US and Canadian Versions- Cherry Tree Carol
[Traditional versions of this ballad are rare in the United States and especially in Canada. The older variants from Canada and the Northeast (Vermont) with the exception of the William Riley version, which in my opinion originates from the US South where his ancestors were slaves(Fowkes), are from the North by way of Ireland. The two Irish variants and another Irish variant collected by Davis (his A version) in Virginia date back to the mid to late 1800s. The Riley version probably dates back to a similar time as the other Appalachian versions-- with the early settlers from Virginia. A newly collected version in 1975 in Newfoundland points to previously unknown tradition of this ballad there. In 1777 ballads and carols were brought by Charles Newhook (age 25) and his Elizabeth, from their birthplace and residence in Tarrant, Gunville, Dorcet, England, to Trinity Bay, Newfoundland. This tradition was active in the communities of New Harbour and Dildo and has been documented through Cle and Ernest Newhook of Norman's Cove, Trinity Bay.
Child Aa, Davies Gilbert Carol MS, Book A is dated 1767 and acquired from the Deanery of Burian parish in Great Britain. How old is this ballad in the US and Canada? It can be assumed that some older versions of the carol came over with the early immigrants and it's apparent that these were mainly immigrants from Great Britain that settled the Virginia colony. The House of Burgess formed its legislative body in 1619 in Jamestown. As early as 1665 a John Hickes (Hicks, Hix), owned land in nearby Charles City Co. In 1692 and again in 1697 he or his son applied for and was awarded the position of doorkeeper for the House of Burgesses. Is this the John Hicks that is related (grandfather of Samuel) to the Hicks family from who Cecil Sharp procured the ballad in 1916, a Jane Hicks Gentry, his best ballad singer?
According to Kyle Davis Jr. (TBVa 1929): "The finding of the fragment C in Virginia in 1915 was the first evidence that "The Cherry-Tree Carol" still survived in America or had ever existed here in oral tradition." The Davis C version from "an old Negro nurse" likely dates back to around the Civil War (1863) and does not reflect the true age of the ballad in America. The ballad's arrival in the new world may more accurately be traced by two factors: 1) the lineage of the informants and 2) the reference to 'Old Christmas" as found in the last stanza of some versions from the Southern Appalachians.
Sharp B, for example, was taken from Mrs. Jane Hicks Gentry in 1916 whose family history was documented (see: the Hick/Harmon version Lord Bateman) previously in my narrative and notes about other Hicks/Harmon family ballads. The Hicks family arrived on the shore of the James River in the mid-1600s and Samuel Hicks (b.1695) left Tuckahoe Creek (Goochland County, VA) and moved to Tabbs Creek, NC by 1765. His eldest living son, David, moved to Valle Crusis (Beech Mountain) with David's son, "Big Sammy" around 1770s and received a land grant there in 1779. It was "Big Sammy" and his son "Little Sammy" who Council Harmon lived with briefly after Counce's father was killed by a falling tree and his mother moved away with her new husband, a member of the Ward family. "Old Counce" was Jane Hicks Gentry's grandfather and he was one of the purveyors of balladry and "Jack tales." His repertoire remained with Jane and other family members for many generations.
An approximate date of Appalachian versions may be also be calculated by the last verse which in some versions mentions Old Christmas, a tradition dating back hundreds of years in the Southern mountains. According to McCabe (1980 thesis):
'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.
The Sharp/Karpeles notes in the 1932 edition of EFSSA add this similar comment:
"The references to the birthday do not appear in the English texts. It is of interest that the date is given in texts B and C as 'the fifth day of January' which according to ' Old Style' reckoning was the date of Christmas Day between the years 1752 and 1799. In 1751, when a change in the calendar had become expedient, eleven days were dropped out between September 2nd and 14th, 1752, thus making January 5th the date of Old Christmas Day, In 1800, another day was taken from the calendar, and in 1900 still another, so that Old Christmas Day now falls on January 7th, In Miss McGill's version the date is given as the 6th of January."
Both Sharp(1917, version C) and McGill (1914) collected an ancient version from the same informant William Wooten, who learned it from his grandmother. Since his grandmother died in 1887 at a very advanced age, this version dates back to the early 1800s I believe that once the ballad was taken into the Appalachian mountain, it remained there, passed down from generation to generation. Of course it's possible a neighbor knew it, even so the neighbor's family also moved into the mountains and remained their for many generations. Jane Hicks Gentry's family moved from Beech Mountain in the 1870s and she took "Old Counce's ballads with her to Madison County- another remote isolated region with it's own ballad families (Wallins; Chandlers). Another old version from Kentuckian Jim Couch (Roberts; Sang Branch Settlers) can be traced through Jim's father, Thomas, back to his father's paternal grandfather, John(?) who lived in Virginia in the early 1800s.
The ballad was known in the African-American community. One of the two versions from Nova Scotia, was sung by William Riley born in 1859 to parents that were slaves (Fowkes). The ballad was known in the African-American community in Virgina where three fragments were recovered. Davis also reports it was known in an African-American church. Another African-American version was reported in West Virginia.
The main thrust of this ballad was Virginia where it was brought by early immigrants and disseminated mainly to Georgia, North Carolina, West Virginia and Kentucky. In case of the early version of the ballad found in Appalachia, which I would guestimate to be arriving before the 1700s. Its form is of the first part of the ballad (the distinct parts are thus: 1. Bowing of the cherry tree, Jesus is in the womb 2. Jesus' prophecies, Jesus is a baby 3. Joseph and the angel) which is about the miracle of the bowing cherry tree and an additional part about his birthday.
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Several unusual texts by the usual suspects can be dismissed as ballad fabrications. The Niles text and Woofter text are equally pretentious. Woofter even prefaces his version with a story, challenging Niles on every front. Niles has no excuse for not finding a traditional version because Kentucky is perhaps the leading repository of the ballad. Surely John could have found one. Another tame example of a recreation is Patrick Gainer's version. West Virginia does not have a history with this ballad, Cox found none and except for Woofter and his mighty pen, little has been found. Gainer conveniently had his grandfather to fall back on in times of need (F.C. Gainer did actually sing a few ballads- of this I'm convinced). Gainer "recalled" his grandfather's version and published it in 1971 in Botte's book then a scant four years later published it again and added a couple verses- I don't think he got them in the cemetery. Jean Ritchie's version attributed to her "uncle" Jason seems to have been arranged (with new stanzas added) from Sharp's EFFSA.
