| A. b. |
| |
When Joseph and Mary
walked in the garden good,
There was cherries and berries,
as red as the blood. |
3 is wanting.
43. some cherries.
52. so unkind.
53. the cherries.
61,2. bespoke Jesus in.
64. that my mother may.
71,2. tallest tree, it bent to Mary's.
After 8:
Then Joseph and Mary
did to Bethlehem go,
And with travels were weary,
walking to and fro.
They sought for a lodging,
but the inns were filld all,
They, alas! could not have it,
but in an ox's stall.
But before the next morning
our Saviour was born,
In the month of December,
Christmas Day in the morn.
9-12 are wanting. |
| B. b. |
22. and his cousin Mary got.
24. by whom Joseph knew not.
31. As Joseph.
32. the garden.
43. Gather me some.
45,6. Gather me some cherries,
for I am with child.
51. O then bespoke.
52. with words most.
| 6. |
O then bespoke Jesus,
all in his mother's womb;
Go to the tree, Mary,
and it shall bow down. |
| 7. |
Go to the tree, Mary,
and it shall bow to thee,
And the highest branch of all
shall bow down to Mary's knee. |
| | And she shall gather cherries,
by one, by two, by three:
Now you may see, Joseph,
those cherries were for me. |
133. with the spring.
| 15. |
This world shall be like
the stones in the street,
For the sun and the moon
shall bow down at thy feet. |
| | (my feet in a Warwickshire broadside: Sylvester.) |
| 17. |
And upon the third day
my uprising shall be,
And the sun and the moon
shall rise up with me. |
18 is wanting.
For 9-13 we have, as a separate carol,
in Chappell's Christmas Carols, edited by Dr.
E.F. Rimbault, p. 22, the following verses,
traditional in Somersetshire:[foot-note]
| 1 |
As Joseph was a walking
he heard an angel sing:
This night shall be the birth-time
of Christ, the heavnly king. |
| 2 |
'He neither shall be born
in housen nor in hall,
Nor in the place of Paradise,
but in an ox's stall. |
| 3 |
'He neither shall be clothed
in purple nor in pall,
But in the fair white linen
that usen babies all. |
| 4 |
'He neither shall be rocked
in silver nor in gold,
But in a wooden manger,
that resteth on the mould.' |
| 5 |
As Joseph was a walking
there did an angel sing,
And Mary's child at midnight
was born to be our king. |
| 6 |
Then be ye glad, good people,
this night of all the year,
And light ye up your candles,
for his star it shineth clear. |
|
| c. |
13. When he.
2 is omitted.
After 3:
| |
Joseph and Mary walked
through an orchard good,
Where were cherries and benies,
as red as any blood. |
5 is omitted.
| 6,7. |
Go to the tree, Mary,
and it shall bow to thee,
And the highest branch of all
shall bow down to Mary's knee. |
| | Go to the tree, Mary,
and it shall bow to thee,
And you shall gather cherries,
by one, by two, and three. |
| | Then bowed down the highest tree
unto his mother's hand:
See, Mary cried, see, Joseph,
I have cherries at command. |
172. my uprising.
173. moon, mother.
174. shall both rise.
18 is wanting, and is suspiciously modern. |
| d. |
11. When Joseph.
12. and wanting.
21,2. When Joseph he had
his cousin Mary got.
24. by whom Joseph knew not.
31. As Joseph.
32. the garden gay.
| 33,4. |
Where cherries were growing
upon every spray. |
| 43,4. |
Gather me some cherries,
for I am with child. |
| 5. |
Gather me some cherries,
they run so in my mind.
Then bespoke Joseph,
with wordes so unkind, |
| | I will not gather cherries.
Then said Mary, You shall see,
By what will happen,
these cherries were for me. |
61. Then bespoke Jesus.
| 63,4. |
Go to the tree, Mary,
and it shall bow down. |
| 7. |
And the highest branch
shall bow to Mary's knee,
And she shall gather cherries,
by one, two, and three. |
8 wanting.
10 wanting.
113. But in fine.
| 131,2. |
He never did require
white wine and bread. |
133. But cold spring.
13 precedes 12.
143,4. Come tell me, dear child, how.
| 15. |
This world shall be
like the stones in the street,
For the sun and the moon
shall bow down at my feet. |
The rest is wanting. |
| D. |
32. to the garden school.
The first stanza is said to have this variation in Worcestershire:
Joseph was a hoary man,
and a hoary man was he.
Notes and Queries, Fourth Series, III, 75. |
