Religious Ballads- Chapter IV: Cherry-Tree Carol; McCabe 1980
[From McCabe's thesis, A Critical Study of Some Traditional Religious Ballads; Chapter 4. I'm not sure when I'm going to proof this completely; obviously it doesn't scan well and would require more hours of editing. Most of it is legible. The chapter may be viewed online: Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/7804/
Sections of this chapter will be proofed, you just need to go through and see what's done.
The Ludus Coventriae or "Hegge Plays" are now called the "N-Town Plays"; the N being the name of the city the play was performed. Although she gives some text and details about this very important analogue, it is not comprehensive and since it is short it should probably be given in its entirety with a translation.
R. Matteson 2014]
CHAPTER FOUR
'THE CHERRY TREE CAROL' (Child 54)
Sixty-six traditional and seventeen English Broadside variants of The Cherry Tree Carol are listed and described below in Appendix A and will be referred to by number alone in this chapter. These variants, none older than the late eighteenth century, have been recovered from, the Southern, Western and West Midland counties of England, and from North East Scotland, Eire and North America, particularly the Appalachian mountain region in the United States of America. Although certain broad textual relationships can be discerned, and will be described below, there is much variation among the listed texts and it has not proved practicable either to classify the texts according to group, or to draw up a precise stemma of the process of transmission.
One difficulty of classification is that the structure of The Cherry Tree Carol is episodic: the ballad may end in several ways. The core of the ballad, however, is the 'episode of the bowing tree,' in which Joseph churlishly refuses to gather cherries for his pregnant wife, the Virgin Mary: the tree then bows miraculously, usually at the bidding of the unborn Christ Child, and Mary eats her fill. This section of the ballad uses traditional language and motifs found in Middle English poetry and probably therefore derives from an ur-ballad known in the early fifteenth century or before.
The ultimate source of the 'episode of the bowing tree' is the apocryphal infancy gospel of Pseudo-Matthew[1], a Latin compilation of the eighth or ninth century which includes much material from the Protevangelium[2]. In Pseudo-Matthew XX, the Holy Family accompanied by servants and animals, are traveling to Egypt. Mary, tired by the heat of the sun, suggests to Joseph that they rest in the shade of a date-palm. While she rests there, Mary notices that the tree is laden with fruit and speaks to Joseph of her desire for the fruit. Joseph wonders that she can think of such a thing, since the tree is high and he is worried by the traveling party's lack of water[3]:
Then the little child, Jesus, sitting with a glad countenance in his mother's lap, saith to the palm, O tree, bend down thy branches, and with thy fruit refresh my mother. And straightway at this word, the palm bowed down its top to the feet of the blessed Mary, and they gathered from it fruit wherewith all were refreshed. Now after they had gathered all its fruit, it remained bowed down, waiting to rise at his command at whose command it had bowed down. Then Jesus said to it. Raise thee, O palm, and be strong, and be a partner with my trees which are in the paradise of my Father. At Jesus' command, the tree releases a fountain of clear water from its roots and the next day is rewarded when an angel bears one of its branches to Paradise.
There are many differences between this account and The Cherry Tree Carol: in Pseudo-Matthew, Jesus is a small child, not an unborn baby; the tree is a date-palm; Joseph is merely worried, not churlish; there is the additional miracle of the spring; finally, the incident takes place in hot, desert country, on the way to Egypt. Nevertheless, The Cherry Tree Carol is clearly based on a Middle English tradition derived from Pseudo-Matthew, and the account in the apocryphal gospel can be used to distinguish which expressions and motifs in the extant variants of The Cherry Tree Carol belonged to the ur-ballad. Thus, in most ballad texts, it is merely stated that the trees were heavy with cherries, but in some variants it is Mary, who notices the fruit, as in Pseudo-Matthew[4]:
As they went a-walking
In the garden so gay
Maid Mary spied cherries
Hanging over yon tree.
The variants of The Cherry Tree Carol explain the miracle in several different ways. Usually the unborn C h r i s t Child speaks from Mary's womb. He may tell Mary to, "Go to the tree . . . and it shall bow down"[5], or issue a direct command to the tree[6]:
O then bespake the babe in his mother 's womb,
'Bow down he tall trees (sic) to my mother's hand.'
C.T.C. 1a sta. 6.
Then whispered Jesus
So meek in the womb,
'Bow down, gentle cherry bush.
That my mother may have some.'
C.T.C. 17 sta. 4.
In some variants, Mary herself commands the tree to bow[7]; in others, God speaks from heaven[8] or an angel performs the miracle[9]. It seems probable, however, that in the ur-ballad Jesus gave a direct command to the tree, that it bow to His mother, as in Pseudo-Matthew and in several Middle English poems: this is also especially appropriate to the ballad, where the baby Jesus, as the Second Person of the Trinity, responds to Joseph's challenge, 'Let him pluck thee cherries that got thee with child'.
The ur-ballad of the bowing tree probably concluded with the announcement to Joseph by an angel of the impending birth and true identity of the Christ Child, judging by the varied references to angels which survive in many texts of the present ballad: Joseph, while walking, may hear an angel directly describe the poverty of Christ's lodgings and clothes[10]; the same stanzas may be misplaced and used as an indirect description of Christ's birth[11], or as the Christ Child's prophecy of His own poverty[12] ; sometimes both Joseph and Mary hear angels sing[13] and sometimes just Mary alone, as she puts Jesus to bed[14]. Whilst the original ballad episode of the angel was probably suggested by Matthew's gospel (1.2 ), it may also have been prompted by the appearance of an angel at the conclusion of the miracle in Pseudo-Matthew.
Pseudo-Matthew influenced much medieval vernacular literature, and there are several European ballads of the bowing tree[15], most apparently unrelated to The Cherry Tree Carol. A ballad found in French and Provencal[16], however, may well be derived from a medieval ballad similar to the English carol, since it too recounts, that the incident took place before Christ's birth: Joseph and Mary walk in a garden, and Mary confesses to a desire for apples; Joseph replies that the man who caused her such longing (i.e. the 'pica' of pregnant women) should gather her the fruit; Mary raises her hand, and the tree bows, whereupon Joseph falls on his knees and begs Mary's pardon; the Provencal version concludes with the journey to Bethlehem and the miracle of the armless girl who grows arms to pick up the Christ Child. Curiously enough, the latter miracle is found appended to an Irish-Gaelic cante-fable of the cherry tree from recent tradition[17].
The Cherry Tree Carol itself, however, is clearly related to the Middle English tradition of the bowing tree on the flight
to Egypt; The earliest Middle English example of the episode from Pseudo-Matthew occurs in a poem on the Childhood of Jesus in Oxford, Bodleian Library MS. 1486 (also called Laud Misc. MS. 184 and Laud MS. 108), of the late thirteenth century[18]; the language of this poem, is Southern, and it appears to be based on an Old French original[19]. In Laud MS. 108, Mary notices the fruit (apparently apples [20]) as in Pseudo-Matthew, but Jesus forestalls Joseph's reply by speaking to the tree "mildeliche"[21]:
and seide: Ich the hote, treo,
To mi Moder a bouwe thou the
With gret plente nouthe yif hire
Of that fruit that, thou dest bere!
The tree immediately bows:
Marie inoughh thar of et
And also dude Josep ek
Tho huy weren wel i fuld
Of that fruyt erore wild.
Jesus' direct command to the tree that it bow to His mother is, as we have seen, a feature of The Cherry Tree Carol. The Childhood poem's reference to Mary eating 'enough' is found also in a Scottish ballad variant:
The s m all branch did break ,
And the rough branch did bow.
And Mary's gotten cherries,
She's gotten cherries enow.
C.T.C. 25 sta. 8.
Many other variants imply that Mary ate her fill of the cherries[23]. The rhyme 'wild' used in the C h i l d h o o d poem is found in other Middle English accounts of the bowing tree, and in a broadside variant of The Cherry Tree Carol, though the latter seems to be a later emendation[24].
Not much later than the Childhood poem in Laud MS. 108 is the account of the bowing tree in the Northumbrian poem Cursor Mundi[25], which corresponds closely with Pseudo-Matthew: here also, Mary notices the fruit and Jesus issues a direct command to the tree[26]:
bowe the til us squithe thou tree
and of thi frute gif us plente
vnneth had he saide the soun.
quen the tree louted down,
right to mari his moder fote.
The tree' s bowing to Mary's foot is derived from Pseudo-Matthew. Extant ballad variants adapt this detail in that the tree bows to Mary's hand or knee and they retain the f u r t h e r detail, found in Pseudo-Matthew [27], that it is the very highest part of the tree (sometimes "the uppermost sprig"[28]) which bows:
Then the highest branches bent as low
As Mother Mary's knee
And she picked of the cherries
By one, two and three.
C.T.C. 6b sta. 8.
In Cursor Mundi, Jesus describes the trees in Paradise as "my awen orcharde"[29]. In several variants of The Cherry Tree Carol, Joseph and Mary walk through an 'orchard good'; in others, they walk through a garden, usually 'green' or 'gay'[30] . However, the walking of a man and his wife or sweetheart in a 'garden green' is also a ballad commonplace[31].
A later poem on the Childhood of Jesus occurs in three redactions in fifteenth century manuscripts of the North and North Midlands[32]. In this poem's account of the bowing tree[33], the tree apparently bears both flowers and fruit[34]. Mary's request to Joseph, and his rude answer, are omitted; Jesus issues a direct command to the tree[35]:
Jhesu thane spake to t he tree anone
Lowte doune, he sayde, my modir vn-tille,
Tille scho and Joseph bathe hafe tane
Of thy froyte all that thay wille.
Here also Mary is said to have "ynoghe"[36], the tree bows to Mary's feet[37] and, as in the earlier Childhood of Jesus, Mary thanks her Son for the miracle[38].
An early fifteenth c e n t u r y Life of St. Anne acknowledges Pseudo-Matthew as one of its sources[39]. In the episode of the bowing tree in this poem[40], it is Mary who notices the fruit; Joseph's reply, that no man could climb so high a tree[41], is akin to the b a l l a d quip that another man, the father of Mary's child, should gather the fruit. Here a l s o Jesus commands the tree [42]:
. . . 'yow make the boun
& t o my moder here bow doun.'
The Middle English work most closely related to our ballad is, however, the cherry tree episode in the Ludus Coventriae[43] or 'Hegge Plays', a compilation of mystery plays written down in or about 1468 [44] in an East Midland dialect: the plays may have originated in Lincoln[45] or perhaps Norfolk[46]. As the banns attached to the plays do not correspond with the cycle of plays we have, it is thought that a group of plays on the life of the Virgin Mary, made in honour of St. Anne, has been written into a cycle of Corpus Christi plays which were already Marian in tone.
The cherry tree episode occurs on the journey to Bethlehem in the Birth of Christ (play XV) and is followed in the play by Joseph's encounter with the midwives. According to both canonicail and apocryphal gospel, Joseph's doubts about Mary's virginity have been allayed before the journey to Bethlehem: in the manuscript cycle of Ludus Coventriae, moreover, Joseph's doubts have been shown to be resolved in two earlier plays, Joseph's Return (X I I) and the Trial of Joseph and Mary (X I V), both usually adjudged, with the Birth of Christ, to have been part of the Corpus Christi cycle before the addition of the St. Anne plays[48]. Other reasons besides this thematic one suggest that the episode of the cherry tree is a later interpolation: it is not mentioned in the Proclamation of the Banns[49], it contains a type of 'tumbling verse ' considered a sign of late revision[50] and it has been marked with mid-line points, like the St. Anne plays, but unlike the rest of the Birth of Christ, Joseph's Return or the Trial of Joseph and Mary[51].
In my opinion, the cherry tree episode in Ludus Coventriae is based on an existing poem[52], probably the ur-ballad of the cherry tree, which, however, differed in some significant ways from Child 54. The poem must have been popular to have prompted the intrusion of such an awkward episode, not only inconsistent with what has gone before, but also briefly told and yet apparently, demanding the difficult stage property of a tree which first f l o w e r s and then bears c h e r r i e s. Ludus Coventriae, however, appears to have the use of complicated stage equipment[53]; a l t e r n a t i v e l y , it could be argued that the s p e c t a t o r s of such scenes were required to use their imagination[54].
The Birth of C h r i s t opens with a monologue by Joseph e x p l a i n i n g the Census o f St. Luke's gospel (II. 1 - 5). He then
announces to Mary that he must make the journey to Bethlehem[55]:
Now my wyff mary. what sey ye to this
For sekyr nedys I must fforth wende
On to the cyte of bedleem ffer hens i-wys
Thus to labore I must my body bende.
Mary: Myn husbond and my spowse with yow wyl I wende
A syght of t h a t cyte ffayn wolde I se
If I myght of myn Alye ony ther ffynde
It wolde be grett joye on to me.
Joseph's i n v i t a t i o n and Mary's w i l l i n g reply seem to be t r a d i t i o n a l by the fifteenth c e n t u r y , since s i m i l a r forms are found before the j o u r n e y to Bethlehem in both the ( t r u e) Coventry N a t i v i t y Play and the L i f e of St. Anne[56]. Moreover, it seems probable that a similar i n v i t a t i o n and r e p l y formed part of the ur-b a l l a d of the c h e r r y t r e e , since in two v a r i a n t s, from Scotland and I r e l a n d , Joseph announces to Mary that he will make a p i l g r i m a g e to Jerusalem[57]:
He made her a bed
O' the p i l l o w s and sheets;
Says, 'Lie doun, my Mary,'
And take a quiet sleep
For I'm going to Jerusalem
My sins to beweep.'
'I winna lie doun, Joseph,
For sleep I'll g e t nane,
It's I will go wi you
Wherever you gang.'
S c o t t i s h and Irish Gaelic ballads of the c h e r r y t r e e [58], adjudged by the I r i s h scholar Hugh Shields c e r t a i n l y to be d e r i v e d from the E n g l i s h Cherry Tree Carol [59], throw f u r t h er light on this i n v i t a t i o n . The S c o t t i s h Gaelic v e r s i o n (stanza 1) i n d i c a t e s that Joseph and Mary are t r a v e l l i n g to the Census. An Irish Gaelic version i n t r o d u c e s Joseph's pilgrimage after the miracle, to demonstrate Joseph's repentance[60]:
Then spake St. Joseph, and cast himself upon the ground, "Go home, O Mary, and lie upon thy couch until I go to Jerusalem, doing penance for my sin." Then spake the Virgin with utterance that was blessed, "I shall not go home, and I shall not lie upon my couch, but you have f o r g i v e n e s s to find from the King of the Graces for your sins."
It seems likely, then, that in the ur-ballad, as in Ludus Coventriae, the miracle of the bowing tree occurred on the j o u r n e y to Bethlehem, as is explicitly indicated by several of the present ballad v a r i a n t s . However, in most later v a r i a n t s the stanzas of Joseph's i n v i t a t i o n and Mary's reply dropped out. Where they remained, the Census was f o r g o t t e n, and the journey became a pilgrimage to Jerusalem; later, in some texts, the penitential p i l g r i m a g e was understood as part of Joseph's c o n t r i t i o n and hence placed after the miracle. Joseph's request that Mary lie down probably i n d i c a t e s his s o l i c i t u d e about her c o n d i t i o n, a trait he also e x h i b i t s in the Ludus Coventriae episode[62]:
My Spowse ye be with childe. I fere yow to kary
Ffor me semyth it were werkys wylde
but yow to plese ryght ffayn wold I
yitt women ben ethe to greve . whan thei be with childe.
In Ludus Coventriae it is Mary who notices the tree [63], which is bare at first. Joseph remarks that it is a cherry tree and that in due season she might eat her fill. Mary then announces that the tree has just burst into bloom. Joseph urges her to h u r r y, but Mary replies[64]:
Now my spowse I pray yow to be-hold
How the cheryes growyn vpon yon tre
Ffor to haue ther - of ryght ffayn I wold
and it plesyd yow to labore so mech for me.
Joseph at first tries to 'pluck' the cherries and then gives up[65]:
Your desyre to ffulfylle I xal Assay sek y r ly
Ow . to plucke yow of these cherries . it is a werk wylde
Ffor the tre i s so hygh . it wol not be lyghtly
Therfore lete hym pluk yow cheryes . begatt yow with childe.
The suddenness of Joseph's verbal attack on Mary supports my thesis that the playwright here is working into his speech a traditional rejoinder from the ur-ballad, a quip preserved almost unchanged in many later ballad variants[66].
It has appeared to some s c h o l a r s[67] that the c h e r r y tree in Ludus Coventriae bows at Mary's command. In fact, however, Mary f i r s t prays t o God and then comments t h a t the t r e e i s bowing t o h e r[68]:
Now good lord I pray the . graunt me this boun
t o haue. of these c h e r i e s and i t be your wylle
now I thank it god . t h i s t r e bowyth t o me doun
I may now gaderyn A-nowe . and etyn my fylle
The tree's bowing to Mary, and Mary's e a t i n g 'enough' is, as we have seen, a feature of the Middle E n g l i s h Childhood poems. Mary throughout the scene in Ludus Coventriae acts as a commentator on the tree's a c t i o n s, and her words here are almost a paraphrase from her own p o i n t of view of this section of the b a l l a d :
Then up speaks the little child in his own mother's womb
'Bow down, you sweet c h e r r y t r e e, and give my mother some.'
Then the top spray in the c h e r r y t r e e bowed down to her knee:
'And now you see, Joseph, there are c h e r r i e s for me.'
C.T.C. 12, s t a s. 4, 5.
Joseph's challenge demands that Jesus or God the F a t h e r perform the miracle d i r e c t l y in order to prove the P a t e r n i t y of the C h r i s t Child. Also, it would be d i f f i c u l t to portray on stage the Christ C h i l d speaking from Mary's womb. Joseph's words of c o n t r i t i o n, moreover, imply that he has just witnessed a d e m o n s t r a t i o n of the power of the Trinity[69]:
Ow . I know weyl I haue offendyd my god in trinyte
Spekyng t o my spowse these vnkynde wurdys
Ffor now I beleve wel it may non o t h e r be
but that my spowse beryght the kyngys son of blys
Joseph's r e f e r e n c e to his 'vnkynde wordys' suggests that the ur-ballad of the cherry tree contained the phrase 'words so unkind' which is preserved in so many later v a r i a n t s[70] :
Then Joseph spoke t o Mary
I n words so unkind
'Let him p l u c k thee c h e r r i e s , Mary,
Who brought thee with child.'
C.T.C. 6b sta. 6.