The first three stanzas (and that's enough!) of Niles, "The Cherry Tree":
When Joseph was an olden man,
Had lived full many a year
He courted and wedded the Queen of Heav'n,
And called her his dear.
Then Joseph was a carpenter,
And Mary baked and spun, and spun
And when 'twas ripe-cherry time again,
A family was begun.
Then Mary in her meekness,
Then Mary what was mild, so mild
Said,"Cherries is the bestest thing,
For women bearin' child.
At the same time Niles greatest carol recreation "I Wonder as I Wander" has a smidgen of the Cherry Tree Carol in his second stanza.
* * * *
The Appalachian versions are different than the English versions. In the Appalachian versions Joseph is putting Mary on his knee and is talking (although it's unclear) to baby Jesus in the womb. Standard English version appears:
When Mary took Jesus,
All on her right knee,
* * * *
The ballad (see also Christmas Carol Reader) is diverse and has several specific variants. Coffin has identified 5 main story types and Bronson has identified music categories A-F with two ballads in his Appendix (Joseph and the Angel).
There are a few cover songs which may be based on traditional versions but no source has been named: The two Andrew Rowan Summers' version (especially Part 1; 1954), The Pamela Morgan version from Newfoundland, the Edna Ritchie version, J.E. Mainer version and the Adams version.
R. Matteson 2014]
CONTENTS: (To open individual versions click on highlighted title below or click on title attached to this page on left hand column)
1) Cherry Tree Carol- O'Halloran (VA) c1854 Davis A --My date. This is the only full text in Traditional Ballads of Virginia, Kyle Davis Jr.; 1929. Contrihuted by Miss Agnes o'Halloran, of Lynchburg, Va. "sung by her mother (nee Margaret shannahan) of county Clare, Ireland. Campbell County. January 22, 1916.
2) The Cherry-Tree Carol- Sullivan (VT) 1860 Flanders -- From BFSSNE, Volume 6, 1933. Reprinted with additional stanzas in Flander's Ancient Ballads 1966. Also found in Country Songs of Vermont, p. 49, as learned, by Mrs. Ellen M. Sullivan of Springfield, Vermont, in a convent in Ireland about 1860.
3) Sweet Mary and Sweet Joseph- Griffin (FL) 1877 Morris -- From: Folksongs of Florida; Morris, 1950. This version was covered by Peggy Seeger on the The Long Harvest. Although Griffin claims she wrote this she clearly did not but knew it in her childhood. Mrs. (Georgia Civility) Griffin was born in Dooly County, Georgia in 1863. In 1877 she moved to Newberry, Florida. She learned most of her songs and ballads from her father, a fiddler, before 1877. Since she sang this for her father, it was learned before 1877.
4) The Cherry-Tree Carol- Riley (NS) 1879 Creighton -- From Creighton; Folk Songs of Nova Scotia; 1950. Reprinted in Folk Songs of Canada; Fowke. This version of the Cherry Tree Carol is from from William Riley (b.1859), of Cherry Brook, Halifax County, Nova Scotia. It was sung and recorded by folklorist Dr. Helen Creighton in 1943.
5) The Cherry-Tree Carol- (VA) Conway c1890 Davis C
Joseph and Mary- Hill (GA-OK) pre1890 Moore A
The Cherry-Tree Carol- Wooten (KY) 1914 McGill
The Cherry-Tree Carol- Rice (NC) 1916 Sharp A
The Cherry-Tree Carol- Gentry (NC) 1916 Sharp B
The Cherry-Tree Carol- (VA) Stone 1916 Davis B
Joseph Was A Young Man- Dunagan 1917 KY Sharp D
Joseph Took Mary- Townsley (KY) 1917 Sharp F
Joseph Was A Young Man- Sloan KY 1917 Sharp E
The CherryTree- F.C. Gainer (WV) c1920 P. Gainer
Joseph & Mary Walked One Day- (NC) c1921 Brown A
Old Joseph- Lancaster (NC) c.1922 Brown B
Joseph and Mary- Fidler (WV) c1924 Woofter/Combs
The Cherry-Tree Carol- Vrooman (SK) 1929 Karpeles
The Cherry-Tree Carol- Wilbur (Mo.) 1930 Randolph
The Cherry-Tree Carol- Wheeler (KY) 1931 Henry
Carol of the Cherry-Tree- Ritchie (KY) pre1932 REC
Joseph Was An Old Man- Setters (KY) 1937 Thomas A; Lomax?
The Cherry Tree Carol- Skeens (KY) 1937 Recording
Cherry Tree Carol- Fields (KY) pre1937 Campbell
Cherry Tree Carol- Eldridge(KY) pre1937 Campbell B
Cherry Tree Carol- Hampton (KY) 1937 Campbell C
Cherry Tree Carol- Newhook (NL) pre1938 Pinhorn
Cherry Tree Carol- Isom (KY) 1939 Thomas B
Cherry Tree Carol- Creech (KY) 1939 Thomas C
The Cherry Tree- Sizemore (KY) c.1940 Niles
The Cherry-Tree Carol- Cutting (NY) 1944 Cutting
Joseph Was An Old Man- Brixey (OK) 1945 Moore B
Carol of the Cherry-Tree: Cargill (KY) pre1945 REC
The Cherry Tree Carol- Maud Long (NC) 1946 Rec.
Cherry Tree Carol- (NC) 1946 Songs of All Time
Joseph and Mary- unkwn fiddler (KY) pre1948 Seeger
Cherry Tree Carol- Wallace (NS) 1950 Creighton B
Cherry-Tree Carol Pt. 2- Andrew Rowan Summers 1951
Cherry-Tree Carol- Andrew Rowan Summers 1954
Joseph and Mary- Couch (KY) pre1955 Roberts
The Cherry Tree Carol- Gick (KY) 1959 Roberts
As Joseph Was A-Walking- Ritchie (KY) 1962 Paton
Cherry Tree Carol- (KY) 1967 Sweet Rivers of Song
Cherry Tree Carol- J.E. Mainer (NC) c1968 REC
Cherry Tree Carol- Cooper (NL) 1975 Cox
Cherry Tree Carol- Parker (MO) 1975 Max Hunter
Cherry Tree Carol- Adams (NC) c1980 Erbsen REC
Cherry Tree Carol- Marks (WV) 1998 Davies REC
Cherry Tree Carol- (NL) 1999 Morgan/Braz
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From: Theatre Arts Monthly - Volume 16 - Page 1018; 1932 - [This one stanza as found in the play- it's likely not traditional]
In the final episode the shouting choir broke triumphantly into that rare old mountain ballad:
When Joseph were an old man An old man were he,
He hitched ter the Virgin Mary, the Queen of Galilee.
