Recordings & Info 54. Cherry-Tree Carol
CONTENTS:
1) Alternative Titles
2) Traditional Ballad Index
3) Folk Index
4) Child Collection Index
5) 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
6) Kittredge 1917
7) Mainly Norfolk (lyrics and info)
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
1) Roud Number 453: Cherry-Tree Carol (203 Listings)
2) The Cherry-Tree Carol- MacSweeney 1918
3) The "Cherry-Tree Carol" and the "Merchant's Tale"
Alternative Titles
Joseph Was An Old Man
Joseph Was A Young Man
Carol of the Cherry Tree
The Cherry Tree
Joseph and Mary
The Sixth of January
As Joseph Was a Walking
Sweet Mary
Sweet Mary and Joseph
Traditional Ballad Index: Cherry-Tree Carol, The [Child 54]
DESCRIPTION: Joseph and Mary are walking. Mary asks Joseph for some of the cherries they are passing by, since she is pregnant. Joseph tells her to let the baby's father get them. The unborn Jesus orders the tree to give Mary cherries. Joseph repents
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1768 (Gilbert MS)
KEYWORDS: carol Jesus religious
FOUND IN: US(Ap,NE,SE,So) Britain(England,(Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Mar,Ont,West)
REFERENCES (29 citations):
Child 54, "The Cherry Tree Carol" (4 texts)
Bronson 54, "The Cherry Tree Carol" (30 versions + 2 in an appendix, one of them being "Mary With Her Young Son"' in addition, #27 contains "The Holly Bears a Berry" and #29 a scrap of "The Holly and the Ivy")
Greig #160, p. 1, "The Cherry-Tree Carol"; Greig #164, p. 3, "The Cherry Tree Carol" (1 text plus 1 fragment)
GreigDuncan2 327, "The Cherry Tree Carol" (2 texts plus 6 verses on p. 579)
BarryEckstormSmyth p. 446, "The Cherry Tree Carol" (notes only)
Flanders-Ancient2, pp. 70-73, "The Cherry Tree Carol" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #9}
Randolph 12, "The Cherry Tree Carol" (1 fragmentary text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #30}
BrownII 15, "The Cherry Tree Carol" (2 texts)
Davis-Ballads 13, "The Cherry Tree Carol" (1 text plus 2 fragments; the only substantial text, "A," begins with two verses clearly imported from something else; 1 tune) {Bronson's #14}
Ritchie-Southern, pp. 36-37, "Carol of the Cherry Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 60, (no title) (1 single-stanza excerpt)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 34-35, "Cherry Tree Carol" (1 text plus 1 fragment, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #22, #11}
Thomas-Makin', pp. 222-231, "(The Cherry Tree Carol)" (2 texts plus a fragment, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 175-177, "The Cherry-Tree Carol" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 59, "The Cherry-Tree Carol" (1 text, 1 tune)
OBB 101, "The Cherry-Tree Carol" (1 text)
OBC 66, "The Cherry Tree Carol" (1 text (separated into smaller parts, the last being "Mary With Her Young Son"), 4 tunes) {for the "First Tune" cf. Bronson's #1; the "Second Tune" is Bronson's #32}
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 128-129, "The Cherry Tree Carol" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #22}
PBB 2, "The Cherry Tree Carol" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Ian Bradley, _The Penguin Book of Carols_ (1999), #42, "Joseph Was an Old Man" (1 text)
Niles 23, "The Cherry Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 15 "The Cherry-Tree Carol" (5 texts plus a fragment, 6 tunes) {Bronson's #28, #17, #16, #19, #15, #21}
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 12, "The Cherry Tree Carol" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #16; cf. #20}
Hodgart, p. 151, "The Cherry-Tree Carol" (1 text)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 758, "The Cherry Tree Carol" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 19, p. 47, "The Cherry Tree Carol" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 40-42, "The Cherry Tree Carol" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 380, "Cherry Tree Carol" (1 text)
DT 54, CHERTREE*
Roud #453
RECORDINGS:
Maud Long, "The Cherry Tree Carol" (AFS; on LC14)
Jean Ritchie, "Cherry Tree Carol" (on JRitchie02)
Mrs. Lee Skeens, "The Cherry Tree Carol" (AFS; on LC57)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Mary With Her Young Son"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Cherry Tree
Joseph and Mary
The Sixth of January
NOTES: Widely considered to be based on the Infancy Gospel of the Pseudo-Matthew (Latin, ninth century). In that book, however, the miracle took place AFTER Jesus's birth. Joseph, Jesus, and Mary were fleeing from King Herod when Mary became faint. Joseph led her under a date palm to rest. Mary begged Joseph to get her some of the dates. Joseph was astonished; the tree was too tall to climb. But Jesus (who was no more than two years old) commanded the palm, "Bow down, tree, and refresh my mother with your fruit." And bow down it did, and remained so until Jesus ordered it to straighten up (and be carried into heaven)!
The only part of this with any basis in the canonical gospels is Joseph's jealousy (Matt. 1:18-20) and the angel's announcement that Joseph should care for the child (Matt. 1:20-25 -- where, however, the message comes in a dream).
The link to the pseudo-Matthew is not universally accepted; Baring-Gould linked the thing to a tale in the Kalevala (canto L -- the very last canto of the book). In the story of the virgin Marjatta, a berry cries out to the girl (line 81-94 on p. 634 of Kalevala-Kirby). Kalevala-Kirby calls the berry a cranberry, but Joseph-Larousse, p. 105, makes it a cherry. Marjatta -- whose very name means "berry" in Finnish, according to Kalevala-Kirby, p. 661 (although the resemblance to "Maria" is interesting) -- eats the berry, brings forth a boy, loses him, finds him, brings him to be baptized, and is condemned by Vanamoinen -- but the child defends himself and is baptized as a king. (Complications ensue, of course.)
The parallels are obviously interesting -- but it must be recalled that the Kalevala as assembled is more recent than the Cherry-Tree Carol; Elias Lonnrot published it in 1849 (Kalevala-Kirby, p. xi). Marjatta's tale may be older than the compiled Kalevala, but it is much more likely that both stories come from common roots.
An even more interesting parallel than either of those is in the Quran. In Surah 3:46 ("The Imrans"), Jesus "will preach to men in his cradle"; the statement is repeated in 5:110 ("The Table"). More amazing, though, is 19:22f. ("Mary" or, in more literal translations, "Mariam"): Mary, as she goes into labor, wishes she had died. The child speaks up and commands the date-palm to feed her. Later, as the unmarried Mary comes among her people, she is accused of whoredom. She points to the infant Jesus, who justifies her from the cradle.
It is perhaps interesting that, in the carol, it is the *cherry* tree that bows down. Various legends swirl about the cherry, including one from China that associates it with female sexuality (Pickering, p. 55; the English parallel is presumably obvious). There is also a Swiss legend that offers cherries to new mothers.