At an earlier stage still, Joseph may have spoken with words 'unmild'[71], since this would emend the rhyme. Joseph's acknowledgement that Mary is bearing God Himself occurs also in the S c o t t i s h Gaelic ballad of the c h e r r y tree[72]. Joseph's repentance in the English ballad is discussed below. In Ludus Coventriae, Mary thanks Joseph for his apology, and they proceed to Bethlehem.
Carr suggests that the episode of the bowing tree was first adapted as a Nativity story in Ludus Coventfiae and that both Child 54 and the Middle English romance of 'Sir Cleges' are derived from the play[73]. The two f i f t e e n t h century recensions of 'Sir Cleges', however, are thought to be d e rived from a common original of the late fourteenth or early fifteenth c e n t u r i e s[74], i.e. earlier than the c o m p i l a t i o n o f Ludus C o v e n t r i a e. Moreover, apart from the m o t i f of a cherry tree bearing fruit on Christmas Day, the romance story of the restoration of Sir Cleges' f o r t u n e s through his gift of the c h e r r i e s to the king resembles n e i t h e r Ludus Goventriae nor Child 54 very closely[75]. It is, of course, not i m p o s s i b l e that the composer of 'Sir Cleges' knew the ur-ballad of the c h e r r y tree, but C.G. Loomis shows that many much earlier saints' legends recount the mid-winter bearing of fruit[76].
Furthermore, it has already been demonstrated that C h i l d 54 contains motifs found in Pseudo-Matthew and the Middle English poems d e r i v e d from it, but not in Ludus Coventriae: these are mainly Jesus' direct command that the tree bow down, and the detail that the very top of the tree bows to Mary's knee. The present b a l l a d also preserves more clearly the fact that Mary suffers the 'pica' of pregnant women [77]:
O then bespake mary so meek and so mild,
'Pluck me a Cherry for I am with Child .'
C.T.C. 1a sta. 4.
Mary's announcement here is a more natural spur to Joseph's anger than her modest request in Ludus Coventriae. The most significant difference between Ludus Coventriae and Child 54 is that in the former the tree both blossoms and bears fruit as Mary looks at it. This may well have been a feature of the ur-ballad, since the tree in the later Childhood poem bears both flowers and fruit. However, the r e v i s e r of Ludus Coventriae might simply have utilized the common medieval t r a d i t i o n that on Christmas Night all created things, i n c l u d i n g plants, honoured C h r i s t. According to the Stanzaic Life of Christ preserved in f i f t e e n t h century manuscript, but probably compiled at Chester during the f o u r t e e n t h century[78], the vines of Engedi flowed with balm and bore f r u i t suddenly on Christmas Night [79]:
The thrid wonder h i t was tys
thay sprongen wer so sodeynly
ffor l a s then in an hour i-wys
thay b u r i o n ut & l e u e t a p e r t l y,
And beren fruyt eke also,
thus knew t h a t c r e a t u r God almyght
t h a t beyng & lif hade both two
b u t nouther f e l y n g , wit ne sight.
S i m i l a r l y the tree in Ludus Coventriae probably blooms and bears fruit not p r i m a r i l y to honour Mary's gaze, but to acknowledge the presence of its C r e a t o r in her womb, as Joseph, at first, would not.
The resemblances between C h i l d 54 and the episode in Ludus Conventriae are in general so strong that it is possible to
c o n j e c t u r e which features were part of the ur-b a l l a d from which both are d e r i v e d. Features found only in Ludus Coventriae are given in p a r e n t h e s i s; apparently archaic f e a t u r e s found only in The Cherry Tree Carol are u n d e r l i n e d :
(1) Joseph, an old man, m a r r i e d Mary in Galilee.
(2) Mary, his cousin, proved with child, but Joseph knew her not.
(3) Joseph announces that he is going on a journey
(to Bethlehem).
(4) Mary says that she will go with him.
(5) (a) They walk in an orchard,
(b) (They climb a hill .)
(6) Mary notices a c h e r r y tree:
(a) it already bears c h e r r i e s.
(b) (it is b a re, but first blooms, then bears c h e r r i e s as Mary looks at it .)
(7) Mary asks for c h e r r i e s.
(8) (Joseph at first tries to pick the c h e r r i e s . )
(9) Joseph uses unkind words: 'Let him p luck you cherries who got you with child.'
(10) In response to these words, Jesus speaks from the womb.
(11) Jesus commands the tree to bow down to h i s mother, so that she may gather the cherries.
(12) The h i g h e s t p a r t o f the t r e e bows t o Mary's knee, or hand.
(13) (Mary thanks God.)
(14) Mary eats 'enough'.
(15) Joseph is filled with c o n t r i t i o n:
(a) (he acknowledges his sin against God and confesses that the child in Mary's womb is God.)
(b) he begs Mary's pardon.
(16) (Mary acknowledges Joseph's apology and f o r g i v e s him.)
(17) The i d e n t i t y of Christ is announced by an angel.
(18) Mary and Joseph continue their journey to Bethlehem and Christ is born.
Apart from Ludus Coventriae, no Middle English work testifies unequivocally to a knowledge of the cherry tree ballad on the part of its author. Rosenberg, indeed, claims that Chaucer deliberately alluded to the c h e r r y tree story in 'The Merchant's Tale', by such details as the ages of January and May, their initials, the garden s e t t i n g , and May's a t t r i b u tion of her a p p e t i t e for fruit to pregnancy[80]. Most of these details, however, are adequately explained by other medieval works[81].
The Chester Shepherd's Play (VII) indicates the popularity of stories of the bowing tree in the middle ages, and perhaps
beyond: the Chester Plays are extant only in late sixteenth century manuscript, though they may represent their fourteenth century originals quite faithfully[82]. In the Shepherd's Play, the fourth boy presents the Christ C h i l d with a nut hook [83]:
Nowe, chyld, a l t h o u g h thou be commen from God
And bee t h y s e l f e God i n t h y manhoode,
y e t I know t h a t i n t h y chyldhood
thow w i l l f o r sweetemeat looke
To p u l l e down apples, payres, and ploomes,
o u l d Joseph s h a l l not need t o h u r t e h i s handes
because thow haste not p l e n t y e o f cromes
I give thee here my nuthooke.
In Ludus Coventriae, also, it is suggested that Joseph hurts himself whilst attempting to pick fruit[84].
In the Towneley 'Secunda Pastorum', written by the 'Wakefield Master' in the first half of the fifteenth century[85] , the f i r s t shepherd offers Jesus a "bob of cherys"[86]. This does not necessarily indicate, pace Carr [87], that the W a k e f i e l d Master knew the c h e r r y t r e e story. The c h e r r i e s might have been intended, like the other shepherds' gifts of a bird and a ball, simply to emphasise Christ's childhood[88): compare the quotation from the Chester p l a y above.
Cantelupe and Griffith argue from the evidence of paintings that cherries have been a Christian symbol from the seventh century, a s s o c i a t e d with the Blood of the C r u c i f i x i o n and the Wine of the E u c h a r i s t[89]. The cherries of Ludus Coventriae and Child 54, however, may not have much s i g n i f i c a n c e : in the Provencal b a l l a d , the f r u i t is an apple, and apples are mentioned with cherries in several variants of The Cherry Tree C arol [90]. The Middle English proverb , 'This world is but a cheri - f e i r e '[90], perhaps i m p l i es t h a t the cherry was thought d e l i c i o u s enough t o symbolise the f l e e ting joys of human life; if so, the V i r g i n 's longing for c h e r r i e s is p o i g n a n t l y human.
The most i m p o r t a n t alteration made to the story in Pseudo-Matthew by the ballad and Ludus Coventriae is, however, the retiming of the m i r a c l e so that it takes place before C h r i s t 's birth. The motive for this change was probably the enhancement o f C h r i s t 's power, for if C h r i s t was two years old on the Flight to Egypt, as some clerics thought[92], then Christ's power of speech itself would not be miraculous. A legend of Christ's talking in the cradle was c l e a r l y known e a r l y in Arabia, for it occurs both i n the Arabic Gospel of the Infancy [93](Chapter I ) and i n the Koran[94]. By the early f i f t e e n t h century the tradition of Luke's gospel (1.15,41) that John the Baptist leapt in his mother's womb had been a m p l i f i e d in England and Germany to suggest that he also talked [95]. Early t a l k i n g, both b e f o r e and after b i r t h, is a common f e a t u r e of medieval s a i n t s' legends [96]:
. . . the situation which is presented most frequently is that of false accusation of paternity. The infant in each instance reveals his true father.
C h r i st's command in The Cherry Tree Carol does in f a c t reveal His true paternity. The t r a n s f e r e n c e of the 'e a r l y talking t r a d i t i o n' to the b a l l a d was doubtless f o s t e r e d by the popular belief that Jesus was p e r f e c t Man, fully formed, from the moment of His c o n c e p t i on[97].
Before examining other motifs and episodes which make up The Cherry Tree Carol, it seems appropriate here briefly to d e s c r i b e the textual relationships between the ballad's many v a r i a n t s. The Cherry Tree Carol seems to have been preserved without important changes until the e i g h t e e n t h century, assuming that the final ballad episodes, of 'Joseph and the Angel' and the C h r i s t Child's prophecies, are not post-medieval additions. Most of the extant broadsides, none much older than about 1800[98], are based on an 'old London v e r s i o n,' probably of the second half of the e i g h t e e n t h century, which itself appears to be derived from oral t r a d i t i o n , since it is d i s o r d e r e d and corrupt. The 'old London version' is r e p r e s e n t e d by Pitts' broadside , XIV, printed without stanza d i v i s i o n s and including
an 'extra line' in Mary's request:
Then bespoke Mary with words b o t h meek and m i l d:
.'Gather me some c h e r r i e s , Joseph, they run so i n my mind;
'Gather me some c h e r r i e s , for I am with c h i l d .'
XIV, 'sta. 4'.
Later in this v e r s i o n , another 'extra line' is i n c l u d e d:
Then bespoke Jesus all in his mother's womb
'Go to the tree, Mary, and it shall bow down
'And the h i g h e s t branch shall bow down to Mary's knee.
And she shall gather c h e r r i es by one two or three.'
'Now you may see, Joseph, the c h e r r i e s were for me.'
XIV. 'stas. 6, 7'.
These 'extra lines' may well be remnants of lost stanzas of incremental r e p e t i t i o n . Two curious c o r r u p t i o n s occur later in this version: instead of the angel's d e c l a r a t i o n that Jesus was not c h r i s t e n e d in white wine nor red , we are told that
"He never did r e q u i r e white wine and red " ( s t a n z a 10.1);
instead of the C h r i s t C h i l d 's prophecy that He will be as dead as the stones in the wall, He announces to Mary:
'This world shall be like the stones in the s t r e e t
For the sun and t h e moon shall bow down at thy feet. '
XIV, 'sta. 13'.
Broadsides XIII and XVII are likewise v a r i a n t s of the 'old London v e r s i o n,' but contain the further c o r r u p t i o n , 'He never did r e q u i r e white wine and bread' (Stanza 10.1). This latter v e r s i o n was adopted by the Birmingham p r i n t e r Joseph R u s s e l l, but the ' e x t r a lines' caused him to d i v i d e the stanzas awkwardly:
As Joseph and Mary walked through the garden gay,
Where the c h e r r i e s they grew upon ev'ry tree
O then bespoke Mary w i t h words both meek and m i l d,
'Gather me some c h e r r i e s, Joseph, they run so i n my mind,
'Gather me some c h e r r i e s for I am with c h i l d .'
Then bespoke Joseph w i t h words most unkind,
'Let them gather thee c h e r r i e s who got thee w i t h c h i l d .'
Then bespoke Jesus a l l i n h i s mother's womb.
V I I stas. 2, 3.
Other Birmingham printers attempted to r e g u l a r i s e Russell's v e r s i o n. Bloomer, the printer of broadside V, merely switched Mary's lines of r e q u e s t so that 'mild' rhymed with ' c h i l d' and 'mind' with 'unkind'. Wright, in b r o a d s i d e IX, emends 'they run so in my mind' to "Gather me some c h e r r i e s , Joseph, they run so wild " (stanza 2.4). Broadsides I and V I are v i r t u a l l y identical: Cowper may have used Jackson's chapbook (VI) and merely made a few editorial a l t e r a t i o n s. In this v e r s i o n , the awkward stanzas have been rewritten to r e g u l a r i s e the rhyme:
As Joseph and Mary walked the garden gay.
Where cherries grew upon every spray,
0 then bespoke Mary, w i t h words so meek and m i l d ,
'Gather me some cherries , for I am with c h i l d.
'Gather me some c h e r r i e s , Joseph, they run so in my mind.'
Then bespoke Joseph w i t h words so unkind,
' I will not gather c h e r r i e s. ' Then said Mary, 'You shall see
By what shall happen, these cherries were for me.'
The London printers B a t c h e l a r, Catnach and Taylor (Broadsides XI, X I I and XV) solved the problem of the 'e x t ra
lines' by shortening the version represented by XIV and omitting the i n c i d e n t of the bowing tree completely. These v e r s i o n s thus c o n s i s t of four 'long - l i n e' stanzas, one d e s c r i b i n g Joseph's marriage and Mary's pregnancy, two more Joseph's encounter with the angel, and the final one the C h r i s t C h i l d ' s prophecy that the w o r l d will be l i k e the stones in the s t r e e t.
Hone, w r i t i n g in 1823, admitted that he was presenting his own v e r s i o n made up from several broadsides. His v e r s i o n (II) appears to be based on t h e 'o l d London v e r s i o n ' with several a d d i t i o n a l stanzas, inc luding two from the C h r i s t Child's prophecy of His R e s u r r e c t i o n. Broadside X, printed at Gravesend c. 1846, is virtually i d e n t i c a l with Hone's v e r s i o n.
A broadside version independent o f the 'old London v e r s i o n' appears, however, to have been known in t h e West Midlands during the late e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y and may be represented by the v e r s i o n printed by Husk in 1868 (III), for which he gives no source. This has a d i f f e r e n t account o f the bowing t r e e:
O then bespoke our Saviour
All in His mother's womb,
'Bow down, good c h e r r y - t r e e.
To my mother's hand.'
The uppermost sprig
Bowed down t o Mary's knee,
'Thus you may see, Joseph,
These cherries are for me.'
'O eat y o u r c h e r r i e s , Mary,
0 eat y o u r c h e r r i e s now,
0 eat y o u r c h e r r i e s , Mary
That grow upon the bough.'
III stas. 6-8.
The v e r s i o n also has the 'correct' form of the christening stanza from the episode of 'Joseph and the angel,' and a full
and correct v e r s i o n of the Christ Child's prophecies:
Then Mary took her young Son
And set him on her knee:
'I pray thee, now, dear child,
Tell how this world shall be?'
'O, I shall be as dead. Mother,
As the stones in the wall;
0 the stones in the street, mother.
Shall mourn for me all.'
III stas. 14, 15.
Three stanzas concerning the Crucifixion and the R e s u r r e c t i o n follow, o f which two are found also in II and X.
The Birmingham printing family of Wood, which began work in the late eighteenth c e n t u r y, printed a corrupt variant of the 'independent West Midland version' (V I I I) in which the episode of 'Joseph and the angel' is omitted, but two stanzas from it are kept and appear to be u t t e r e d by the C h r i s t Child Himself (see VIII stanzas 10 and 11). A version like Wood's was o b v i o u s l y the basis of Swindells' Manchester broadside, XVI,
which has b o w d l e r i s e d Mary and Joseph's c o n v e r s a t i o n so that it is the born C h r i s t C h i l d who performs the m i r a c l e:
As Joseph and Mary walk'd thro' a garden green
The c h e r r i e s hung h e a v i l y upon every limb
O then bespoke Mary, so meek and so mild,
'O gather me c h e r r i e s, Joseph, to give to my c h i l d.'
O then replied Joseph in words so unkind,
'I'll not g a t h e r thee c h e r r i e s to give to thy c h i l d.'
O then bespoke our Saviour, all on his mother's knee,
'Unto my mother's hand, bow down sweet c h e r r y tree.'
XVI stas. 2, 3.
English t r a d i t i o n a l versions 3 and 23 contain a similar form of Mary's request and Joseph's reply (see stanzas 3 and 4) , and are probably derived from the independent West Midland version but have been adapted i n s e v e r a l ways, perhaps even before the n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y since they contain some t r a d i t i o n a l (though not always 'original') f e a t u r e s: in texts 3 and 23 it is Mary who notices the cherries and performs the miracle, the episode of 'Joseph and the angel' is r e t a i n e d and the water in which Jesus is c h r i s t e n e d is 'fresh sprung from Bethine' (3 stanza 12.4, 23 stanza 11.4). Bramley and Stainer's version (3) appears to be the source from which some t w e n t i e t h century American versions (60 and 62) are derived.
The o l d e s t and best traditional v a r i a n t s come from Cornwall. The oldest text of The Cherry Tree Carol, 1a. dated 1767, was part of a village c a r o l singing tradition in the deanery of Burian. This c o n t a i n s (at stanza 10) the 'correct' version of Christ's prophecy of the 'stones in the wall,' and also two old stanzas on Joseph and Mary's walk through a garden:
Joseph and Mary walk'd through the orchards Good
Where was Cherrys and b e r r y s as Red as the blood
Joseph and Mary walk'd through the orchards Green
Where was Cherrys and berrys as good as might be seen.
1a stas. 2, 3.
A later Cornish version, 6b, preserves the second of these stanzas and other old features, but in other respects resembles the 'independent West Midland version' in that stanzas from 'Joseph and the angel' are spoken by the C h r i s t C h i l d Himself (see 6b stanzas 11 and 12).
It was probably a lost E n g l i s h version which was transmitted to the Southern Appalachians during the late e i g h t e e n t h or early nineteenth c e n t u r i e s and there adapted. The v e r s i o n was t r a n s mi t t e d from England to Scotland and Ireland at about the same date. This hypothesis best e x p l a i n s the marked similarities between E n g l i s h variants sung by gypsies, Scottish and Irish v e r s i o n s, and the 'standard American v e r s i o n': Joseph is often a young man who 'courts' the Virgin[99]; Mary and Joseph walk .through a garden green where apples and cherries are to be seen (see note 90); Joseph speaks not of him 'who got Mary with child' but of 'the father of her child'[100]; the Cherry tree bows 'low to the ground'[101]; Jesus is sometimes called 'Our Saviour'[102] . Apparently an Irish f e a t u r e is that Mary gathers the c h e r r i e s in her apron[103]. The ending of the 'standard American version,' in which the unborn Christ Child prophesies His birth accompanied by apocalyptic signs, is probably an amalgamation of the two b a l l a d sequels to the c h e r r y tree miracle, 'Joseph and the angel' and the stanzas in which the born Christ C h i l d prophesies His own death. 'Misplaced angel stanzas' occur in some English, S c o t t i s h and Irish v a r i a n t s (see notes 11 and 12), whilst in I r i s h and S c o t t i s h variants (see below) the C h r i s t Child describes the a p o c a l y p t i c signs which accompanied the Crucifixion.