The voice of the babe broke the stillness; its mother . . .
An additional report: (1938), 15-16; June Clark, in "Twelfth Night: A Folk Miracle- Play of Carolina," Theatre Arts Monthly, (December, 1932), 1018, published the following stanza, printed, as here, in three lines:
"When Joseph were an old man
An old man were he
He hitched ter the virgin Mary, the Queen of Galilee."
________________________________
Cherry Tree Carol- Traditional in Newfoundland dating back to 1777. Ern Newhook; James Pinhorn.
1. Joseph was an old man, most righteous was he,
Was engaged to sweet Mary, his wife for to be.
2. Said Mary to Joseph, with a voice meek and mild,
"Go gather me cherries Joseph for I am with child.
3.Then replied Joseph, with a voice so unkind,
"Let him gather you cherries Mary that got you with child.
4.Then up speaks the baby, from his mother's own womb,
"Bow you down you lofty cherry tree bow you down to me.
5. The cherry tree being so lofty, it bent to her knee,
Where Mary picked cherries by one, two and three.
6. The cherry tree being so lofty, it bent down so low,
That Mary picked cherries from the uppermost bow.
7. The cherry tree being so lofty, it bent to the ground,
And Mary picked cherries the first in the town.
8. "Come tell me my baby, come tell unto me
Come tell me my sweet babe when thy birth is to be."
9. "It is Christmas in the morning, my birth is to be,
Stones in the street mother will shed blood for me."
10. "I will not be born in, no kitchen or hall
But in some part of Bethlehem in some oxen stall."
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Excerpt from Blue Ridge Country by Jean Thomas; 1942.
Old Christmas
Though in some isolated sections of the Blue Ridge, say in parts of the Unakas, the Cumberlands, the Dug Down Mountains of Georgia, there are people who may never have heard of the Gregorian or Julian calendar, yet in keeping Old Christmas as they do on January 6th, they cling unwittingly to the Julian calendar of 46 B.C., introduced in this country in the earliest years. To them December 159 25th is New Christmas, according to the Gregorian calendar adopted in 1752.
They celebrate the two occasions in a very different way. The old with prayer and carol-singing, the new with gaiety and feasting.
To these people there are twelve days of Christmas beginning with December 25th and ending with January 6th. In some parts of these southern mountain regions, if their forbears were of Pennsylvania German stock, they call Old Christmas Little Christmas as the Indians do. But such instances are rare rather than commonplace.
Throughout the twelve days of Christmas there are frolic and fireside play-games and feasting, for which every family makes abundant preparation. There is even an ancient English accumulative song called Twelve Days of Christmas which is sung during the celebrations, in which the true love brings a different gift for each day of the twelve. The young folks of the community go from home to home, bursting in with a cheery “Christmas gift!” Those who have been taken unaware, though it happens the same way each year, forgetting, in the pleasant excitement of the occasion, to cry the greeting first, must pay a forfeit of something good to eat—cake, homemade taffy, popcorn, apples, nuts.
After the feast the father of the household passes the wassail cup, which is sweet cider drunk from a gourd dipper. Each in turn drinks to the health of the master of the house and his family.
Throughout the glad season some of the young bloods are inclined to take their Christmas with rounds of shooting into the quiet night. Some get gloriously drunk on hard cider and climbing high on the mountain side shout and shoot to their hearts’ content. 160
However, when Old Christmas arrives, even the most boisterous young striplings assume a quiet, prayerful calm. The children’s play-pretties—the poppet, a make-believe corn-shuck doll—the banjo, and fiddle are put aside. In the corner of the room is placed a pine tree. It stands unadorned with tinsel or toy. On the night of January 6th, just before midnight, the family gathers about the hearth. Granny leads in singing the ancient Cherry Tree Carol, sometimes called Joseph and Mary, which celebrates January 6th as the day of our Lord’s birth. With great solemnity Granny takes the handmade taper from the candlestick on the mantel-shelf, places it in the hands of the oldest man child, to whom the father now passes a lighted pine stick. With it the child lights the taper. The father lifts high his young son who places the lighted taper on the highest branch of the pine tree where a holder has been placed to receive it. This is the only adornment upon the tree and represents a light of life and hope—“like a star of hope that guided the Wise Men to the manger long ago,” mountain folk say.
In the waiting silence comes the low mooing of the cows and the whinny of nags, and looking outside the cabin door the mountaineer sees his cow brutes and nags kneeling in the snow under the starlit sky. “It is the sign that this is for truth our Lord’s birth night,” Granny whispers softly.
Then led by the father of the household, carrying his oldest man child upon his shoulder, the womenfolk following behind, they go down to the creek side. Kneeling, the father brushes aside the snow among the elders, and there bursting through the icebound earth appears a green shoot bearing a white blossom.
“It is the sign that this is indeed our Lord’s birth night, 161 the sign that January 6th is the real Christmas,” old folk of the Blue Ridge bear witness.
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Although not found in tradition in 1800s the Carol was known in the US:
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 32 (New York City)- edited by Henry Mills Alden [taken from The Rural Life of England - Volume 2 - Page 204 1854 William Hewitt (Howitt?)]
In connection with this custom Mr. Hewitt recalls to the minds of his readers the quaint old carol, which was sung by hands of little children at Christmas, and which brings fairly before us the paintings of the old masters, where Joseph is always represented as so old a man, and Mary sits in the “oxen’s stall" with her crown on her head.
Joseph was an old man, and an old man was be,
And he married Mary, the Queen of Galilee.
It goes on to describe how they went into the garden, and Queen Mary asked Joseph to gather her some cherries, on which he turned very crabbed, made Mary weep, and then all the cherry-trees made their obeisance,
And bowed down to Mary‘s knee
And she gathered cherries by one. two. and three.
These are in the spirit of the legend which relates that Jesus, when a boy, was playing with other boys, when they made sparrows of clay, and he made a sparrow too; but his sparrow became instantly alive and flew away.