The legend that Joseph was old when he married Mary has no direct scriptural basis. The only early testimony seems to be from the Protevangelium Jacobi or Infancy Gospel of James. In what Hone calls chapter 8, verse 13, Joseph -- upon being told to wed Mary, who had been brought up as a virgin in the Temple but now was being put out because she had reached puberty -- declares, "I am an old man, and have children, but she is young, and I fear that I should appear ridiculous in Israel" (Hone, p. 29; there is a somewhat looser translation on p. 388 of Barnstone as well as p. 387 of CompleteGospels; in CompleteGospels, it is chapter 9, verse 8; in Cartlidge/Dungan, p. 15, it is chapter 9, verse 5). We also find Joseph's sons accompanying Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem (CompleteGospels, 17:5, p. 392=Cartlidge/Dungan 17:4, p. 20=Hone, 12:5, p. 32, but Hone's translation is not parallel to the other two).
The Protevangelium also mentions the famous but un-scriptural detail of Mary and Joseph sheltering in a cave rather than a stable as in the Gospel of Luke (CompleteGospels, 18:1, p. 392=Cartlidge/Dungan 18:1, p. 21=Hone, 13:1, p. 33). It also claims that a midwife found Mary still a virgin after the birth -- miraculously, obviously.
After Mary and Joseph reach the cave, Joseph goes out and has a vision, as is found in some long versions of the Cherry-Tree Carol. The vision is found in CompleteGospels, 18:3-11, p. 392=Hone, 13:2-11, p. 32)-- but the two versions (based on different manuscripts) bears little resemblance to each other, and neither resembles the angel's conversation with Joseph in the Carol. The earliest witness to the Protevangelium, Papyrus Bodmer V, omits the passage entirely, causing Cartlidge/Dungan to include it on pp. 21-22 in double brackets, indicating a later insertion. Cartlidge/Dungan number it 18:2-7.
Hone, p. 24, suggests that the Protevangelium Jacobi was originally written in Hebrew, and claims there was a Latin translation. However, Barnstone, pp. 384-385, says that "No Latin manuscript survived the early condemnation of the book in the west."
Very little of what Hone says has held up any better. Although Jordan, p. 1, discusses the possibility that the book is by James the brother of Jesus, or James son of Zebedee, or the "other" James of Mark 15:40 (said to be the author in the Gelasian Decree of c. 495 C.E.), he goes on to note that the author did not know Palestinian geography, a strong argument against the possibility that it is by any of them. As for the language, Wake is the only scholar cited on p. 6 of Jordan to think a Hebrew original a possibility; almost everyone else argues for Greek. Barnstone also (p. 385) quotes Ron Cameron to the effect that it is full of allusions to the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. The weight of evidence for a Greek original frankly appears overwhelming.
Jordan on p. 2 cites three scholars who thought it might be from the first century -- but goes on to note nine scholars who date it to the late second century (which still makes it relatively early for an apocryphal gospel). To these nine I can add that CompleteGospels, p. 381, dates it to the middle of the second century. Barnstone, p. 384, says that the book can hardly have been written before 150 C.E., and said that Jerome, translator of the Vulgate, condemned it (pp. 383-384).
The latest date I have seen is Harnack's, who argued for the fourth century (Jordan, p. 6). This late date can now be set aside; the latest possible date is the end of the third century, since Papyrus Bodmer V, found in Egypt and forming the basis for the Cartlidge/Dungan translation, is dated paleographically to 300 C.E. or shortly earlier (which, incidentally, makes it older than our oldest complete copy of any of the canonical gospels, although two other Bodmer papyri, known as P66 and P75, contain large portions of John from the third century, and P75 also contains a big chunk of Luke; there are earlier fragments of all four canonical gospels). But there is very little other early evidence of its existence; the other manuscripts cited in Tischendorf's nineteenth century Greek edition are all tenth century or later (Jordan, p. 3).
Barnstone, p. 384, notes manuscripts in Greek, Syriac (Aramaic), Armenian, Ethiopic (proto-Amharic), Georgian, and Old Church Slavonic. Jordan, p. 6. also mentions a Sahidic Coptic text -- but says the majority of manuscripts are in Greek or Slavonic. In 1980, de Strycker counted 140 Greek manuscripts (Jordan, p. 6) -- an amazing number for a non-canonical work. Even more amazing, parts of it turn up in Greek lectionaries.
I can't help but note that some manuscripts of the Protevangelium Jacobi make Mary only twelve years old at the time of the conception, and none makes her more than seventeen (Barnstone, p. 392). Yes, folks, the author of this book thought God was a pedophile!
It is perhaps worth mentioning that large portions of the Protevangelium Jacobi were incorporated into the Pseudo-Matthew Gospel (Jordan, p. 5) so often cited as the source of this Carol.
Since the Protevangelium did not survive in Latin, it is probably not the direct source for the Carol's claim that Joseph was old. Pseudo-Matthew is a more likely source. But it is not absolutely necessary to assume either as the source. The story seems to have been widespread -- presumably because it fit the sort of thinking that early church fathers loved. The logic is indirect: Mary was still alive at the time of Jesus's ministry (Mark 3:31fff. and parallels), death (John 19:25fff.), and resurrection (Acts 1:14). Joseph, however, is not mentioned anywhere in the context of Jesus's ministry; the only mentions of him as a living man are in the infancy portions of Matthew and Luke. Thus the assumption was that he was dead at the time of Jesus's ministry, and hence implicitly that he was much older than Mary.
Assuming Joseph was dead allowed the Church to solve another problem: The mention of brothers of Jesus (James and others are mentioned in Mark 6:3 and parallels, and James alone in Acts 12:17, 15:13, 21:18, Gal. 1:19, etc.) when it was maintained (again on no scriptural basis) that Mary was a perpetual virgin: The argument (which obviously matches the argument of the Protevangelium Jacobi) was that Mary was Joseph's second wife, and Jesus's brothers were in fact half brothers: Joseph's children by the previous wife. (Making them, genetically if not legally, no brothers of Jesus at all.)
This cannot be disproved, of course. But two points need to be made. To begin with, we have only two canonical date pegs for the life of Jesus: First, he was born in the reign of Herod the Great (so both Matthew and Luke), and second, he was active in ministry in the fifteenth year of Tiberius the Caesar (Luke 3:1).
Herod the Great is known to have died in 4 B.C.E (Josephus/Marcus/Wikgren, p. 459; Antiquities XVII.191 in the Loeb numbering, or XVIII,viii.1 in the older editions)., meaning that Jesus must have been born by that year. There are inferential reasons to think he was born in 6 or 7 B.C.E. -- Herod, after all, ordered the killing of all children under two years old (Matthew 2:16).
Tiberius succeeded the emperor Augustus in 14 C.E. Thus his fifteenth year was probably 29 C.E. Jesus was very likely crucified in 30 C.E. This means that he was probably at least 36 years old at the time of the crucifixion.
So if Joseph had been a young man of 22 when he married Mary, he would have had to live to at least age 58 to be around when Jesus died. Lots of people in Roman Palestine died before age 58! The fact that Joseph was almost certainly dead in 30 C.E. is no evidence at all for the claim that he was old in 6 B.C.E. It's possible, but not all that likely.