Bronson's analysis of the b a l l a d melodies at least does not c o n t r a d i c t my theory of t r a n s m i s s i o n[104]: twenty-f i v e of Bronson's thirty-t w o tunes belong to a c e n t r a l melodic group, A: group A.a, containing ten tunes, is E n g l i s h and Irish, group A.d, c o n t a i n i n g nine tunes, is connected with the South Appalachians.
Three E n g l i s h variants have been contaminated by other carols, v a r i a n t 2 by the carol of 'Joseph and Mary'[105], and
variants 17 and 18 by 'The H o l l y and the Ivy'[106].
Much in the b a l l a d besides the c h e r r y tree miracle derives from pre-Reformation tradition. The first line of most variants r e l a t e s that Joseph was old when he married Mary: this idea, found in the Protevangelium (IX.2) and Pseudo-Matthew (VIII) is usual in Middle English literature. Joseph's old age obviously s t r e n g t h e n e d the Catholic d o c t r i n e of Mary's perpetual v i r g i n i t y[107] and the tradition is p r e s e r v e d also in other Christmas carols [108]. The second stanza of The Cherry Tree Carol is best p r e s e r v e d in Cornish text 6b:
And when he had a-wedded her.
And at home had her brought,
Mary proved with child
But Joseph knew her not.
The stanza i s p r o b a b l y based on Matthew's gospel (1.24,25); other v e r s i o n s render the last l i n e "By whom Joseph knew n o t"[109] or "And Joseph knew it not"[110]. The l a s t word in this l i n e was probably o r i g i n a l l y 'noght', the emphatic Middle E n g l i s h negative which became obsolete by the seventeenth century[111], since this would give the stanza p e r f e c t rhyme. The stanza may in fact be adapted from a medieval commonplace, since in the late f o u r t e e n t h century romance of 'Sir Launfal' Arthur's marriage to Guinevere is d e s c r i b e d thus [112]:
So he dede & hom her brought
But Syr Launfal lykede her noght.
The 'old London version' of our ballad asserted at this point that Mary was Joseph's 'cousin'[113], an ancient t r a d i t i o n: Catholic g e n e a l o g i s t s claimed that both Mary' and Joseph were descended from the house of David[114] and according to the Legenda Aurea, Joseph was the b r o t h e r o f Cleophas, St. Anne's second h u s b a n d [115].
The story of Joseph's doubts of Mary's virginity occurs in Matthew's gospel (1.19-25) and is developed in Pseudo-Matthew
X I , where, a f t e r being reassured by an angel, Joseph apologises to Mary:
... and he was comforted concerning Mary, saying,
I have sinned i n t h a t I had some s u s p i c i o n o f thee.
Later, when Joseph and Mary have been proved innocent by the trial of the 'water of j e a l o u s y', the people apologise, kissing Mary's f e e t and embracing her knees[117]. In the English mystery cycles also, Joseph repents and is f o r g i v e n a f t e r the advent of the angel[118]; in p lay XII of Ludus Coventriae, he offers to kiss Mary's f e e t but is freely f o r g i v e n [119]:
(Joseph:) A mercy, mercy my j e n t y l make
mercy I haue seyd a l Amys
All that I haue seyd here I forsake
Your swete fete now lete me kys.
(Mary:) Nay lett be my fete not tho ye take
my mowthe ye may kys i-wys
and welcom on to me.
As we have seen, Joseph's repentance was probably a f e a t u r e of the ur-ballad, since it occurs also in the cherry t r e e episode in Ludus Coventriae; it survives in several E n g l i s h variants[120]:
O then bespake Joseph,
'I have done Mary wrong
But cheer up my dearest
And be not c a s t down.'
1b sta. 8.
Then the c h e r r y tree it bended and the c h e r r y tree it broke
And Joseph regretted the words he had spoke.
7 s t a. 6.
In s e v e r a l texts, Joseph's repentance has been replaced by a stanza in which he urges Mary to eat her cherries[121]. Mary's f o r g i v e n e s s , however, is not p r e s e r v e d in any E n g l i s h variant[122], unless 'Cheer up, my dearest' r e f l e c t s words o r i g i n a l l y spoken by Mary to Joseph. In the Southern Appalachian version, Joseph a p o l o g i s e s with Mary s i t t i n g on his knee[123]:
Then Joseph took Mary
A l l on his r i g h t knee.
He c r i e d , 'O Lord have mercy
For what I have done.'
31 sta. 7.
This stanza, though i n f l u e n c e d by the later ballad episode of Mary taking the Christ Child on her knee, may be derived from 'an older stanza' in which Joseph fell upon his knee to ask Mary for 'mercy', as in Ludus Coventriae play XII. According to Renwick[124], a man taking his sweetheart or wife upon his knee to ask for an explanation is an American ballad commonplace.
Both of the b a l l a d sequels to the cherry t r e e miracle, 'Joseph and the angel' and the C h r i s t Child's prophecies,
use t r a d i t i o n a l language and ideas and may well have been part of the ur-ballad. The angel's description of Christ's birth
may have been suggested, as Child notes, by the announcement of the angels to the shepherds in Luke's gospel[125]. Christ's
p o v e rty was a f a v o u r i t e theme of M i d d l e English c a r o ls[126].
In The Cherry Tree C a r o l , as in The Carnal and the Crane (Child 55, stanzas 3, 6 and 7) Christ's poverty is d e s c r i b e d by c o n t r a s t with the riches he lacked, a method perhaps popularised by a passage in the Legenda Aurea[127]:
O palace c e l e s t i a l in which thou d w e l l e s t, n o t
as King a d o r n e d with p r e c i o u s stones, b u t i n - c o r p o r a t e.
To whom, f o r a s oft bed was d u r e s s e and. h a r d c r i b , f o r
c u r t a i n s o f g o l d and s i l k , t h e fume and s t e n c h o f dung,
b u t t h e s t a r o f heaven was c l e a r l y e m b e l l i s h e d ... 0 ye
k i n g s , what do ye? Ye w o r s h i p t h e c h i l d i n a l i t t l e
f o u l house wrapped i n f o u l c l o u t s . I s he t h e n n o t God?
Ye o f f e r t o h i m g o l d , and w h e r e o f i s he K i n g , and where
i s h i s r o y a l h a l l ? Where i s h i s t h r o n e ? Where i s h i s
c o u r t r o y a l f r e q u e n t e d and used w i t h n o b l e s ? The s t a b l e
i s t h a t n o t h i s h a l l ? And h i s t h r o n e t h e r a c k o r c r i b?
They t h a t f r e q u e n t t h i s c o u r t i s i t n o t Joseph and Mary?
The angel d e s c r i b e s Christ's l o d g i n g to Joseph thus [128]:
He n e i t h e r shall be born
In house nor in hall
Nor i n the place of P a r a d i se
But in an ox - s t a l l .
3 sta. 9.
Christ's being b o r n in an 'ox- stall' is a commonplace of medieval carols[129]. 'House nor hall' is a medieval tag phrase[130]. 'Place' here probably has the meaning of 'seat, mansion, palace', first r e c o r d e d about 1349 but s u r v i v i n g to the p r e s e n t day[131]. The angel describes C h r i s t ' s clothing t h u s:
He neither shall be clothed
In purple nor in pall,
But all in fair linen,
As were babies all.
III. sta. 11
The tag phrase 'p u r p l e and pall' is r e c o r d e d from the t h i r t e e n t h century and is commonplace in t r a d i t i o n a l b a l l a d r y 132. Christ's c r a d l i n g is also d e s c r i b e d:
He n e i t h e r shall be r o c k ed
I n silver n o r in gold ,
B u t in a wooden c r a d le
T h a t rocks on t h e m o u l d.
III s t a . 12.
The last word here was Middle E n g l i s h 'mold' meaning 'earth', last used (except as a d e l i b e r a t e archaism) in the early s e v e n t e enth c e n t u ry [134]. These stanzas are w e l l- p r e s e r v e d , but the christening stanza has undergone some d e g e n e r a t i o n. The u s u a l form is:
He n e i t h e r s h a l l be c h r i s t e n e d
I n w h i t e wine n o r r ed
B u t w i t h f a i r s p r i n g w a t er
W i t h which we were c h r i s t e n e d .
III sta. 13.
The l a s t line of this s t a n z a is awkward and c o n s e q u e n t l y the rhyme scheme in some v a r i a n t s has been a l t e r e d:
He n e i t h e r s h a l l be c h r i s t e n e d
I n m i l k nor i n w i ne
B u t in pure s p r i n g - w e l l w a t er
F r e s h sprung f r o m B e t h i n e.
3 s t a . 12; c f . 23 s t a . 1 1 .
This c h i l d was not baptized
Wi brandy nor w i ne
I n a bowl o c l e a n w a t er
And h i s name was d i v i n e.
25 s t a . 12; c f . 26 s t a . 10.
By a n a l o g y with this s t a n z a the clothing s t a n z a in some variants has also been r e m o d e l l e d[135]:
T h i s babe was n o t dress-ed
I n s i l k n o r i n t w i n e
B u t a piece of fine l i n en
Was h i s mother's d e s i g n.
26 s t a . 9.
In the older v e r s i o n s of The C h e r r y Tree Carol, the Christ C h i l d , now born and sitting on his m o t h e r ' s knee, prophesies His death. This was a common feature of m e d i e v al lullaby carols[136], no doubt i n s p i r e d, as Child s u g g e s t s , by Christ's foreknowledge of His death in the gospels. This final ballad episode originally c o n t a i n e d up to six s t a n z a s. First, Mary sets her Son on her knee and asks Him how the world will be [138]. Jesus r e p l i e s that He will be as dead as t h e s t o n e s i n
t h e w a l l[139] ('dead as a s t o n e ' was a common s i m i l e i n M i d d le
E n g l i s h poetry[140]) ; He adds t h a t t h e s t o n e s i n t h e s t r e e t w i l l
mourn f o r Him, a m o t i f d o u b t l e s s d e r i v e d f r o m Luke's g o s p el
( X I X . 4 0 ).
The C h r i s t Child then p r o p h e s i e s that He will s u f f e r on Wednesday (the day on w h i c h He was b e t r a y e d ) and F r i d a y[141] :
'And upon a Wednesday
. My vow I w i l l make
And upon Good F r i d ay
My d e a t h I w i l l t a k e .'
III s t a . 16.
Much s i g n i f i c a n c e was attached to the days of the week in medieval religious l i t e r a t u r e[142]. A c c o r d i n g to the S o u t h English Legendary[143]:
Wei weste oure Louerd b i u o r e is deth. a l t h a t was to done
O r d e i n i he w o l d e a l i s dede . b i t h e c o u r s of sonne & mone
In t h e h e i u o l he wolde d e i e . and that it F r i d a y were
O r i g i n a l l y the b a l l a d seems t o have contained a d e s c r i p t i on of the darkness and the e a r t h q u a k e which a c c o r d i n g to the g o s p e l s accompanied the C r u c i f i x i o n[144]. This ballad d e s c r i p t i on of the C r u c i f i x i o n seems also to have i n c l u d e d some of the signs p r o p h e s i e d by C h r i s t for His Second Coming[145]: the d a r k n e s s of sun and moon, the f a l l i n g of the stars, lightning, the shaking of the powers of h e a v e n . The d e t a i l s are p r e s e r v e d most clearly in the I r i s h - Gaelic b a l l a d[146]:
T h e r e shall come t h u n d e r and l i g h t n i n g , g r e a t w i nd
and r a i n , t h a t s h a l l t a k e t h e l i g h t from t h e s t a r s ,
f r o m t h e s u n and f r o m t h e moon.
However, one S c o t t i s h and two A m e r i c a n versions of The Cherry Tree C a r o l also preserve a p o c a l y p t i c signs at the Crucifixion :
All on that same F r i day when all things are c l e a r
The e a r t h it shall be darkened and the sun d i s r e a p p e a r.
36 sta . 7; c f . 25 s t a . 14.
All on some solemn F r i d a y his death day it w i l l be.
When the h i l l s and the m o u n t a i n s will quake around me.
56 sta. 9.
The death p r o p h e c i e s were f o l l o w e d by two stanzas descriptive of the R e s u r r e c t i o n. The d a r k n e s s of the C r u c i f i x i o n would cease [147]:
'Upon E a s t e r - d a y , Mother,
My r i s i n g s h a l l be;
0, t h e s u n arid the moon
S h a l l u p r i s e with me.'
III s t a . 17.
According to a p o p u l a r English folk belief, the sun and the moon could be seen to dance early on Easter m o r n i n g[148]. A nineteenth century b r o a d s i d e version of a f i f t e e n t h century carol r e l a t e s that the stars too h o n o u r e d C h r i s t ' s R e s u r r e c t i o n:
On E a s t e r Sunday so b r i g h t ,
A g l o r i o u s s t a r gave l i g h t.
Our S a v i o u r rose f r o m death to l i f e ,
Sweet Jesus i s h i s name.
Greene no. 142 Bsta. 7.
The final s t a n z a of the born C h r i s t Child's p r o p h e c i e s, describing g e n e r a l rejoicing, may allude to a popular belief such as the C o r n i s h l e g e n d that the robin, a f r i e n d of the C h r i s t Child, pulled a thorn from Jesus' head as He made H i s way to the C r o s s, and later joined in the a n g e l s ' chorus of joy at C h r i s t ' s R e s u r r e c t i on[ 149]
'The people s h a l l r e j o i ce
And t h e b i r d s s h a l l s i ng
To see t h e u p - r i s i n g
Of o u r H e a v e n l y K i n g .'
VIII s t a . 14.
In the 'standard A m e r i c a n version', the u s u a l prophetic e p i s o d e s have been a d a p t e d. Joseph asks the C h i l d in Mary's womb t o p r o p h e s y His own b i r t h. The C h r i s t C h i l d foretells that He will be born with a p o c a l y p t i c s i g n s on Old Ch r i s t m a s Day:
'The very first Sunday
On Old C h r i s t m a s Day
When t h e r o c k s and t h e m o u n t a i ns
Are b e n d i n g down to me,
When the stars in the e l e m e n ts
Are s h i n i n g so free.'
30 sta . 8.
'On t h e f i f th day of January
My b i r t h d a y will be '
When the s t a r s and the e l e m e n ts
Doth tremble with f e ar.'
31 s t a . 9.
'Old Christmas Day' was created by the Gregorian Calendar Reform in September 1756, when ten days were dropped from
the calendar. Since then some country people in England and America have tenaciously celebrated Christmas on the old day[150], which fell on 5 January between 1752 and 1799, and 6 January after 1800, when yet another day was lost from the official calendar[151]. The most common dates in the South Appalachian variants are 5 January[152] and 6 January [153], which suggests that the South Appalachian ending was first composed in the late eighteenth century, revised in the nineteenth century, and then left unchanged, since no variant records the date of Old Christmas in the twentieth century, 7 January. It is
impossible to tell whether the South Appalachian ending, found only on American soil, was originally made in America or in
England. Clearly the adaptation was made in order to give divine authority to the celebration of Old Christmas.
D e s p i t e i t s d i d a c t i c i s m and e p i s o d i c s t r u c t u r e , The
C h e r r y Tree C a r o l i s p l a i n l y a t r a d i t i o n a l b a l l a d . I t s m e t r i c a l
and m e l o d i c p a t t e r n , o f ' d a c t y l i c o r h y p e r s y l l a b i c c o u p l e t s'
a l l i e s it w i t h t r a d i t i o n a l b a l l a d s such as Lamkin ( C h i l d 93)
and The D e a t h o f Queen Jane ( C h i l d 170)[154]. The poem also uses
b a l l a d commonplaces, such as ' t h e n bespoke', a f o r m u l a o f t en
u s e d t o i n t r o d u c e speech i n t r a d i t i o n a l ballads'[155]. The motifs of the C h r i s t C h i l d ' s response to a challenge[156] and His
p r o p h e tic u t t e r a n c e s on H i s m o t h e r ' s knee[157] are also p a r a l l e l ed
i n s e c u l a r b a l l a d r y .
The r a m b l i n g s t r u c t u r e and c o r r u p t p h r a s e s o f many v a r i a n t s,
p a r t i c u l a r l y the A m e r i c a n , are l u d i c r o u s r a t h e r t h a n moving.
N e v e r t h e l e s s , i n i t s c o m p l e t e f o r m ( e . g . b r o a d s i d e I I I ) , The
C h e r r y Tree C a r o l i s p o w e r f u l , b e a u t i f u l and, f o r t h e C h r i s t i a n,
i n s t r u c t i v e . The e x q u i s i t e w i t o f t h e c h e r r y t r e e m i r a c l e g i v es
p l a c e t o t h e j o y f u l a n g e l i c d e s c r i p t i o n o f C h r i s t ' s h u m i l i ty
i n t h e I n c a r n a t i o n . The f u l l meaning o f t h e I n c a r n a t i o n i s t h en
c o n v e y e d by t h e C h r i s t C h i l d ' s solemn and p a t h e t i c p r o p h e c i es
o f H i s C r u c i f i x i o n , b u t t h e b a l l a d ends w i t h hope, i n t h e g l o r y
of Ch r i s t ' s R e s u r r e c t i o n.
NOTES TO CHAPTER FOUR
1. Tischendorf, Evangelia Apocrypha, pp.51-112; a l l English quotations
from.Pseudo-Matthew i n t h i s thesis are taken from the t r a n s l a t i o n of
Cowper, Apoc. Gospels, pp.29-83.
2. Hennecke and Schneemelcher, N. T. Apoc., p.406; James, Apoc. N. T., p.70;
on the Protevangelium, see above, Chapter Three, note 79.
3. Cowper, Apoc. Gospels, p.60.
^- C.T.C. 3 s t a . 2 ( E n g l i s h ) ; cf_. also English texts 4 sta. 3 and 23 s t a . 2;
S c o t t i s h 25 s t a . 4; American 56, 57 and 59, f i r s t stanzas; 60 and 62,
second stanzas.
5. A feature of the English broadsides: see s t a s . 4.1 o f V, V I I and IX;
stas. 4.2 o f I , V I ; stas. 6.3-4 o f I I , X; stas. 6.2 o f X I I I , XIV,
X V I I ; and IV s t a s . 5, 6; also American C.T.C. 44 s t a . 5.3-4.