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FRONTIER FORTS OF SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA, by Emory L. Hamilton [This shows one journey the ballad may have made from Virginia into Kentucky, the author collected 4 versions in Virginia]
From Historical Sketches of Southwest Virginia, Number 4, 1968, pages 1 to 26
TATE'S FORT
Tate's Fort on Moccasin Creek in Russell County was another the early historians completely overlooked, and only two historical references brought it to light. The first made by Mrs. Samuel Scott of Jessamine Co., KY, who in referring to her stay on the Clinch makes this statement: "We moved out of Tate's Fort, close on Moccasin Creek, over to Holston to get ready to come to Kentucky." (15) This was in the spring of 1780 and she joined a party of emigrants to Kentucky in 1784.
The other statement was made by Captain John Carr, of Sumner Co., TN, who was born on Carr's Creek in Russell Co., VA, in 1773, and moved with his widowed mother to the Cumberland settlement in 1784. In speaking of the year 1776, he states: "My father settled on Big Moccasin Creek with some 15 or 20 families from Houston's Fort. The Indians were so troublesome that we built a "new fort". It was called Tate's Fort, where we forted in summer and returned home in winter." (16)
Carr's statement needs some clarification and he does not mean that his father settled on Moccasin Creek in 1776, but that it was this year in which they moved out of Houston's Fort where they had refuged in the past and built a new fort for their convenience. His father had settled on Moccasin Creek much earlier for John, himself, was born there in 1773, and his father died there in 1782. This, then, places the construction of Tate's Fort in the year 1776.
That Tate's Fort was a stockaded affair certainly cannot be doubted, for 15 or 20 families could never have crowded into a fort house. It certainly must have been manned and defended by its occupants for I find no record of militia ever having been stationed there.
This fort was built on the lands of Colonel John Tate who had settled on Moccasin Creek in the year 1772, on a tract of 174 acres of land surveyed for him December 13, 1774. (17) I have not found any account that this fort was ever attacked directly by Indians.
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[She collected at least three versions JAFL 1937]
Marie Campbell (1907- ) was a schoolteacher and folklorist who, between 1926 and 1934, lived, worked and traveled in the eastern Kentucky mountains. She began collecting Kentucky folklore in the summer of 1926 while working at the mountain settlement school on Caney Creek near current day Pippa Passes in Knott County, KY. In demand as a teacher from "the level country" she soon moved to the Letcher County community of Gander (now Carcassonne) where she stayed until 1934. By then, radio and University of Kentucky outposts were threatening the storytelling tradition among the mountain people.
The Christmas Play, Gander, Kentucky, 1930 M.Campbell (1938) pp.10-17
A. The Cherry Tree Carol. (Childs 54) A. Aunt Lizbeth Fields sang this version both on Christmas Eve and for recording later.
Joseph was an old man,
An old man was he,
When he married Mary,
The queen of Galilee.
Joseph and Mary walked,
Through a garden gay,
Where the cherries grew
Upon every tree
And they heard while walking
Angel voices sing,
"Lo, this night shall be born
Our Lord and Heavenly King."
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[Notes from Davis, Traditional Ballad of Virginia; 1929. He doesn't mention the N-Town play No. 15.]
THE CHERRY-TREE CAROL
(Child, No. 54)
The finding of the fragment C in Virginia in 1915 was the first evidence that "The Cherry-Tree Carol" still survived in America or had ever existed here in oral tradition. No other collector had reported it in 1915 (see Bulletin, No. 4, p. 5; also Journal, XXIX ,293 and 294, note). The source of the carol story is to be found in the Pseudo-Matthew's gospel. Chapter XX, which is thus briefly worded by Child: "On the third day of the fight into Egypt, Mary, feeling the heat to be oppressive, tells Joseph that
she will rest for a while under the palm tree. Joseph helps her to light from her beast, and Mary, looking up from under the tree, and seeing it full of fruit, asks for some. Joseph somewhat testily expresses his surprise that she should think of such a thing, considering the height of the tree: he is much more concerned to get a supply of water. Then Jesus, sitting on his mother's lap, bids the palm to bow down and refresh his mother with its fruit. The palm instantly bends its top to Mary's feet." Most British versions of the carol alter this original story considerably: the tree is a cherry-tree, as of course it would be in England; Joseph's ill-humored reply is coupled with an insinuation of Mary's infidelity; the babe speaks, not from his mother's lap, but miraculously from her womb, to bring about the miracle which is a rebuke to Joseph; there are additional stanzas prolonging the story and sometimes known independently as "Joseph and the Angel."
In Virginia A, the only Virginia variant that is nearly complete, the first two stanzas are not to be found in any hitherto printed version. From the third stanza onward the ballad proceeds much as the British versions do through Child A 9, B B, C 7, D 6, of course with differences of detail. The latter portion about the angel, found in all the British versions, is absent from the Virginia version. The other Virginia fragments, B and C, follow Child B and A, respectively, fairly closely. The melody is simple, but captivating. An interesting letter from Miss Martha M. Davis, one of the staunchest Virginia collectors, concerns this ballad. Temporarily residing at Winthrop College, Rock Hill, S. C., she writes, as of February 21, 1921: "A few months ago several of the teachers here went to hear a Negro preacher one night, a picturesque exhorter of the old type. They came back with a marvelous story (to them) of Joseph and Mary Virgin pickin' cherries from a cherry tree, a part of the gospel story according to this preacher. Well, old ballads are often found in strange company." For other Negro utilizations of old ballad material, see Scarborough, Chapter II, and the head-note to No. 27 of this volume. For American texts, see Bulletin, Nos. 4, 5; Campbell and Sharp, No. 13 (North Carolina); Journal, XXIX, 293 (McGill, Kentucky); NIcGill, p. 62; Pound, Ballads, No. 19; Scarborough, pp. 60-61; For additional references, see Journal, XXX, 297.
C. "The Cherry-Tree Carol." Contributed by Miss Ellen Dana Conway. Sung by an old Negro nurse. Spottsylvania County. November 1, 1915. I notice in the list you sent a ballad called 'The Cherry-Tree Carol,' and I remember to have heard it sung when I was very young by just one person, my old negro nurse, who has been dead for years. I can remember only the opening lines, which ran thus as below]. This woman had been born a slave, and had originally belonged to the Graves family in Orange- County.. She may have heard it in that county or in Spottsylvania, but unluckily there is no way of finding it out now. At least it proves that the ballad existed in Virginia within the last twenty-five years; and it may be yet lingering in either or both of the counties mentioned." (Extract from Miss Conway's letter of November 1, 1915.)
Joseph was an old man,
And an old man was he,
What time he married Mary
Way down in Galilee.