The other evidence, about Jesus's brothers, is also weak. James is the one member of Jesus's family to be mentioned outside the Bible: Josephus/Feldman, pp. 107-109 (Josephus, Antiquities XX.200 in the Loeb edition, XX.ix.1 in older editions) say that James was stoned to death soon after the Judean procurator Festus died. Festus, we know from Josephus, died in 62 (Josephus/Feldman, pp. 106-107). James, under the "son of Joseph's first wife" theory, would have had to be at least seventy at this time, and probably -- since he is always the first-mentioned of Jesus's four brothers -- closer to eighty. Certainly possible, but it's a lot easier to assume James was born after Jesus, and hence only in his sixties or perhaps even younger. I stress that there is no proof, but the strong weight of evidence is that Joseph was *not* old when Jesus was born. - RBW
Bibliography
Barnstone: Willis Barnstone, editor, The Other Bible, Harper & Row, 1984
Cartlidge/Dungan, David R. Cartlidge and David L. Dungan, translators and editors, Sourcebook of Texts for the Comparative Study of the Gospels, second edition, Society of Biblical Literature, 1972 (despite being a second edition, this is simply a spiral-bound copy of a set of typescripts, and several texts shown in the table of contents are not included; presumably some later version added these materials, necessarily changing the pagination)
CompleteGospels: Robert J. Miller, editor, The Complete Gospels (Annotated Scholars Version), revised third edition, Harper Collins, 1994
Hone: William Hone, The Apocryphal New Testament: Being All the Gospels, Epistles, and Other Pieces Now Extant, 1820. This has been republished, often with modifications and expurgations, many times; a copy of the 1847 edition is available on Google Books. Because reading paper is easier than reading PDFs, my references are to the 1979 Bell edition published as The Lost Books of the Bible with a new (but extremely inacccurate) preface by Solomon J. Schepps. The actual book appears to be a facsimile copy of one of the older editions (probably that of 1926)
Jones-Larousse: Alison Jones, Larousse Dictionary of World Folklore, Larousse, 1995 (I use the 1996 paperback edition)
Jordan: Chris Jordan, "Protevangelium Jacobi (PJ): An Introduction," online article, undated but after 1998
Josephus/Feldman: L. H. Feldman, translator, Josephus: Jewish Antiquities: Book XX, the tenth volume in the 10 volume Loeb translation of Josephus (and #456 in the Loeb Classical Library), Harvard University Press, 1965
Josephus/Marcus/Wikgren: Ralph Marcus and Allen Wikgren, translators, Josephus: Jewish Antiquities: Books XV-XVII, the eighth volume in the 10 volume Loeb translation of Josephus (and #410 in the Loeb Classical Library), Harvard University Press, 1963
Kalevala-Kirby: Kalevala, translated by W. F. Kirby, 1907, with a new introduction and notes by M. A. Branch, Athlone Press, 1985
Pickering: David Pickering, The Cassell Dictionary of Folklore, Cassell, 1999
Folk Index: Cherry Tree Carol [Ch 54/Sh 15]
Rt - As Joseph Was a Walking
Pound, Louise (ed.) / American Ballads and Songs, Scribner, Sof (1972/1922), p 47/# 19 [1915ca]
Seeger, Ruth Crawford (eds.) / American Folk Songs for Children, Doubleday/Zephyr Books, Sof (1948), p182
Snyder, Jerry (arr.) / Golden Guitar Folk Sing Book, Hansen, fol (1972), p 36
Friedman, Albert B. (ed.) / Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English-S, Viking, sof (1963/1957), p 59 [1830/1915ca]
Lynn, Frank (ed.) / Songs for Swingin' Housemothers, Fearon, Sof (1963/1961), p234
Best, Dick & Beth (eds.) / New Song Fest Deluxe, Hansen, Sof (1971/1948), p 53
Visconti, Carl (ed.) / Paint Creek Folklore Society Song Tune Book, Paint Creek, Sof (1986), p40
Leisy, James F. (ed.) / Hootenanny Tonight!, Gold Medal Books, sof (1964), p 32
Wells, Evelyn Kendrick (ed.) / The Ballad Tree, Ronald, Bk (1950), p187
Blood, Peter; and Annie Patterson (eds.) / Rise Up Singing, Sing Out, Sof (1992/1989), p 9
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Lloyd, A. L. / Folk Song in England, International, sof (1967), p120
Leisy, James F. (ed.) / Folk Song Abecedary, Bonanza, Bk (1966), p 57
Herder, Ronald (ed.) / 500 Best-Loved Song Lyrics, Dover dn500/500, Sof (1998), p 59
Lomax, Alan / Penguin Book of American Folk Songs, Penguin, sof (1969/1964), p 77/# 54
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p175 [1833]
Leach, MacEdward / The Ballad Book, Harper & Row, Bk (1955), p176
Baez, Joan. Joan Baez, Volume 2, Vanguard VSD 2097, LP (1961), trk# 11
Baez, Joan. Siegmeister, Elie (arr.) / Joan Baez Song Book, Ryerson Music, Sof (1971/1964), p 62
Beers Family. Christmas with the Beers Family, Columbia ML 6335, LP (1966), trk# 7
Beltaine. Brilliant Fire, Beltaine 01, CD (2003), trk# 20
Brixey, Mrs. Clyde. Moore, Ethel & Chauncey (ed.) / Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwest, Univ. of Okla, Bk (1964), p 45/# 16B [1940s] (Joseph Was an Old Man)
Brown, Susan. Songs and Ballads of Hattie Mae Tyler Cargill, Folk Legacy CD 128, CD (2001), trk# 2 (Carol of the Cherry Tree)
Brown, Wilfred. Folk Songs, L'Oiseau-Lyre SOL 60034, LP (1961), trk# A.08 (Cherry Tree)
Carlin, Richard. Carlin, Richard / English Concertina, Oak, Sof (1977), p16
Collins, Shirley. Classic Collection, Highpoint HPO 6008, CD (2004), trk# 16 [1995?]