6. See also C.T.C. English texts I I I s t a . 6; V I I I sta. 6; m sta. 3.3-4;
2 s t a . 3.1-2; 6 s t a . 7; 7 s t a . 5; 8 s t a . 5; 12 s t a . 4; 14 s t a . 5;
21 sta. 1; I r i s h 26 s t a . 5; 27 s t a . 6; 28 s t a . 5; American 30, 32, 34,
40 ( f i f t h stanzas); 37, 39 and 47 ( f o u r t h stanzas); also 38 s t a . 2.
7. See the f i f t h stanzas of English C.T.C. nos. 3 and 23 and American 60
and 62; also S c o t t i s h 24 s t a . 4.
8. American 31 and 33 s t a . 5; 46 s t a . 6.
9. Scottish C.T.C. 25 s t a . 7.
10. The 'Joseph and angel' stanzas occur i n broadsides I ^ , V, V I , V I I and IX,
stas. 5 and 6; I I , X. stas. 10-14; I I I , IV, stas. 9-13; XI, X I I , XV,
stas. 2, 3; X I I I , XIV, XVII, stas. 8-11; also i n English 3 and 23,
stas. 8-11; American 46 stas. 7-9; 60 stas. 7-8; 62 stas. 7-11.
The stanzas sometimes form an independent song, e.g. C.T.C. nos. 5, 19
and 22., but these are included i n Appendix A since the 'Joseph and angel'
stanzas have formed an episode i n The Cherry Tree Carol f o r a t l e a st
200 years, perhaps longer, pace Bronson, Trad. Tunes, I I , p.14, note
on 54 no. 32.
11. C.T.C. nos. 4 stas. 8, 9; 8 stas. 7-9; 14 stas. 8-10 ( a l l English
gypsy v a r i a n t s ) ; Scottish 25 stas. 10-12; I r i s h 26 stas. 9, 10 and
12.
27 stas. 8-10; American 61b stas. 1-4.
English V I I I stas. 10, 11; XVI s t a s . 5.3-4 and 6.1-2; 6b stas. 11, 12.
13. English gypsy 4 s t a . 7; Scottish 25 s t a . 9; I r i s h 26 stas. 7, 8;
American 51 stas. 3, 4.
14. English 3 and 23, stas. 13 and .14; American 60'stas. 9, 10.
15. For a l i s t of these, see E.S.P.B., I I , pp.1-2, 509; V p.220.
16. A M i l l i e n , L l t t g r a t u r e Orale e t T r a d i t i o n s de Nivernais: Chants e t
Chansons, v o l . 1 , Paris, 1906, p.9; D. Arbaud, Chants Populaires de l a
Provenge, 2 v o l s , Aix, 1862-1864, r e p r i n t e d Marseilles, 1971, I , pp.23-25.
17. Bealoideas (Folklore of I r e l a n d Society Journal), XXI (1951-1952), pp.5-6, 282 and 304, no.lb.
18. C. Horstmann, ed., Altenglische Legenden, Heilbronn, 1875, pp. 3-61; the incident of the bowing tree occurs on pp.5-9, l i n e s 89-208 o f the poem; see also J. Burke Severs and A.E. Hartung, ed., A Manual of the Writings in Middle English, 1050-1500; by Members of the Middle English Group of the Modern Language Association o f America, 5 vols., New Haven,
1967-1975, II , pp. 413, 447.
19. G. H. Gerould, 'The Ballad of the Bitter Withy', P.M.L.A., XXIII (1908), pp.141-167, on pp.156-157.
20. The poem i t s e l f does not specify the type of f r u i t , but a prose heading says t h a t the tree is one "that bar apples and other fruyt ": Horstmann, Altenglische Legenden, 1875, p. 5, before l i n e 89.
21. I b i d . , p.6, l i n e s 116-120.
22. I b i d . , p.6, l i n e s 123-126.
23. Most f r e q u e n t l y Mary gathers cherries, 'by one, two and three', admittedly a ballad commonplace (see above, Chapter Three, note 78); e.g. English 4 sta. 6.3-4; 14 sta. 6.2; Scottish 24 sta. 4.3-4; American 44 sta. 7.1-2. In other C.T.C. v a r i a n t s , Joseph urges Mary, '0 eat your cherries, Mary': e.g. I l l sta. 8 and 3 and 23 s t a . 7.
24. Ludus Coventriae, XV, l i n e 36 (p.136); CTC. IX, s t a . 2.4 (t h i s broadside, however, is derived from the 'older London version', represented by XIII, XIV and XVII.
25. Cursor Mundi, I I , pp.668-673, l i n e s 11657 - 11729.
26. I b i d . , p.670, l i n e s 11683 - 11687.
27. Pseudo-Matthew XX (Tischendorf, Evangelia Apocrypha, p..88): "... et confestim ad hanc vocem incl i na v i t palma cacumen suum usque ad plantas Mariae ..,". Curiously and perhaps c o i n c i d e n t a l l y , the tree bows to Mary's hand and lap ('gremium') i n two popular European accounts in Latin of Jesus' Childhood, probably of the t h i r t e e n t h century: see
A. V o g t l i n , ed.. V i t a Beate V i r g i n i s Marie et Salvatoris Rhythmica ( B i b l i o t h e k Des L i t t e r a r i s c h e n Vereins i n S t u t t g a r t , CLXXX), Tubingen, 1888, p.79, l i n e s 2208 - 2211; 0. Schade, ed., Narrationes de V i t a et
Conversatione Beate Mariae V i r g i n i s et de P u e r i tia et Adolescentia S a l v a t o r i s ex codice Gissensi, Halis Saxonum Regimontum, 1870, pp.16-17, chapter XXIV.
28. C.T.C. nos. I l l and V I I I , sta. 7.1; }(VI, sta. 4.1; 3 sta. 6.1; 62 sta. 6.1; references to the highest part of the tree occur also in I and VI, s t a . 4.3; I I and X. s t a . 7.3; IV', s t a . 5.3; V, V I I , IX,
s t a . 4.2; X I I I , XIV, XVII, sta. 7.1; la and b, and 27, sta. 7.1; 4, 14,
23, 28 and 53, s t a . 6.1; 12 s t a . 5.1; 15, s t a . 5.3; 30, sta. 6.4;
37, sta. 5.2; 56, s t a . 4.2 and 66, sta. 7.4. The d e t a i l i s not usually
preserved i n the South Appalachian t e x t s.
29. Cursor Mundi, I I , p.670, l i n e 11695.
30. An "orchard" i s mentioned i n C.T.C.IV, s t a . 3.2; la, sta. 2.2; l b , . s t a . 3.2; 15, s t a . 2.2; 39 sta. 1.2. The word 'garden' is much more common: e.g. C.T.C. I and V I , s t a . 2.1; V I I I , sta. 3.2; 4, s t a . 3.2 ('garden school', a corruption of 'garden good') and see below. Appendix A, features E, E l and E2.
31. See the opening stanzas of Child 42A, 50, 69A, 195A and c f . 53D sta. 26; 78A sta. 6; 175 sta. 4; 229A sta, 3.
32. The redactions i n B r i t . Mus. Harleian MS. 2399 and B r i t . Mus. Harl.MS.395^
(a shorter v e r s i o n ) , both from the North Midlands, are p r i n t e d by
C. Horstmann, Sammlung A l t e n g l i s c h e r Legenden, I s t ed., Heilbronn, 1878,
r e p r i n t e d Hildesheim and New York, 1969, on pp.111-123 and 101-110;
the Northern version i n B r i t . Mus. Addit. MS. 31,042, used f o r most
references i n t h i s t h e s i s , i s p r i n t e d by Horstmann, Archiv, LXXIV,
pp.327-339; on the date and d i a l e c t of the poems, see Severs and
Hartung, Manual, I I , p.447; Gerould, P.M.L.A.. X X I I I , pp.157-158,
however, dated Harl. MS. 3954 as of the fourteenth century, though he
considered MS. Addit. 31,042 as closest to the o r i g i n a l poem.
33. Lines 65-121 o f Addit. MS. 31,042: Horstmann, Archiv, LXXIV, p.328;
l i n e s 65-112 of MS. Harl. 2399 and l i n e s 65-108 of MS. Harl. 3954:
Horstmann, Sammlung A l t e n g l i s c h e r Legenden, pp.112-113 and p.102.
34. Horstmann, Archiv, LXXIV, p.328, l i n e s 73-74.
35. I b i d . , p.328, l i n e s 81-84.
36. I b i d . , p.328, l i n e 80.
37. I b i d . , p.328, l i n e 85.
38. I b i d . , p.328, l i n e s 101-102; Horstmann, Altenglische Legenden, 1875,
p.6, l i n e s 127-132.
39. (Anne:) The Middle English Stanzaic Versions of the L i f e of St. Anne,
ed. Roscoe E. Parker (E.E.T.S., O.S. 174), London, 1928, (MS. University
of Minnesota Z.822, N.81), pp.88-89, l i n e s 3415-3422; the d i a l e c t of
the poem (see p . x i i ) i s generally Northern, with many Midland and a few
Southern forms.
40. I b i d . , pp.39-40, l i n e s 1489-1548.
41. I b i d . , p.39, l i n e s 1504-1506; cf. Horstmann, Archiv, LXXIV, p.328,
l i n e s 75-76.
42. Life of St. Anne (Minnesota MS), p.40, l i n e s 1519-1520.
43. Ludus Coventriae, play XV, l i n e s 9-55, pp.136-137.
44. Most of the manuscript i s w r i t t e n i n a hand of the t h i r d quarter of
the f i f t e e n t h century; the date 1468 i s w r i t t e n at the close of the
P u r i f i c a t i o n Play ( f o l i o 100 verso), but t h i s play i s an i n t e r p o l a t i o n:
see Block, Ludus Coventriae, p. xv. The date of 1468 i s , however,
accepted as a probable one f o r the copying of the other plays too by
H. Craig, English Religious Drama of the Middle Ages, Oxford•1955, p.242.
45. I b i d . , pp.265-280: Craig uses evidence concerning the prominent cult of St. Anne in Lincoln.
46. M. Eccles, 'Ludus Coventriae: Lincoln or Norfolk?' i n Medium Aevum, XI (1971), pp.135-141.
47. The St. Anne plays are: The Conception of Mary. (V I I I ) ; Mary in the Temple (I X ) ; The Betrothal of Mary (X);. The Salutation and Conception (XI) and The Visit to Elizabeth (X I I I) ; see Block, Ludus Coventriae, pp. xx-xxv, xxx and Craig, English Relig. Drama, pp. 246, 249-250.
48. See Block, Ludus Coventriae, pp. x x - x x i , x x i v , x x v i i; Craig, English Relig. Drama, pp. 245-247, 250, 253; Parker, however. L i f e of St. Anne, pp. xxxiv - l i i i, considers that all the plays on the V i r g i n , including the three mentioned, are a group derived from the poem on St. Anne i n t h e Minnesota MS.
49. On the other hand, Joseph's Return, The T r i a l of Joseph and Mary and the i n c i d e n t of Joseph and the Midwives i n the B i r t h of C h r i s t are
mentioned i n the Banns: see Ludus Coventriae, p.6, l i n e s 170 - 190.
50. Craig, English Relig. Drama, p.257: "This tumbling, not usually
a l l i t e r a t i v e , verse i s used extensively f o r prologues and formal and
connective passages, f o r the f i t t i n g i n o f the Saint Anne's day
a d d i t i o n s , and f o r a very considerable number of special episodes."
See also i b i d . , pp.248, 258.
51. Block, Ludus Coventriae, pp. xxvi - x x v i i .
52. This i s the opinion also of Parker, L i f e o f St. Anne, p. l i i .
53. Cf. t he stage d i r e c t i o n on the d e p i c t i o n o f the Incarnation, Ludus
Coventriae, X I , p. 107, a f t e r l i n e 292.
54. Craig, English Relig. Drama, p.8.
55. Ludus Coventriae, p.136, l i n e s 9 - 16.
56. Two Coventry Corpus C h r i s t i Plays, I , l i n e s 167-175, p.6;
L i f e of St. Anne (Minnesota MS.), l i n e s 907 - 915, p.24.
57. Scottish C.T.C. 25 stas. 2 and 3; cf. I r i s h 28 stas. 1 and 2;
( A l l I r i s h texts i n Appendix A were c o l l e c t e d i n America, but known
to have o r i g i n a t e d i n I r e l a n d . )
58. Carmichael, Carmina Gadelica, I I , pp. 162 - 163 ( c o l l e c t e d in.1891 from
Malcolm Macmillan, c r o f t e r , Grimnis, Benbecula, a Catholic island u n t il
the mid nineteenth century); Hyde, Relig. Songs of Connacht, I ,
pp.278 - 285 ( c o l l e c t e d from Michael MacRury and Martin O'Callally i n
County Mayo).
I
59. H. Shields, 'Old B r i t i s h Ballads i n I r e l a n d ' i n Folk L i f e , X (1972),
pp.68-103, on p.71.
60. Hyde, Relig. Songs o f Connacht, I , pp.280 - 281 (Hyde's l i t e r al
t r a n s l a t i o n , as a footnote, o f s t a s . I I , 12).
61. e.g. English C.T.C. 2 stas. 4.3.-4, 5; 3 s t a . 12; 14 sta. 7;
23 stas. 9, I I ; American 39 s t a . 7; 61b s t a . 4; 62 s t a . I I .
62. Ludus Coventriae, XV,, l i n e s 17 - 20, p.136.
63. I b i d . , l i n e s 23 - 24, p.136.
64. I b i d . , l i n e s 31 - 34, p.136; Mary's reference t o 'yon t r e e ' i s found
also i n l i n e 27, and i n l i n e 24 the tree i s standing on 'yon h i l l ' ; i n
the Life of St. Anne (Minnesota MS.), Mary, i n l i n e 1502, p.139, asks.
Joseph f o r "yhone fayre f r u t e " ; the expression 'yon t r e e ' i s also
found i n some C.T.C. t e x t s : English 3 and 23, s t a . 2.4; American 60
s t a . 2.2 and 62 s t a . 2.4.
65. Ludus Coventriae. l i n e s 35 - 38, p.136; the word 'pluck' i s used i n
Joseph's r e p l y i n some o f the oldest C.T.C. v a r i a n t s : English l a s t a . 5.2,
l b sta.. 5.3; 2 s t a . 2.4; 3, 4 and 23 sta. 4.3; 6b sta. 6.3;
S c o t t i s h 24 sta. 3.3; American 60 s t a . 4.2; 62 s t a . 4.3
66. Cf. s t a . 5.3-4 o f English I I , I I I , V I I I , X, and l b ; sta. 5.2 o f X I I I , XIV,
XVII and l a ; also IX s t a . 3.3; 6b s t a . 6.3-4; 12 s t a . 3.2; 17
sta. 3.3-4 and American 53 s t a . 4.3-4; variants mentioned which also
use the word 'pluck' rather than 'gather' (see note 65) are the closest
v e r b a l l y t o Ludus Coventriae.
67. S. T. Carr, 'The Middle English N a t i v i t y Cherry Tree: the
Dissemination of a-Popular M o t i f i n Modern Language Quarterly, XXXVI,
(1975),pp.133-147, on p.144.
68. Ludus Coventriae XV, l i n e s 39 - 42, p.137.
69. I b i d . . l i n e s 43 - 46, p.137.
70. The phrase 'words so unkind' or phrases derived from i t occur i n
v a r i a n t s from every country, e.g. English 1 and VI s t a . 3.2; 3 sta. 4.2;
8 s t a . 4.2; Scottish 24 s t a . 3.2; I r i s h 26 and 28 sta, 4.2; American
37 sta, 3.1; 39 s t a . 3.2; see also C.T.C. t e x t s I I , i n , V, V I I I - X,
X I I I , XIV, XVI, XVII; l b , 2, 6b, 12, 14, 15 and 17; 44, 52, 53, 56,
60, 62, 63, 65 and 66. Most South Appalachian variants have dropped
the phrase.
71. O.E.D. , X, Pt. I , p.272, 'unmild', a d j . , obsolete, sense I .
72. Carmichael, Carmina Gadelica, I I , pp.162-163, 8th ( l a s t ) stanza.
73. Carr, Modern Language Quarterly, XXXVI, p.135; 'Sir Cleges' i s
p r i n t e d by French and Hale, M.E. M e t r i c a l Romances, pp.875-895.
74. Ibid.', p.877; see a l s o L,A. Hibbard Loomis, Medieval Romance i n England,
new e d i t i o n with supplementary b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l index. New .York, 1963,
p.79.
75. Carr, Modern Language Quarterly, XXXVI, p.145, argues wrongly that
S i r Cleges had a special Marian devotion whereas he and h i s w i f e thank
God throughout the poem, e.g. l i n e s 190 - 191 and 226 - 2 2 8 , French and
Hale, M..E. M e t r i c a l Romances, pp.883, 884.
76. C.G. Loomis, 'Sir Cleges and Unseasonable Growth i n Hagiology'
i n Modern Language Notes, L I I I (1938), pp.591-594: the B r i t i s h (Celtic)
legends do not feature cherries, but c o n t i n e n t a l saints' l i v e s do,
e.g. St. Gerard de Monza, o f the e a r l y t h i r t e e n t h century.
77. This i s h i n t e d at i n Joseph's remark, Ludus Coventriae XV, p.136,
l i n e 20, " y i t t women ben ethe to greve whan t h e i be w i t h childe".
78. A Stanzaic L i f e of C h r i s t compiled from Higden's Polychronicon and
the Legenda Aurea, ed. F.A. Foster (E.E.T.S., 0,5, 166), London,
1926, pp. i x , x i v - x v i i and x x v i i i - x l i i i .
79. I b i d . , p.34, l i n e s 1001 - 1008; the poet's d i s q u i s i t i o n on the vines
of Engedi (pp.33-34, l i n e s 981 - 1008) expand a d e t a i l found i n Jacobus de
Voragine, Legenda Aurea, ed. T. Graesse, 2nd ed,, Leipzig, 1850,
Chapter V I , p.45; see also Caixton's Golden Legend, I , p.20.
80. B.A. Rosenberg, 'The Cherry Tree Carol and the Merchant's Tale',
i n The Chaucer Review, V (1970-1971), pp.264-275; see also Chaucer,
Works, ed. Robinson, 'The Merchant's Tale', l i n e s 2335 - 2337, p.126
81. See G. Dempster, 'The Merchant's Tale' i n Sources and Analogues,
ed. Bryan and Dempster, pp.333-356.