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[In the Pines: Notes by Roberts/Agey- Roberts published two versions and collected three.]
13. THE CHERRY TREE CAROL
(child 54)
This is the most popular of three Carols Child includes in his collections. The story itself is probably derived from pseudo-Matthew, chapter XX, wherein is related Joseph's flight into Egypt. On the third day the little family pauses under a palm tree for shade and rest. While Joseph goes seeking water, Mary observes fruit high in the palm and has a craving for it. She asks Joseph to get her some. He rebukes her for such a request when the waterskin is empty. The infant Jesus from her lap performs the first miracle by bidding the tall tree to bow down to His mother's feet. Lloyd (FSE, pp. 119-120) quotes dialogue from a Coventry Play, The Miraculous Birth and the Midwives, which reveals a 15th century source. The final stanzas of most English versions are concerned with the prophecies of Jesus from the womb, as the couple are going to Bethlehem. He
relates that His birth will be a lowly one at Christmas, and that at His death on Good Friday the very stones in the street will moan, and that He will rise on Easter Day. In most American versions Jesus announces His birth to be on January 5 or 6. This is because the folk kept Old Christmas after the English adopted the new calendar in 1752.
Although the carol has had some currency in English and Scottish tradition (Notes to no. 15 in SharpK list nine), and in Ireland (BFSSNE, vol. 6, pp. 6-7, gives a text learned in Ireland about 1863), it has been in more active tradition in
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[This probably is not traditional]
Living Documents in American History - Volume 1 - Page 64; John Anthony Scott - 1964
The Cherry Tree Carol- John Anthony Scott
When Joseph was an old man,
An old man was he,
He married Virgin Mary,
The Queen of Galilee,
He married Virgin Mary,
The Queen of Galilee.
[missing]
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Ballads and Folksongs of the Southwest- Moores notes: 16 The Cherry-Tree Carol [Two versions, one from Georgia pre-1890]
The Clrerry-Tree Carol (Child, No. 54) comes from an account recorded in the Pseudo-Matthew's Gospel, chap. xx. Reviewed by Child (II, 1), the story runs thus: "on the third day of the flight into Egypt, Mary, feeling the heat to be oppressive, tells Joseph that she will rest for a while under a palm-tree, and seeing it full of fruit, asks for some. Joseph somewhat testily expresses his surprise that she should think of such a thing, considering the height of the tree: he is much more concerned to get a supply of water. Then Jesus, sitting on his mother's lap, bids the palm to bow down and refresh his mother with its fruit." For references and texts, see the following: Creighton and Senior, 3a-35;
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The Cherry Tree Carol (Child 54, Roud 453) recorded 7 March 1998 from Phyllis Marks (70) of Glenville, West Virginia.
When Joseph was a young man, a young man was he
He courted Virgin Mary, in the land of Galilee.
When Joseph and Mary were walking one day
They came to an orchard where cherries to behold.
Then Mary said to Joseph, so meek and so mild
Come gather me some cherries, for I am with child.
Then Joseph flew in anger, in anger flew he
Let the father of that baby gather cherries for thee.
Then the cherry tree bowed down, bowed low upon the ground
And Mary gathered cherries while Joseph stood around.
Note: Various American versions of this carol are to be found. It appears to have dropped out of oral tradition in the British Isles, where most versions came from England.
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Jean Ritchie, 2002: A small observation, not provable- when we used to sing this ballad, around Chrismastime, the oldtimers would explain that, back when the calendar was changed, there was so much disagreement and arguments that someone actually added the verse, "On the sixth day of January my birthday shall be..." as an anonymous protest to the moving of Christmas to December 25. It makes sense, but is it true?
I remember my Granny Catty Ritchie being still quite touchy on the subject of the Christmas date, and she ALWAYS observed Old Christmas, telling us in no uncertain terms that December 25th was just "a newfangled notion..."
Another observation: "...while Joseph stood around," could refer to a command sometimes given to one's horse, to get him/her into position at the mounting block, or tree stump, for a lady or child, for instance: "Here! Stand-around now! Stand-around!" The inference here would be that the unborn infant Jesus was giving God's command to bring Joseph to obedience. At least, being farm dwellers, we always just assumed that was what it meant, in the song.
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Excerpt from The British Traditional Ballad in North America
by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America
54. THE CHERRY-TREE CAROL
Texts: Barry, Brit Bids Me, 446 (trace) / Brown Coll / BFSSNE, VI, 14 / Bull Tenn FLS, VIII, #3, 78 / Davis, Trd Bid Va, 172 / Flanders, Cntry Sgs 7t, 48 / Henry, F-S So HgUds, 59 / Jackson, Down East Spirituals, 60 / JAFL, XXIX, 2935 XLV, 13 / McGill, F-S Ky Mts, 60 / Minish Mss. / Morris, F-S Flo, 395 / NTFLO, I, 48 / Niles, 7 Ky Mt Tunes, 4 / Pound, Am Bids Sgs, 47 / Randolph, OzF-S, I, 88 / Scarborough, On Trail N F-S, 60 / SFLQ, VIII y 145 / Sharp C, Eng F-S So Aplcbns, 4J: 13 / SharpK, Eng F-S So Aplcbns, I, 54 / Smith and Rufty, Am Anth Old Wrld Bids, 12 / Thomas, Bid Makin' Mts Ky, 223 ff. / Fa FLS Bull>
#s 4, 5 1 Wheeler, Ky Mt F-S, 3.
Local Titles; Cherry-Tree Carol, Joseph and Mary, Sweet Mary, Sweet Mary and Joseph, The Cherry Tree, The Sixth of January.
Story Types: A: Mary accompanies Joseph to Jerusalem. On the way she requests her husband to pull some cherries down from a tree, as she thinks she is pregnant and desires them. Angered, Joseph tells her to get the father of her child to pull them down. Christ then speaks from the womb (or the Lord speaks from Heaven) to the tree which bends to the ground miraculously. Generally, it is implied that Joseph is abashed.
Examples : Davis (A).
B: The Type A story is sometimes continued to the extent that Joseph takes Mary on his knees, begs forgiveness, and asks the child when his birthday will be. The child speaks from the womb and names Old Christmas Day as his birthday. Some texts have an additional description of the birth.
Examples: McGill; SharpK (A, B); Thomas, p. 229 C.
C: Mary asks for cherries and orders the tree to bow herself. There is no remark about the father. Heavenly voices, rather than the Christ-child, tell Joseph of his son's birth and of the manger.