Corrie Folk Trio with Paddie Bell. Promise of the Day, Elektra EKL 304, LP (1966), trk# A.07
Creech, John Buckingham ('Old Buck'). Thomas, Jean / Ballad Makin' in the Mountains of Kentucky, Oak, Sof (1964/1939), p230 Day, James William (Jilson Setters). Thomas, Jean / Ballad Makin' in the Mountains of Kentucky, Oak, Sof (1964/1939), p224
Dunagan, Margaret. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 93/# 15D [1917/09/12]
Dyer-Bennet, Richard. Richard Dyer-Bennet 9, Dyer-Bennet 9000, LP (1960), trk# 12
Fahey, John. Popular Songs of Christmas and New Years, Varrick VR 012, Cas (197?), trk# 6b
Gainer, Patrick. Folk Songs of the Alleghenies, Folk Heritage, LP (1963), trk# B.01
Gentry, Jane Hicks. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, I, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 91/# 15B [1916/08/24]
Gentry, Jane Hicks. Smith, Betty N. / Jane Hicks Gentry. A Singer Among Singers, U. Ky, Sof (1998), p144/# 6 [1916/08/24]
Gooding, Cynthia. O Love Is Teasin', Elektra 60402-1-U, LP (1957), trk# 1.03
Gooding, Cynthia. Faithful Lovers and Other Phenomena, Elektra EKL 107, LP (1956), trk# B.06
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Hill, Lizzie J.. Moore, Ethel & Chauncey (ed.) / Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwest, Univ. of Okla, Bk (1964), p 44/# 16A [1940s] (Joseph and Mary)
Isom, Bill (Kitchen). Thomas, Jean / Ballad Makin' in the Mountains of Kentucky, Oak, Sof (1964/1939), p227
Jones, Clark. Early American Folk Music & Songs, Folkways FTS 31091, LP (1982), trk# 13
Langstaff, John. Christmas Revels. Wassail! Wassail!, Revels RC 1082, LP (1982), trk# A.07
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McSpadden, Lynn. McSpadden, Lynn / Four and Twenty Songs for the Mountain Dulcimer, Dulcimer Shoppe, sof (1970), p19
Mitchell Trio. Typical American Boys, Mercury MG 20992, LP (196?), trk# A.03
Ransom, Stan; with Marne O'Shae. North Country Christmas, Connecticut Peddler NCC 101, CD (1994), trk# 10
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Riley, William. Fowke, Edith and Richard Johnston / Folk Songs of Canada, Waterloo Music, Bk (1954), p128
Ritchie, Jean. Kentucky Christmas, Old and New, Greenhays GR 717, LP (1987), trk# 10 (Carol of the Cherry Tree)
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Roberts, John; and Tony Barrand. Nowell Sing We Clear, Front Hall FHR 013, LP (1977), trk# A.07
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Sizemore, Becky (Aunt Becky). Niles, John Jacob / Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles, Bramhall House, Bk (1961), p127/N 23 [1934]
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Waterson - Carthy. Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man, Topic TSCD 562, CD (2006), trk# 7
Wilbur, Marie. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume I, British Ballads and Songs, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p 88/# 12 [1930/05/14]
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Cherry Tree of Cumberlands
Us - Cherry Tree Carol
Child Ballad Collection:
Child No. --Artist --Title --Album --Year --Length --Have
054 A.L. Lloyd The Cherry Tree (The Cherry Tree Carol) The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) - Vol. 6 [Reissue] 196? No
054 A.L. Lloyd The Cherry Tree (The Cherry Tree Carol) The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) - Vol. 3 1956 4:26 Yes
054 A.L. Lloyd The Cherry-Tree Carol Bramble Briars & Beams of the Sun 2011 No
054 Acie Cargilll The Cherry Tree Old-Timey Giants [Stones in Shoes] 2007 No
054 Adrienne Jones Cherry Tree Carol There Is No Rose - Christmas Carols Through the Centuries 2003 2:58 Yes
054 Al Petteway & Amy White Cherry Tree Carol Winter Tidings 2006 5:06 Yes
054 Alec Guinness The Cherry Tree Carol Alec Guinness Reads Spirituals and Religious Poetry and Prose 1961 No
054 Alex Campbell Cherry Tree Carol With the Greatest Respect 1987 No
054 Alex Campbell Cherry Tree Carol This Is Alex Campbell, Vol. 2 1971 No
054 Alice Olsen The Cherry Tree Carol Angels We Have Heard on High - Traditional Carols 2007 3:11 Yes
054 Amps for Christ Cherry Tree Carol The Oak in the Ashes 2001 4:47 Yes
054 Andrew Rowan Summers Cherry Tree Carol, Pt.2 Hymns and Carols 1951 No
054 Andrew Rowan Summers The Cherry Tree Carol The Lady Gay 1954 No
054 Angelo Branduardi Il Ciliegio La Pulce D'Acqua 1977 4:11 Yes
054 Angelo Branduardi Il Ciliegio Collezione 1986 No
054 Angelo Branduardi Il Ciliegio Canzoni D'Amore 1984 No
054 Angelo Branduardi Il Ciliegio Best of Angelo Branduardi 1992 3:56 Yes
054 Angelo Branduardi Il Ciliegio Confessioni Di Un Malandrino - Il Meglio Di Angelo Branduardi 1991 3:55 Yes
054 Annie Lennox As Joseph Was a Walking A Christmas Cornucopia 2010 3:59 Yes
054 Anonymous 4 The Cherry Tree Carol The Cherry Tree - Songs, Carols & Ballads for Christmas 2010 3:10 Yes
054 Appendix Out The Cherry Tree Carol Seven Christmas Songs 2001 1:25 Yes
054 Ardyth & Jennifer The Cherry Tree Carol Winterfire 2005 2:43 Yes
054 Ariella Uliano The Cherry Tree Carol The Wandering Spirit 2005 5:02 Yes
054 Ariella Uliano The Cherry Tree Carol A.U. (Almost) a Compilation 2009 No
054 Artus Moser The Cherry Tree Carol Southern Mountain Folksongs and Ballads 1957 2:48 Yes
054 Atwater-Donnelly Carol of the Cherry Tree When Winter Calls 2005 3:16 Yes
054 Aunt Molly Jackson Cherry Tree Carol The Mary Elizabeth Barnicle-Tillman Cadle Collection No
054 Barbara Bellows The Cherry Tree Carol At the Bee and Thistle Inn 1978 3:15 Yes
054 Barbara, Peggy & Penny Seeger Joseph and Mary (The Cherry Tree Carol) American Folk Songs for Christmas [2] 1957 2:18 Yes
054 Barry Coope, Jim Boyes, Lester Simpson, Fi Fraser, Jo Freya & Georgina Boyes The Cherry Tree Carol Fire and Sleet and Candlelight - Seasonal and Historical Carols 2003 2:52 Yes
054 Belshazzar's Feast Cherry Tree Carol + Yuleogy Frost Bites 2009 7:38 Yes
054 Belshazzar's Feast Masquerade Royal + As Joseph Was A-Walking Frost Bites 2009 6:18 Yes
054 Beltaine The Cherry Tree Carol Brilliant Fire 2003 No
054 Bessie Wallace The Cherry-Tree Carol The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
054 Betty Smith The Cherry Tree Carol A Bluff Mountain Christmas 1988 3:40 Yes
054 Bill & Lin O'Connor & Mary Ellen Backes Cherry Tree Carol A Christmas Gift 2001 3:52 Yes
054 Bob Arnold As Joseph Was A-Walking The Gwilym Davies Collection No