82. Craig, English Relig. Drama, pp.166, 178-182.
83. Chester Mystery Cycle, V I I , l i n e s 633 - 640, p.153.
84. Ludus Coventriae, XV, p.136, l i n e 36: 'Ow . t o plucke yow of these
. cheries . i t i s a werk wylde.'
85. A.C. Cawley, The Wakefield Pageants i n the Towneley Cycle,
Manchester, 1958, p. x x x i.
86. I b i d . , IV, l i n e 718 and see note on p.113.
87. Carr, Modern Language Quarterly, XXXVI, p.134.
88. See, however, E.B. Cantelupe and R. G r i f f i t h , 'The G i f t s of the
Shepherds i n the Wakefield "Secunda Pastorum": an Iconographical
I n t e r p r e t a t i o n ' i n Medieval Studies, XXVIII (1966), pp.328-335.
89. I b i d . , pp.331-333.
90. See the I r i s h Gaelic b a l l a d , Hyde, Relig. Songs of Connacht, I, p.279, sta. 3; also C.T.C. t e x t 7 sta. 2.2 (English gypsy) and sta. 2, 3 of American 30 - 34, 40, 42, 43, 54, 61a and 63; also sta. 1, 2 of 36, 37 and 47 sta. 2.2; English 15 sta. 2.3 has "apples, plums, cherries".
91. M.E.D., I I , pp.216-217, 'cheri', sense 2a. The saying i s f i r s t recorded c. 1390.
92. Stanzaic L i f e of C h r i s t , l i n e s 3401 - 3448, pp.114-116.
93. Tischendorf, Evangelia Apocrypha, pp.181-209 (Latin t r a n s l a t i o n ); English t r a n s l a t i o n i n Cowper, Apoc. Gospels, pp.172-216; the 'Arabic Infancy Gospel, based on a Syriac o r i g i n a l , was a l a t e compilation i n a single MS., now l o s t , edited i n 1697, but s t o r i e s i n t h i s gospel found t h e i r way, perhaps through other works, i n t o vernacular writings i n c l u d i n g the M.E. Childhood poems: see James, Apoc. N.T., pp.67-68.
94. The Koran, t r a n s l a t e d by N.J. Dawood, 4th ed., Harmondsworth, 1974, Sura XIX. 29, p.34.
95. M.T.W. F o r s t e r , 'Two Notes on Old English Dialogue L i t e r a t u r e ' i n An English Miscellany Presented to Dr. F u r n i v a l l i n Honour of h i s Seventy-Fifth Birthday, Oxford, 1901, pp.102, 105, 106; (English scriptu r a l r i d d l e no.6 i n Ashmole MS. 59; two German c o l l e c t i o n s of L a t i n s c r i p t u r a l r i d d l e c at Munich and Tubingen).
96. C.G. Loomis, White Magic, Cambridge, Mass., 1948, p.24; examples of
e a r l y talking- occur i n the l i v e s of SS. Amandus, Simon and Jude, and
Brice: Caxton's Golden Legend, I I I , p.41 and V I , pp.79, 159.
97. Life of St. Anne (MS. Bodl. 10234), p.126, lines 441 - 444; Ludus
Coventriae, XL,.p.107, l i n e s 293 - 296; the t r a d i t i o n i s probably
derived from Pseudo-Matthew XVIII.2, where the C h r i s t Child t e l ls
Joseph and Mary, "Fear not, nor consider me because I am a l i t t l e
i n f a n t , f o r I was, and am ever p e r f e c t " : Cowper, Apoc. Gospels, p.58.
98. Detailed information regarding the dates and sources of all listed v a r i a n ts is given below i n Appendix A; on the dates of broadside p r i n t e r s ' work, see also Appendix K.
99. See the f i r s t stanzas, lines 1 and 3 of S c o t t i s h C,T, C, 25, American 3 0 - 3 4 , 55 and 63, and c f . 41.-43, 50, 54.
100. English gypsy C,T,C, 4 s t a , 4,4; 8 s t a . 4.3; Scottish 25 s t a . 6.4;
I r i s h 2n_ s t a . 5,2; 28 s t a , 4,3; see also sta, 4,3 o f American texts
30 - 34, 40, 42, 43, 52j_ 54 and 61a; also American 36, 37, 57 and 59
s t a , 3,2; 50, 55 s t a . 4,2; 56 s t a , 2.3.
101, Sta. 5.1 o f English gypsy C.T.C, 7 and 14; and American 47, 50, 55 and
59; sta. 6.2 o f I r i s h 26 and 28 and American 31 - 34, 40, 43, 54 and 61a;
also American 42 s t a . 5.2.
102. Broadsides I I I , V I I I and XVI s t a . 6.1; see s t a . 5.1 o f English gypsy
t e x t s 4, 7 and 14, o f I r i s h texts 26 and 28 and American 30.
. 103. Sta. 6,4 o f I r i s h texts 26 and 28 and American 52 and 53; also
I r i s h 27 s t a . 7.2.
104. See Bronson, Trad. Tunes, I I , pp.3-4,
105. Cf, C,T,C, 2 s t a , 5 and 'Joseph and Mary', sta. 1 i n A Good Christmas
Box ( f a c s i m i l e ) , p,I6,
106. Both C,T,C, 17 and 18 use the chorus, and 17 stas.- 5-9 verses, from
'The Holly and the Ivy ' , f o r versions o f which see Dean-Smith,
Guide t o English Folk Song C o l l e c t i o n s , p.74; Dean-Smith i s wrong t o
suggest (p,57) that both carols were fragmented from the same long
c a r o l ; the contamination was t r i g g e r e d by the d e s c r i p t i o n of both
cherries and h o l l y b e r r i e s as 'red as the blood',
107. e,g, i n the Chester Mystery Cycle, V I , p,102, l i n e s 134 - 136, Joseph
explains that he has not fathered Mary's c h i l d:
" f o r I am both ould and could;
these x x x t i e v/inters, though I would,
I might .not playe noe playe."
108. - See Oxford Carols no.37, 'The Angel Gabriel from God' sta. 2.5 and the
t i t l e of the seventeenth century carol mentioned above. Chapter One,
note 41.
109. Sta. 1,4 o f broadsides I , V, V I , V I I , 2^, X I I , XV; sta, 2,4 o f I I , X;
s t a . 2.2 o f X I I I , XIV and X V I I . "
110. Sta. 2,4 o f I I I _ , V I I I and American 46; 5 ^ sta, 1,4; I r i s h 27 s t a , 2,2,
111- 0-E'D., V I , p,237, 'nought', sense C2, 'NOT, adverb, obsolete'.
112. Thomas Chestre, S i r Launfal, ed. A,J, B l i s s , London and Edinburgh,
.1960, p,54, lines 43 - 44 (see p,15 on the date of 'Sir Launfal'),
113. X I I I , XIV, XVII sta. 2,1; found also i n s t a , 1.3 o f the d e r i v a t i ve
broadsides I , V - V I I , IX, X I , 2<II. and 2^; see also I I and X, sta. 2.1
114. Joseph's descent from David- i s stated i n Matt, I . 1-16, Lk, I I I . 23-28,
Mary's i n Protevangelium X.l (James, Apoc. N.T., p.43) and Pseudo-Matthew
I (Cowper, Apoc. Gospels, p.30).
115. Caxton's Golden legend, V, pp.97-98.
116. Cowper, Apoc. Gospels, p.46.
117. I b i d . , p.49 (Pseudo-Matthew X I I ).
118. Two Coventry.Corpus C h r i s t i Plays, I , p.6, l i n e s 156 - 166;
Towneley Plays, X, p.96, l i n e s 356 - 361; York Plays, X I I I , p . I l l,
l i n e s 294 - 300.
119. Ludus Coventriae, X I I (Joseph's Return) p.114, l i n e s 182 - 188.
120. C.T.C. l a s t a . 7.1; lb s t a . 8; 2 s t a . 4.1-2; 7 s t a . 6;
also American 39_ s t a . 4.
121. I ^ , X s t a . 9; I I I , IV, V I I I sta. 8; XVI sta. 4.3-4; 3 and 23 s t a . 7.
122. That Mary's forgiveness was a m o t i f of the u r - b a l l a d of the cherry tree
i s suggested by i t s presence i n the I r i s h Gaelic b a l l a d , sta. 12,
Hyde, Relig. Songs o f Connacht, I , p. 281.
123. See s t a . 7 o f American C.T.C. 31 - 34, 37, 40, 54, 61a; also 47,
55 sta. 6;. 56 s t a . 5.
124. Coffin and Renwick, B r i t i s h Trad. Ballad i n North America, (1977), p.6,
c i t i n g American versions of Child 54, 73 and 8 l (e.g. Bronson 73 no.77
s t a . 15, 81 no.4 sta. 20); the oldest example of t h i s motif occurs,
however, i n a S c o t t i s h t e x t . Child 81 I s t a . 20.
125. E.S.P.B.. I I , p . l ; Lk, 11.10-12.
126. See Greene nos. 50, 150 C (sta. 3), 151 A (stas. 2-4)
127. Caxton's Golden Legend, I , p.49, wrongly ascribed to St. Jerome;
however a s i m i l a r passage occurs i n the 'Homilia de N a t i v i t a t e Domini'
i n Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Tractatus sive Homiliae i n Psalmos, i n
Marci Evangelium Aliaque Varia Argumenta, ed. D. Germanus Morin
(Corpus Christianorum Series Latina LXXVIII), Turnhout, 1969, p.524;
i n Jacobus de Voragine, Legenda Aurea, ed. Graesse, chapter XIV
('De Epiphania Domini'), p.92, the f i r s t passage i s ascribed t o
St. Augustine, the second (from the omission points) to St. Bernard.
( I have not been able to ascertain the sources i n Augustine's or
Bernard's work.)
128. See above, notes 10 - 12, f o r v a r i a n t s containing stanzas from
'Joseph and the angel'; to discover which stanzas occur i n which
v e r s i o n , see below. Appendix A, Description o f Texts.
129. e.g. Greene nos. 27C s t a . 2.2; 41 s t a . 2.1; 46 s t a . 1.1; 74 sta.. 3.3;
81A sta. 5.2; 93 s t a . 7.6.
130. e.g. "house ne h a l l e " i n York Plays, XXXVII, p.380, l i n e 136.
131. Q.E.D., V I I , P t . I I , p.926, 'Place', sense I I . 5 b.
132. O.E.D., V I I , P t . I I , pi395, ' P a l l ' , sense I . l and see p.l629, 'purpur', A.
133. Child 80 s t a . 17.2; 110 A stas. 12.2, 13.2; 112 s t a . 5.4.
134. O.E.D., V I , . P t . I , p.702, 'Mould', sb., sense 5.
135. English C.T.C. 8 s t a . 8; Scottish 25 s t a . 11; I r i s h 26 and 27 s t a . 9;
American 46 s t a . 9.
136. e.g. Greene nos. 146 A ( s t a . 2 ) ; 148 A; 151 A (stas. 6 - 9 ) ;
152 A (stas. 4 - 9 ) .
137. E.S.P.B. . I I , p . l ; e.g. Matt. XXVI.2; Lk. XVII.25; Jn, XII.23
138. I , V, VI, Vn, IX sta. 7.1-2; I I _ , X s t a . 15'; I I I , IV s t a . 14;
V I I I sta. 9; XI, X I I , XV s t a . 4.1-2; XVI s t a . 5.1-2; X I I I , XIV,
XVII sta. 12; l a s t a . 9; lb sta. 10; Scottish 25 s t a . 13; I r i sh
27 s t a . 11; American 53 s t a . 8.
139. I l l , IV s t a . 15; l a s t a . 10; l b sta. 11; I r i s h 27 s t a . 12;
American 53 s t a . 9. The c o r r u p t i o n , "This world w i l l be l i k e the
stones i n the s t r e e t " , etc. occurs at I _ , V - V I I , IX, sta. 7.3-4;
I I _ , X s t a . 16; XI, XII, W sta. 4.3-4; X I I I , XIV, XVII sta. 13.
140. e.g. The Lay o f Havelok the Dane, p.66, l i n e 1997; p.89, line-2649;
S.E.L., I , p.21, l i n e 80.
141. I I , X s t a . 17; I I I , IV s t a . 16; V I I I sta. 12; XVI s t a . 6.3-4;
c f . Scottish 25 s t a . 15; I r i s h 27 s t a . 13; I r i s h Gaelic ballad sta. 16
(Hyde, Relig. Songs o f Connacht, I , pp.282-283).
142. e.g. the l i s t of f a t a l Tuesdays i n the legend of St. Thomas o f
Canterbury: S.E.L., I I , pp.691-692, lines 52 - 72.
143. S.E.L., I , p.134, 'De Sancto Pascha', l i n e s 7 - 9.
144. Matt. XXVII. 51, 52; Lk. X X I I I . 44, 45.
145. See Matt. XXIV. 29; Mk. X I I I . 24 - 25; Lk. X V I I . 24 and'XXI. 25.'
146. Hyde, Relig. Songs o f Connacht, I , p.283 ( l i t e r a l t r a n s l a t i o n o f s t a . 18).
147. The stanza of the sun and moon r i s i n g .'occurs mostly i n the broiadsides:
C.T.C. I I , X s t a . 18; ^11, IV s t a . 17; V I I I sta. 13; XVI s t a . 7.1-2;
also lai s t a . 11, l b s t a . 12.
148. C. S. Burne, Shropshire Folklore, London, 1883, r e p r i n t e d i n 2 vols.,
Wakefield-, 1973-74,11, p.335; T. Deane and T, Shaw, The Folklore of
Cornwall (Batsford 'Folklore of the B r i t i s h Isles' Series), London,
1975, p.167.
149. I b i d . , p.132; angels r e j o i c e w i t h music i n the I r i s h Gaelic b a l l a d,
stanza 19 (Hyde, Relig. Songs o f Connacht, I , p.285); the stanza of
general r e j o i c i n g occurs at C.T.C. I l l s t a . 18, V I I I sta. 14 and XVI
s t a . 7.3-4.
150. Burne, Shropshire F o l k l o r e , I I , p.396; J. Thomas, Ballad Makin' i n the
Mountains of Kentucky, New York, 1939, r e p r i n t e d 1964, p.227; see
also above, Chapter One, note 51.
151. C. J. Sharp, English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, ed.
M. Karpeles', London, 1932, p.388 (Karpeles' note).
152. C.T.C., 31 s t a . 9.1; 33 s t a . 8.1; 57 s t a . 6.3.
153. C.T.C. 32, 40 and 61a s t a . 9.1; 47 and 50 s t a . 7.1; 43 s t a . 8.1;
54 sta.10.1; 60 s t a . 11.1.
154. Bronson, Trad. Tunes, I I , p.3. .
155. Cf. the f i r s t l i n e s o f C.T.C. I l l stas. 4 and 6 v/ith the f i r s t lines
of Child 117 s t a s . 362, 367 and 379; 162 A sta. 22; 165 s t a . 14.
See also above. Chapter Two, note 106.
156. Cf. C h i l d 20 B stas. 6, 7; 29 stas. 8, 9; 37 C stas. 5, 6;
39 A stas. 6,7.
157. Cf. C h i l d 169 B s t a . 24; 191 E s t a . 15; 203 A sta. 41.
____________________
APPENDIX A
VARIANTS OF 'THE CHERRY TREE CAROL' (CHILD 54)
Key to the Description of Texts
A: Joseph, usually 'an old man', marries Mary in Galilee.
B: When Joseph has brought Mary home, she proves with child.
C: Joseph tells Mary that he is going to Jerusalem.
D: Mary replies that she is going with him. On their journey, Joseph and Mary see cherry trees:
E: as they walk through an orchard or garden 'good' (rhymes with 'blood')
El: as they walk through a garden 'gay' (rhymes with 'tree' or 'spray').
E2: as they walk through a garden 'green' (rhymes with 'seen' or 'limb').
E3: as they were walking one day (they saw apples and cherries so fair to behold).
E4: Mary alone notices the cherries.
E5: Other variants. Mary, meek and mild, requests cherries:
F: 'for I am with child.'
F1: 'Gather me cherries, they run so i n my mind.'
F2: 'Pluck me cherries to give to my child.'
F3: Other variants.
Joseph replies to Mary's request:
G: 'Let him pluck you cherries who got you with child.'
Gl: 'Let the father of your baby gather cherries for you.'
G2: 'I will not give thee cherries' (general refusal).
G3: 'I will not pluck cherries for to give to thy child.'
G4: Other variants.
Jesus, within His mother's womb:
H: bids Mary go to the tree 'and i t shall bow down'.
HI orders the tree to bow to His mother's hand.
H2: orders the tree to bow down, that His mother may have some.
H3: orders the tree to bow to His mother's knee; or prophesies
that the tree w i l l do so.
H4: announces that Mary w i l l have cherries, and Joseph w i l l have none,
H5: Other variants.
Alternative miracles:
J: Mary orders the cherry tree to bow.
J1: God or Jesus speaks from heaven,
J2: An angel bends the branches,
J3: Jesus bends the branches,
J4: Other variants.
The tree bows:
K: the highest branch (etc.) bows to Mary's knee.
Kl: the highest branch (etc.) bows to Mary's hand.
K2: the tree bows to the ground.
K3: Mary says, 'Now you may see, Joseph, these cherries are f o r me,'
K4: the cherry tree 'bends' and 'bows', and Mary gathers cherries.
K5: Other variants.
Joseph's reaction:
L: 'O eat your cherries, Mary.'
L1; 'I have done Mary wrong.'
L2: The cherry tree bended and broke; Joseph regretted the words he spoke,
L3: Joseph takes Mary on his knee and begs the Lord for mercy,
Mary's actions afterwards:
M; Mary goes home with her heavy load.
M!: Mary and Joseph go to Bethlehem.
M2: Jesus i s born i n a stable (stanzas vary).
Angels are heard;
N: Joseph hears an angel sing that Christ w i l l be born that night.
Nl: Joseph and Mary hear angels.
N2; Mary alone hears angels.
An angel describes Christ's b i r t h; (of the words placed i n parenthesis after a stanza, 'indirect' means that the stanza appears as description of Christ's b i r t h , not as the direct speech of an angel; 'Christ's prophecy' means that.the stanza i s apparently
'ken by the Christ Child.)
P: Jesus w i l l be born i n an ox's s t a l l .
PI: He w i l l not be clothed i n purple nor i n p a l l .
P2: He w i l l not be clothed i n s i l k .
P3: He w i l l not be cradled i n s i l v e r nor i n gold.
P4: He w i l l not be christened in white wine nor red.
P5: He never did require white wine nor red (or 'bread').