Examples: Thomas, p. 226 B; Wheeler.
D: The usual story is presented but a number of stanzas are added telling where and how the Saviour was born and reviewing, when the Christ-child speaks, the main events of His life.
Examples: Flanders.
E: A lyric derived from the above story which reveals how, as Joseph and Mary walked in the cherry garden, they heard angel voices prophesying the birth of Jesus in a stall.
Examples: JJFL, XLV, 13; NTFLQ, I, 48.
Discussion: Child (II, i) discusses the origin of the story in the Pseudo-Matthew-Gospel. See also Migne, Patrologia Graeca, LXVII, 1281. Here the tree is a palm, and the baby does not speak from the womb. In England, the tree became a cherry, Jesus is in the womb, and Joseph suspects infidelity when he hears of his wife's pregnancy. There are also further stanzas added in which Joseph is told by an angel of the Nativity. The story has a widespread history, Child (II, i) noting its occurance in the Coventry Mystery Cycle and Davis (Trd Bid Fa, 172) finding it in the sermon of a Negro preacher. See also JAFL, XXX, 297.
The ballad was not found in America until 1915 (See JAFL, XXIX, 293 4). It is not extremely rare, however. The American texts located have five story types, all of which show affinities with the Child texts. Certain American variations usually can be found: Joseph generally takes Mary on his knees; Jesus more consistently speaks from the womb; Type A lacks the
"angel" stanzas; and Old Christmas Day is named as the child's birthday.
This last feature, which does not occur in the Child texts, is the subject of an interesting discussion in SharpK, Eng F-S So Aplchns, I, 415. Here it is pointed out that the B and C texts give January 5 as the date of Old Christmas as it was in 1752 after eleven days were dropped from the calendar (1751). In 1800 another day was taken away, and still another in 1900, so that January 7 is now Old Christmas Day. The McGill, F-S KyMts, 60 text prints January 6 as the date.
Child (II, i) points out that "in Catalan and Provencal the tree is an apple". Barry, Brit Bids Me 9 446 reports that a number of Maine people were familiar with this song and one individual with an Irish "apple-tree and Virgin (not Mary)" text. Also note the stones which cry from the streets and wall in praise of Mary in the Type A Minish Mss. version. See Child A, B for use of these stones in a different way.
The song is sometimes given humorous treatment in America. See Niles, 7 Ky Mt Tunes) 5 (footnote) and the text itself.
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[Some English versions have Holly and Ivy also attached. These are not related to Cherry Tree Carol, just have fruit tree in them]
Ian Bradley also mentions a carol collected in the United States, but likely of English origin, titled The Apple Tree, which he cites in part:
This beauty doth all things excel,
By faith I know but ne'er can tell,
The glory which I now can see,
In Jesus Christ the apple tree.
Jesus Christ The Apple Tree- From Divine Hymns or Spiritual Songs, compiled by Joshua Smith, New Hampshire, 1784
Tune by Elizabeth Poston, 1905-1987
1. The tree of life my soul hath seen,
Laden with fruit and always green:
The trees of nature fruitless be
Compared with Christ the apple tree.
2. His beauty doth all things excel:
By faith I know, but ne'er can tell
The glory which I now can see
In Jesus Christ the apple tree.
3. For happiness I long have sought,
And pleasure dearly I have bought:
I missed of all; but now I see
'Tis found in Christ the apple tree.
4. I'm weary with my former toil,
Here I will sit and rest awhile:
Under the shadow I will be,
Of Jesus Christ the apple tree.
5. This fruit doth make my soul to thrive,
It keeps my dying faith alive;
Which makes my soul in haste to be
With Jesus Christ the apple tree.
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Digital Appalachia: Sheila Adams sings in her Madison County home for Wayne Erbsen.
http://dla.acaweb.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/Warren/id/3159/rec/1
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History of the bowing of the tree; The Open Court - Volume 31 - Page 627
Paul Carus - 1917
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Christmas Carol Reader:
http://books.google.com/books?id=CIkD5rhdva0C&pg=PA41&dq=%22cherry+tree+carol%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=J_ZXVNHtK8GjNsurgLAH&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22cherry%20tree%20carol%22&f=false
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Joseph went A-Walking was first published by Fyfe in 1860. There are several traditional US versions, on (Cutting) named Cherry Tree Carol:
William Wallace Fyfe--Christmas: Its Customs and Carols (London: James Blackwood, 1860). He introduced this version with:
The most poetic times have most greedily adopted the most incoherent fictions, giving credit to tales like "Jack the Giant Killer" and " Blue Beard;" as we perhaps would, many of us, do now, provided the narrators would date them from the fourteenth century. Thus it was that legends like those of "Joseph And The Angel" were rapidly superinduced upon the tale of the "divine tidings" of the Nativity. As an example of Carol poetry in all its unsuspecting simplicity, it certainly cannot be surpassed.
The Legend of Joseph and the Angel
"He neither shall be rocked
In silver nor in gold;
But in a wooden manger,
That resteth on the mould."
As Joseph was a walking,
Thus did an angel sing;
At night the mother-maiden
Gave birth to Christ our King.
The blessed virgin wrapt him
From nightly winds so wild;
The lowly manger held Him,
Her wondrous, holy child.
And marshall'd on the mountain,
The angels raise their song;
The shepherds hear the story
In anthems clear and strong.
The herald-hymn obeying,
Nor loth, nor yet afraid,
They seek the lowly dwelling,
And find the blessed babe.
Then be ye glad, good people,
This night, of all the year;
And light ye up your candles,
His star it shineth near.
And all in earth and heaven
Our Christmas Carol sing:—
Goodwill, And Peace, And Gloet.
And all the bells shall ring.
The "ringing of bells" is an addition to the message of "Goodwill, and peace, and glory," which clearly betrays its having passed through the ecclesiastical alembic. It will be seen that the foregoing Carol beautifully embodies an unsophisticated narrative of the events of the Nativity. "He neither shall be clothed in purple, nor in pall," &c, may be taken as the ne plus ultra of the Carol stave.