054 Bob Arnold Cherry Tree Carol The Gwilym Davies Collection No
054 Bob Arnold Joseph Was an Old Man Bob & Jacqueline Patten Collection 1970-1999 No
054 Bob Rowe The Cherry Tree Carol Christmas Is Here - a Family Christmas 2003 3:15 Yes
054 Bridget Ball & Christopher Shaw Cherry Tree Carol Mountain Snow and Mistle Two 1994 3:57 Yes
054 Chicken on a Raft Cherry Tree Carol Chicken on a Raft 2006 1:54 Yes
054 Cindy Kallet Cherry Tree Carol Dreaming Down a Quiet Line 1989 2:48 Yes
054 Claire Ross The Cherry Tree Carol All in the Morning - Folk Carols of Britain & America 1965 2:26 Yes
054 Clark Jones The Cherry Tree Carol Early American Folk Music & Songs 1982 4:10 Yes
054 Colin Meloy Cherry Tree Carol Colin Meloy Sings Trad. Arr. Shirley Collins 2006 3:50 Yes
054 Cornish Female Singer The Cherry-Tree Carol (1) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
054 Cornish Female Singer The Cherry-Tree Carol (2) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
054 Cornish Female Singer The Cherry-Tree Carol (3) The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
054 Craig Duncan The Cherry Tree Carol An Old English Christmas [Craig Duncan] 2007 No
054 Craig Duncan The Cherry Tree Carol Victorian Christmas 2007 No
054 Cynthia Gooding The Cherry Tree Carol O Love Is Teasin' - Anglo-American Mountain Balladry 1985 2:49 Yes
054 Cynthia Gooding The Cherry-Tree Carol Faithful Lovers and Other Phenomena 1957 2:57 Yes
054 D.E. Adams The Cherry Tree Carol Ain't This Boy a Wonder 1994 3:07 Yes
054 Dan DeLancey & Linda G. Thomas As Joseph Was A-Walking An Old English Christmas 2000 2:31 Yes
054 Dan Samples The Cherry Tree Carol <website> 2007 3:37 Yes
054 Dave Hall The Cherry Tree Carol Christmas [Dave Hall] 2005 No
054 Debra Cowan, Acie Cargill & Susan Brown The Carol of the Cherry Tree The Songs and Ballads of Hattie Mae Tyler Cargill 2001 4:07 Yes
054 Diane Taraz The Cherry Tree Carol Hope! Says the Holly 2000 3:32 Yes
054 Diane Zeigler The Cherry Tree Carol December in Vermont 2004 4:05 Yes
054 Duo Greenoch The Cherry Tree Carol Old England Stories (Antiche Ballate Celtiche) 1997 2:16 Yes
054 Dusty Leer The Cherry Tree Carol <website> 2005 3:59 Yes
054 Edna Ritchie As Joseph Was A-Walking Edna Ritchie of Viper Kentucky 1962 3:37 Yes
054 Edna Ritchie Cherry Tree Carol The Mary Elizabeth Barnicle-Tillman Cadle Collection No
054 Edward Flower & Joel Brown The Cherry Tree Carol Chords & Thyme - English Folksongs for Guitar 1994 4:34 Yes
054 Elisabeth Von Trapp The Cherry Tree Carol Christmas Song 2007 3:39 Yes
054 Emmylou Harris Cherry Tree Carol Light of the Stable 2004 3:33 Yes
054 Esme Lewis As Joseph Was A-Walking Rhyme and Rhythm – Poems and Songs for Children 1965 No
054 Ewan MacColl The Cherry Tree Carol [English] The Long Harvest, Vol. 8 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1968 4:20 Yes
054 Faraway Folk Cherry Tree Carol Seasonal Man 1975 3:17 Yes
054 Gabriella Snyder The Cherry Tree Carol Ancient Christmas - Songs & Carols 1998 No
054 George Winston Cherry Tree Carol A Windham Hill Christmas - The Night Before Christmas 2005 4:16 Yes
054 Harry Thomas The Cherry-Tree Carol The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
054 Hobart Crabtree Cherry Tree Carol Banjo Player 2006 4:50 Yes
054 Inner Voices Cherry Tree Carol Christmas Harmony 1990 4:55 Yes
054 Janie Hickok Siess & Jan Alexander The Cherry Tree Carol <website> 2006 2:25 Yes
054 J.E. Mainer Cherry Tree Carol The Legendary J.E. Mainer, Vol. 10 - the Good Old Rebel 1970 2:26 Yes
054 Jean Jenkins The Cherry Tree Carol The Wife of Usher's Well - Mountain Ballads 1976 No
054 Jean Ritchie Cherry Tree Carol Ballads from Her Appalachian Family Tradition 2003 3:48 Yes
054 Jean Ritchie Cherry Tree Carol British Traditional Ballads in the Southern Mountains - Child Ballads, Vol 2 1961 3:39 Yes
054 Jean Ritchie Cherry Tree of Cumberlands Carols for All Seasons 1997 3:30 Yes
054 Jean Ritchie, Family & Friends Carol of the Cherry Tree Kentucky Christmas - Old and New 1997 4:06 Yes
054 Jeanie Fitchen The Cherry Tree Carol A Folk Christmas 1985 3:03 Yes
054 Jeanie Fitchen The Cherry Tree Carol A Part of Me - The Early Years - Growing Up at the Florida Folk Festival 2008 No
054 Jennifer Rose The Cherry Tree Carol Christmas at Home 2002 4:06 Yes
054 Jill Trinka The Cherry Tree Carol Bought Me a Cat and Other Folk Songs, Singing Games, & Play Parties - 2 1995 No
054 Joan Baez The Cherry Tree Carol Joan Baez, Vol. 2 2001 3:29 Yes
054 Joan Baez The Cherry Tree Carol Songs of the USA 1965 3:22 Yes
054 Joan Osborne Cherry Tree Carol Christmas Means Love 2005 3:38 Yes
054 Jody Miller Cherry Tree Carol Christmas in the Country [Country Christmas Favorites] 2005 3:06 Yes
054 Jody Miller Cherry Tree Carol 15 Christmas Favorites: Sharing the Spirit 1998 No
054 Joe Wise Cherry Tree Carol He Has Come - Songs of Christmas 1977 3:22 Yes
054 Joel Mabus The Cherry Tree Carol How Like the Holly 2001 3:06 Yes
054 John Fahey Medley: The Holly and the Ivy + The Cherry Tree Carol The New Possibility - John Fahey's Guitar Soli Christmas Album 1986 2:16 Yes
054 John Fahey & Terry Robb Medley: The Holly and the Ivy + The Cherry Tree Carol Popular Songs of Christmas and New Year's 1982 No
054 John Jacob Niles The Cherry Tree My Precarious Life in the Public Domain [Folk Balladeer] 2006 3:40 Yes
054 John Jacob Niles The Cherry Tree The Ballads of John Jacob Niles 1960 2:48 Yes
054 John Jacob Niles The Cherry Tree Child Ballads 2008 No
054 John Kirkpatrick The Cherry Tree Carol Carolling & Crumpets 2007 3:28 Yes
054 John Kirkpatrick & Rosie Cross The Cherry Tree Carol Wassail! - A Traditional Celebration of an English Midwinter 1997 2:42 Yes
054 John Kirkpatrick & Rosie Cross The Cherry Tree Carol Women Folk 2005 3:42 Yes
054 John Kirkpatrick & Sue Harris The Cherry Tree Carol Among the Many Attractions at the Show Will Be a Really High Class Band 1976 3:07 Yes
054 John Langstaff The Cherry Tree Carol Wassail! Wassail! - Early American Christmas Music 1982 4:04 Yes
054 John Partridge The Cherry Tree Carol English Customs and Traditions 1997 2:41 Yes
054 John Partridge The Cherry Tree Carol The Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 9: Songs of Ceremony 1961 2:32 Yes
054 John William Partridge The Cherry-Tree Carol BBC Recordings No
054 José Feliciano The Cherry Tree Carol Feliz Navidad 2002 3:44 Yes