P6: He was not christened i n wine, for His name i s Divine (etc.).
P7: He was christened i n water sprung from Bethine.
Christ i s questioned:
Q: Mary puts the born Christ Child on her knee and questions
Him about the future.
Ql: Joseph,' with Mary on his knee, questions Mary or the unborn
Christ Child on when Jesus w i l l be born.
Q2: Joseph asks when Jesus' death day w i l l be.
The born Christ Child replies (to 'Q'):
R: 'I w i l l be as dead as the stones i n the wall.'
Rl: 'This world w i l l be l i k e the stones i n the street.'
R2: that He w i l l suffer on Wednesday and/or Friday.
R3: that apocalyptic signs w i l l take place at His death.
R4: that on His Resurrection, the sun and moon w i l l rise with Him.
R5: that people w i l l rejoice and birds sing at His Resurrection.
R6: that righteous men w i l l rise from the tomb.
The unborn Christ Child replies (to 'Ql' or 'Q2'):
S: that His birthday w i l l be on Old Christmas Day (usually a
particular date), when the stars w i l l tremble.
Si: additional signs and wonders w i l l attend His b i r t h.
Additional stanzas:
T: 'Then be ye glad, good people ...'
T l : 'And a l l i n earth and heaven ...'
T2: 'The good man, long dejected ...'
T3: 'Be not a f r a i d when hearing ...'
T4: 'And marshalled on the mountain ...'
T5: 'The herald hymn obeying'
T6 The stones i n Bethlehem cried out i n p r a i s e of Mary.
T7 'Come a l l ye young ladies ...'
T8 'He s h a l l not l a y i n bed nor i n c r i b ..."
T9 'Then answered Lord Jesus, "Dear Joseph, make no moan .
_______________________
(a) BROADSIDE TEXTS OF 'THE CHERRY TREE CAROL'
I. COWPER (Child 54 B.d.)
'The Cherry Tree'
Source:
Date: C.1843.
Description of t e x t: Cowper, Apoc. Gospels, p p . x x x v i i i - i x: "a chap-book printed in or about 1843 at Birmingham ..." (see C.T.C. V I ); 7 'long' stanzas ( i . e . each comprises two of Child's stanzas, printed in four long l i nes) , AB - E l , F - f l , G2, k3 - H, H3 - N, P I - P5, P3 - Q, Rl.
-------------
II. HONE (Child 54 B.b.)
'A Christmas Carol'
Source: Hone, Anc. Mysteries Described, pp.90-93: "from various copies of it printed at d i f f e r e n t places ..."
Date: (1823).
Description of t e x t: 18 stas., A - B - E l - F l , f - G - H - H3 -K 3 - L - N - P - P 1 - P 3 - P 4 - 0 - R 1 - R2 - R4.
----------
III. HUSK (Child 54 B.a.)
'C. T. C. '
Source: Husk, Nativity , pp.59-62: Husk states merely that (pp.58-59), "This carol has long been a favourite w i t h the people, and is met with on broadsides printed in all parts of England. . . There are many versions of this carol, some with omissions, others w i t h additions, but that now given seemed the most preferable."
Date; (1868). The text may reflect a West Midlands broadside of the eighteenth century - see discussion in Chapter Four.
Des c r i p t i o n of t e x t; 18 stas., A - B - E1 - F1 - G - H1 - k , K3 - L - N - P - PI - P3 - P4 - Q - R - R2 - R4 - R5.
-------
IV. SYLVESTER (Child 54 B.C.)
'C.T.C.'
Source: Sylvester, Garland, pp.45-49: "The version here p r i n t e d has been made after a careful examination of several copies p r i n t e d in various parts of England."
Date: (1861).
Description of t e x t:
17 stas., A - E l - E - F l - (prose summary)
- h, h3 - h, hS* - K l - L '- N - P - PI - PS
P4 - Q - R - R2 - R4; from other copies,
Sylvester c i t e s 3% a d d i t i o n a l stanzas. E l *,
kS, L I and R l.
V. BIRMINGHAM - BLOOMER
•J.W.O.M.'
T i t l e of Broadsheet: 'Shepherds Rejoice/Joseph .was an Old Man.'
(two carols).
Location of Broadside: Oxford Bodl. Lib. Douce Adds. 137, no.26.
I m p r i n t : "T. Bloomer, P r i n t e r , Birmingham."
Date: 1817-1827.
D e s c r i p t i o n o f t e x t : 7 'long' stanzas, AB - E l , F - f l , G,
h - h, H3, k3 - N, PI - P5, P3 - Q, Rl.
iLL. BIRMINGHAM - JACKSON (Chapbook)
'J.W.O.M.'
T i t l e of Chapbook: 'A New Carol Book No.3'. (C.T.C. a t pp.69-70).
Location of Chapbook: Birmingham Library 63240.
I m p r i n t : ( f r o n t page) "BIRMINGHAM: Printed and Sold by Jackson & Son
( l a t e J. R u s s e l l ) , 21 Moor-street."
Date: C.1839 - C.1848.
D e s c r i p t i o n o f t e x t : 7 'long' stanzas, as above, C.T.C. t e x t I ^.
V I I . BIRMINGHAM - RUSSELL
'J.W.O.M.'
Location, o f Broadside: Birmingham Library 60338., p.71.
I m p r i n t : "Printed by J. Russell, 24 Moor-street,
Birmingham."
Date: C.1816 - 1820 (?)
Description of t e x t: 7 'long' stanzas, AB - E l , F l - f , G, h - h, H3, k3 - N, PI - P5, P3 - Q, Rl.
-------------
V I I I . BIRMINGHAM
'J.W.O.M.'
- WOOD
Location o f Broadside: Birmingham Library, Religious Broadsides no.17.
I m p r i n t: "Wood, P r i n t e r , New Meeting-street,
Birmingham."
Date: C.1800 - C.1850. (The t e x t probably r e f l e c ts
a West Midlands broadside of the eighteenth
century - see discussion i n Chapter Four).
Description of Text: 14 stas., A - B - E 2 - F - G - H l - k , k 3 - L
-Q- P4 ( i n d i r e c t ) - p i , p ( i n d i r e c t ) - R2 -
R4 - R5.
IX. BIRMINGHAM -
'J.W.O.M.'
- WRIGHT
T i t l e of Broadsheet: 'Joseph was an Old Man/Lift up your Heads.'
(two carols).
Location o f Broadside: Oxford, Bodl. Lib. Douce Adds. 137 no.3.
I m p r i n t: "Wright, P r i n t e r , Moor-street, Birmingham."
Date: C.1820 - 1825, or 1831 - c.1837.
Description of Text: 7 'long' stanzas, AB - E l , F3 - f , G, h - h,
H3, k3 - N, PI - P5, P3 - Q, Rl.
X. GRAVESEND - DAVIS
'The Cherry Carol'
T i t l e of Broadsheet: 'Heavenly, Joyful Carols f o r Christmas.'
Contents of Broadsheet :'God rest you Merry, Gentlemen';
'The Cherry Carol'; 'The C h i l d coming t o
C h r i s t ' (three cairols).
Location of Broadside: I n my possession; a duplicate exists i n an
uncatalogued c o l l e c t i o n i n Durham University
L i b r a r y.
I m p r i n t: "Davis, P r i n t e r , King s t r e e t , Gravesend."
Date: c,1846 - 1849.
D e s c r i p t i on of t e x t: As above. C.T.C. t e x t I I .
---------
XI.a and b. LONDON - BATCHELAR
('When J.W.O.M.')
T i t l e of Broadsheet: 'Divine M i r t h '.
Contents of Broadsheet: 'Carol 1.' (beg. "God r e s t you, merry
gentlemen"); 'Carol 2' (beg. "The moon
shines b r i g h t " ) ; 'Carol 3' (beg. "The
f i r s t good joy our Mary had"); 'Carol 4'
(beg. "When Joseph was an o l d man, an old
man was he"), (four carols)
Location of Broadside:
I m p r i n t;
B r i t i s h Library 1889 b. 10/111 p.17 verso (a)
and p.18 r e c t o ( b ) .
a, "Batchelar, P r i n t e r , Long Alley";
b, "Printed and s o l d by T. Batchelar,
14 Hackney Road Crescent, Near Shoreditch
Church."
Date:
D e s c r i p t i o n o f text:.
a, 1817 - 1828.
b, 1828 - 1832.
4 'long' stanzas AB - N, PI - P5, P3 - Q,
Rl. (a and b are i d e n t i c a l ) .
X I l a . LONDON - CATNACH
'When J.W.O.M.'
T i t l e of Broadsheet: 'Divine Mirth'.
Contents of Broadsheet: 'God Rest You Merry Gentlemen'; 'A New
Christmas Carol' (beg. " I t i s the day, the
Holy day"); 'When Joseph was an Old Man.
An Ancient Carol'; 'The Lamb' (four carols),
Location o f Broadside;
I m p r i n t;
Birmingham Library 60338, p.93; also i n
B r i t i s h Library 1889 b. 10/111, p.16 recto
and c f . p.16 verso; Oxford, Bodl. Lib. 5.
Delta. 260, nos. 16 and 18.
"Printed by J. Catnach, 2 Monmouth-court,
7 D i a l s ."
Date:
Description of t e x t ;
1813 - 1838.
4 'long' stas., as. above, C.T.C. t e x t XI.
X I l b . P r i n t e r , t i t l e and t e x t as a.
T i t l e of Broadsheet: 'The Seraphim. A Choice Collection of
Esteemed Carols.'
Contents of Broadsheet: 'Christ i n the Manger'; 'Portuguese Hymn';
•When Joseph was an Old Man'; 'God Rest You
Merry Gentlemen'; 'Easter Anthem' (beg.
"Jesus Christ i s r i s ' n today"), ( f i v e , carols)
-------------
Location of Broadside: B r i t i s h Library 1889 b. 10/111 pp.31 recto
and 31 verso (2 copies).
I m p r i n t : "J. Catnach, P r i n t e r , 2 Monmouth-court, D."
Date: Probably as a; pencil date 1839 i n top
r i g h t hand corner.
X I I l a . LONDON - EVANS
('When J.W.O.M.')
T i t l e of Broadsheet: 'Divine Mirth'.
Contents of Broadsheet: 'Carol I ' (beg. "God r e s t you merry
gentlemen"); 'Carol I I ' (beg. "The Moon
shines b r i g h t " ) ; 'Carol I I I ' (beg. "The
f i r s t good joy our Mary had"); 'Carol IV'
(beg. "When Joseph was an o l d man, and ain
o l d man was he"). (four c a r o l s ).
Location of Broadside: B r i t i s h Library 1879 cc. 10, p.6.
I m p r i n t : "Printed and s o l d by T. Evans, 79 Long Lane."
Date: 1803 - 1813.
Description of t e x t : Printed in long l i n e s , without stanza d i v i s i o n s . I have divided the t e x t into 13 'short' stas., stas. 4 and 7 having 3 'long' l i n e s ( i . e . 6 short l i n e s ) each: A - B - E l - F l , f - G - H - H3, k3 - N .- PI - P5 - P3 - Q - R l (see C.T.C. V I I ) .
X l l l b . T i t l e , contents of broadsheet and t e x t as a.
Location of Broadside: R.V.W. L i b . Sharp Broadside Colin. 1991, p.41;
also i n B r i t . Lib. 1875 d. 8, no.56; see
also Catalogue of the Lauriston Castle
Chapbooks, p.63, no.L.C. 2901.
I m p r i n t : "Printed by J. and C. Evans, Long-lane,
London."
Date: 1821-1828.
XlVa and b. LONDON - PITTS
('When J.W.O.M.')
T i t l e of Broadsheet: 'Divine.Mirth'.
Contents of Broadsheet: As above, X l l l a.
----------
Location of Broadside;
I m p r i n t s:
Date:
Description of t e x t s ;
B r i t . Lib. 1875 d. 8, nos. 52 (a) and 55 (b)
a, "Printed and Sold by J. P i t t s,
6 No. Great St. Andrew Street,
Seven D i a i s . " ( s i c );
b, " P i t t s P r i n t e r , and Toy Warehouse,
6 Great St. Andrew Street, 7 d i a l s . "
1820-1844.
a and b are i d e n t i c a l , the t e x t being
arranged as X l l l a , above.
XV. LONDON - TAYLOR
•When J.W.O.M.'
T i t l e of Broadsheet;
Contents of Broadsheet;
'The Redeemer'.
'Portuguese Hymn'; 'When Joseph was an
Old Man^; 'The Joys of Mary'; 'Hark what
News the Angels b r i n g ' . (four carols)
Location of Broadside: B r i t . Lib. 1889 b. 10/111, p.28 r e c t o.
I m p r i n t:
Date:
Description of t e x t :
"Printed by W. Taylor, 16 Waterloo Road,
near the V i c t o r i a theatre. Country
Dealers and Shops supplied at wholesale
p r i c e s ."
c.1831-1832.
As above, C.T.C. X I.
XVIa and b. MANCHESTER - SWINDELLS
•J.W.O.M.'
Location of Broadsides: Manchester Public Library BR f . 398.8 B l ,
p.90 (a) and p.57 ( b ).
I m p r i n t s:
a and b, "Swindells, Printer."
Date: c.1760-1854, but most probably between
1800 and 1830.
Description of t e xts: b is prin t e d w i t h another c a r o l , 'Christmas
Carol' (beg. "When righteous Joseph wedded
was"), and also i n b, C.T.C. i s not divided
i n t o stanzas; otherwise t e x t s a and b are
i d e n t i c a l : 7 'long' stanzas, i . e . AB - E2,
F2 - G3, H I * - k, k3, L - Q, P4 ( i n d i r e c t ) -
p i , p ( i n d i r e c t ) , R2 - R4, R5 ( c f . C.T.C.VIII)
-----------
XVII. PLACE UNKNOWN (probably LONDON)
('When J.W.O.M.')
T i t l e and Contents
of Broadsheet: As above, X l l l a.
Location of Broadside: Oxford. Bodl. Lib. Douce Adds. 137, no.56,
also i n Bodl. 5 Delta. 260. no.17, and i n
B r i t . Lib. 1875 d. 8, no.49.
No Imprint.
Date:
D e s c r i p t i o n of t e x t :
Before 1799 ( ? ).
Arranged as above, X l l l a.
___________________________
(b) TRADITIONAL VARIANTS OF 'THE CHERRY TREE CAROL'
ENGLAND
C.T.C. no. 1a. BRONSON 54 no.1
'J.W.O.M.'
Date: 1767
Place: Burian, Cornwall
Source: Bronson 54 no. 1 from the Davies Gilbert Carol MS.. Part I, opposite page 22, in Harvard College Library (MS. HCL 25258 27. 5). On page 1 recto of Part I, Gilbert wrote: "The three Carol-Books bound up in this volume were procured for me by Mr. Paynter of Boskenna from Persons in the Deanery of Burian. I received them from Mr. George John in October 1824 and they were bound together in the course of that year- D.G." R.L. Greene, in E.L.H., VII, pp.234-5, writes: "The care with which the manuscripts are written shows that they were regarded as possessions of some value. The colophons of 'Book B' tell that it was not written by its owner. On page 4 is inscribed: 'JOHN WEBB his Carrol Book 1777,' on p. 19, 'JOHN WEBB'S CARROL BOOK October 19th 1777,' and on page 91, 'JOHN WEBB. HIS BOOK Written by JOHN THOMAS JUNR. o f St. Just October 31st 1777.' There are naive illuminations in water colour and a coloured title page with a head of Christ. 'Book A' is less pretentiously decorated with ruling and pen-work and is dated 1767."
Tune: Bronson group A.a.
Description of text: 11 stas., of 2 'long' lines each, A - E - E2- F - G - HI - K1 - L1 - M - Q - R - R4.
-------------
C.T.C. 1 b. CHILD 54 A.a.
'J.W.O.M.'
Date: (1833).
Place: West of England
Source: Child 54 Aa. from Sandys, Christmas Carols, pp.123-125 ( t e x t ) and Appendix no.10 (tune); the text is included in Sandys: "Part the Second; containing a s e l e c t i o n from carols still used in the West of England" (p.61).
Tune: As 1a .
Description of text: 12 stas. , A - E - E2 - F - G - H2 - K1 - L1 - M- Q - R - R4. It seems possible that this variant, 1b, represents 1a with grammatical and m e t r i c a l corrections by Sandys, and a d d i t i o n s , perhaps from another authentic t e x t.
-----------
2. CHILD 54 Ab.
'J.W.O.M.'
Date: (1852).
Place: Not given.
Source: Child 54 Ab, from Sandys, Christmastide, p.241 (t e x t ) and p. 326 (tune).
Tune: As above, 1a .
D e s c r i p t i o n of t e x t: 5 'long' stas. AE - FG - H2, K1 - L1, M1 - M2, M2.
-----------
3. CHILD 54 C
'C.T.C.'
Date: (1871).
Place: Tune from Yorkshire.
Source: Child 54 C, from Bramley and Stainer, Christmas Carols, pp.60-61; see also Bronson 54 no. 8. Bramley and Stainer in their index (p.182) describe the words as "traditional" and the tune as "traditional (Yorkshire)".
Tune: Bronson group A.a.
Description of t e x t: 14 stas., A - E1- F2, P - PI - P3 - P7 - M2 G3 - J - N2.
----------
C.T.C. 4.; CHILD 54 D
( 'C.T.C.')
Date:c.1843.
Place: Berkshire.
Source: Child 54 D, from Notes and Queries, 4th Series, XII, (1873), p.461, signed 'T'. Unknown to Child, the source of this text is a privately printed broadside slip, two copies of which are clipped inside a book privately printed at Pryor's Bank, Fulham, c.1843, entitled T. C. Croker's Residence at Fulham (Oxford Bodl. Lib. Gough Adds. Middlesex 4to 48). The
broadside slip is headed "Genuine Christmas Carols, As Taken from the mouth of a wandering Gipsy Girl in Berkshire" and contains a version the carol, 'Now Christmas is a drawing nigh at hand', followed by the untitled C.T.C., the tune of which is specified as 'My Peggy is a Young Thing'. A pencil note at the bottom of one of the broadside copies says, "Privately printed by and for the noviomagians - about 1843". An unsigned pen note on loose paper at the front of the book states: These broadsides are o f extraordinary rarity.
They were issued from the Private Press at Prior's Bank at Rosamunds Bower, Fulham (see Croker's Walk from London to Fulham.) These copies belonged to John Payne Collier and were sold with his books 9 Augt 1884 at Sotheby lot 1002 to Osborne the bookseller of whom I purchased them. The front cover of the book bears a book plate with a crest and motto, "SO HO HO DEA NE" and name 'James Cornerford'.