Two remarkably curious points may be here noticed; the star and the lighting of candles, referred to in the carol. The recent appearance of a comet of such splendour as Donati's may have revived the idea of Christ's Star having been, in fact, a great comet. The learned Dr. Olshausen in his "Proofs of the Genuiness of the New Testament Scriptures" inclines to this opinion, in preference to some others, which have been hazarded in favor of a particular conjunction of four planets, which occurred about the period of the birth of Christ:—
expressed in this opinion attained to reality and truth.. In what this star of the King (afftnje fiaaiXews) consisted is hardly to be ascertained, with certainty. The idea that an appearance in the air is meant is the most improbable; it could not find any support but in verse ninth, where it is said, 'The star stood over where the young child was!' Chalcidius, the Platonist (Opp. Hippoliti edid. J. A. Fabricius, p. 325,) understood a comet to be meant by the star. The learned Bishop Munter, of Copenhagen, takes it to be a constellation, and refers to the conjunction of planets which took place in the year 1825. See the Dissertations of the Academy of Sciences at Copenhagen for the year 1830. It is most probable to me that a particular star is intended,*
stetit sidus quoddam in oriente, et deglutivit quatuor astra, qua eraut in quatuor Cmliplagis, Berthold. Christol. Ind.,p. 55. The words evidently describe a conjunction of planets according to the sensible impression. Four stars united and formed a whole, so that one star seemed to have swallowed the four little ones.
And another version is said to have been captured by Edward F. Rimbault, Collection of Old English Carols (1861). I have been unable to gain access to Rimbault's collection, but will keep looking.
As Joseph Was a-Walking
(Charles Kingsley, 1899)
As Joseph was a-walking
He heard an Angel sing:
"This night shall be the birth night
Of Christ our Heavenly King;
"His birth-bed shall be neither
In housen nor in hall,
Nor in the place of Paradise,
But in an ox's stall.
"He neither shall be clothed
In purple nor in pall;
But in the fair white linen
That usen babies all.
"He neither shall be rocked,
In silver nor in gold;
But in a wooden cradle
That lieth on the mould;
"He neither shall be christen'd
In white wine nor in red;
But with the fair spring water,
With which we were christened."
As Joseph was a-walking
Thus did the Angel sing;
And Mary's Son at midnight
Was born to be our King.
The Shepherds heard these tidings
Rejoicing much in mind;
And went to Bethlehem straitway,
The Son of God to find.
Then, Christians, be ye merry,
Rejoice, give thanks, and sing;
For on this blessed morning
Is born our Heav'nly King.
[The following 2 verses are found in chapter 9 of Charles Kingsley's novel, "Westward Ho!"]
He neither shall be washen
With white wine nor with red,
But with the fair spring water
That on you shall be shed.
Then be you glad, good people,
At this time of the year;
And light you up your candles,
For His star it shineth clear."
Words, Charles Kingsley, 1899; tune, Lydia Avery Coonley
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As Joseph Was A Walking- Words and Music: Henry John Gauntlett, Mus. Doc
Part 2 of the Cherry Tree Carol
Source: R. R. Chope, Carols For Use In Church (London: William Clowes & Sons, 1894), Carol 26
1. As Joseph was a walking, he heard an Angel sing;
His song was of the Coming of Christ, our Saviour King.
The good man, long dejected, had knelt to Him Who hears;
The blest refrain now swelling, removes his doubts and fears.
2. "Be no afraid when hearing the Choirs Seraphic sing;
This Night shall be the Birthtide of Christ the Heavenly King:
He neither shall in housen be born, nor yet in hall;
Nor bed, nor downy pillow, but in an oxen stall.
3. "He neither shall be clothed in purple nor in pall,
But in the fair white linen that usen babies all.
He neither shall be rocked in silver nor in gold;
But in a wooden Manger, that resteth on the mould."
4. As Joseph was a walking, thus did an Angel sing;
At night the Mother-maiden gave birth to Christ the King.
The Blessed Virgin wrapped Him from nightly winds, so wild;
The lowly Manger held Him Her wondrous Holy Child.
5. And marshalled on the mountain, the Angels raise their Song;
The Shepherds hear the story in anthems clear and strong.
The Herald-hymn obeying, nor loth, nor yet afraid,
They seek the lowly dwelling, and there the Child is laid!
6. Then be ye glad, good people, this Night of all the year;
And light ye up your candles, His Star it shineth near.
And all in earth and Heaven, Our Christmas Carol sing: --
Goodwill, and Peace, and Glory! and all the bells shall ring.
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As Joseph Was A-Walking
Tune: Old Breton Noel, probably known in Cornwall
Source: Ralph Dunstan, The Cornish Song Book (London: Reid Bros., Ltd., 1929), p. 87.
1. As Joseph was a-walking
He heard an Angel sing:
"This night there shall be born
Our gracious Heav'nly King;
He neither shall be born
In housen nor in hall,
Nor in the place of Paradise,
But in an ox's stall."
2. "He neither shall be clothed
In purple nor in pall;
But all in fair white linen
As wear sweet babies all.
He neither shall be rocked
In silver nor in gold;
But in a wooden cradle
That rocks upon the mould.
3. "He neither shall be christen's
In white wine nor in red;
But with the fair spring water
With which we were christ'ned."
As Joseph was a-walking,
Thus did the Angel sing;
And Mary's Child at midnight
Was born to be our King.
4. The shepherds heard these tidings,
Rejoicing much in mind;
And went to Bethlem straightway.
The Son of God to find.
Then, Christians, be ye merry,
Rejoice, give thanks, and sing;
For on this blessed morning
Is born our Heav'nly King.
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As Joseph Was A Waukin'
Source: Burton Egbert Stevenson, ed., The Home Book of Verse, Volume 1 (New York: Henry Holt And Company, 1912); Project Gutenberg Etext #2619.
As Joseph was a-waukin',
He heard an angel sing,
"This night shall be the birthnight
Of Christ our heavenly King.
"His birth-bed shall be neither
In housen nor in hall,
Nor in the place of paradise,
But in the oxen's stall.
"He neither shall be rocked
In silver nor in gold,
But in the wooden manger
That lieth in the mould.
"He neither shall be washen
With white wine nor with red,
But with the fair spring water
That on you shall be shed.
"He neither shall be clothed
In purple nor in pall,
But in the fair, white linen
That usen babies all."
As Joseph was a-waukin',
Thus did the angel sing,
And Mary's son at midnight
Was born to be our King.
Then be you glad, good people,
At this time of the year;
And light you up your candles,
For His star it shineth clear.
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[Appaently sung by Partridge]
The Long Harvest, record 8, ballad 2; Version A
The Cherry Tree Carol
1 Now Joseph was an old man and an old man was he
And he married Mary, the Queen of Galilee,
And he married Mary, the Queen of Galilee.