054 Judy Collins Cherry Tree Carol Come Rejoice! - A Judy Collins Christmas 1994 4:32 Yes
054 Judy Collins Cherry Tree Carol All on a Wintry Night 2000 4:30 Yes
054 Judy McKenney The Cherry Tree Carol The Lone Wild Bird 2004 5:32 Yes
054 Kate & Anna McGarrigle Cherry Tree Carol Live at the Outremont Theatre, Outremont, 2005-12-17 2005 5:04 Yes
054 Katie LaRaye Waldren Cherry Tree Carol + St. Basil's Hymn + Down in Yon Forest + Noel Nouvelet Cold Frosty Morning - A Celebration of Christmas on Hammered & Mountain Dulcimer 1993 5:53 Yes
054 Keili Kids The Cherry Tree Carol A Keili Kids Christmas - Traditional American Christmas Favorites 2004 3:02 Yes
054 Kerfuffle Cherry Tree Carol Lighten the Dark - A Midwinter Album 2009 3:47 Yes
054 Kerfuffle Cherry Tree Carol Lighten the Dark Tour 2009 2009 3:33 Yes
054 Kim Robertson & Virginia Kron As Joseph Was A-Walking Celtic Christmas II 1994 2:11 Yes
054 Kris Ann Parker Cherry Tree Carol The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection 2:58 Yes
054 Lana Quinn The Cherry Tree Carol Ye Are the Angels 2003 3:49 Yes
054 Laura Boosinger Cherry Tree Carol Acoustic Holiday at the Crossroads - Live on WNCW, Vol. 1 2001 2:46 Yes
054 Linda G. Russell As Joseph Was A-Walking Oasis Acoustic, Vol. 28 2001 2:31 Yes
054 Linda Russell & Companie The Cherry Tree Carol Sing We All Merrily - A Colonial Folk Christmas 1986 3:18 Yes
054 Linda Sigismondi The Cherry Tree Carol Christmas Songs for the Mountain Dulcimer Companion CD 2005 No
054 Madeline MacNeil The Cherry Tree Carol The Crowning of the Year - Music for Advent, Christmas and the New Year with Dulcimers, Guitar, Cello and Flute 1996 3:38 Yes
054 Magpie Lane The Cherry Tree Carol Knock at the Knocker, Ring at the Bell - Carols, Songs & Tunes for the Christmas Season 2006 No
054 Marais & Miranda Cherry Tree Carol Christmas with Marais and Miranda 1955 4:15 Yes
054 Maria Sangiolo The Cherry Tree Carol Wonderland - A Winter Solstice Celebration 2002 2:48 Yes
054 Marilyn Bennett As Joseph Was A-Walking (Cherry Tree Carol) Angels Among Us 1999 2:49 Yes
054 Martin Best Consort The Cherry Tree Carol The Warwickshire Lad 1974 2:01 Yes
054 Marty Haugen, Donna Peña & Friends Cherry Tree Carol We Come Dancing 1997 4:01 Yes
054 Martyn Bates & Max Eastley Cherry Tree Carol Your Jewled Footsteps 2006 No
054 Mary Hopkin Cherry Tree Carol Mary Had a Baby 1972 3:50 Yes
054 Megan McInnis & Chris Chapman Cherry Tree Carol The Demon Lover 1997 No
054 Mike & Peggy Seeger The Cherry Tree Carol American Folk Songs for Children 1997 3:00 Yes
054 Mike, Peggy & Penny Seeger Joseph and Mary American Folk Songs for Christmas [1] 1989 2:50 Yes
054 Mirabilis The Cherry Tree Carol The Path 2004 3:02 Yes
054 Mirakil Whip The Cherry Tree Carol Seasons Greetings from Rusted Rail 2005 4:31 Yes
054 Moira Nelson Cherry Tree Carol After the Fall 2003 2:37 Yes
054 Mrs. Ellen M. Sullivan Cherry Tree Carol (1) The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
054 Mrs. Ellen M. Sullivan Cherry Tree Carol (2) The Helen Hartness Flanders Collection No
054 Mrs. Lee Skeens The Cherry Tree Carol The Library of Congress No
054 Mrs. Lee Skeens The Cherry Tree Carol Child Ballads Traditional in the United States, Vol. I 1960 3:22 Yes
054 Mrs. Maguire The Cherry-Tree Carol BBC Recordings No
054 Mrs. Margaret Sullivan The Cherry Tree Carol The Library of Congress No
054 Mrs. Mary Young Cherry Tree Carol The Library of Congress No
054 Mrs. Maud Long The Cherry Tree Carol Folk Music of the United States - Anglo-American Songs and Ballads (2) 1953 3:03 Yes
054 Mrs. Nina Bartley Finn Cherry Tree Carol The Helen Creighton Collection No
054 Nowell Sing We Clear The Cherry Tree Carol The Best of Nowell Sing We Clear 1989 3:35 Yes
054 Nowell Sing We Clear The Cherry Tree Carol Nowell Sing We Clear - A Pageant of Mid-Winter Carols 1977 No
054 Nowell Sing We Clear The Cherry Tree Carol A Pageant of Midwinter Carols - Live on NPR 1977 1977 3:44 Yes
054 Nowell Sing We Clear The Cherry Tree Carol Nowell Sing We Four - A Pageant of Mid-Winter Carols, Vol. 4 1988 No
054 Nowell Sing We Clear The Cherry Tree Carol Just Say Nowell - A Pageant of Mid-Winter Carols 2000 No
054 Pamela Morgan The Cherry Tree Carol Amber Christmas 1997 4:14 Yes
054 Pamela Morgan The Cherry Tree Carol The Christmas Wish - Newfoundland Yuletide Favourites 1999 4:17 Yes
054 Patrick Gainer Cherry Tree Carol Folk Songs of the Alleghenies 1963 No
054 Paul Clayton The Cherry Tree Carol Folk Ballads of the English-Speaking World 1956 4:21 Yes
054 Paul Winter The Cherry Tree Wintersong - Tomorrow Is My Dancing Day 1986 3:29 Yes
054 Pauline Hinchcliffe The Cherry Tree Carol All in the Morning - Folk Carols of Britain & America 1965 2:47 Yes
054 Peg Dolan Cherry Tree Carol Tramper's Dynamic Christmas 1995 2:50 Yes
054 Peggy Ashcroft & Martin Best The Cherry Tree Carol Sense and Nonsense 1976 No
054 Peggy Seeger Mary and Joseph [American] The Long Harvest, Vol. 8 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1968 2:42 Yes
054 Peggy Seeger Sweet Mary and Sweet Joseph [American] The Long Harvest, Vol. 8 - Some Traditional Ballads in Their English, Scots and North American Variants 1968 4:10 Yes
054 Peggy Seeger Cherry Tree Carol Voices - The First Book/Record Two 1968 No
054 Pentangle Cherry Tree Carol The Lost Broadcasts: 1968-1972 2004 2:59 Yes
054 Peter, Paul & Mary The Cherry Tree Carol A Holiday Celebration 1998 3:24 Yes
054 Phillis Marks The Cherry Tree Carol The Gwilym Davies Collection No
054 Phyllis Marks The Cherry Tree Carol Folksongs and Ballads, Vol 2 1991 No
054 Pledge Drive Cherry Tree Carol A Rocky Mountain Christmas Collection, Vol. 1 2000 3:09 Yes
054 Raymond Crooke The Cherry Tree Carol <website> 2007 3:39 Yes
054 Richard Dyer-Bennet The Cherry Tree Carol Richard Dyer-Bennet Vol. 9 1960 No
054 Rickster38 Cherry Tree Carol <website> 2007 3:50 Yes
054 Robert Birch Joseph Was a Good Man Steve Gardham Collection 1970-1982 :42 Yes
054 Robert Birch & Brenda Orrell Joseph Was a Good Man Steve Gardham Collection 1970-1982 :45 Yes
054 Robert Shaw Chamber Singers The Cherry Tree Carol Songs of Angels - Christmas Hymns and Carols 1994 4:06 Yes
054 Robin Petrie The Cherry Tree Carol A Victorian Christmas 1991 3:25 Yes
054 Sam Hinton The Cherry Tree Carol 'Tis the Season - 21 Songs - Mostly for Christmas 1991 No
054 Sandra Kerr & Friends Cherry Tree Carol Supermum 1983 No