Tune: Indicated, but not given.
Description of t e x t: Stanza d i v i s i o n s not marked, but consists of 9 stas., (2) having only 2 lines, A - b (corrupt)
- E (corrupt) - f , g1 - H4 - K - N1 - P3 ( i n d i r e c t)
- P4 ( i n d i r e c t ).
-----------
5a. CHILD 54, ADDENDA
'As Joseph was a-walking'
Date: (1863).
Place: Somersetshire.
Source: E.S.P.B.. I I , pp.5-6, from Rimbault, Colin, of
Old. Christmas Carols, p.22, described as
" t r a d i t i o n a l (Somersetshire)"; see also Bronson
54 Appendix no.31 (tune o n l y), from Terry, Gilbert and Sandys' Christmas Carols, p.40; the tune appears also in Oxford Carols no. 66 (p.145).
Tune: Bronson 54, Appendix.
Description of text: stas., N - P - PI - P3 - N* - T.
5b.
'As Joseph was a-walking'
Date:(1846).
Place: Not given.
Source: J. F. Russell, Christmas and Christmas Carols, p.26, referred to in E.S.P.B., II, p.5, note.
Without tune.
Description of text: As above, 5a, w i t h a d d i t i o n a l f i n a l stanza, T l .
-------
6a. BRONSON 54 no. 2.
('C.T.C.')
Date: January 1912.
Place: Camborne, Cornwall.
Source: Bronson 54 no.2, from Sharp MSS., 2744/. ; sent by Mrs. Tom Miners from Camborne, Cornwall in 1912.
Tune: Bronson group A.a.
Description of text ; One stanza, A, only.
---------------
6b. BRONSON 54 no. 3.
('C.T.C.')
Date: 9 May 1913.
Place: Camborne, Cornwall.
Source: Bronson 54 no. 3, from Sharp MSS., 2821/. ; also in Sharp, J.F.S.S., V (1914), p.11; and Sharp, C o l l e c t i o n , ed. Karpeles, I , pp.53-54 (no. 10 B); sung by Mr. James Thomas, aged 65, at Camborne in 1913.
Tune: Bronson group A.a.
Description of text: 12 stas., A - B - E 5 - E 2 - F - G - H2 - K - Q R1 - P3 (Christ's prophecy) PI (Christ's prophecy).
-----------
7. BRONSON 54 no. 4.
'C.T.C. '
Date: (1910).
Place: Surrey
Source: Bronson 54 no.4, from Gillington, Old Christmas Carols, p.14, no.9, sung by Surrey gypsies.
Tune: Bronson group A.a.
Description of text: 6 stas., each o f two 'long' l i n e s , A - E2 - F3 - G2* - H2* - L2.
---------
8. BRONSON 54 no. 5.
'J.W.O.M.'
Date: 16 September 1913.
Place: Stourport, Worcs.
Source: Bronson 54 no.5, from Vaughan Williams, J.F.S.S., V no.18 (1914), p.14, tune and first stanza, as sung by Mr. Davies of Stourport; full text and tune in R.V.W. L i b . , Vaughan Williams MS. 4 to E, p.11, a t t r i b u t e d to Mr. Davies, B u l l ' s Hopgarden, Aylton, near Ledbury, Herefs.: Davies was evidently a hop-picker from Stourport, and probably a gypsy.
Tune: Bronson group A.a.
Description of text: Written without stanza d i v i s i o n s , but comprises 9 stas., A - E2 - F - Gl - H2 - k, k3 - P4
( i n d i r e c t ) - P2 ( i n d i r e c t ) - P3 ( i n d i r e c t ).
9. BRONSON 54 no. 7.
'J.W.O.M.'
Date: 20 September 1910.
Place: Birmingham.
Source: Bronson 54 no.7 from Shsirp MSS., 2545/.; also in Sharp, C o l l e c t i o n , ed. Karpeles, I , p.55 (no. 10 E), incorrectly, assigned; sung by Mrs. Gentle P h i l l i p s , a gypsy aged 82, at Birmingham i n 1910.
Tune: Bronson Group A.a.
No Text.
---------------
10. BRONSON 54 no. 8.
('C.T.C. ')
Date: 9 September 1922.
Place: Buckingham Union.
Source: Bronson 54 no. 8 from Sharp MSS., 4891/.; also in Sharp, C o l l e c t i o n , ed. Karpeles, I , p.54 (no. 10 C); sung by Robert Hughes, aged 63, in 1922.
Tune: Bronson group A.a.
Description of t e x t: One stanza. A, only.
-------------
11. BRONSON 54 no. 10.
('C.T.C.')
Date: 13 January 1909.
Place: Chipping Campden, Glos.
Source: Bronson 54 no.10 from Sharp MSS., 2069/.; also i n Sharp, English Folk Carols, p.7 and in Sharp C o l l e c t i o n , ed. Karpeles, I , p.55 (no. 10 D), i n c o r r e c t l y assigned; sung by Mrs. Mary Anne Clayton, aged 64,- i n 1909.
Tune: Bronson group A.a.
Description o f t e x t : One stanza, A, only.
----------
12. BRONSON 54 no. 12.
('C.T.C.')
Date: 8 April 1909.
Place: Winchcomb Union, Glos.
Source: Bronson 54 no. 12 from Sharp MSS. 2151/2018; words only, slightly altered , in Sharp, English Folk Carols, p.8; sung by Mrs. Mary Anne Roberts, aged 81, in 1909.
Tune: Bronson group A.b.
Description of text: 5 stas., E2 ( c o r r u p t ) - F - G - H2 - k, k3.
------
13. BRONSON 54 no.13.
'J.W.O.M.'
Date: November 1907.
Place: A l r e s f o r d , Hants.
Source: Bronson 54 no.13, from Vaughan Williams and Gamblin, J.F.S.S., I l l , no.13 (1909), p.260; sung by Mrs. Davey, aged about 60, i n 1907.
Tune: Bronson group A.b.
Description of text: One stanza. A, only.
-------------
14. BRONSON 54 no. 24.
'J.W.O.M.'
Date: (1910).
Place: Hants.
Source: Bronson 54 no.24, from G i l l i n g t o n , Old Christmas Carols, p.24, no. 16, sung by Hampshire gypsies.
Tune: Bronson group A.e.
Description of t e x t : 10 stans. , A - E2 - F3 - G4 - H2* - K - M2 - P ( i n d i r e c t ) - PI ( i n d i r e c t ) - P4 ( i n d i r e c t ).
-------------
15. BRONSON 54 no. 25.
('C.T.C.')
Date: 13 April 1911.
Place: Armscote, Warwicks.
Source: Bronson 54 no.25, from Sharp MSS. 2586/.; tune p r i n t e d i n Sharp, English Folk Carols, p.9; text and tune in Sharp, C o l l e c t i o n , ed. Karpeles, I , p.52 (no. 10 A) and i n Palmer, Songs of the Midlands, p.14, sung by Mrs. Ellen Plumb, aged 85, in 1911.
Tune: Bronson group A.e.
Description of t e x t: 6 stas., A - E - F* - G* - H3 ( s i x l i n e s ) - K*.
-------------
16. BRONSON 54 no. 26.
('C.T.C.')
Date: 22 August 1911.
Place: Shipton (county not s t a t e d ).
Source: Bronson 54 no. 26 from Sharp MSS. 2612/.; sung by Mrs. Beechy i n 1911.
Tune: Bronson group B.
No Text.
---------------
17a. BRONSON 54 no. 27.
('G.T.C.')
Date: 11 June 1924.
Place: Cornwall.
Source: Bronson 54 no.27 from Miners and Thomas, J.F.S.S. , V I I I no.33 (1929), p.111, sung by S. Landry in 1924.
Tune: Bronson group C.
Description of t e x t : 2 stas., E5 - F, w i t h chorus from 'The Holly and the I v y.'
-----------
17b. (BRONSON 54 no. 27)
('C.T.C')
Date: January 1916.
Place: Cornwall (see below).
Source: Bronson 54 no.27 from Miners, J.F.S.S., V no.20 (1916), p.321, from which the f o l l o w i n g note is quoted: "Mr. Tom Miners of Penponds, Camborne, has noted (Jan. 1916) the f o l l o w i n g version of the words from a Mr. Landry of C a l l i n g t o n who learnt it from a man whom he met at Bodmin some years ago."
No Tune Given.
Description of t e x t : 9 stas., E5 - F - G - H2 - four stanzas and chorus from 'The H o l l y and the I v y ' - R*.
----------
C.T.C. 18a. BRONSON 54 no. 29.
('C.T.C.')
Date: 17 September 1922.
Place: Upper Wardington, near Banbury, Oxfordshire.
Source: Bronson 54 no.29 from Sharp MSS. 4914/.; sung by Mrs. George Cooknell in 1922.
Tune: Bronson group E.
D e s c r i p t i o n of t e x t ; One stanza. A, only, w i t h chorus from 'The Holly and the I v y '.
----------
18b. BLUNT/Loveday
('C.T.C.')
Date: Sent 1 April 1921.
Place: Wardington, near Banbury, Oxfordshire.
Source: R.V.W. L i b . Blunt MS. (unpublished),.p.291, no.5, sent i n 1921 by Miss May Loveday who noted it from a v i l l a g e member of Wardington Women's I n s t i t u t e.
No Tune Given.
Description o f t e x t: 2 'long' stas. from C.T.C., AB - G2, K5, followed by a stanza and chorus from 'The Holly and the Ivy'.
-------------
19. BRONSON 54 No. 32 (Appendix)
'The Legend of Joseph and the Angel'
Date: (1860).
Place: Not given.
Source: Bronson 54 no.32 (tune only) from Fyfe, Christmas, p.130; tune also p r i n t e d i n Terry, G i l b e r t and Sandys' Christmas Carols, p.39 and i n Oxford Carols no.66 (p.144) and G i l c h r i s t , J.F.S.S., V no.18 (1914), p.13(2); Fyfe does
not give any source for t e x t or tune.
Tune: Bronson 54, Appendix.
Description of (Fyfe's) text: 12 stas., N - T2 - T3 - P - PI - P3 - N* - M2- T4 - T5 - T - T 1.
----
C.T.C. 20. HOWITT
('C.T.C.')
Date: (1838).
Place: Not given.
Source: Howitt, Rural L i f e , p.469, "sung by bands o f l i t t l e children at Christmas".
Without tune.
Description of text: 2 stas., A - K, w i t h prose summary.
------
21. SHARP - Smith
('C.T.C.')
Date: 10 April 1911.
Place: Coates, Glos.
Source: Sharp, C o l l e c t i o n , ed. Karpeles, I , p.56 (no. 10 F) , sung by Charles Smith, aged 49, in 1911.
Tune: Not in Bronson.
Description of text: One stanza, H2, only.
----
22. SHARP - Roberts
('C.T.C.')
Date: 8 A p r i l 1909.
Place: Winchcomb Union, Glos.
Source: Sharp, C o l l e c t i o n , ed. Karpeles, I , p.56 (no. 10 G); sung by Mary Anne Roberts, aged 81, in 1909.
Tune: Not in Bronson.
Description of text: 4 stas., N - P - PI - N*.
----------
23. WILLIAMS/LEATHER - Anon. (Loveridge?)
'C.T.C. '
Date: Not given (1908?).
Place: Not given (Herefs.?).
Source: R.V.W. L i b . , Vaughan Williams Scrapbook of Broadsides, Letters, etc. (unpublished), p.72, i n the handwriting of R.V.W.; no source i s given, but with it are two versions of songs from Mrs. Loveridge, a keeper's daughter from Stoke
Edith, near Hereford, who had run away to marry a gypsy (see Leather, Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society, 3rd s e r i e s , IV, p.60) recorded by Mrs. E.M. Leather in 1908 (see below, Appendix B, C.C. 4a and Appendix D, S.V. 9b); since neither
of these latter texts is i d e n t i f i e d either, it seems l i k e l y that C.T.C. 23 represents a phonograph recording by Mrs. Leather from Loveridge or another Herefs. gypsy in 1908.
No Tune Given.
D e s c r i p t i o n of t e x t : 14 stas., A - E4 - F2* - G3 - J - k, k3 - L - N - p - P3 - P7 - PI - M2 - N2; of. C.T.C. 3.
C.T.C. 24. GREIG - Robertson
'C.T.C. '
Date; C. 1910.
Place: New P i t s l i g o, from Strichen, both in Aberdeenshire.
Source: Greig, Folk Song o f the North East, article CLXIV, contributed by Miss B e l l Robertson from her own r e c o l l e c t i o n ; see above. Chapter Nine, note 16.
Without tune.
Description of t e x t : 5 stas., A - f 2 - G3 - J - k3.
-----------
25. GREIG - Sim.
'C.T.C.'
Date: c. 1910.
Place: Hatton of F i n t r a y , Aberdeenshire.
Source: Greig, Folk Song of the North East, a r t i c l e CLX, w i t h some omissions; also i n Greig and K e i t h, Last Leaves, pp.44-45; contributed by Mrs. Sim of Hatton.
Without tune.
Description of t e x t ; 15 stas., A - C - D - E4 - F - Gl - J2 - K4 - N1 - P* ( i n d i r e c t ) - P2 ( i n d i r e c t ) - P6 ( i n d i r e c t) - Q - R3 - r 2 , r 4.
--------------
IRELAND
26. BRONSON 54- no. 6.
('C.T.C.')
Date: 20 November 1929.
Place: Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, from Co. Monaghan, Eire.
Source: Bronson 54 no.6, from Karpeles, J.F.S.S., V I I I no.34 (1930), pp.229-230; sung by Mrs. James
L. Vrooman aged 85, at Regina in 1929, who learned i t from her mother of Co. Monaghan, Ireland (the family o r i g i n a l l y came from England)
Tune: Bronson group A.a.
Description of t e x t : 10 stas., A - E* - F - G2 - H2 - K2 - N1 - P - P2 ( i n d i r e c t ) - P6 ( i n d i r e c t ).
--------
27. BRONSON 54 no. 9.
('C.T.C.')
Date: Abbreviated version, February 1933; longer version, 26 May 1933.
Place: S p r i n g f i e l d , Vt. from Ireland.
Source: Bronson 54 no.9 (tune and 5 stas.) from Flanders, B u l l e t i n o f the Folk Song Society o f the North-East, VI (1933), p.14; a longer version, of 14 stas. w i t h tune, i s p r i n t e d i n Flanders, Country Songs o f Vermont, p.48 and Flanders,
Anc. Ballads, I I , pp.72-73; sung by Mrs. E.M. S u l l i v a n of S p r i n g f i e l d , Vt., as learned i n a convent i n I r e l a n d i n about 1860.
Tune; Bronson group A.a.
Description of text (longer v e r s i o n ): 14 stas., A - B - E5 - F - Gl - H2* - K4 - P
( i n d i r e c t ) - P2 ( i n d i r e c t ) - P4 ( i n d i r e c t ) -
Q - R - R2 - R4; (Bronson's stas. underlined)
----------
C.T.C. 28a. DAVIS - O'Halloran
'C.T.C.'
Date: 22 January 1916.
Place: Lynchburg, Va., from Cratloe, Co. Clare, Eire.
Source: Davis, Trad. Ballads of Va., p.173, reported by J u l i e t Fauntleroy and contributed by Miss Agnes O'Halloran o f Lynchburg, from the singing of her mother, nee Margaret Shannahsin, born in 1834 in the Parish of Cratloe, I r e l a n d , who learned the carol c.1841-1846 i n I r e l a n d.
No Tune Given.
D e s c r i p t i o n of t e x t: 6 stas., C - D - E2, f - Gl - H2* - K2.
--------
28b. JACKSON - O'Halloran
Date: 15 May 1933.
Place: Same as 28a.
Source: Jackson, Down East S p i r i t u a l s , pp.60-61; recorded by Winston Wilkinson in 1933 from the singing of Agnes O'Halloran (see above, 28a)
Tune: Not in Bronson.
Text: I d e n t i c a l with 28a.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
C.T.C. 29. BRONSON 54 no.14.
('C.T.C.')
Date: 15 November 1916.
Place: Culpepper County, Va.
Source: Bronson 54 no.14 from Davis, Trad. Ballads of Va., p.174-(B) and tune on p.565; collected by John Stone i n Culpepper County from the singing of a negro woman.
Tune: Bronson group A.c.
Description of t e x t ; One stanza. A, only.
------
30. BRONSON 54 no.15.
('C.T.C.')
Date: 8 May 1917.
Place: B a r b o u r v i l l e , Knox County, Ky.
Source: Bronson 54 no.15 from Sharp MSS. 3658/2717; also i n Sharp and Karpeles, English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I , p.94 (E); sung by Mrs. Alice and Mrs. Sudie Sloan in 1917.
Tune: Bronson group A.d.
Description of t e x t : 8 stas, A - E3 - F - Gl - H5 - K4 - Q1 - S.
------
31. BRONSON 54 no. 16.
('C.T.C.')
Date: 21 September 1917.
Place: Hindman, Knott County, Ky.
Source: Bronson 54 no.16 from Sharp MSS. 4081/2918; also i n Sharp and Karpeles, English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I , pp.92-93(C); sung by Mr. William Wooton in 1917.
Tune: Bronson group A.d.
Description of text: 9 stas., A - E3 - F - G1 - J1 - K2 - L3 - Q1 - S.
------
32. BRONSON 54 no. 20.
('C.T.C.')
Date: (1916).
Place: Knott County, Ky.
Source: Bronson 54 no.20 from McGill, J.A.F., XXIX (1916), pp.293 and 417; also i n McGill, Folk Songs o f the Ky. Mountains, pp.59-61 and i n Pound, American Ballads and Songs, p.47, Smith and Rufty, American Anthology, p.12, Botkin, Treasury, p.758 and E i n r i c h , American Folk Poetry, pp.401-402(l); sung by Will Wooten as learnt from his grandmother in North Carolina, who came from England. It seems probable that the singer of C.T.C. nos. 31 and 32 i s the same and that this text has been 'corrected' as regards grammar and metre. Since, however, later American v a r i a n t s resemble the version c o l l e c t e d by McGill, it has been deemed advisable to treat 31 and 32 as separate versions.
Tune; Bronson group A.d.
Description of t e x t : 9 stas., A - E3 - F - Gl - H2* - K2 - L3 - Q1 - S.
--------------
C.T.C. 33a. BRONSON 54 no.17.
('C.T.C.')
Date: 24 August 1916.
Place: Hot Springs, N.C.