2 Now, Joseph and Mary walking down the garden green
Where the cherries hang heavy on every limb,
Where the cherries hang heavy on every limb.
3 Pick me some cherries, Joseph, pick me some cherries, do,
Pick me some cherries, Joseph, that hang on the bough,
Pick me some cherries, Joseph, that hang on the bough.
4 Then up spoke old Joseph with the words so unkind,
Let the man gather the cherries that owneth the child,
Let the man gather the cherries that owneth the child.
5 Then up spoke our Saviour all in his mother's arms,
Bow down, thou blessed cherry tree, that Mary may have some,
Bow down, thou blessed cherry tree, that Mary may have some.
6 The very tall branches bowed down to her feet,
Now you can see, Joseph, they're cherries for me,
Now you can see, Joseph, they're cherries for me.
7 My child shall not be christened in silver nor in gold
But in some twigged cradle where the babes are rocked o'er,
But in some twigged cradle where the babes are rocked o'er.
8 Then Mary placed her own child all upon her knee,
Saying, 'Son, come now and tell me what this world now shall be,'
Saying, 'Son, come now and tell me what this world now shall be.'
9 The moon it shall be darkened and the (stones shall)* turn to blood,
And this world set on fire by the vengeance of God,
And this world set on fire by the vengeance of God.
* These words were not clearly sung by Partridge.
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THE CHERRY-TREE -Niles 1934 a re-write - based on tradition?
When Joseph was on olden man,
Had lived full many a year, a year,
He courted and married the Queen of Heaven,
And called her his dear.
Then Joseph was a carpenter,
And Mary baked and spun,
And when 'twas ripe-cherry time again,
A family was begun.
Then Mary, in her meekness,
Then Mary, n'hlt u'n so mild, so mild,
Said: "Cherries is tlrt'lrcst,t.sI tlrirrg,
I,'or n'ilnrncn llciu'iri' <'lr iltl."
'I'hen trp spill<c ,Iosclrlr t,o lfnr.r'-
IIc rvas il Ilrnrl unkinrl, rrnkirrrl-_
"Olr, it's u'ho ha.s sircrl \'orrr lralr.r'
That's a-lrothcrin' nr1' rrrinrl.
"Go tcll this one, and straight-n'ir1',
1l'hat <:hcrrics hairr't notlrin' to nrt', [o nre:
ff hcr's c'cr & tnan to sirc a clril<l,
ffc's n nl{ur to clirrrb a trec."
ll'lrctt llar;".s $r'r'r. ortr Snviorrr',
IIc spaltc fr'orrr lItr1"s lrr.trt, lrr:r lrt.nrt :
"f'll tttnltc tlris trcc [9n' lorv tltlq'lt,
I'll tnlic nl)' nlan)ul)"s 1lirrt."
'l'hcn tlrc r.lrelr'.\'-trt'e lriI lrorvcrl lrlrv rlorvrr,
IIit lrorvcrl rltxvn to tlrc grorrnrl, thc grounrl,
,\n<l gcntlc llrr11' Irclpcrl lrc.rsclf
'I'o t:ltun'it's tvit.lrorrL :r, sorrtrrl.
'l'hcn Joscllh sui<l in L(,rror:
"f scc nry lr'r'ong is glcrrt, is great,,
Pray eornc. nrv f{('ntle (Jrrccn of f lt.ilr"rr,
'l'lt<. scr.t't.t rlo rclatc."
'l'hen silitl tlrc Yirgin i\lt11',
"'I'hc scr:rct t u'ill shflrt,, rvill sharc:
On (llrristrrr:rs l,)r'c, in it ox's .stirll.
'l'hc (llrrist-('lrikl I u'ill lrt.lr."
(Breathitt County, Ky., May, 1934.)
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Sheila Kay Adams (Inez Chandler's version?) Cherry Tree Carol- Digital Appalachia
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Then Mary Took Her Young Son
From Hugh Keyte and Andrew Parrott, The New Oxford Book of Carols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992)
1. Then Mary took her young son,
And set him on her knee;
Saying, 'My dear son, tell me,
Tell me how this world shall be.'
2. O I shall be as dead, mother,
As stones are in the wall;
And the stones in the streets, mother,
Shall mourn for me all.
3. And upon a Wednesday
My vow I will make,
And upon Good Friday
My death I will take.
4. And upon the third day
My uprising shall be;
And the sun and the moon together
Shall rise up with me.'
Sheet Music from Hutchins, Carols Old and Carols New (1916), Carol 563
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Missing Versions:
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Cherry tree Carol- J.R. Mainer
Joseph and the Angel. Appalachian Christmas Carol
Publisher Presser, 1954
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.183 (version c)
Performer Beale, Aunt Fanny
Place collected USA : Virginia : Haymarket
Collector Morton, Susan R.
AS MARY AND JOSEPH WAS WALKING ON THE PLAIN
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.183 (version a)
Performer Salyers, Mrs. Julia
Place collected USA : Virginia : Indian Creek
Collector Hamilton, Emory L.
CHERRY TREE, THE
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.183 (version b)
Performer Osborne, Mrs. Lizzie
Place collected USA : Virginia : Wise
Collector Hamilton, Emory L.
JOSEPH AND MARY [This in MS and unavailable]
Source WPA Collection, Univ. of Virginia, Charlotteville, No.183 (version d)
Performer Beverley, Mrs. Donna
Place collected USA : Virginia : Norton
Collector Hamilton, Emory L.
JOSEPH WAS AN OLD MAN [This is unavailable without visiting Western KY]
Source Combs, Folk-Songs of the Southern United States (1967) pp.201-203 item 15(a)
Performer Ellyson, Mae
Place collected USA : W. Virginia : Cowen
Collector Combs, Josiah H.
JOSEPH WAS AN OLD MAN
Source Combs, Folk-Songs of the Southern United States (1967) pp.201-203 item 15(b)
Performer Old Negro woman
Place collected USA : W. Virginia : [This is unavailable without visiting Western KY]
CHERRY TREE CAROL
Source Anderson: Tennessee Folklore Soc. Bulletin 8:3 (1942) p.78
Performer Burns, Mrs. Nancy
Place collected USA : Tennessee : Maryville
Collector
CHERRY TREE CAROL, THE
Source Song Ballads & Other Songs of the Pine Mountain Settlement School (1923) pp.111-113
Performer
Place collected USA : Kentucky : Pine Mountain