054 Sandy Dolby Cherry Tree Carol Wedding Song 2007 5:10 Yes
054 Scott Alarik The Cherry Tree Carol Simply Christmas 1984 No
054 Sheila Adams The Cherry Tree Carol Digital Library of Appalachia: Warren Wilson College Collection 197?-198? 3:11 Yes
054 Sheila Kay Adams The Cherry Tree Carol Loving Forward, Loving Back 1987 No
054 Sheila Kay Adams & Jim Taylor The Cherry Tree Carol Christmas on the Mountain 1998 No
054 Sheri O'Meara, Locklin Road & Friends Cherry Tree Carol Christmas Light 2007 No
054 Shirley Collins The Cherry Tree Carol Sweet England 1999 3:45 Yes
054 Shirley Collins The Cherry Tree Carol The Classic Collection 2004 2:49 Yes
054 Shirley Collins The Cherry Tree Carol Sing Christmas and the Turn of the Year - The Live Christmas Day 1957 Broadcast on BBC Radio 2000 1:45 Yes
054 Shirley Collins & Davy Graham The Cherry Tree Carol Folk Roots, New Routes 1964 3:21 Yes
054 Shirley Collins Cherry Tree Carol Midwinter - the Folk Music & Traditions of Christmas and the Turning of the Year 2007 1:20 Yes
054 Sìleas Cherry Tree Carol File Under Christmas 1991 1:34 Yes
054 Simply English The Cherry Tree Carol A Simply English Christmas 1999 No
054 Siúcra The Cherry Tree Carol A Very Siúcra Christmas 2003 5:26 Yes
054 Sneak's Noyse [The City Waites] Joseph Was an Old Man Christmas Now is Drawing Near - English Folk Carols on Original Instruments 2005 No
054 St. Cuthbert's Cow The Cherry Tree Carol Holy Cow! It's Christmas! 2005 4:32 Yes
054 Stan Ransom & Marne O'Shae Cherry Tree Carol North Country Christmas 1994 2:25 Yes
054 Steve Jordan Joseph and Mary The Trees Scarce Green 2002 No
054 Sting Cherry Tree Carol If on a Winter's Night… 2009 3:10 Yes
054 Sunita Staneslow The Cherry Tree Carol Christmas Day 1999 3:01 Yes
054 Susan Vinson Sherlock Cherry Tree Under the Winter Moon 2004 No
054 Tansey's Fancy Cherry Tree Carol Tansey's Fancy 1983 2:44 Yes
054 The Albion Band As Joseph Was A-Walking Christmas Album 1999 2:50 Yes
054 The Albion Band As Joseph Was A-Walking Albion Sunrise - the HTD Recordings 1994 - 1999 2004 2:49 Yes
054 The Albion Christmas Band Cherry Tree Carol Traditional 2009 3:57 Yes
054 The Albion Christmas Band Cherry Tree Carol Snow on Snow 2008 3:57 Yes
054 The Albion Christmas Band The Cherry Tree Carol Live at Pavillion Hailsham, England 2010 3:56 Yes
054 The Baltimore Consort The Cherry Tree Carol Bright Day Star: Music for the Yuletide Season 1994 4:50 Yes
054 The Beers Family The Cherry Tree Carol Christmas with the Beers Family 1966 No
054 The Cambridge Singers The Cherry Tree Carol Christmas Night: Carols of the Nativity 1987 1:53 Yes
054 The Carlton Showband Cherry Tree Carol The Carlton Showband Family Christmas 2002 3:38 Yes
054 The Chad Mitchell Trio Cherry Tree Carol The Best of the Chad Mitchell Trio: The Mercury Years 1998 3:19 Yes
054 The Clancy Brothers When Joseph Was an Old Man Christmas 1993 3:22 Yes
054 The Clancy Brothers When Joseph Was an Old Man Christmas in the Country [Country Christmas Favorites] 2005
No
054 The Clarke Family Joseph & Mary Bluegrass Christmas - Holiday Treasures 2003 2:30 Yes
054 The Corrie Folk Trio & Paddie Bell The Cherry Tree Carol In Retrospect 1965 2:39 Yes
054 The Late Night Band The Cherry Tree Carol Strange Survivals 1990 No
054 The Mill Run Dulcimer Band The Cherry Tree Carol Homespun Christmas 198? No
054 The Mistletoe Choir Cherry Tree Carol Red Velvet Christmas 2005 2:07 Yes
054 The Mitchell Trio Cherry Tree Carol The Slightly Irreverent + Typical American Boys 2003 3:20 Yes
054 The O'Reilly Consort The Cherry Tree Carol A Celtic Christmas- Carols for Celtic Band 1998 3:23 Yes
054 The Oxford Waits & The Mellstock Band Joseph Was an Old Man Hey for Christmas - Seasonal Songs and Carols from the Bodleian Library's Broadside Ballad Collections 2006 No
054 The Pentangle The Cherry Tree Carol Solomon's Seal 1972 3:03 Yes
054 The Poor Clares Cherry Tree Carol Songs for Midwinter 1998 3:23 Yes
054 The Sundogs The Cherry Tree Carol Bon Temps Noël - A Swamp Beat Christmas 1999 4:09 Yes
054 The Valley Folk Cherry Tree Carol All Bells in Paradise - Carols for All Seasons 1968 No
054 The Valleyfolk Cherry Tree Carol The Season Round: Traditional Carols & Celebrations for the Whole Year 1996 2:00 Yes
054 The Western Wind The Cherry Tree Carol An Old-Fashioned Christmas - Caroling with the Western Wind 1983 2:34 Yes
054 The Western Wind The Cherry Tree Carol (all music version) Holiday Light - Singing Angels, Silver Bells 2004 No
054 The Western Wind The Cherry Tree Carol (radio version) Holiday Light - Singing Angels, Silver Bells 2004 No
054 The Young Tradition, Shirley & Dolly Collins The Cherry Tree Carol The Holly Bears the Crown 1995 2:48 Yes
054 The Young Tradition, Shirley & Dolly Collins The Cherry Tree Carol Within Sound 2002 2:48 Yes
054 Theatre of Voices The Cherry Tree Carol Carols from the Old & New World 1994 4:25 Yes
054 Thomas Moran The Cherry-Tree Carol BBC Recordings No
054 Three of Cups Cherry Tree Carol Sweet Hope of Glory 2004 2:36 Yes
054 Tom Miners The Cherry-Tree Carol The James Madison Carpenter Collection 1927-1955 No
054 Tom Roush Christ Child Lullaby + Cherry Tree Carol The Winds of Christmas - A Collection of Songs and Carols 2007 3:49 Yes
054 Tommy Makem The Cherry Tree Carol Tommy Makem's Christmas 1995 2:37 Yes
054 Trifolkal Cherry Tree Carol Songs of the Season 2000 3:31 Yes
054 Trilogy Cherry Tree Carol Two Thousand Years of Christmas 1996 1:59 Yes
054 Waterson:Carthy Cherry Tree Carol Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man 2006 4:21 Yes
054 Wench All Cherry Tree Carol Winter Songs 2006 No
054 Wench All The Cherry Tree Carol Twelve Men and No More 2006 No
054 Willi Elsener & Anton Edelmann Cherry Tree Carol Menus & Music for Christmas: Traditional Christmas Carols + Classic Christmas Recipes 1996 2:08 Yes
054 William Partridge The Cherry Tree Carol The Song Carriers - Part 5 1965 4:26 Yes
054 William Riley Cherry Tree Carol (1) The Helen Creighton Collection No
054 William Riley Cherry Tree Carol (2) The Helen Creighton Collection No
054 William Riley Cherry Tree Carol (3) The Helen Creighton Collection No
054 William Riley Cherry Tree Carol (4) The Helen Creighton Collection No
054 Windbourne Cherry Tree Carol Winter's Celebrations 1995 No
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, 39$ / 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.
