51. The Twelve Blessings of Mary


51

The Twelve Blessings of Mary

This is another carol of numbers. Its theme goes back to the
hymnody of the medieval church. The number of blessings — or
joys, as they are more often called — was at first five. There are
two poems on the Five Joys of Mary in Carleton Brown's Eng-
lish Lyrics of the Thirteenth Century, Nos. 18 and 41. The same
author's Religious Lyrics of the Fifteenth Century has two on the
Five Joys and four "on the Seven Joys, this latter number having'
been adopted from the French. None of these, however, is much
like the carol of later English and American tradition. William
J. Phillips's Carols, Their Origin, Music, and Connection iinth
Mystery Plays gives a text of 'The Seven Joys of Mary,' "once
very popular in the West Country," which shows by its refrain that
it belongs to the same tradition as the texts reported in recent
years as traditional songs in England and America; and also a
fifteenth-century 'Carol of the Five Joys,' from the Sloan manu-
script, which carries the same refrain as our North Carolina text.
I have found but one English text that shows twelve blessings, that
from Gloucestershire (JFSS v 19) ; others have ten; from Somerset
(FSSom No. 125) ; or nine: from Sussex (JFSS v 20), from Corn-
wall (JFSS V 319-20); or eight: from Cornwall (JFSS viii 115-
16) ; or seven: from Cornwall (JFSS v 18-19) and stall prints by
Catnach and Fortey described by Miss Broadwood (JFSS v 320).
American texts, on the other hand, pretty regularly run to twelve;
some from Vermont (NGMS 185-7), one from Connecticut (JAFL
V 325 — though the tenth and eleventh could not be remembered by
the reporter), one from Kentucky (JAFL xlviii 391-2), one from
North Carolina (JAFL xlviii 388-9), and one from Georgia
(FSA 22-3, sung by Negroes, especially at Christmas time). Of
the texts recently reported by Davis as found in Virginia (FSV
297-8) some have twelve blessings and some five. One from North
Carolina (JAFL xlviii 390) runs only to ten. One from New
York (NYFLQ iii 303-4) has eleven. Nearly all of these have
the characteristic refrain found in our text below. See also Dr.
Yoffie's paper in JAFL lxii 401-3.

'The Twelve Blessings of Mary.' From Mrs. Arizona Hughes of Hen-
son Creek, Avery county, in 1939. The last three lines of stanza i are
the refrain, repeated after each stanza.

I The very first blessing Mary had
'Tv^as the blessing of one ;
To think that her son, Jesus,
Was God's eternal Son,
Was God's eternal Son.
Like Emmanuel in glory be
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
Through all eternity.

 

OLDER BALLADS MOSTLY BRITISH

The very next blessing Mary had,
She had the blessing of two ;
To think that her son, Jesus,
Could read the Bible through,
Could read the Bible through.

The very next blessing Mary had.
She had the blessing of three;
To think that her son, Jesus,
Could make the blind to see.
Could make the blind to see.

The very next blessing Mary had.
She had the blessing of four ;
To think that her son, Jesus,
Could turn the rich to poor.
Could turn the rich to poor.

The very next blessing Mary had,
She had the blessing of five ;
To think that her son, Jesus,
Could make the dead alive.
Could make the dead alive.

The very next blessing Mary had.
She had the blessing of six ;
To think that her son, Jesus,
Could heal the lame and sick,^
Could heal the lame and sick.

The very next blessing Mary had.
She had the blessing of seven ;
To think that her son, Jesus,
Could carry the keys to heaven.
Could carry the keys to heaven.

The very next blessing Mary had.
She had the blessing of eight;
To think that her son, Jesus,
Could make the crooked straight.
Could make the crooked straight.

The very next blessing Mary had,
She had the blessing of nine ;
To think that her son, Jesus,
Could change the water to wine,
Could change the water to wine.
Or, "Could bear the Crucifix."

 

208 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE

10 The very next blessing Mary had,
She had the blessing of ten ;

To think that her son, Jesus,
Was a friend to sinful men,
Was a friend to sinful men.

1 1 The very next blessing Mary had,
She had the blessing of eleven ;
To think that her son, Jesus,
Could open the gate of heaven.
Could open the gate of heaven.

12 The very next blessing Mary had,
She had the blessing of twelve ;
To think that her son, Jesus,
Came dovi^n on earth to dv^ell.
Came down on earth to dwell.
Like Immanuel in glory be
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
Through all eternity.

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51
The Twelve Blessings of Mary

'The Twelve Blessings of Mary.' Sung by Mrs. Arizona Hughes. Recorded
at Henson Creek, Avery county, in 1939. Only stanza 5 differs in ending as
given below (measures 12-16).

 

Scale : Heptachordal, plagal. Tonal Center : f. Structure : abcdb^c^b^di (2,2,2,
2,2,2,2,2) =: abcb^b^ (2,4,2,4,4).