Now, Now, The Mirth Comes - The Hymns and Carols of Christmas

Give then to the king
And queen wassailing;
And, though with ale ye be wet here,
Yet part ye from hence
As free from offense,
As when ye innocent met here.
Compare: This version from William Sandys (1833): Twelfe Night
Husk's Note:
http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/twelfe_night.htm
Christmas Poetry By Robert Herrick
The Twelfth Cake was formerly made full of plums, amongst which were placed
a bean and a pea. The cake being cut into slices and distributed amongst the company,
he to whose lot fell the piece containing the bean was the King, whilst she who
obtained the piece holding the pea became the Queen, for the evening. This ceremony
was also formerly practised in France, under the name of “La Roi de la Feve.”
Also found in A. H. Bullen, A Christmas Garland (London: John C. Nimmo, 1885), pp. 229-
30. Concerning the reference to "Where bean’s the king of the sport here," Bullen notes:
"A bean and pea were enclosed in the Twelfth-cake. When the cake was divided,
he who got the slice containing the bean was king of the feast, and the girl to whose lot
the pea fell was queen. This Twelfth-tide custom existed in France as early as the
thirteenth century. See some interesting remarks in the preface to Sandys’ Christmas
Carols (pp. lxxvi—ix.)"
Concerning the reference to "With gentle lambs-wool," Bullen notes
"Lambs-wool consisted of strong nappy ale, in which roasted crab-apples were
pressed. Nares conjectures that the name was derived from the liquor’s “smoothness
and softness, resembling the wool of lambs.”
William Hone in his The Every Day Book, has this discussion about the derivation of “Lamb'swool:”
It is mentioned by a writer in the "Gentleman's Magazine," that lamb's-wool is a
constant ingredient at a merry-making on Holy Eve, or on the evening before All
Saints-day in Ireland. It is made there, he says, by bruising roasted apples, and mixing
them with ale, or sometimes with milk. "Formerly, when the superior ranks were not
too refined for these periodical meetings of jollity, white wine was frequently
substituted for ale. To lamb's-wool, apples and nuts are added as a necessary part of
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