led bands of musicians and revellers at times of celebration and danger, driving away evil spirits from the land, and continued to appear at wassail time.

However, on Exmoor, ‘the protector of our lands’ was not a Grey Mare, but a Great Green Stag living in the lush woodland around Allerford, Selworthy, Lynch, and Bossington and watching over the precious orchards.

Ms Eden said the orchards of Porlock Vale had been neglected for many years but were now once again being cherished and maintained and new ones planted.

She said: “This last year the Great Green Stag has seen our villages come together to support each other.

“He has seen old friends leave us and new families join our communities.

“He has watched how our museum has transformed and the Post Office has found a new purpose.

“He has seen us clean our beaches and look out for each other in great storms where our houses went dark but our kindnesses shone bright.

“From Selworthy to Lynch and Bossington, and especially here in Allerford, the Great Green Stag has found new and old orchards to watch over again, and now he comes down from his secret hiding places to join us in our wassail.”