From Ballads and Songs: Kittredge 1917
by G. L. Kittredge
The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 30, No. 117 (Jul. - Sep., 1917), pp. 283-369
THE CHERRY-TREE CAROL (No. 54).
Miss Josephine McGill contributed an excellent version of "The Cherry-Tree Carol" to this Journal in 1916 (29:293-294; tune, 29: 417). Words and music are now included in her "Folk-Songs from the Kentucky Mountains," 1917, pp. 59-64 ("The Cherry Tree"). Professor C. Alphonso Smith printed a fragment of one stanza (from Virginia) in Bulletin, 1915, No. 4, p. 6 (see JAFL 29 : 294). In No. 5, 1916, p. 6, he reports "an excellent version from Campbell County," Virginia, and the tune from Culpeper County. For recent English copies and tunes, see "Journal of Folk-Song Society," 3:260-261; 5:11-14, 321-323; Sharp, "English Folk-Carols," Nos. 3, 4, PP. 7-1o; Shaw and Dearmer, "The English Carol Book," 1913, No. 6, p. I4; 2 Gillington, " Old Christmas Carols," Nos. 9, 16, pp. 14, 24. There is a fine Gaelic song very like this carol in Carmichael, "Carmina Gadelica," 2: 162-163, No. 195, called Ciad Mierail Chriosd ("First Miracle of Christ").
Mainly Norfolk: Cherry Tree Carol
[Roud 453 ; Child 54 ; Ballad Index C054 ; trad.]
The Cherry Tree Carol is a ballad with the rare distinction of being both a Christmas carol and one of the Child Ballads (#54). The song itself is very old, reportedly being sung, in some form, at the Feast of Corpus Christi in the early 15th century. The versions eventually collected by Francis James Child are thought to be a combination of up to three separate carols that merged together through the centuries.
Shirley Collins sang The Cherry Tree Carol to her own tune in 1959 on her first LP, Sweet England. and together with Davy Graham in 1964 on their LP Folk Roots, New Routes. She also recorded it in 1969 with the Young Tradition, but the resulting album The Holly Bears the Crown wasn't published until 1995. This track was also included on Shirley Collins' anthologies Within Sound (2002) and The Classic Collection (2004).
John Kirkpatrick sang The Cherry Tree Carol on the albums Among the Many Attractions at the Show Will Be a Really High Class Band (1976), Wassail! A Traditional Celebration of an English Midwinter (1998), and Carolling and Crumpets (2006).
Waterson:Carthy recorded The Cherry Tree Carol for their 2006 album Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man. Martin Carthy commented in the album's sleeve notes:
The Apocryphal Gospels are full of all sorts of stories about the Christ Child; stories of miracles performed as a child, and, in the case of The Cherry Tree Carol, pre partum from the womb. The tune comes from the Mr Robert Hughes, who was in Buckingham Workhouse, and the words, for the most part, from a Mr Thomas in Camborne in Cornwall and the two sit next to each other in Maud Karpeles' fine two volume set of selections from Cecil Sharp's manuscripts.
Lyrics
Shirley Collins sings The Cherry Tree Carol
Joseph was an old man, an old man was he,
When he married Virgin Mary, the Queen of Galilee.
As Mary and Joseph were walking one day
To an orchard of cherry trees they happened to stray.
Then Mary said to Joseph, so meek and so mild,
“Pick me some cherries, Joseph, for I am with child.”
Then Joseph flew angry, so angry flew he,
“Let the father of your baby gather cherries for thee.”
The up spoke Lord Jesus from in his mother's womb,
“Bow low down, cherry trees, bow down to the ground.”
And the cherry trees bowed down, bowed low to the ground,
And Mary gathered cherries while Joseph stood round.
Then Joseph he kneeled down and a question gave he,
“Come tell me, pretty baby, when your birthday shall be.”
“On the fifth day of January my birthday shall be,
And the stars in the heaven shall all bow down to me.”
Waterson:Carthy sing the Cherry Tree Carol
Joseph was an old man, an old man was he,
When he married sweet Mary, she's Queen of Galilee.
Now Joseph had wedded Mary and home had her brought.
Mary proved with child but Joseph knew her not.
Oh, Joseph and Mary went walking in the grove,
They saw cherries and berries as red as any rose.
And up spoke young Mary, so meek and so mild,
“Oh, pick me cherries, Joseph, for I am with child.”
Then Joseph flew in anger, in anger flew he,
“Let the father of your baby pick cherries for thee.”
The up spoke the baby Jesus, all in his mother's womb,
“Bow down low, you cherry tree, let my mother have some.”
And the very tall branches bowed low to her knee,
And Mary picked cherries by one, two and three.
Now Mary had a young son which she dandled on her knee,
“Come tell me, sweet baby, what will this world be?”
“Oh, this world,” he said, “is no other than stones in the street
But the sun, moon, and stars will sail under thy feet.
“And I must not be rocked in silver or gold
But in some wooden cradle like the babes are rocked all.
“And on the sixth day of January my birthday will be,
When the skies and the elements will tremble for me.”