Joseph Was An Old Man- Sandys 1833 Child A a.
[Sandys published two versions of Child A the first in 1833 (Child A a.) Christmas Carols, p. 123, West of England and the second in 1852 (Child A b.) in Christmastide, p. 241.]
Joseph was an old man- Version A; Child 54, The Cherry-Tree Carol
a. Sandys, Christmas Carols, p. 123, West of England.
1 Joseph was an old man,
and an old man was he,
When he wedded Mary,
in the land of Galilee.
2 Joseph and Mary walked
through an orchard good,
Where was cherries and berries,
so red as any blood.
3 Joseph and Mary walked
through an orchard green,
Where was berries and cherries,
as thick as might be seen.
4 O then bespoke Mary,
so meek and so mild:
'Pluck me one cherry, Joseph,
for I am with child.'
5 O then bespoke Joseph,
with words most unkind:
'Let him pluck thee a cherry
that brought thee with child.'
6 O then bespoke the babe,
within his mother's womb:
'Bow down then the tallest tree,
for my mother to have some.'
7 Then bowed down the highest tree
unto his mother's hand;
Then she cried, See, Joseph,
I have cherries at command.
8 O then bespake Joseph:
'I have done Mary wrong;
But cheer up, my dearest,
and be not cast down.'
9 Then Mary plucked a cherry,
as red as the blood,
Then Mary went home
with her heavy load.
10 Then Mary took her babe,
and sat him on her knee,
Saying, My dear son, tell me
what this world will be.
11 'O I shall be as dead, mother,
as the stones in the wall;
O the stones in the streets, mother,
shall mourn for me all.
12 'Upon Easter-day, mother,
my uprising shall be;
O the sun and the moon, mother,
shall both rise with me.'
______________
Sandys' Note (1833):
"Joseph was an old man," or Cherry Tree Carol, as it is sometimes called, is founded on a very old legend, of which I know not the origin. The incident referred to is a prominent one in the fifteenth pageant of the Coventry Mysteries, and it may be amusing to compare the manner in which it is there told with the present carol
Mary says,
"A my swete husbond, wold ye tell to me
What tre is yon standynge upon yon hylle?
Joseph.
Forsothe, Mary, it is clepyd a chery tre,
In tyme of yer myght fede yow y on yo fylle.
Maria.
Turne ageyn husbond & beholde yon tre,
How yt it blomyght now so swetly.
Joseph.
Cum on, Mary, yt we worn at yon cyte,
Or ellys we may be blamyd I tell yow lythly.
Maria.
Now my spowse, I pray yow to be hold
How ye cheryes growyn upon yon tre,
For to have y of ryght gayn I wold,
& it plesyd yow to labor so mech for me.
Joseph.
Yor desyr to fulfylle I shall assay sekyrly,
Ow to plucke yow of these cheries it is a werk wylde,
For ye tre is so hyg it wol not bew lyghtly,
Y~ for lete hy pluk yow cheryes be gatt yow wt childe.
Maria.
Now good Lord I pray the, graunt me yis boun,
To have of yese cheries, & it be yor wylle,
Now I thank God, yis tre bowyth to me down,
I may now gadery anowe & etyn my fylle.
Joseph.
Ow, I know weyl I have offendyd my God i trinyte,
Spekyng to my spowse these unkynde wurdys,
For now I beleve wel it may non other be
But yt my spowse bewryght ye kyngys son of blys, &c.