Source: Bronson 54 No.17 from Sharp MSS. 3312/2419; also in Sharp and Karpeles,. English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, p.91 (B); sung by Mrs, Jane Gentry in 1916.
Tune: Bronson group A.d.
Description of text : 9 stas., A - E3 - F - G1 - J 1 - K2 - Q1 - S - L3.
----------
33b. BRONSON 54 no. 18.
Date:1946.
Place: As 33a.
Source: Bronson 54 no.18 (tune only) from LC/AAFS recording no.66(B); also i n Emrich, American Folk Poetry, pp.402-403(2); collected by Artus M. Moser from the singing of Mrs. Maud Long, daughter of Mrs. Gentry, the singer of 33a. in 1946.
Tune: Bronson group A.d.
Text: I d e n t i c a l with 33a.
-------------
34. BRONSON 54. no.19.
('C.T.C.')
Date: 12 September 1917.
Place: St. Helen's, Lee County, Ky.
Source: Bronson 54 no.19 from Sharp MSS. 4024/2899; also in Sharp and Karpeles, English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I , p.93(D); sung by Mrs. Margaret Dunagan i n 1917.
Tune: Bronson group A.d.
Description of t e x t : 9 stas., A - E3 - F* - Gl - H5 - K2 - L3 - Q1- S.
-------------
C.T.C. 35. BRONSON 54 no. 21.
('C.T.C.')
Date: 4 May 1917.
Place: P i n e v i l l e , B e l l County, Ky.
Source: Bronson 54 no.21 from Sharp MSS. 3627/.; also i n Sharp and Karpeles, English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I , p.94 (F) ; sung by Mrs. Townsley i n 1917.
Tune: Bronson group A.d.
Description of text: One stanza, Ql, only.
-------------
36. BRONSON 54 no. 23.
'Sweet Mary'and Sweet Joseph'
Date: 1937?.
Place: Newberry, Fla.
Source: Bronson 54 no.23 from Morris, Folk Songs o f Fla.
pp.262-263; also i n Morris, S.F.Q., V I I I no.2
(1944), pp.145-146; sung my Mrs. G.A. Griffin of Newberry, who was convinced t h a t she had
composed the song h e r s e l f ; her f a t h e r, John R. Hart, from whom she learned most o f her ballads, grew up in Georgia.
Tune: Bronson group A.d.
Description of t e x t : 8 stas., E2 - F - Gl - J3 - Ql - Q2 - r 2 , r3 - R6.
-----------
37. BRONSON 54 no. 28.
( 'C.T.C.')
Date: 17 August 1916.
Place: Big Laurel, N.C.
Source: Bronson 54 no.28 from Sharp MSS. 3284/2391; also i n Sharp and Karpeles, English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I , p.90(A); sung by Mrs. Tom Rice i n 1916.
Tune: Bronson group D.
Description of t e x t : 8 stas., E2 - F - G1 - H2 - K4 - L3 - Q1 - S.
-----------
C.T.C. 38. BRONSON 54 no.30.
('C.T.C.')
Date: 14 May 1930.
Place: P i n e v i l l e , Mo.
Source:Bronson 54 no.30, from Randolph, Ozark Folk Songs, I , p.88; sung by Mrs. Marie V/ilbur i n 1930, who learned i t from her mother's family who came from Tennessee.
Tune: Bronson group F.
Description of t e x t : 2 stas., A - H2*,
-------------
39. BROWN/ Sutton.
('C.T.C.')
Date: Not given.
Place: Miller's Gap School, Madison County, N.C.
Source: Brown, C o l l e c t i o n of N.C. F o l k l o r e , I I , pp. 61-62(A); also i n Emrich, American Folk Poetry, pp.403-4(3); contributed by Mrs. D.H. Sutton, a schoolteacher, from the singing of a l i t t l e g i r l in M i l l e r ' s Gap School.
Without tune.
Description of t e x t: 7 stas., E - F l - G4 - H5 - K l - L I - T6.
40. BROWN / Lancaster.
('C.T.C.')
Date: Probably 1922.
Place: Goldsboro, Wayne County, N.C.
Source: Brown, C o l l e c t i o n of N. C. F o l k l o r e , II, pp.62-63(B); communicated by Mrs. N i l la Lancaster of Goldsboro, c.1922.
Without tune.
Description of t e x t : 9 stas., identical with C.T.C. 32.
-------------
41. CAMPBELL - Fields.
('C.T.C.'')
Date: 24 December 1930.
Place: Gander, Ky.
Source: Campbell, J.A.F., L I (1938), p.15 (A); sung by Aunt Lizbeth Fields.
Without tune.
Description of text: 3 stas., A - E1 - N1 ;
-------
42. CAMPBELL - Eldridge
('C.T.C.')
Date: 24 December 1930.
Place: Gander, Ky.
Source: Campbell, J.A.F., L I , pp.15-16(B); sung by Aunt Mary Eldridge, who learned it from her first sweetheart.
Without tune.
Description of t e x t : 5 stas., A - E3 - F - G1 - K2.
-----------
43. CAMPBELL - Hampton.
('C.T.C.')
Date: 24 December 1930.
Place: Gander, Ky.
Source: Campbell, J.A.F., L I , p.16(C); sung by Mint and Henry Hampton.
Without tune.
Description of text: 8 stas., A - E3 - F - Gl - H2* - K2 - Q1 - S.
44. COMBS - Ellyson
'J.W.O.M.'
Date: (1924).
Place: Cowen, Nicholas County, W. Va.
Source: L i s t e d in Combs, Folk Songs o f the Southern United States, ed. Wilgus, p.201 (15 A); text ava i l a b l e from the Western Kentucky Folklore Archive; collected by Carey Woofter from the singing o f Mae Ellyson in Cowen.
Without tune.
Description of t e x t : 7 stas., A - E l - F - G4 - H - H3 - K3.
-------------
C.T.C. 45. COMBS / Hatfield
'J.W.O.M.'
Date: (1924).
Place: Charleston, W. Va.
Source: Listed i n Combs, Folk Songs o f the Southern United States, ed. Wilgus, p.201 (15 B); text a v a i l a b l e from the Western Kentucky Folklore Archive; collected by Miss Forrest H a t f i e ld from the s i n g i n g of an o l d negro woman i n
Charleston.
Without tune.
Description of text: 2 stas., A - K.
-----------
46. COMBS - Fidler
'Joseph and Mary'
Date: (1924).
Place: Linn, Gilmer County, W. Va., from Culpepper County, Va.
Source: Text printed in Combs, Folk Songs o f the Southern United States, ed. Wilgus, pp.202-203
(15 C); collected by Carey Woofter from the singing of Bessie Fidler of Linn who learned it from her mother who was born in Culpepper County, Va.
Without tune.
Description of text: 10 stas., T7 - B - F - E3* - G4 - J l - N - T3- P2* - T7*.
-----------
47. Combs Archive - Rice
'The Sixth of January'
Date: Summer, 1964.
Place: Pleasure Ridge Park, Ky.
Source: This text was sent with C.T.C. nos. 44 and 45 from the Western Kentucky Folklore Archive, but may be from the Central Kentucky Archive of Folk Culture; collected by Neal Harding from Mrs. William Rice, aged 56, at Pleasure Ridge Park i n 1964; Mrs. Rice learned the "story and song" from her mother and maternal grandmother.
Without tune.
Description of text: 7 stas., garbled, A - E3*, F - Gl - H2» - K2 L3, Ql - S.
-----------
C.T.C. 48. CUTTING - Cutting
'C.T.C.'
Date: August 1944.
Place: Elizabethtown, N.Y., perhaps from England.
Source: Cutting , New York Folklore Quarterly, I (1945), p.48; collected by E.E. Cutting from the r e c i t a t i o n of Clarence Cutting of Elizabethtown, who learned i t from h i s English mother.
Without tune.
Description of text: 7 stas., N - P4* - PI - P3 - three variant stas. of 'T'.
----------
49a and b. DAVIS/SCARBOROUGH - negro nurse
('C.T.C.')
Date: 1 November 1915.
Place: Spottsylvania County, from Orange County, Va.
Source: 'a' in Davis, Trad. Ballads of Va., p.174(C), contributed by Miss Ellen Dana Conway in 1915 from the singing o f an o l d negro nurse i n Spottsylvania County, formerly the slave of the Graves family o f Orange County; 'b' i n Scarborough, On the T r a i l o f Negro Folk Songs, p.61, w i t h the same d e t a i l s as t o the singer.
Without tune.
Description of text: One sta. only. A, d i f f e r i n g s l i g h t l y i n 49b.
----------------
50. GAINER - Gainer
'The Cherry Tree'
Date: Early twentieth century.
Place: W. Va.
Source:Gainer, Folk Songs from the W. Va. H i l l s , p.34; also i n Boette, Singa Hipsy Doodle, p.154; r e c o l l e c t e d by P.W. Gainer as sung by h i s grandfather Francis C. Gainer i n the early twentieth century.
Tune: Not in Bronson.
Description of t e x t; 7 stas., A - E3 - F - Gl - K2 - Ql - S.
----------
C.T.C. 51. HENRY - Wheeler
'C.T.C.'
Date: 14 January 1931.
Place: Paducah, Ky.
Source: Henry, J.A.F., XLV (1932), p.13; also in Henry, Folk Songs of the Southern Highlands, p.59 and in Emrich, American Folk Poetry, p.404(4); obtained from Miss Mary Wheeler of Paducah i n 1931.
Without tune.
Description of t e x t : 4 stas., A - E l - N l - P ( c f . C.T.C. 41).
-------
52. MOORE - Hill
'Joseph and Mary'
Date: Not given (see below).
Place: Tahlequah, Okla., from Va.
Source: Moore and Moore, Ballads and Songs of the South West, pp.44-45(A); sung by Mrs. Lizzie J. Hill of Tahlequah, who was born in Georgia, came t o Indian T e r r i t o r y in 1890 and learned her songs from her father, a Methodist minister born in Virg i n i a.
Tune: Not i n Bronson.
Description of t e x t : 8 stas., A - E2 - F* - Gl - H2 - K4* - 01 - SI ( c f . R2).
---------------
53. MOORE - Brixey
'J.W.O.M. '
Date: Not given.
Place: Glenpool, Oklahoma
Source: Moore and Moore, Ballads and Songs o f the South West, pp.45-47(B); sung by. Mrs. Clyde Brixey
of Glenpool.
Tune: Not i n Bronson.
Description of t e x t: 9 stas., A - E2 - F l - G - H2* - K5 - M - Q - R.
--------
C.T.C. 54. RITCHIE - Ritchie
'Carol of the Cherry Tree'
Date: Not given.
Place: Elk Branch, V i p e r , Ky.
Source: Jean R i t c h i e , Folk Songs o f the Southern Appalachians, pp.42-43, from the singing of her uncle, Jason R i t c h i e , i n Elk Branch.
Tune: Not i n Bronson.
Description o f t e x t ; 10 s t a s . , A - E3 - F - G1 - H5 - K2 - L3 - T9 - Q1 - S.
55. ROBERTS - Couch
'Joseph and Mary'
Date: November and December, 1955.
Place: Harlan County, Ky.
Source: Roberts, Sang Branch S e t t l e r s , pp.91-92; sung by Jim and Dave Couch in 1955, who learned it from their father, Tom Couch (1860-1956), whose paternal grandfather was from Scott County, Va.
Tune: Not i n Bronson.
Description o f t e x t : 8 stas., A - E3 - F - Gl - J3 - L3 - 01 - S.
----------
56. ROSENBERG - Salyers
('C.T.C.')
Date: 1 November 1939.
Place: Indian Creek, Va.
Source: Listed by Rosenberg, Folk Songs of Va., p.16, no.183(A); text available from the MSS. D i v i s i o n , Alderman Library, Univ. of Va.; c o l l e c t e d i n 1939 by Emory L. Hamilton from Mrs. J u l i a Salyers, who learned i t from her
grandmother's singing.
Without tune.
Description of t e x t: 9 stas., E2, F - Gl - H2 - K4 - L3» - Q1 - S - Q2 - r 2 , r 3.
-----------
C.T.C. 57. ROSENBERG - Osborne
'The Cherry Tree'
Date: 4 October 1939.
Place: Wise, Va.
Source: L i s t e d by Rosenberg, Folk Songs of Va., p.16, no.183(B); text available from the Alderman L i b . , Univ. of Va.; collected in 1939 by Emory L. Hamilton from Mrs. Lizzie Osborne, who learned it from her mother's singing.
Without tune.
Description of t e x t : 6 stas., E3* - F - Gl - H2* - K2 - Ql, S.
58. ROSENBERG - Beale
('C.T.C.')
Date: 16 November 1940.
Place: Haymarket, Va.
Source: Listed by Rosenberg, Folk Songs of Va., p.16, no.183(C); text available from the Alderman L i b . , Univ. of Va. ; collected by Susan R. Morton from the r e c o l l e c t i o n s of Aunt Fanny Beale and others.
Without tune.
Description of t e x t : 5 stas., N - P - PI - P3 - P4.
59. ROSENBERG - Beverly
'Joseph and Mary'
Date: 24 June 1939.
Place: Norton, Va.
Source: Listed i n Rosenberg,. Folk Songs of Va. , p.16, no.183(D); text available from the Alderman L i b . , Univ. of Va. ; collected by Emory L. Hamilton from Mrs. Donna Snodgrass Beverly, who learned i t from her mother's singing and believed that i t had been known i n her family " f o r more than a hundred years".
Without tune.
Description of t e x t : 5 stas., E3* - F - Gl - H2* - K2; cf. C.T.C. 57.
----------
C.T.C. 60. THOMAS - Isom
('C.T.C.')
Date: (1939).
Place: Carter County, Ky.
Source: Thomas, Ballad Makin', p.227; sung by B i l l Kitchen Isom.
Without tune.
Description of t e x t : 11 stas., A - E4 - F2 - G3 - J - k, k3 - N - P- M2 - N2 - S*. Cf. C.T.C. nos. 3 and 23.
61a. THOMAS - Setters
Date; (1939).
Place: Lost Hope Hollow, Ky.
Source: Thomas, Ballad Makin', pp.223-225; sung by Jilson and Rhuhamie Setters.
Tune: See Bronson 54 no.8, group A.a.
Description of t e x t : 9 stas., A - E3 - F - Gl - H2* - K2 - L3 - Q1 S: c f . C.T.C. 32.
-----
61b. THOMAS - Creech
Date; (1939).
Place: Forsaken Creek, Ky.
Source: Thomas, Ballad Makin', pp.229-230; sung by John B. and Malinda Creech, " j u s t as J i l s on Setters had sung i t f o r me, except t h a t John Buckingham Creech had many more stanzas to his version".
Without tune.
Description of text : 4 'extra' stas., P - PI - P3 - P7.
62. WHEELER
'C.T.C.'
Date: (1937).
Place: Kentucky Mountains,
Source: Wheeler, Ky. Mountain Folk Songs, pp.3-8; "words and melody collected by Mary Wheeler ...heard i n many parts of the Kentucky mountains"
Tune: See Bronson 54 no.28, (group D.)
Description of t e x t; 11 stas., A - E4 - F2 - G3 - J - k, k3 - N - P - PI - P3 - P7; c f . C.T.C. t e x t 3 and 23.
63. CHASE ET AL - Anon.
'C.T.C.'
Date: (1946).
Place: Clay County, N.C.
Source: Chase, Ritchie , McLain and Marvel, Songs o f A l l Time, p.25; also i n Folkways Monthly (State College, Pa.), May, 1962, p.17; no d e t a i l s of c o l l e c t i o n are given; this t e x t i s numbered out o f sequence because the work by
Chase e t a l was not available to me u n t i l r e c e n t l y.
Tune: Not i n Bronson.
Description o f t e x t : 6 stas., A - E3* - F - G3* - H2 - K4.
64. CANADA BRONSON 54 no. 11.
('C.T.C.')
Date: (1950).
Place: H a l i f a x , N.S.
Source: Bronson 54 no.11 from Helen Creighton and Doreen H. Senior, T r a d i t i o n a l Songs from Nova Scotia, Toronto, 1950, p.35(B); sung by Mrs. Annie C. Wallace of H a l i f a x.
Tune; Bronson group A.b.
Description of t e x t; One stanza, A, only.
65. BRONSON 54 no. 22.
('C.T.C.')
Date: (1950).
Place: Cherry Brook, N.S.
Source: Bronson 54 no.22 from Helen Creighton and Doreen H. Senior, T r a d i t i o n a l Songs from Nova Scotia, Toronto, 1950, p.35(A); also i n Fowke and Johnston, Folk Songs of Canada, pp.128-129; noted by Nina Bartley Finn from the singing of
Mr. William Riley, a negro; the version may have o r i g i n a t e d i n the U.S.A. as Mr. Riley's ancestors were slaves.
Tune; Bronson group A.d.
Description of t e x t: 5 stas., Ql - S* - F3 - G4 ^ J4.
66. COX - Cooper
'The Cherry Tree'
Date: 29 December 1975.
Place: Dildo, Newfoundland.
Source: Cox, Folk Music Journal, III (1977), pp.245-247; recorded by Gordon Cox as sung by Mrs. C. Cooper of Dildo in 1975.
Tune: Not i n Bronson.
Description of t e x t: 11 stas., A - E2 - F - G - H5 - K - K4* - K2* - Q1 - s, r - P (Christ's prophecy).
(c) A LIST OF ADDITIONAL TEXTS examined but not judged t o be o f t r a d i t i o n a l o r i g i n or o f independent standing:
Bullen, Carols and Poems, pp.29-32.
Dunstan, Cornish Song Book, pp.85,87.
Jameson, Sweet Rivers of Song, p.80.
Lomax, Penguin Book of American Folk Songs, p.77.
Nettel, Carols 1400-1950, pp.28-29.
N i l e s , Ballad Book, pp.126-127.
---Seven Kentucky Mountain Songs, p.4.
—; Ten Christmas Carols, pp.16-17.
Sidgwick, Popular Carols, pp.5-8.
S i l b e r , Reprints from the People's Songs B u l l e t i n , p.43.
and Silverman, Hootenanny Song Book, p.47.
Theatre Arts Monthly, 1932, p.1018.
---
(d) UNEXAMINED REFERENCES from C o f f i n and Renwick, B r i t i s h Trad. Ballad
i n North America (1977), pp.60 and 227.
B u l l e t i n of the Tennessee Folklore Society, Marysville and
Athens, Tenn., V I I I no.3, p.78,
Scott, John Anthony, ed. L i v i n g Documents i n American History,
v o l . 1 , New York, 1963, pp.64-65.